Aili Puss is a hairstylist with experience as a hairdresser and trainer, who with her team has put the finishing touches on many of our shows and photoshoots. In the case of Aili, we can always be sure of the best end result – filigree execution with a fashion-conscious sense of style. Let’s find out what makes her heart beat faster and where she gets her ideas from.
Our first major collaboration with Aili was the "Mineralia" fashion show. Later, we have done several other fashion shows and photoshoots together. Which do you enjoy more, the fashion shows or photoshoots?
I enjoy both processes. Sometimes shows have this making-of fun and the end result is even more awesome. I then feel like I can be the conductor of my wonderful team and always enjoy working with them. At the same time, the photoshoot has such a more intimate vibe and it is very close to my heart. There have been moments where I get goosebumps when I see how fashion and the beauty of hairstyles come together.
Today you have built your empire and are training hairdressers under AP Education. How did you get into hair in the first place? Why didn't you become a hairdresser, but instead became a hairstylist?
Really, I am very lucky that Estonian hairdressers also draw on my art of hairdressing. Having worked quite a lot outside my home country, I have realized that we can do the same things that are done elsewhere, here as well. Thanks to the created team, we have already been able to show ourselves to a larger audience and demonstrate that the art of hairdressing also lives in Estonia.
I was already a hairdresser with 15 years of experience before starting AP Education, but I always knew that my path was to do something even bigger. I have realized that there are many good hairdressers, but they need to be guided and guided. My vocation is above all inspiration and guidance. When I see how a student/hairdresser is starting to succeed, there are often tears of happiness in my throat.
How much do you follow trends and to what extent do you base your daily work on your personal beauty beliefs? What Aili like hair looks like? What is important to you?
I myself am rather a lover of the classics, and the more extravagant clothes of my youth have therefore been replaced by more comfortable and classically styled clothes. Aili like hair is the kind where the hairstyle is rather correct and focused. Even if the hairstyle is artistic, the hairstyle plan must always be in place.
In what direction are the hairstyle trends moving at the moment? What are the best options?
The hairstyle of the moment is moving towards simplicity and its characteristic feature is clean lines. Observing what is happening beyond the borders, it is sometimes even difficult to bring us the trends spreading there. Our women are more modest and prefer simple and clean hairstyles. Here, I encourage hairdressers to offer more hairstyles to customers – both buns and ponytails, which would be properly styled, and of course also sloppy curls and waves, which are still customers’ favourites.
Talk about your style. How do you make your wardrobe choices?
Ohh, it’s rather boring at the moment, but convenient. 🙂 Since the style of our clothes at work is black in terms of colour, like every hairdresser’s closet, I also have a whole cap of black clothes. In my free time, I enjoy colours that vary from pink to brown.
My dream is to find someone to take care of my wardrobe, as I haven’t been able to shop much lately. 🙂
What role do accessories and also hair/makeup play in the whole?
In my opinion, it is the symbiosis that is most important in creating a whole. One complements the other, and if there is also a good sense of style, the result is great.
Tell us about your latest photo series. How did these works of hair art come about? What story or message do they carry?
It happened quite impromptu when makeup artist Merlit Veldi suggested the idea and opportunity to make art. The combination was made up of my hairstyles, fashionable makeup, the great photographer Ingmar Elm, and of course, your fashion creations, both in the form of jewellery and dresses. Thanks to this, a whole was formed that supported the entire story. The dress highlighted the hairstyle, or the jewellery highlighted the makeup and hairstyle. Such a pleasant symbiosis emerged, where high fashion is presented as a single whole. 🙂
