LAS VEGAS, NEVADA—The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) held the 27th annual North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA), the most prestigious photographic beauty competition, on Sunday, July 24th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas during PBA Beauty Week. Sophisticate’s Hairstyle Guide was once again proud to be a media partner and report on all our social media platforms during the event hosted by Tony award-winning actor Alan Cumming. Here, we present some of the winners of 2016’s NAHAs! Drum roll, please!

LONDON, ENGLAND—Hairdressers Journal International hosted 2016’s British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional, bringing glitz and glam out to celebrate a year of wonderful creative achievements. The event drew a crowd of 1700 of the worlds’ finest hairstylists, who gathered at London’s glamourous Grosvener House, a JW Marriott hotel, for one of Europe’s biggest industry shows.

With nine regional and six specialist categories, as well as the ultimate award, British Hairdresser of the Year, the awards have launched careers of some of the world’s most recognized talent like John Frieda, Nicky Clarke, Anthony Mascolo, Jamie Stevens and Andrew Barton to name a few.

This year’s ceremony was hosted by English comedian/actor David Walliams, along with Hairdressers Journal International’s executive director, Jayne Lewis-Orr.

Sophisticate’s Hairstyle Guide is pleased to present this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at our amazingly creative industry and some of the hairdressers’ work that helped them win their award! Cheers!

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Bigger, smarter, prettier and better than ever are the words that best describe this year’s Premiere Orlando International Beauty Event! Continuing in the league of excellence, this years’ show, attended by thousands of professionals, kept us busy trying to cover all the fab events! From the Main Stage headlined by the most sought after leaders of the pro beauty industry to the Hair Color Stage featuring amazing colorists showcasing the latest trends to classrooms, workshops, competitions and a show floor that was buzzing with activity…we could hardly keep up! On this page we feature a peak into the world of beauty—behind the scenes! Our walk-away?

Led by Aveda’s Antoinette Beenders, the style trend show featured Stella McCartney’s effortless beautiful, British-inspired clothes as well as a live jazz band and other performers and entertainers. Beenders and the Aveda team did the mane looks shown here!

The 1940’s Pin-up was a feast for the eyes, taking us back to a time when ‘40s bombshells ruled. Aveda artist Sue Thompson did the inspired style, held in place with Aveda’s Air Control Light Hold Hair Spray. Tip? A deep side part!

The Back to Barber look was designed by Aveda artist Ricardo Dinis. “Their hair was a ‘suit’ look, inspired by the men of the 1940s,” the Artistic Director explained. Tip? Gel!

Model Undone by Aveda artist Antoinette Beenders was designed to bring out natural texture, while keeping the look simple and the focus on the fashion. Tip? Aveda Pure Abundance Style-Prep to get a perfectly undone look!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK This past October, members of Intercoiffure America/Canada (the most powerful and influential organization in the hair dressing industry) gathered at New York’s beautiful Waldorf-Astoria under the direction of President Frank Gambuzza. The Fall Atelier featured presentations from the ICA Artistic Director Van Council and other artists such as Tracey Hughes, Angus Mitchell, Sonya Dove and more! Platinum Sponsors were Wella Professionals, L’Oréal Professionnel, RevitaLash Cosmetics, Goldwell, Kerastase Paris and Artego. The Sunday Night Gala (and hairdressing show, seen on these pages) showcased some of the most beautiful looks in our industry today. We hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes peek at the beauty that is hair…Intercoiffure America/Canada style!

Photos: courtesy Intercoiffure America/Canada.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK New York Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2017 collections were quite the melding of some of fashion’s most creatively inspiring people. But what we kept our eye on was the hair, and what looks and products hair designers were creating and using.

From Aveda’s Global Creative Director, Antoinette Beenders, who designed a ripple-hair look for Tome, to Scott Cunha for Matrix, who used the fab Style Link product line on celebrity fashion model Ireland Baldwin. Aveda Guest Artist Frank Rizzieri created a sleek look for the Tibi show, while L’Anza Healing Haircare runway stylist Jorge Luis went for more undone wet looks for the God Save Queens models.

Macadamia Professional lead stylist Eiji Yamane designed a perfectly Parisian look for the Zang Toi show. Jorge Luis, for L’Anza Healing Haircare, kept looks beautifully textured for the Urban Zen collection. Luis also was busy working the Michelle Helene collection, echoing a global vibe to complement fashions.

All in all, the looks were stunning and the fashions amazing.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—This year’s larger-than-life America’s Beauty Show (ABS) by Cosmetologists Chicago—an association of 14,256 salon professionals—hosted 82,109 gate admissions including salon owners, cosmetologists, colorists, nail techs, barbers, estheticians, exhibitor persons, models and media in Chicago’s beautiful lakefront facility, McCormick Place, the largest such center in the United States! Featuring 410 exhibits (375 domestic and 35 foreign), we knew we were in for quite the few days just checking and reporting on all the wonderful new and exciting happenings in our industry!

Not one but two! Yes, there were two ABS runways that featured incomparable artists like Chrystofer Benson, Nicholas French, Guy Tang, Sam Villa and more industry icons whose work has appeared on the pages of Sophisticate’s Hairstyle Guide over the years. On Monday, several hundred haircolorists immersed themselves in the half-day ColorFEST 2017 event featuring major color companies and colorists who presented the new color trends for the pros to bring back to their salons for their color-loving customers!

Sophisticate’s Hairstyle Guide and sister publication Sophisticate’s Black Hair were two of the media sponsors for The Beauty Changes Lives Experience on Sunday evening, held at Chicago’s world-famous Art Institute in the Modern Wing. Matrix co-founders Arnold and Sydell Miller received the 2017 Legacy Award at the fundraising event that helps support NextGen talent. Attendees received beautiful product-filled gift bags enhanced by the current issue of Sophisticate’s!

“Listen. Support. Connect.” is the required Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault training class for Illinois cosmetology license renewals, and was taken by thousands of salon pros and owners. The class taught the pros how to recognize symptoms of DV/SA and how to provide resources for their clients. From the latest in hair/makeup/skin/nails to doing good in the community through the industry—we must say, this was one amazing beauty show we will never forget!

Photography by Jordan Chollette/Chollette Made, Paul Weltich/Courtesy America’s Beauty Show, Lora Wintz and Bonnie L. Krueger