Shafia Cassiem Haffejee is a stylist at the Veaudry Icon Salon at the Veaudry Global head office in Johannesburg. She is an award-winning hairstylist, having done incredibly well in her career, and loves working on photo shoots and videos with Veaudry Global and sponsorships.
Being originally from Cape Town you see so much creativity from everything around you. From the people you meet, to the places you visit and being part of a very creative family really helped me develop my creative talents. As much as I’m a socialite, I have a tendency to get shy and when I meet people, I look for qualities in people that inspire me and make me want to share my experiences.
At the start of my working life, I had the opportunity to start in the hair industry and after thinking about where I wanted to be and my passions, I realized this was my career opportunity.
In pursuit of my passion, I soon saw myself serve 3 years of studies at the College of Cape Town and then relocating to JHB to complete my final years of studying which opened the door for me to be officially on the floor in 2008.
My studies didn’t stop there and being so motivated, I completed the SA trade test! I went further and acquired my international degree in hair dressing, this allowed me to become internationally recognised with this amazing industry and allowed me to explore many opportunities. I recently have found and developed a new and exciting flair for artistic hair styling and have already plunged into creative style training.
Amongst those opportunities was my first hair competition and I was thrilled to be placed in the top 10. This really motivated me to pursue my passion and turn it into a career. I have had been blessed with success, achieving twelve National Awards with E.O.H.C.B which included categories in Avant Garde, Ladies Colour Cut & Style, Gent’s Colour Cut & Style. I’ve been so excited to achieve an International semi-finalist placing with L’Oréal in the Colour Cut & Style category, and one International semi-finalist with Alternative Hair Show in the Avant Garde and Colour Cut & Style categories.
I’m currently working at Veaudry Icon Salon as @shafiahaffejee_hairstylist, working with the most amazing leaders in our industry and with top of the range hair colour, hair equipment and hair retail.
I have worked with companies like Woolworths and Mac on their launch of their campaigns which saw my work exhibited through their billboards. I have worked on SA Fashion Week and saw myself alongside several national celebrity designers such as Gavin Rajah and David Tlale.
Some of my ongoing work is with Miss South Africa and with music event like South African Idols, TV Series Wedding Bashers, along with Summit events for Indian delegates and South African PSL, to name a few
I also had the privilege of working on the event that included former president Obama and singer Beyoncé!
In 2019 the Hair and Cosmetology elected me a judge for the South African National Hair competition, and later also for Hairnews SA for the categories Colour Cut & Style and Up Styles.
My motto is: knowledge is power, and I believe ongoing, continuous training is vital in the industry to ensure my clients always have the best of my creativity. I was trained by the best National and International hair stylist, and Internationally I have done colour education by Matthew Collins (LA), colour and cutting training with Guylain Martel (Canada), cutting with Nino Bartley (code 17 Shanghai), and cutting and colouring with Mathieu Jacob (France).
My Inspiration!
I do hair because it makes me happy to show someone what they can look like and small changes that make memorable life changing events. I am a colour artist!
I enjoy the creativity side but most of all my clients are the biggest inspiration for me to be best version of myself. They believe in me and encourage me to follow my passion and I’ve had many highlights in life, but my everyday clients are my most valuable highlights. Everything I do is for my clients and thankfully I’ve always been rewarded with being included in my clients’ life events and many have become close friends.
To end off, I thank God Almighty for blessing me abundantly and allowing me to be the best version of myself and to encouraging me to continue my creativity: to always walk in my path of passion.
And to my family, thank you for always being my rock.
Instagram: @shafiahaffejee_hairstylist
