Cosmoprof North America 2012 Post Show Release

I still have lots to show you from Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas (which is why I've been posting 4+ times a day!), but I wanted to include the Post Show Release.  I was really proud to be a part of this year's show as a media blogger again.  I feel like I had a swift kick in the blogging pants to get back into the swing of things and also I was honored to speak on Social Media.  I was told that we received great conference feedback, and that is the best compliment ever.  Please enjoy the following press release.

COSMOPROF NORTH AMERICA 2012

POST SHOW RELEASE

 

Las Vegas, NV (July 25, 2012) –  Celebrating 10 years in Las Vegas, Cosmoprof North America continues to exemplify the energy and creativity that drive the beauty industry. This year’s show boasted the highest attendance and participation, which proves that the beauty industry is resilient and poised for expansion in the upcoming year.  Cosmoprof North America prides itself on uniting attendees and exhibitors, acting as the ultimate platform for networking, sharing new and upcoming products and cultivating new business relationships.  Encompassing all sectors of the industry under one venue, Cosmoprof North America remains the single most important forum for the beauty industry in the United States.  

The event, which was held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from July 22 – 24, featured 856 exhibiting companies to a sold out show floor along with over 25,000 attendees representing a 9% increase to the year before that included importers, distributors, manufactures, and global beauty leaders all under one roof. As in past years, CPNA attracted many new and innovative brands in addition to industry leaders such as AHAVA, CONAIR, CND, Essie / L’Oreal Professional, Moroccan Oil, OPI Nail, Orly, RUSK, Schwarzkopf, and Zotos International.

The International Buyer Program, sponsored by UNIPRO, the Italian Association of Cosmetic Industries, once again united buyers and sellers around the world with the resources, contacts, and data to build business partnerships. Beauty and cosmetic companies showcased their products and were offered the opportunity to have pre-scheduled appointments with a group of selected importers and distributors. Overall 300 meetings were held between international buyers involving more than 150 exhibiting companies and 88 qualified international buyers. The international buyers were invited from Argentina, Canada, Chili, Honduras and Mexico; the US Commercial Service was also present at the event with buyers from Bulgaria, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Canada, Ecuador and New Zealand.

Through strong collaborations with countries seeking to expand their beauty trade presence, CPNA dedicated special sections on the show floor to distinct International Country Pavilions. Country Pavilions allow small and medium-sized companies from within select markets to participate in CPNA with the objective of obtaining direct “face time” with distributors and retailers to secure distribution in the U.S. Featured countries and regions at the 2012 show included Brazil, China, Columbia, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Discover Beauty, an exclusive initiative of CPNA, assists emerging brands in finding the appropriate retail market, while highlighting new trends. The one-on-one meetings with prominent retailers like BeautySage.com, C.O. Bigelow, Duane Reade, Henri Bendel, HSN, Nordstrom, Skins 6|2 and Zappos aim to give Discover Beauty brands critiques and feedback. The program returned this year with 15 brands competing for the prestigious Discover Beauty Award. With voting done by specialty retailers and editors from top beauty sites, these brands were judged on creativity, innovation and market readiness. The 2012 Discover Beauty Award winner is Layla Cosmetics from Italy, which was announced at the Discover Beauty party at MIX in THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. Fusing together the latest technology and Italian fashion influence, Layla Cosmetics has been creating trend setting and cutting edge nail products from Milan for over 70 years.

Earlier this year, CPNA unveiled its first-ever Discover Beauty partnership with BeautySage.com, the new e-commerce site founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen. BeautySage.com will host an exclusive Discover Beauty pop-up store that will feature three Discover Beauty brands from this year’s lineup. These brands, which were announced also announced at the Discover Beauty party include, Marula – The Leakey Collection, Recipe for men and Fairiche.

CPNA also introduced another new initiative this year as a part of the Discover Beauty program called, SPOTLIGHTS. This new exhibit space offered smaller companies that excel on creativity, but seek economic solutions, the opportunity to showcase their products at CPNA. With 19 brands in the program, SPOTLIGHTS featured small artisan labels that are a prime fit for high-end retail stores, boutiques, salons and spas, and was all abuzz with activity throughout the three days of the show.

