Canberra hairdresser Claudia Cataldo, from Cataldo's Salon, takes out L'Oréal Professionnel Paris' international competition, the 2022 Style and Colour Trophy

Claudia Cataldo, from Cataldo's Salon, was announced as the international winner of the 2022 Style and Colour Trophy finale on Tuesday.

Presented by L'Oréal Professionnel Paris, the competition - which is now in its 66th year - showcases the world's brightest hairdressing talent and celebrates the creativity and skill of hair artistry.

"This is one of the longest-running hair competitions in the world," Ms Cataldo said.

"So for me, it's really about not only proving to myself but to my team that anything is possible if you set your mind to it, and to have that sense that the world is your oyster and really, it's limitless what you can achieve."

Officially, Ms Cataldo has been a part of the industry for about 17 years and is based out of the salon's Civic location.

But really, Ms Catalado has been around hairdressing her entire life. Her grandfather opened Cataldo's Salon in the 1960s, where her grandmother and other family members also worked at.

It meant that when she was growing up, she would spend her free time in the salon helping out.

"Watching the clients walk out with these amazing hairstyles and just that feeling of being together with a team, it was always something that I thrived off," Ms Cataldo said.

"It was creative, but it was also almost therapeutic for the clients. And that resonated with me - that ability to make someone feel and look amazing."

Ms Cataldo took out the Style and Colour Trophy Australian competition in August, before heading to Paris in October where she took on other hairdressers from across the world, focusing on this year's theme of French edito: gloss and balayage looks. For those not in the know, this means an editorial style of cut - "which has a bit of an edge to it" - using either the French glossing or balayage colouring technique.

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"I always do what compliments the model, but it's also about what's the latest trends," Ms Cataldo said.

"I'm always forecasting trends, colour predictions and haircuts. One of the biggest ones at the moment is definitely the curtain bang and I want to do that with a shag haircut from the 70s, but a modern version of that. And the French balayage is a seamless, beautiful colour that never dates. I just wanted it to be timeless yet current."

The style paid off for the Canberra hairdresser, who was the third Australian to take out the international competition in as many years - Massimo Tirimacco from South Australia won it in 2021, and Wendy Gunn, from Queensland, won in 2019.

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