SALON CENTRIC - An Official Sponsor In The Hairnews Industry Awards 2026

5 hours ago

5 min read

Hairnews is thrilled to announce that Salon Centric is coming on board as one of our official sponsors of the Hairnews Industry Awards 2026.

We are excited to welcome Salon Centric to this year’s awards and to have the brand supporting our celebration of the creativity, talent, technical skill and passion that continue to drive South Africa’s professional hair industry forward.

Supporting The Professionals Behind The Chair

Kevin Tabilo writes...

For too long, professional tools have been overlooked in the South African hair industry.

Look at other markets around the world and you’ll find businesses dedicated entirely to professional salon tools and equipment, as well as stores built specifically for the barbering community. In South Africa, tools have traditionally been an add-on to businesses primarily focused on haircare.

Salon Centric was created because we believe they deserve more attention than that.

We know we’re a niche business, but that focus is exactly what allows us to take professional tools seriously. We get to obsess over scissors, brushes, electrical tools and everything in between, understand what makes them different and, most importantly, get them into hairdressers’ hands.

It’s probably why we’ve been told more than once that we sell “hairdresser candy.” We quite like that description.

As one of the official South African distributors of JAGUAR and TONDEO, we’re incredibly proud to bring some of the best professional tools in the market to South African hairdressers.

But Salon Centric was never meant to be purely about selling products.

We believe the right tools, combined with education and the opportunity to actually experience them, can help hairdressers build confidence in their craft. So when we had the opportunity to support the Hairnews Industry Awards 2026, we wanted to do more than put our logo on the event.

We wanted to put some seriously good tools into the hands of the people doing the work.

We’ve specially selected six prizes across the Men’s and Ladies’ competitions. We wanted each prize to be something a hairdresser could genuinely put to work behind the chair and, where possible, we’ve left some choice in the hands of the winners because tools are personal.

MEN’S COMPETITION

Gold Winner Prize: Jaguar Fade X Clipper

Control you can see. Precision you can feel.

For our Men’s first prize, we wanted something built for the kind of precision modern barbering demands.

The J-CUT FADE X has a powerful 7,000 RPM motor combined with a FADE BLADE manufactured using MIM technology, giving you the power and control needed for clean blends, fades and transitions, even when you’re working through thicker hair.

It comes with six guards ranging from 1.5 mm to 13 mm, including that all-important half guard, while the adjustable blade gives you another level of control when you’re working through a fade. Old school is always just way cooler.

It’s cordless, well balanced, light and gives you up to 180 minutes of runtime, so this is a machine designed to actually work.

A proper professional clipper for someone who takes fading seriously.

Silver Winner Prize: Jaguar J-ANGO 7.0”

A 7-inch barbering scissor with a micro-serrated cutting edge designed to give you control when working on fades, contours and detailed scissor work.

We particularly like the stability of the wider dagger-style blade and the 7-inch length for barbering.

But scissors are personal.

If 7 inches isn’t your thing, we’ll happily work with the winner to swap it for a JAGUAR scissor of similar quality in a size that suits them better.

And we don’t discriminate against lefties. If our winner is left-handed, we’ll make sure we find the right tool for you too.

Bronze Winner Prize: Jaguar Professional Cape & Cutting Combs

Something every barber and hairdresser actually uses.

The black JAGUAR professional cape is suitable for both cutting and colouring, made from breathable polyester with an adjustable press-stud closure.

Simple, useful and something that will earn its place behind the chair. We’ll also add a short and long JAGUAR cutting comb to complete the prize.

LADIES’ COMPETITION

Gold Winner Prize: Jaguar Diamond E, Gold Line

This is a special one.

The DIAMOND E sits within JAGUAR’s premium GOLD LINE and is one of our favourite all-round cutting scissors.

Its convex blade and fully integrated cutting edge make it exceptionally versatile. Whether you love slicing, blunt cutting, point cutting or moving between different techniques throughout the day, this is the kind of scissor that can become a genuine workhorse.

And because the best scissor isn’t necessarily the same size for everyone, our winner can choose their DIAMOND E from 5.0” all the way through to 7.0”.

Choose the size that feels right for you and the way you cut.

Silver Winner Prize: Jaguar T-Series Flashy Brush Set

Now we’re getting into proper hairdresser candy.

The T-Series FLASHY set includes four professional round brushes in 25 mm, 33 mm, 43 mm and 53 mm, each in its own colour.

The ceramic-coated aluminium barrels distribute heat evenly to help speed up drying, while ionic technology helps reduce static and frizz and improve shine.

From getting into shorter hair with the 25 mm to creating movement, volume and big polished blow-dries with the larger sizes, you’ve got a complete professional brush set in one seriously good-looking set.

Bronze Winner Prize: Jaguar A-Line Comb Set

Nine professional combs. One complete set. And this time, you choose the colour.

Choose from Black, Violet, Pink, Rosé, Teal or Smaragd, subject to stock availability.

The A-Line range is designed for professional salon use, with different combs covering cutting, sectioning and styling, so this isn’t a pouch containing nine versions of essentially the same thing.

It’s the sort of set you don’t necessarily think you need until you have the whole thing sitting at your station.

And yes, this probably qualifies as hairdresser candy too.

WHY WE’RE DOING IT

The hair industry has given me a career, friendships, opportunities and ultimately the chance to build Salon Centric.

So being able to support the Hairnews Industry Awards and put professional tools into the hands of talented South African hairdressers means something to us.

Salon Centric exists because we believe professional tools deserve the same focus, expertise and respect as the craft they serve.

These awards celebrate that craft.

We’re very happy to play a small part in it.

Good luck to everyone entering. We can’t wait to see what you create.

Salon Centric South Africa

Obsessed with the tools of the craft.