Top trade publications from across the globe joined leading beauty industry professionals at the show to seek out the newest emerging trends. CPNA also saw a higher presence of online media with over 100 bloggers reporting live from the show. In addition, Beaut-E Zone, which featured editors from Bellasugar.com, DailyMakeover.com, TotalBeauty.com and YouBeauty.com / BeautySage.com was a huge success. These leading online beauty editors were able to meet with exhibitors in Discover Beauty and report trends they discovered and show happenings on their respective sites; combined they have a total reach of over 30+ million readers.

Prior to the show, CPNA announced that five talented students from the Penrose Academy in Scottsdale, AZ would participate in CPNA’s second annual Trendscout program. While given unrestricted access to the show floor, the CPNA Trendscouts met with exhibitors to find new product launches and discover the latest trends. They reported their findings via Twitter and Facebook posts, which were displayed in real-time at the main entrance of the show floor, helping attendees identify the current trends at the show. CPNA will issue a Trend Report, which will be based on the scouts findings later this month.

Staying connected during the show was easier than ever this year. Attendees and exhibitors could “check in” via Foursquare and view show specials as well as download the new CPNA Smartphone App, which helped attendees find their favorite exhibitors and other companies. Guests could also scan the new CPNA QR Code that featured exclusive show promotions and tips from CPNA show organizers.

Every year CPNA brings industry leaders to the forefront to share innovative ideas and experiences that will help the beauty industry better understand the dynamics and market trends, current and future. Special education seminars were filled to capacity with more than 500 attendees in total. Business and industry leaders from multiple sectors of the industry participated in round-table discussions and panels to share their knowledge and insights.

CPNA Hosts PBA Beauty Week
In addition to all that CPNA offers, the event also hosts PBA Beauty Week from the Professional Beauty Association. PBA Beauty Week features the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA), PBA Symposium, and BEACON. All three events featured a record number of attendees.

The NAHAs in particular, which are the professional hair care industry’s single most important awards event of the year, were hosted by famed entertainment journalist and star of E! Network’s E! News and Fashion Police, Giuliana Rancic. In addition to hosting the show, Rancic also received the Professional Beauty Association’s Beautiful Humanitarian Award for her work with the charities Dress for Success, Bright Pink, Operation Smile, Mercy Home for Boys & Girls in Chicago, and the Children’s Miracle Networks. This year’s show was attended by a record number of more than 3,000 guests and was also seen worldwide via live online steaming broadcast by an additional 40,000.  Dimitrios Tsioumas of the Mizu Salon in New York City took home NAHA’s top prize, Hairstylist of the Year, as well as the Contemporary Classic honor. To see the winners, visit probeauty.org/naha.

Cosmoprof North America 2013 will take place July 14 – 16 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. For more information on exhibiting or attending, please visit cosmoprofnorthamerica.com or call 800-557-3356.

JulieG Julie's Fave

After getting my Shellac off, I decided to pull out JulieG's Julie's Fave, a melon pink creme that is neither too bubble gum or Barbie pink and doesn't go off into the neons either.  It's a very pretty shade for the office or just for a night out.  I used a base coat of Poshe, 2 coats of polish, and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula was nice on this polish - not too runny, not too thick.

Here in the summer sun, the color almost pulls neon, but I promise you it's not.  I think it goes well with many skin tones, mine included!

Meanwhile in the shade, you can see how this color just lays beautiful, no streaks or anything.  I wasn't able to get a good picture indoors with the flash - too much caffeine in my system or something because I was not able to stay still.


A great staple add to your collection if you're looking for a nice melon creme.


You can purchase JulieG in Rite Aid stores across the US or shop online at Jesse's Girl Cosmetics which ships worldwide!  JulieG sells for $3.99 for a 0.35 fl oz (10 mL) bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Studio One, Portland, Maine

As you can see above (and I mentioned earlier!) I got engaged on 19 June 2012.  It was short and sweet - he took me to the restaurant where we had our first date, pulled out the box, asked me to marry him.  :]  We were traveling to Maine, his home state, at the end of June, and I really wanted to get a Shellac manicure for the week long trip that would end with his family reunion.

I originally was going to a place near my town to have it done, but due to family circumstances, I had to cancel and pray for a place in Maine to get Shellac done.  I checked the CND Salon Locator and found Studio One, in Old Port, Portland, Maine.  It was about a 30 minute drive from where we were staying, so I convinced the fiance to go and we could check out some cool architecture.

I decided not to make an appointment and instead to just "walk in" and see what kind of service I could get. To my delight, they had an opening in 45 minutes, so we headed downstairs to Anthony's to eat (which was amazing, by the way).

