Salon international snippets
As tens of thousands of hairdressers flocked through the Hair Show at Salon International there were plenty of tales to be told.
From charity initiatives to competitions and giveaways, these are some of the many stories that came to our attention on the weekend of October 18-20.
Kunihiko Matsuzaki, the third generation of the family behind the famous scissor brand, was in the UK for Salon International. At the end of the weekend, he selected Katie O'Donovan's name from over 4,000 that had been left on the Matsuzaki stand. Katie won herself a pair of scissors worth in the region of £600 as well as a day at the Andy Palmer Academy.
There were plenty of well-known hairdressers at Salon International and many of them took time out to sign the fridge freezer on the Chill stand. The now heavily adorned fridge will also make an appearance at Clothes Show Live in Birmingham in December where more signatures will be collected, before the fridge is donated to HABB for auction.
Kevin Day
FHI Heat gave away two goodies bags at the close of the show to two visitors who had left their details at the stand.
TIGI's Bed Head bus was a prominent landmark outside the west entrance of ExCel London, offering hospitality to those wanting a break from the excitement of the show.
'Roo has the flair and passion to keep me ahead with the cutting edge of fashion', This was the slogan that won Joan Latham, a lecturer in hairdressing at Hertford Regional College, £1000 worth of products from Roo Salons, including scissors, a pouch, cutting collar and tweezers. Ashley Howard of Roo Salons presented Joan with her prize at Salon International.
Clean-Cut and Icon Scissors launched a charitable initiative at Salon International offering anyone purchasing a pair of Icon scissors up to £50 cash back when they traded in their old pair.Reconditioned scissors will be sent to the Centre for International Voluntary Service (CIVS), a charity set up in Kenya which helps empower communities by donating tools to start up businesses - including hairdressing.
Professional hair and beauty products supplier, Salons Direct gave away £1,000 to one lucky visitor out of hundreds that dropped their name and address off at their stand.
Freelance hairdresser and educator, Roy Hayward chose Salon International to launch his latest book, Technique. The book is designed to provide all the techniques needed to launch a career as a professional hairdresser, illustrated throughout with stunning illustrations.
Eyecurl Hare & Beauty sold out of its innovative heated eyelash curler by mid-day on the Monday of Salon International.
The winners of the Student of The Year competition, run by the Hairdressing Council in association with City and Guilds and L'Oreal Professionnel were announced announced on the Fellowship stage. They were: Level 2 winner Jonathan De Francesco, who trained at Solihull College in the west midlands; and level 3 winner Sophia Hilton, who studied at Blackpool & The Fylde College.
British Hairdressing Business Awards Junior of the Year Niki Moores, of Michael Van Clarke in London, discovered what a great networking opportunity Salon International can be. Niki met top London hairdresser Desmond Murray at the Alternative Hair Show - both were guests of HJ - and the next day she was assisting him with prep work behind the BaByliss Pro stage.
Top marks for being truly international go to Racoon, who flew in top teams from Australia, Poland, Sweden and Syria for the event. Their Art Team had a non-stop action weekend; getting through 150 full heads of Micro Wefts, as well as 30 kilos of Euro hair and over 50 litres of product.
