Ending My Teaching Tour with Premiere Birmingham

This past month has been a busy one for me, as I finish the year with my educational tour my last stop was in Birmingham, Alabama for Premiere Birmingham.  I must say the attendees of this show strive for education and seem to engage more in the classroom with Q & A in wanting to know How, What, & Why with the nuts and bolts of haircolor.

The first day of the show was my “Gold Standard of Haircolor” workshop hands-on class which seemed to fill up quickly. Most hairdressers learn by physically doing what is being taught, so I believe you have to get your hands in it at times to understand it. The workshop included three applications: an Over-the-top application for a seasonal change, taking the Ombré to a Sombré look, and the American Baliage which is panting the hair in long foils to create a natural look using shade on shades. It was ratifying to show these attendees how to hold the brush in creating a soft starting point with each section they foiled. With each workshop hands-on class I hold, the attendees leave with a goodie bag filled with a few pieces of Beth Minardi Signature shades which include the Demi-Crème & Demi-Liquid lines along with some MLCC  (Minardi Luxury Color Care) styling products  and a single DVD from my Hues of Natural Perfection collection.

After the morning hands-on workshop class, I had one ninety minute lecture class. I actually loved this lecture “The Truth about Hair Color” because it was a more intimate lecture, which started a great deal of conversing between the attendees and me. I always tell them the lecture is about “you guys” rather than the agenda I am supposed to follow. As I mentioned earlier, the attendees at this show were very passionate about learning and much more comfortable with asking me questions.

The last day of the show I did was a special VIP class called “Beautiful Moments”, where attendees register to spend a very intimate hour with me discussing haircolor. Premiere randomly selects ten attendees to spend this time with me; a major part of this class was talking about celebrity haircolor formulas. Some of the celebrity color reformulations we discussed included Emma Stone, Carrie Underwood, Blake Lively, and Shea Mitchell, just to name a few!  We went in depth about the formulas and how to achieve these rich dimensions. I felt this was a wonderful topic to chat about, because most of the time clients bring in pictures of celebrities asking for that particular look and or haircolor. (Side bar) it’s important during a consult with your client that you are able to distinguish every aspect of the photo they bring in, because we all know majority of the time it’s never 100% of the celebs natural hair. There are many “tricks” Ms. Hollywood has in glamourizing celebrities ;) My VIP members also received a goodie bag filled with many special gifts.

Overall this has been a great year full of exciting shows, great lectures and fun workshops. I have really grown to love the open communication with attendees and listening to their thoughts and opinions about haircolor. I honestly cannot be more thankful that I’m able to live my passion, inspiring the minds of beauty professionals near and far! I am excited to see what next year will bring!

ManeStream Hair and Beauty Expo

My team and I traveled to Tampa for the second annual Manestream Hair and Beauty Expo this past weekend. With a mixture of attendees, cosmetologists and barbers this show brings a fierce energy that is one of a kind! Thomas Faucette, the show producer, is a pleasure to work with and sees a purpose that ALL professionals need, want, and deserve top notch education. When he asked me to be a part of his main educational line-up it was without question I would join. Each year I present a main stage presentation with 4-6 gorgeous models followed by a more intimate in-depth classroom setting.

The morning begins with the main stage presentation where I talk about hair color, and the techniques beautifully displayed by my models. This year I did something a little different; I brought my Creative Artistic Director, Alicia Delbrey, on stage to demonstrate simple hair techniques that could be done in minutes and still look fabulous. I have to smile because Alicia doesn’t like the spotlight on her. She is an extremely talented designer but prefers to stay behind the scenes. She was a bit nervous but did a great presentation. One of the styles she demonstrated was the “Barbie doll pony tail”. This is done by teasing the front of the hair to create a little poof, then pulling the back half of the hair into a ponytail. Take the loose pieces and wrap them around the ponytail base, and lastly spray with finishing spray to tame fly-aways.

The afternoon switches into the classroom setting where we discuss my HOT topic: The Truth About Hair Color. During this class we talked about multiple topics such as grey coverage, the truth about hydrogen peroxide, eumelanin vs pheomelanin, the PH scale and many more. To keep the energy alive I demonstrated the new “Sombré” look with one of my models; I explained in depth the technique of creating a more natural look without the seeing a ”dreadful visual starting point” we see on some people. My favorite part of teaching is engaging with the attendants! This show allows more of an interaction scenario which I thrive on! When hairdresser wants to learn, and you see the “light bulb” per say, come on… well… I HAVE DONE WHAT I WAS PUT HERE TO DO!!

One thing that I felt sets this show apart from others is the barber competition and education that is provided.  It was so interesting to see the intricate designs they created, barbers truly have an eye for the lines of design.  Additionally, it always interests me to see the new hair color trends. During this show there were a lot of fashion shades such as reds, blues and even yellow.  The most dramatic fashion hair color I saw was an Ombré that went from blue to green, then yellow. It didn’t fully cover the whole head; instead there were thatchy pieces with an almost black foundation. This color wouldn’t work for me but I appreciate the colorist who is bold enough to try it and make it work with their face shape, skin tone, and haircut. Overall, I would consider the Manestream Hair & Beauty Expo a success. I never get tired of teaching regardless of the shows dynamics my PASSION is educating colorists to elevate the standard of the beauty industry.