The salon itself is very open and inviting while still maintaining a professional vibe.  The magazines available are current (which you don't really think about but when you're at an appointment early, it makes a difference!), and they offered me a water, but I declined since I had just eaten lunch.

Now, I cannot for the life of me find the business card from my manicurist, so I do apologize that I am not mentioning her by name.  

Studio One offers other gel services too, such as Young Nails, but I was pleased to see that for the Shellac services, all the CND products were being used.  Mixing and matching products can result in flawed results for the client.

Because I had just recently had a manicure, I didn't need my nails trimmed or shaped, and I chose to put on Hollywood, a pretty red, with a top coat of Mother of Pearl, a light holographic scattered glitter, much like China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I ended up spilling that I was a nail blogger, so my manicurist did not explain the entire process to me but I really loved that she had it down to an art on her side.  She would have one hand in the UV lamp while the other was being polished, and then she would move the lamp over for me so I didn't have to twist my wrists or cross my arms to get to the lamp.  It was a relaxing hour that ended with a soft hand scrub with a CND spa scrub.

The ONLY complaint that I have was that at the end of my Shellac manicure, instead of using 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the "sticky layer" that sits on top of the nail after the top coat has cured, she used pure acetone.  I literally drew my hands back in horror and said "What is that" after smelling acetone, and she assured me that she did this with all her Shellac manicures.  

This is not what CND has said to use.  CND has explicitly said that only 99% isopropyl alcohol should be used to remove the "sticky layer."  Acetone is used to break down Shellac through the microtunnels that is created by the Shellac coats.  Needless to say, I allowed her to wipe my nails with the acetone, and as a result, my nails felt rubbery until the day I removed said Shellac.  She also did not apply Solar Oil after my manicure, but I asked for some anyway, and she provided it from her desk.  (I was not offered a mini bottle to take home.)

I paid $30 for my Shellac services on 26 June.

Freshly Shellac-ed!

Other than the "rubbery" feeling, I was very pleased with my Shellac manicure from this location and if I was in the area again, I'd come back.  I would, however, stop her from using acetone this time on my finished nails.

I removed my Shellac on my own on 10 July 2012 without any issues.  CND does not recommend for the client to remove her Shellac on her own to maintain the integrity of the nail.  

Shellac - 10 days later! 

I had zero lifting, splitting, tip wear, or any other problems after my 14 days... I just wanted a nail polish change.  :]

Edit: I had the original dates wrong. I wore this polish for 14 days, not just 10.

Shellac Day 14

Left Hand - Day 14

Right Hand - Day 14

China Glaze: On Safari!

When I first saw the leaked pictures of China Glaze On Safari! back in the spring of 2012, I could barely believe it.  First, I was shocked that they were leaked (which now they are tightly holding onto press pictures), and secondly, I saw some BEAUTIFUL glitters!  Well lovelies, I have all 12 of these polishes on my desk right now, and let me tell you, they aren't lion about how pretty they are (har har, I made a funny!).  No seriously, they really are awesome.  Please enjoy the following press release (all images courtesy of AII).

UNTAMED COLOUR AWAITS YOU 

China Glaze® Introduces 12 New Crèmes and Glitters for Fall 2012 

Los Angeles, CA – (May 2012): China Glaze® nail lacquer invites you to take an exotic expedition with its Fall 2012 collection, On Safari. Be captivated by the earthy tones, rich plums and celestial sparkles that make up this adventurous assortment of polishes. 


The China Glaze® On Safari features 10 rich crèmes and two glitters including: 

Kalahari Kiss

Light sand brown

I’m Not Lion

Glistening gold and multi-color glitter

Call of the Wild

Beautiful chocolate brown-dark cherry blend

Adventure Red-y

Vivid red

Desert Sun

Delicious caramel

I Herd That

Brilliant copper glitter

Man Hunt

Bold cobalt blue

Exotic Encounters

Lush green crème with blue undertones

Elephant Walk

Cool graphite grey

Jungle Queen

Smoky violet

Purr-fect Plum

Bold burgundy

Prey Tell

Daringly dark red

On Safari is also available in

6-piece “Native” Collection: Man Hunt, Exotic Encounters, Elephant Walk, Jungle Queen, Purr-fect Plum and Prey Tell 

6-piece “Tourist” Collection: Kalahari Kiss, I’m Not Lion, Call of the Wild, Adventure Red-y, Desert Sun and I Herd That


12-piece counter display The China Glaze® On Safari collection will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in July 2012. Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP; the 6-piece sets retail for $42 MSRP. 


