The event lured an energetic crowd of more than 40,000 beauty professionals (up slightly from 2011) from destinations around the world. Produced by the Professional Beauty Association (PBA), the ISSE concept has evolved well beyond the traditional "hair show" and is now widely recognized as a complete beauty destination, which includes hair, nails, cosmetics, esthetics, wellness, massage and advanced education.
Well regarded as a launching platform for products and services, ISSE Long Beach featured a sold-out expo floor that represented more than 400 top beauty brands. It attracted international leaders such as BaBylissPRO, Clairol Professional, CND, Moroccan Oil, RUSK, TIGI, Wahl and Zotos as well as indie trend-setters such as Body Up Pro, Hair Flairs and Rock Your Hair. More than 183 complimentary educational sessions offered insight into a wide range of hot industry topics. The NAHA Stage was a major attraction and generated lots of buzz. The industry's brightest stars and past NAHA winners-Damien Carney, Steve Elias, Jake Thompson and Charlie Price-shared their expertise on conceptualizing and creating a winning NAHA entry.
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| John Simpson for Goldwell's colorful stage presentation |
This year also marked the first time ISSE Long Beach offered hair competitions. Hosted by Mark Goodman, immediate past President of PBA's Beauty Professional/NCA section, the contests were open to both students and licensed professionals. Individuals were invited to showcase their stellar skills for an opportunity to win cash and gain some career prestige. For the licensed professional (senior) division, the competitions served as tryouts for the OMC HairWorld USA team for 2012. The members of Team USA will be announced within several weeks. Honors were given to the top seven in each category. In the Fashion on Long Hair category Edda Coscioni won for both the "Day Style" and "Evening Style." In the Technical category, Svitlana Vechera won for both "Creative" and "Hair by Night." In the Student competition, Erdenesuvd Jargalsaikhan won for "Bridal," Jeanne Collado was awarded for "Fantasy Inspired by Nature," and Katey Browne nabbed a win for "Ladies Trend Cut, Color, and Style."
The ISSE Midwest show, which will be held November 4 and 5 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the Chicago area, will serve as the fall/holiday show. For additional information on ISSE Long Beach and ISSE Midwest, visit probeauty.org/isse.
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| Crowds gather to watch the experts work their magic. | The aisles at ISSE Long Beach were packed with beauty professionals who were busy scouting out new resources. |
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