ISSE Long Beach 2010

I cannot believe that it’s 2010. BOY how time flies.

This year it seemed to me that everyone attending the show was more beautiful than in previous years. I was talking about this with a friend of mine and wondered if I was just getting old and was appreciating the beauty of youth, but he assured me that was not the case and that everyone WAS more put together, fashionable and attractive than in the past few years. He also told me “Yes, you are getting old”. Thanks Joe. This is also where I take the opportunity to tell you about Joe’s product line, Shuga and you absolutely have to try his Leave In aerosol conditioner. It is just plain brilliant!

I was honored enough to be able to work with The Netwerk this year in their Technical Theater presentation. The inspiration for this presentation was to design your haircut based on architecturally designed furniture. My designs were based on the cardboard chair (simple shapes with corrugated edges for texture) and the iconic bean bag chair (a big puff shape with seams and a dent where someone was sitting). The hair was something that we should all be proud of. I hope to continue to work with the guys in the future.

I was styling my ‘bean bag chair’ shape, crimping and crimping and teasing and teasing. I was a little lost as to how to develop the shape at first but then I remembered a pattern that Martin Parsons had showed me so I started to develop the shape off that concept. After I got finished with one entire side, I had the seams looking pretty good, the texture was good and it was pretty big, I’m fine tuning it and over my shoulder I hear “That’s looking really good”, I turn back to see who it was and it was none other than the style master himself, Martin Parsons. What a surprise. I laughed and told him that I was stealing his patterns and I was going to claim it as my own. He laughed and said that he would steal it back. EVERY time that I do any kind of style I always fall back on the techniques that Martin taught me at one of his hands on classes that I was lucky enough to attend and assist at. If you have never been, I would strongly urge you to take advantage of it because he will give you not only the knowledge but also the confidence to style hair. Worth every penny!!! Thanks Martin for teaching me.

I walked around the show floor on Monday, as I was working on the presentation Sunday, and found myself at the Sassoon booth watching the artist do some amazing work when in front of me Nick Arrojo snuck by. I jokingly said to him, “Trying to sneak a peak without being noticed?”. He saw me and we chuckled, we started talking about Sassoon and my current favorite hairstylist Mark Hayes. Nick Arrojo then proceeded to give me some advice that I will never forget and treasure. Remember the saying “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”? Well, evidently I was ready and Nick Arrojo was my teacher that day. I always liked Nick, but now he is a mentor to me and he doesn’t even know it. Thank you!

I’ll be posting some pictures from the show, so be on the look out for those.

Until next time my friends….