China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. 


For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze 


China Glaze is a division of American International Industries. 


About American International Industries
For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.

Gelish: An Experience

UPDATE!

This has been a popular post for me, but turns out - I really didn't know what I was doing with Gelish. I've since written other postings about different colors and an updated experience here.

At the end of May, I went in for my routine manicure.  Despite being able to paint my own nails (and normally, do a decent job of it!), I'm horrible at keeping my cuticles healthy and my nail shape consistent.  For that, I go to a manicurist/nail technician in my home town.  She has been doing nails for over 20 years, I went to school with her kids, she's a super sweet woman, and oddly enough, she lives just down the street from me.  During this visit, she asked me if I wanted to try Gelish, free of charge, in addition to my normal natural manicure.  I was slightly hesitant because I am fond of another company's product, but I figured for blogging reasons, it would be good to try Gelish.

Unfortunately for both of us, we ended up doing a lot of talking during my manicure, and ended up putting a few too many coats of polish on.  It was supposed to be one coat of base coat, 3 coats of Sheek White (for opacity) and then a top coat.  I think we got at least 2 coats of top coat on there and maybe an extra coat of Sheek White on at least one hand.  We were also distracted by another salon employee who was gabbing with us at the same time.  Originally, my manicurist wanted to just do French white tips but I am not a French kind of girl, and convinced her to go with the entire nail.  I figured I could really test the way polish applies over Gelish and maybe get to wear some awesome neons in the process!

You may be able to tell a bit on my pinkie finger, that some of the gel got on my cuticle area.  Once wet, it caused the gel to lift from the nail, but not enough to catch anything under it.  I also had this problem on my index finger where some gel got on the side cuticle.  To avoid this, make sure that before you cure the nails under the UV lamp, you wipe away any gel that has gotten onto the cuticles or else it will harden and potentially risk staying power of the manicure.

As soon as I got home, I started playing with colors.  I found that my holographic polishes refused to adhere to the glossy top of the Gelish manicure, and glitter, while fun, did not want to come off the nail with non-acetone polish remover.  You cannot use acetone polish remover or else risk removing the Gelish itself.

I ended up settling for OPI DS Extravagance which I picked up in Ulta one day as a lucky find.

By Day 5, I was getting quite bored of my manicure but wasn't quite ready to take it off yet.  As you can see, the white has slightly yellowed, and you can see the failed attempts of my glitter removal from Day 1 on the middle finger.

By Day 13, I still had pretty decent coverage - no real lifting and no tip wear, so I decided to go all out and finally wear my bottle of Floam by Nail Venturous, knowing that when it was time to remove this matte glitter, everything must go.

Just one day later, I was ready to get this off.  I felt like I had done my two weeks, and yes, Gelish had lived up to my standard of gel polish.  Now time for removal.

My manicurist had NOT told me how to remove Gelish, probably thinking I'd come in to have the gels removed by her.  Instead, I took a cotton ball, soaked it in acetone, placed it on my nail, wrapped my finger in foil, and waited 5 minutes.  When I pulled the foil off, most of the Floam had been removed but none of the Gelish.

I rewrapped with a new cotton ball and foil and this time waited 15 minutes.  When I pulled off the foil, I had most of the Gelish off, and I used an orange stick to scrape off the rest.

One down, 9 to go?

I let this nail soak for 30 minutes and when I pulled off my foil, I had all this flaky white mess to deal with.

In total, it took me four hours to remove my Gelish, and my nails felt like trash.  What did I do wrong?!

Well, you are supposed to lightly file the tops of your nails to "break the seal" with Gelish.  In not "breaking the seal", my Gelish couldn't get the acetone down into its layers to break apart the gel.  This small tip was something that led to much frustration and broken orange sticks.  

Ladies (and gentlemen!) if you are going to get a gel manicure, regardless of brand, ask your manicurist/nail technician what the proper removal process is!  Some brands, such as Gelish, require a "breaking of the seal" to remove!

Lesson learned!

Will I try Gelish again?  Currently no, only because I have another brand that I prefer, and a local salon that carries it.  I do like all the colors that Gelish offers, but I do not have the need for a gel manicure, since I change my polish so often.  The good thing about gel polish for me, is that it allows my nails to be protected as I grow them out.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by my manicurist for testing consideration.  For more information, please read this post.