Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were full of experiences that I will never forget. Ever since my plane touched down on Saturday, I had butterflies of excitement in my stomach as to what would come next. This past weekend/week were full of meeting new people, learning about new product brands, and best of all attending some of our industry’s most prestigious events like City of Hope and the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA).

As far as coverage…

Saturday:

Arrived in Las Vegas at the decadent (and massive) Mandalay Bay Hotel—definitely a sight to see! From my hotel bedroom window you could see the mountaintops, the airplanes coming into Las Vegas, and a little bit of the famous Las Vegas Strip.

After getting settled, Stacey Soble, Editor-in-Chief of Salon Today and I attended a press conference on a new website that is being launched called, Bangstyle.com (at the Bellagio in Las Vegas), presented by Rick Kornbluth and Geoffery Nelson, who introduced the indie-based website, which focuses on topics like music, art and beauty all-in-one. According to Nelson, the website will offer free articles, and user generated profiles with free music stream channels, social media linking, education and more.

After the event, we checked out more of the Mandalay Bay hotel, and of course, the MODERN SALON Booth, which was located at D1099.

Saturday night's City of Hope Gala was in my opinion, the official kick-off for Cosmoprof North America 2011. Cosmoprof attendees, exhibitors and members of the press were invited to honor Joico Vice President and General Manager Sara Jones as the National Professional Salon Industry's 2011 Spirit of Life Recipient.

To learn a little more about Sara Jones listen to News Editor Jan Hillenmeyer’s exclusive PODCAST with Sara Jones.

Sunday:

Sunday morning was a fantastic time in the Mandalay Bay Ballroom, where Jan Hillenmeyer, Stacey Soble and I all attended the PBA Symposium breakfast. At this event they gave us a brief introduction to the show, and also what the Professional Beauty Association (PBA)has been doing as far as membership, their accomplishments, and partnerships.

Scott Buchanan, Vice President of PBA started off the presentation, followed by Executive Director Steve Sleeper who tributed Pivot Point founder Leo Passage, and outlined PBA’s Road to Success (their accomplishments and how a stylist can become more successful through PBA membership). Just announced on Sunday, PBA has launched a membership and retention campaign for gaining 500 new members within the year.

According to PBA, this year’s Cosmoprof had approximately 25,000 attendees from 90 countries around the world, and there were 700 exhibitors from 32 different countries. All I can say by walking around the show floor was that I believe those numbers! It’s absolutely huge, for those of you who are thinking about attending next year.

If you are a salon owner and you are looking to expand your business, attending Cosmoprof is a must. There were so many new and existing brands that you need to check out—it’s a complete learning experience. While at MODERN SALON as the Product Editor, I have learned so much about all kinds of products, their ingredients, benefits and features. I have to say that at this show, I came across so many different (and unique) brands that were worth learning about. Check out the slidedshow for a little taste (plus other pictures of me with celeb stylists).

I could go on and on about the different companies that I came across this past weekend, but there is so much more that I want to tell you all about!

For those of you who are fans of the new Gel nails—ORLY has just launched a new color match gel manicure system called, GelFX. These chip-free manicures last for two weeks, and are matched with 32 of the top selling colors from ORLY, along with the possibility of combining both the gel and the regular polish into one great look. After getting the GelFX manicure myself, I do have to say that it is pretty quick—took only 35 minutes. The GelFX manicure is completed with ORLY’S vitamin-infused Cuticle Oil, made with orange blossom and wild cherry extracts to condition and moisturize problem cuticles.

