HBSA EXHIBITIONS SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT
December 2011
Salon International, London, UK, 15th – 17th October 2011
Denman International’s Social Media Co-Ordinator, Sian Waters, provides thoughts on her first visit to a hair and beauty show, not to mention the largest hair and beauty show in the UK: Salon International.
As a first-time visitor to Salon International, it was difficult to know what exactly to expect from a hair and beauty event, but I found it to be a very impressive and exciting experience!
Salon International proved to be a lot bigger than expected, and there were so many stands that it was quite difficult to distinguish them all at once. It was an extremely busy show especially on the Sunday and Monday when the hairdressers and students are not at work or college, so it got a bit hectic at times!
Prior to the show, I had heard wonderful things about GHD and seen pictures of their ‘Midnight Church-Style’ stand last year, so made it a ‘must-see’ at the show. However, it proved to be a little disappointing and the stand itself was not particularly spectacular, although it did seem to still attract the crowds. Personally, I felt that the Earthly Body
stand stood out the most. It was an attractive stand due to the fac that it was completely different to anyone else’s stand and had a very unique Arabian theme to coincide with the brand image. There seemed to be a lot of hair oil stands such as: Amargan Hair Therapy Oils, Macadamia Natural Oil and Moroccanoil. As Salon International is a hair and beauty show, I was expecting to see more stands selling hair extensions, but was pleasantly surprised when there were some Feather Extension stands.
This was a big year for Denman International, as there were two separate stands taken (one for Denman, Pro-Tip and Andis; the other for Jack Dean, Oster and the ProEdge Comb). The launch of the brand new male grooming range, Jack Dean, received a fabulous response and attracted a large crowd. There were a number of live stage shows and seminars, which took place at the show every day. Key hair demonstrations and catwalk collections included the outstanding work by The Fellowship for British Hairdressing and Babyliss. This drew a huge crowd as it was a chance to see the top hairdressers cut and style hair professionally, which is perfect if you are a trainee hairdresser.
The Denman International stage also attracted a lot of attention with MK’s (Andis Creative Brand Ambassador UK) artistic work with Andis clippers to create hair
tattooing; and Mark Woolley (Denman Creative Brand Ambassador) and his Electric Art Team using Denman products. This was an educational demonstration point to the show, which drew a large crowd of visitors.
For me, Salon International was a fantastic experience, as there was a large variety of hair and beauty products to choose from at great prices, so no one would have gone home empty handed. The visitors’ excitement from the live shows created an amazing atmosphere, which would definitely make them return again next year!
(Sian Waters, Denman International)
Salon International, London, UK, 15th – 17th October 2011
Nicola Lazenby, Marketing and Exhibition Manager from Salon Exhibitions, gives a post- Salon International review on how the exhibition went, from an organiser’s point of view…
When it came to meeting expectations, the 2011 edition of Salon International continued to deliver on all levels and satisfied the requirements of exhibitors and visitors alike.
This year’s Salon International continued to prove itself as the most inspirational and influential event in hairdressing, where professionals from the world over came to celebrate everything that’s great about British hairdressing. The three-day hairdressing extravaganza was brimming with inspiration and education, drawing tens of thousands of hairdressing professionals from all four corners of the globe to come and soak up the great atmosphere at the event. As always, large crowds could be seen gathering at the many free live stages located within The Hair Show, eager to take in all the creativity and artistic energy on offer.
These immensely popular shows were offered by a wide range of top name exhibitors including BaByliss Pro, Denman, Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Habia, Hair Tools, Paul Mitchell, Toni &
Guy, Wahl, and our very own Hairdressers Journal International. Live demos and product presentations were also invaluable, and allowed visitors to see products at work first hand. As always, retail stands were a popular draw, with brisk business being done throughout the hall by all exhibitors, whilst a number of products proved to be so popular that they sold out before the show ended, including Kevin.Murphy’s Color.Bugs and Patrick Cameron’s Halo Pad and Crown Lift Pad. The stands themselves were also impressive, with many exhibitors pulling out all the stops when it came to their stand design and presence on the exhibition floor. All in all, with well over 200 stands, The Hair Show was a hive of activity and had something of interest for everyone in attendance. The Salon Live and Salon Seminar sessions continued to inspire, educate and mesmerize many of the show’s visitors, with some shows completely sold out. No surprise with so many amazingly talented and awe-inspiring individuals and creative teams taking to the
stage, including Sassoon Academy, Tim Hartley, Patrick Cameron, Toni & Guy, Mahogany and Saco.
Equally important, our Business Extra sessions (sponsored by Salon Genius), were on hand for the commercially astute salon owners and managers in attendance. With the likes of Sarah Cross, Michael Van Clarke, Hellen Ward and Louise Wood on hand to offer sound advice and top business tips, these timely sessions were well attended.
