Your Journey to Excellence
A clear pathway from foundation to educator to advanced career pathways. Earn your Purple Hearts through CPD-endorsed education and join the movement raising standards across the industry.
Each Purple Heart represents your commitment to excellence, safety, and continuous professional development. Build your pathway at your own pace.
How It Works
1. Join Free
2. Learn & Grow
3. Upload your documents
4. Earn & Celebrate
The Four Pillars of a Purple Heart
State Registration
You must be registered with the Hair Council in the UK (or your country’s equivalent) and demonstrate a clear understanding of how a regulated industry builds professional respect, security and public trust.
The importance of regulation
Insured
We partner with Sentio Salons to provide essential education on policy language and hidden traps, but we expect our hair professionals to maintain active insurance and demonstrate a deep, proactive understanding of exactly what their coverage entails.
Visit Sentio Salons
On-Going CPD
You are required to complete and evidence the specific number of CPD hours for your level, showing how continuous learning directly benefits your technical growth and the industry’s reputation.
Our CPD
Professional Standards: Assessed
By partnering with Habia to set our industry benchmarks, we ensure you are trained and assessed to the highest levels, requiring a commitment to align with these standards and represent the profession with genuine pride.
Visit HABIA“I believe that being 'professional' means more than just doing great hair. It’s about the pride of registration, the power of skill, and the security of proper insurance. Together, these pillars give you the USPs and the confidence to grow a career that is as safe as it is successful.”
— Rae Elizabeth SRH CCH
The Purple Hearts
Each heart builds on the last, with HABIA-Endorsed learning, professional assessment, and ongoing CPD requirements.
💜 Your First Purple Heart: The Standards
This entry-level award establishes your professional baseline. It confirms you meet all industry standards and alignments, hold valid registration and insurance, and are fully qualified. To maintain this status, you must commit to 25 hours of CPD annually.
💜💜 2 Purple Hearts: The Specialist
Building on the foundational requirements, this level recognises your expertise as a Master of one specific discipline. To reflect this advancement in skill, the annual maintenance requirement increases to 30 hours of CPD.
💜💜💜 3 Purple Hearts: The Multi-Specialist
This award is for the versatile professional who has achieved Master status in more than one area. Along with all foundational standards, members at this level must complete 35 hours of CPD annually to stay at the top of their multi-discipline game.
💜💜💜💜 4 Purple Hearts: The Experienced Master
Reserved for seasoned professionals, this level requires 5+ years of experience and Mastery of more than one discipline. Maintenance requires a significant commitment of 50 hours of CPD annually. Fast-Track: Experienced professionals can fast-track to this level via a formal assessment and evidence of previous learning/CPD.
💜💜💜💜💜 5 Purple Hearts: The Elite Master
The highest accolade, awarded to those who have completed 5 WELOVE Academy Master Programmes (full courses including the Master Commercial module). Once achieved, members undergo a final assessment and standard insurance checks, maintaining their status with 50 hours of CPD annually.
Maintaining your Purple Hearts
Your Purple Hearts are maintained through continued professional development (CPD). This ensures clients can always trust that a Purple Heart Pro is up to date with the latest techniques, safety standards, and industry best practices. Our CPD programmes are endorsed by HABIA and delivered by experienced educators who understand the real-world challenges of hair professionals.
- 1 Purple Heart: Minimum 25 CPD hours annually
- 2 Purple Hearts: 30 CPD hours in specialisms
- 3 Purple Hearts: 35 CPD hours in specialisms
- 4 Purple Hearts: 50+ CPD hours, 5+ Years experience
- 5 Purple Hearts: 50+ CPD hours, 5+ years experience, complete the Purple Heart Masters Programme
How to Earn Your CPD Hours
Your annual total can be comprised of:
- WELOVE Fundamentals courses
- WELOVE Master Courses: Earn unique heart-shaped badges and certificates upon completion of a Master course.
- Advanced Career Paths: Specialised badges for Master Educator, Art Director, or Master IQA (Internal Quality Assurance). Note: Master IQA can only be achieved if a member is already a qualified Master Educator.
- External CPD: Learning from outside providers is accepted, provided it is a structured educational session (not a product sales pitch) and you can provide evidence, such as a certificate.
- On-the-Job Learning: Standard unstructured learning as recognised across other professional industries.
Your Timeline
3-12
Months
Typical time to earn your First Purple Heart.
2-3
Years
Progress to Achieving a Second and Third Purple Heart.
5+
Years
Master level recognition. *Hair Pro's with 5+ years of existing experience can fast-track from 1 Purple Heart - 4 Purple Hearts via an assessment and proof of CPD hours (either through WELOVE or other CPD-approved providers).
Celebrate your achievements
The Purple Hearts Graduation is a spectacular celebration of education and achievement. Each year, we honour our graduates' dedication and hard work, showcasing their growth and the skills they've acquired throughout their training. With an atmosphere filled with joy, pride, and inspiration, this ceremony is not just an event - it's a celebration of community, passion, and the bright futures that await our talented graduates.
- Annual ceremony
- Recognition from industry leaders
- Community celebration and networking
“To have yourself surrounded by people who see you for you and to see your potential and go all out to help you to achieve goals you have, and goals you didn't know you had, is truly remarkable. I can't thank WELOVE enough”
— Laurie Davis, Master Hair Pro
Ready to Begin Your Journey?
Join the Purple Hearts Club today and take the first step towards professional excellence and industry recognition.