After Orly the day was full of meetings with IZUNAMI and Macadamia Natural Oil. IZUNAMI showed me their new flatiron, the KTX450, which is 3/4" larger than the standard flatiron. The plates are titanium coated and bonded with aluminum. The temperature gauge ranges from 215° to 400°, but there is also an option of clicking straight to 450° (for keratin treatments). Interestingly, the flatiron also contains an Independent Temperature Control system (ITC), which helps save the integrity of the hair, says President/CEO Mike Kim. “We need to make all appliances safer. WE here at IZUNAMI are all about providing our customers with a product that leaves a healthier finish. Education and keeping the hair healthy as possible with the use of our tools is our company’s mission.”(izunami.com)

Macadamia Natural Oil is now introducing a new curl cream to further their styling line, along with a No Tangle Brush (which contains different levels of bristles for better detangling). When I asked if they were seeing any new hair trends lately, their answer followed the norm of people I had asked the same question to, that soft, healthy therapeutic lines are becoming more interesting to clients lately. All of Macadamia’s products follow this thought process too, with each of their products containing both argan oil and Macadamia oil which provide elasticity to the hair and mimic your body’s own natural oils. Another product that is being launched by this company are their Boar Bristle brushes at the end of September. Boar bristle is actually the type of brush that I use daily, and I absolutely love it! It makes your hair shiny, it aids in straightening and protects against flyaways.

The night was entirely all about NAHA and the Red Carpet Reception. Here are some pictures of the event! For a complete list of the winners visit here.

Monday:

Monday morning I met with American Culture, which is launching a new product called Pure NV (Natural Vitamins), which is sodium chloride-free, sulfate-free and paraben-free. The complete line features shampoo, conditioning, styling and finishing products. This line contains a complex formulation of nutrients obtained from fruits, vegetables and plants that adress specific needs in the texture of hair. By infusing this complex with Argan Oil and Keratin, they have created this line and maintenence system.

According to American Culture their hot product at the show this year was their Color Lock, which is basically a “clear gloss and keratin in a bottle” that lasts 8-12 weeks once applied. This company forecasts that “texture management” will be the hot trend this year, and they believe that within the next 2-3 years this trend will be equal to hair color.

After American Culture, I met up with Stacey Soble and we had breakfast with the founders of Eufora, Don and Beth Bewley at the Raffles Café in THE Hotel. They filled us in on some of the new things going on at the Eufora salons, and the overall process of what they did to make the brand what is today (their line is now offered in approximately 500 salons nationwide). Eufora is coming out with a new product called Beautifying Serum, which is a treatment oil for hair, skin and scalp. It contains cranberry oil (which helps enhance scalp circulation;) Kukui (a fast absorbing, non-greasy, antioxidant rich plant that helps lock in moisture and acts as a protective shield against environmental stressors;) Neem (a tree native to India, which is believed to treat skin ailments and inflammation;) and Argan (found in Morocco which helps protect hair from heat, oxidation and chemical services).

For lunch, I met with Alterna’s Vice President of Marketing Mary Burns and Global Creative Director Michael Shaun Corby at the Border Grill in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. They have a ton going on at this company currently! First of all, they are coming out with their new Bamboo UV+ Color Protection Vibrant Color Line which contains a shampoo, conditioner, mask and fade-proof fluid. All of these products provide a UVA/UVB shielding barrier that fade-proofs color while enhancing vibrancy and multi-dimensional shine in the hair. It’s ideal for women who color treat and want to keep that just-left-the-salon vibrancy and for those with natural color who want to prevent fading.

As far as trends, Corby says that he sees shorter bobs and braids as the trend right now. They also say that UV and thermal protection are hot topics (which coincide with their new line).

Monday night I attended the Little Green launch at Skins 6|2 in the Cosmopolitan, a store that caters to luxury products for people of all ages. I got to preview this new collection, which provides gentle hair and body care for babies and kids. According to Carmen Depasquale, founder of the brand, his own grandchildren were his inspiration. He mentioned that this line will provide parents who care about the integrity of their children's hair will now have a safe, and effective option. Maggie also got to interview the owner for MODERN SALON TV…so make sure you keep a watch out for that segment!

Anyway that is it for now. In the next couple of days I will be posting all of my Cosmoprof photos to MODERN’S Facebook site, so keep a look out.

Lauren