For most, October 2012 seems like a long way away, but, as exhibition organisers, we are already focussed and working hard towards delivering yet another successful Salon International, where we aim to bring exciting new elements to the event which will sit effortlessly alongside the key components which already make up the heart of the show. What’s more, we are even more excited than usual as 2012 will see us celebrating our 40th anniversary, so it’s bound to be an even bigger celebration than usual. Watch this space!
Salon International 2012 ExCeL London 13th, 14th & 15th October 2012
(Nicola Lazenby, Salon International)
Cosmoprof Asia, Hong Kong, China, 9th – 11th November 2011
Jonathan King, Marketing Manager of Denman International, reports on the most important trade show for hair and beauty in the Asia Pacific region: Cosmoprof Asia…
Hosted once again at the ever-expanding Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, this year’s Cosmoprof Asia took place from 9th to 11th November.
The exhibition was split into five distinct categories:
- Perfumery, Cosmetics & Toiletries
- Natural Health
- Beauty Salon, Spa, Nail Products & Equipment
- Hair Salon Products, Equipment & Salon Furnishings
- Packaging, Raw Materials, Own Label & Contract Manufacturing
The show kicked off with the traditional (and deafening) opening ceremony which featured several chaps in a dragon outfit followed by several other chaps bashing the merry hell out of an assortment of drums and cymbals whilst meandering their way noisily through each of the halls.
The halls were bright and airy though the aisles were festooned with even more tripping hazards than usual. It is amazing that such a state-of-the-art exhibition venue should have so much electrical cabling running across the aisles. One aisle alone had FIVE “fences” making it look more like a steeplechase course. Certainly not dragon-friendly!
Various events were held across the three days in the on-site meeting rooms which hosted seminars ranging from “An Analysis of the Cosmetic Market in China” to the “Swiss National Stem Cell Business Conference”.
The exhibition itself consisted of 1776 exhibiting companies of which 475 were first-time exhibitors. In total there was 68,000m² of exhibition space sold, an increase of 18% on 2010. There were 23 country and group pavilions: Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA. Group pavilions from Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey were there for the first time.
Some UK companies exhibited in their own right including Professional Beauty Systems and Procare. In addition, Denman International were represented by their recently appointed Chinese distributor, Joyful Queen (stop sniggering at the back!). The show’s opening hours were extended to 7.30pm on the first two days to accommodate the 45,000+ visitors. This development was greeted with wild enthusiasm by exhibitors as you can imagine.
Overall, it was an impressively busy exhibition which remains the most important trade show for hair and beauty in the Asia-Pacific region.
The 2012 event will be held from 14th to 16th November. For more details, visit www.cosmoprof-asia.com.
(Jonathan King, Denman International)
Asia Hair Masters Association (AHMA), Guangzhou, China, 15th Nov 2011
Philip Steele, Marketing and Sales Director of Denman International, provides an insight into the Asia Hair Masters Association (AHMA), which was held in Guangzhou following a busy and successful Cosmoprof Asia… Following on from the Cosmoprof Asia exhibition in Hong Kong, John Rainey, Martyn Wady and myself travelled up to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) for a series of events on Tuesday 15th November. The day was a celebration of the AHMA first anniversary and Joyful Queen’s 10th Anniversary and included.
Morning - The Denman International Ambassador Seminar featuring Mark Woolley –Electric Hairdressing London.
Afternoon - The Estetica China X AHMA Hair competition final.
Evening - AHMA/Joyful Queen gala dinner & Estetica China X AHMA awards ceremony.
With a view to taking Asian hairdressing to the next level and expanding links and international relationships with western stylists, AHMA was formed in 2010. Currently there are 14 Asian members and the first western AHMA member in the form of Mark Woolley. Chairman of AHMA is Boris Wong from Taiwan and it was his prestigious BORIS HC Academy in downtown Guangzhou which hosted the Denman seminar and the Estetica X AHMA competition.
Attended by 250 leading Chinese stylists, Mark worked with 8 local models to provide 4 different looks to inspire and motivate the gathered crowds. Judging by the reaction, the seminar was very well received with the education-hungry local stylists intently following every move and generally treated Mark like a rock star.
A brief lunch was followed by the Estetica China hair competition with 25 finalists having been selected nationwide from an online competition to perform in front of the judges. Standards overall were excellent and we did not envy the judges task of selecting a clear winner. As an AHMA member, Mark was asked to join the judges’ panel and duly worked with the other members to score the finalists.
The final event of the day was the gala dinner and awards ceremony attended by over 300 guests in the ballroom at the Westin Hotel, which included much pomp and fanfare celebrating Asian hairdressing. Most of the foreign guests found themselves called up at some point to the stage for impromptu speeches, awards and even official signings in the case of Martyn Wady.
The finale was the announcement and presentation of the awards in reverse order for the three ultimate winners, at which point all the contestants and models joined the already large crowd on the stage.
Overall the day demonstrated the passion and power within Asia, and in particular Chinese hairdressing, a force that will continue to grow and become a major global influence. Watch this space.
(Philip Steele, Denman International)
