The Professional Beauty Show is an annual pilgrimage for beauty addicts like me, and yesterday myself and thousands of others made the trip to London’s Excel centre to revel in all things beauty related.
After fighting the traffic for far longer than I would’ve liked, we made it into the busy and bustling exhibition hall at around lunchtime. The plan had been to arrive for 10am when it opened, but unfortunately the roads had other ideas, and it did mean that the centre was heaving when we started looking around. There were two other shows going on at the same time; a baby show and what appeared to be a comic book convention, both in other parts of the Excel. Although they were completely separate, this did add to the volume of traffic and length of time it took to fight for a car parking space!
The first thing that hits you when you walk into Pro Beauty is the sheer size. It never ceases to impress me how many exhibitors there are. It just goes to show that even in these austere times, beauty is paramount to a lot of people.
We decided to take a strategic route around to make sure we saw every stand and didn’t miss anything out. There are exhibitors from every avenue of beauty; from salon and therapist supplies, the newest gadgets and gizmos, to makeup and treatments. Those that you have heard of and those that you haven’t! I love Pro Beauty for discovering new trends and brands, it was the first to introduce me to nail wraps and lash extensions over the years, well before they became main stream.
I bumped into Marek and the team from The London School of Beauty and Makeup at their stand, and all were as lovely as ever. For those who haven’t come across this fantastic school before, read my previous article here. The guys were talking to potential students and showing off their gorgeous five-storey school in Barbican, and there seemed to be lots of interested people buzzing around.
In fact, there were quite a few makeup and beauty schools exhibiting, as well as a number of regulatory bodies, which just goes to show there is nothing like good training and accreditation to be successful in this industry.
The BioScupture Stand
There were lots and lots and lots (did I mention lots) of nail brands around, and every one of them seemed to be introducing or showcasing a new gel nail system. Names such as OPI, Shellac, Gelish and Jessica were there. I’m afraid to say though that I have still yet to come across a brand that will tempt me away from Bio Sculpture, which I have been avidly devoted to for over five years. I just don’t think that anyone else can beat the long lasting, protective coating and great range of colours that Bio Sculpture offer, and judging by their heaving stand, I’m not the only one! I can’t wait to try their newly released spring colours, which are gorgeous pastels, from mint green to lilac.
They’ve also just released a new LED lamp which cures in seconds rather than minutes and is supposed to set your nails even harder. The Bio Sculpture technician that I go to has just invested in this, so I’ll let you know whether it lives up to expectations.
I had wanted to take a peek at the Sleep Roller stand as they seem to be really popular at the moment. Unfortunately they were so popular I couldn’t get near the stand and I didn’t get a chance to go back later when it had calmed down!
Gary Cockerill
I was lucky enough to meet the brilliant Gary Cockerill and to be able to tell him how much of a fan I was of his lash range, which I now use as my go-to lashes for most occasions. He was absolutely lovely and took some time to tell me about his newly launched Beauty Within product, which is a supplement drink designed to boost your hair, skin and nails. He explained that although he loves makeup and making people look great on the outside, he firmly believes in working on the inside too. I had a little taste and the fruit flavour was surprisingly tasty and I’m sure it will be really popular.
Billion Dollar Brows
A massive thank you has to go out to the fabulous BD Brows team. There were numerous brow artists at the show, and whilst some were better known than others, I am truly a BDB convert. You may remember I went to their winter event last year (if not you can read about it here) so I am already familiar with the brand. The stand was buzzing and Kerrie and Lauren were never short of guinea pigs wanting perfect brows. The brow buddy tool was incredibly popular, and they were the only brow company to demonstrate such an innovative way to get the perfect arch. Lauren kindly tackled mine and my friends’ brows and we both said how impressed we were afterwards, despite the fact that we both have totally different hair colour and type, and our brows were completely different, she managed to create brows that really suited each of our faces. Every now and again you come across a brand that you really love, and Billion Dollar Brows are one of those for me. I love their prescriptive approach, and the way they combine the treatment with great products.
We then popped past the Calla Distribution stand and I enjoyed meeting the team there and looking at the products, especially the eyeSlices which I was lucky enough to try some time ago. (If you missed my review you can see it here).
Prep gets underway for the spray tanning world record
Spray tans were popular as ever and there were lots of bronzed models walking around in not a lot to demonstrate the golden hues of their chosen brands. Sienna X seemed very popular, which was no surprise, as did Crazy Angel, who I hadn’t come across before. At today’s show they are attempting to break the world record for the number of spray tans completed at once, aiming at around 300 and I’m very disappointed I’m going to miss that sight!
As we made our way out, I detoured past Aromatherapy Associates as the smell was just too tempting! After a long day of walking around, we were quite glad to sit down back at the car, but we both agreed that we’d had a fabulous day. I can’t say I particularly noticed many new emerging trends this year, it seemed to be the year of the nail, brows and tan if the number of exhibitors were anything to go by.
Did you visit the Professional Beauty Show this year? If so what did you think and who were your favourite exhibitors? Do let me know, I love reading everyone’s comments and messages! You can find out more about the show by visiting www.professionalbeauty.co.uk
Original article: A day at the Professional Beauty Show 2013…
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