SPONSORED by Covet Labs and Wella Education
Before the salons, television, and building a global brand, Nick Arrojo was a kid into music and fashion. So he found another creative outlet: hair. It became his camera, his lens, his medium.
By 18 years old, he was locking up the salon at night, staying late to work on models long after everyone else had gone home. That early responsibility built the foundation for everything that followed. It wasn’t just about skill, it was about mentality. Even when he became the youngest Creative Director at Vidal Sassoon, he admits it took years to feel comfortable. He didn’t think he fit in at first. Sassoon was in a high-level world of styling and branding, but that pressure sharpened him. Sassoon taught him craft and how to be creative with hair at the highest level.
Then came Wella, a completely different energy. Where Sassoon was artistry and structure, Wella was professionalism, teaching, seminar leadership, and global travel. Between the two, he found the perfect balance. One taught him how to create and the other taught him how to communicate.
Eventually, he opened a salon of his own. A few years into running it, someone walked in looking for a hairdresser. Right place. Right time. That opportunity led to What Not to Wear. It started as a 10-episode trial. At first, it was him and his assistants on screen together. The “brutally honest” format made great television, because everyone loves hair drama and conflict. Don’t they? But Arrojo used the platform to make people happy with their hair in just three hours.
His love for razor cutting runs deep. “You can cut hair as long as you have a sharp tool,” he says, but a razor unlocks something else entirely. With scissors, the hair falls away. You don’t feel it. With a razor, you feel every stroke or what he calls “the bite of the blade.” It’s tactile and sculptural. You remove weight, add texture, and remove length all at once. As trends shifted toward undone, looser hair, the razor became even more powerful. Every painter uses different brushes, so why shouldn’t a hairdresser use different tools?
After years of success, he faced an intense breakup with a partner in the industry. It forced a new beginning and a new mindset. But as he says, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
ARROJO NYC
From that rebuilding came the evolution of ARROJO, built on three pillars: product, education, and salon culture. Through trial and error, he learned that simplicity sells, but only if it hits the right balance. His “one, two, three” philosophy defines it:
- The client has to understand what she’s looking at.
- The client is going to smell it.
- The price has to make sense.
Find the need. Win the fragrance. Nail the price point. That’s the sweet spot.
Looking ahead, he believes the future of the industry will be more collaborative and more autonomous. Thanks to social media, students walk in knowing more than ever before. They may not yet have the hands-on skills, but they understand that education is everything and that awareness changes the game.
Nick Arrojo’s journey isn’t just about hair. It’s about mentality over ego, craft over comfort, and reinvention over defeat. Tune in below to hear more about Arrojo’s career! Check out our Instagrams here at @Readthetease and @volumeupbythetease.
