MODERN SALON was graciously invited to attend the recent Phoenix session of Ulta Beauty’s Design Team on Tour series, where we joined a room full of current and future beauty professionals to hear from Ulta Elite Stylist and Design Team Member Justin Toves-Vincilione (@ahappyjustin). Over the course of the evening, Justin demonstrated a beautiful haircut and blowout while sharing his technical knowledge and chatting about his career journey thus far.

The Design Team on Tour series was created to bring techniques taught to members of the illustrious Design Team back to Ulta salons across the country. These sessions are not only open to Ulta service providers, but also local cosmetology students and stylists who may be considering The Salon at Ulta Beauty as a place of employment. This means that everyone who's interested can experience some of the top-notch education that Ulta has to offer up close.

Hosted by Ulta’s Beauty’s Casa Paloma location in Chandler, AZ, this session of Design Team on Tour attracted several students from schools throughout the surrounding area, including Paul Mitchell The School, Empire Beauty School and Aveda Institute. Attending stylists came from other local Ulta locations and salons.

Justin walked the audience through a layered cut and blowout on his live model, taking us through the entire process from consultation to finishing touches. During the demo he welcomed questions about his cutting and styling techniques, providing detailed answers with thoughtful explanations that connected the dots for the audience and, for some, in ways things hadn’t been explained to them before.

Attendees especially enjoyed talking with Justin about his career, including how certain mentors and ideas shifted his mindset when he was just starting out, how his work has evolved over the years, and how he first earned a spot on the inaugural Ulta Beauty Design Team. He spoke about how he credits social media with propelling his career forward and how creating tutorial videos increased his influence more than he could have imagined—even if he didn’t think they were worthy at first.

Justin’s model came away with a gorgeous new look, complete with stylish fringe and layers customized to suit her face, and she was ecstatic.

See the video below for a recap of the evening: