The most important event for the international cosmetic industry is finally back for in-person attendance: after more than two years, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna inaugurates its 53rd edition, welcoming over 2,700 companies from 70 countries and buyers from 120 countries to Bologna from April 28 to May 2, 2022. 

The 2022 edition responds to market expectations with figures consistent with previous years’ results, despite the complications related to the international scenario. The exhibition center is sold-out: more than 30 pavilions and external structures host the over 2,700 exhibitors present, representing 70 countries. 26 Country Pavilions, with small and medium-sized enterprises ready to showcase the best of the cosmetic production from Belgium, Brazil, China, South Korea, Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK and USA. Cosmoprof is pleasantly impressed by its ability to renew itself and adapt to new business tools. A reassuring fact that brought buyers from more than 120 countries to Bologna. 

“After two years of stopping the exhibition activities, the 2022 edition of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna is a sign of optimism and confidence in the ability of the industry to restart,” says Gianpiero Calzolari, President of BolognaFiere. “In line with safety protocols, manufacturers, companies, and operators worldwide are finally returning to traditional business activities, and the exchange between supply and demand can resume, re-establishing the role of trade shows. The gradual easing of control measures at the entrance of exhibition centers is an acknowledgment from the institutions that we greatly appreciate. This edition of Cosmoprof is a real moment of relaunch for the sector. In recent months, the promotional and support activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ITA – Italian Trade Agency have been fundamental. We will continue to work with institutions to cope with the complexities of the global scenario and accompany our industry on its restart path”. 

“With the Pact for Export, the Italian government is committed to promoting the main international fairs in our country, such as Cosmoprof. As one of the symbols of Made in Italy, our cosmetic industry continues to captivate the world”, states the Undersecretary of State, On. Manlio Di Stefano, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. 

“This long-awaited 53rd edition of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna confirms a synergy between fair, industry and institutions, which has further strengthened in recent years marked by the pandemic. The entire cosmetic sector has never stopped; on the contrary, it has demonstrated the essential role that its products play in our daily life and the strong dynamism of its companies,  commented Renato Ancorotti, President of Cosmetica Italia.  

COSMOPACK 

The transformation of the cosmetics industry begins with the supply chain. This is demonstrated by Cosmopack, the only fair that hosts all sectors of the supply chain – contract manufacturing and private labels, process and packaging machinery, primary and secondary packaging, applicators, ingredients, and raw materials. 

Cosmopack 2022 will host 9% more exhibition space, with 27% more new companies participating for the first time and exhibitors from 33 countries. The event is the cradle of industry trends: a reference point for discovering the most advanced industrial solutions, which will be the basis for the restart of the industry in the coming months. In particular, the presence of an area specifically dedicated to leading companies supplying machines and full-service solutions makes Cosmopack unique and different from all other international competitors. 

COSMO|PERFUMERY & COSMETICS 

At Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, halls 14, 16, 16a, 19, 21, 22, 26, and 29b will host Cosmo | Perfumery & Cosmetics, with over 1,100 exhibitors of skincare, fragrance, and proposals for the retail channel ready to welcome buyers, distributors and retailers interested in scouting mass-market, prestige and masstige references, including genderless products, designed and created to meet the needs of cosmopolitan and new-generation consumers. 
 
Cosmoprime, the pavilion dedicated to selective and high-end cosmetics, will host numerous premium and luxury brands, icons of trends, and novelties with a strong vocation for sustainability. Within the Zoom on Emerging Prime area, selected companies attending Cosmoprof for the first time in Bologna will bring new ideas on ingredients and formulations and new consumer functional needs. The Extraordinary Gallery will welcome companies with innovative concepts in terms of formula and packaging and brand philosophy that is attentive to the consumption habits of the younger generations. 

The D38 is one of the most popular Denman brush buys and is the weapon of choice for countless hair professionals. They love it for its quality build and iconic styling pin design along with its ability to combine speed, comfort and control. The D38 detangles, defines curls and push-dries with ease. The new ‘Splash’ colourway is only available to professional customers and has been designed to celebrate the artist in every stylist and colourist.

Price: £18.00 inc VAT 
Dimensions: 24.5cm long 8cm wide 
www.demanbrush.com 

Blind Aid is London’s oldest sight loss charity and offers a network of volunteers, community projects and social events to deliver meaningful life enhancing aid, skills and experiences across the City. Denman’s International Business Manager, Martyn Wady recently joined a haircare and styling workshop at Hackney Depot run by Session Stylist Anna Cafone (@annacafone) for a blind and partially sighted group. Thankfully Martyn is also a qualified and experienced hair professional which meant that he couldn’t resist pitching in, as well as bringing along lots of tools for the attendees to take away.  

Martyn says “It’s tough to imagine how challenging haircare and styling can be for the blind and partially sighted. I was so pleased to be able to make a contribution to the amazing work that Anna does with Blind Aid. Denman has also worked with the Royal Society for Blind Children, offering tools and online support to blind and partially sighted teenagers. However, this is the first in-person event that we have been able to attend and it won’t be the last.”

Martyn taught members of the group the tactile differences between the tools and showed them through touch how to best use them and style their hair to their own satisfaction. Martyn says “It was such an uplifting but also humbling day and I’m looking forward to helping out again soon.”

Booksy, the leader in booking and business technology for the beauty industry, has recently unveiled their new 2022 marketing campaign, “Get Discovered”. 

Get Discovered is actually a love story and campaign dedicated to helping beauty professionals find their forever clients through the #1 beauty booking marketplace – Booksy. Just like online dating, any barbershop, beauty pro, salon, or spa can create a snappy, enticing profile, upload amazing work that best reflects their talents, and market themselves to find the right client matches in their area.

Get Discovered also focuses on highlighting one of many things that Booksy does best … connecting people via the Booksy Marketplace. Rather than be another run-of the mill, “all-in-one” booking solution, Boosky shifts the conversation. Powerful marketing and business management tools empower Providers to do more, and the Marketplace is the place where it all happens. 

The Booksy Marketplace allows providers the opportunity to find more of their ideal clients (not just cute calendar features) and retain them. Who wouldn’t love that! 

The Provider’s journey to getting discovered is as simple as these 5 steps: 

1. Create a Profile – share exactly who you are with the world 
   
2. Show your Work – create a Portfolio of your best work and showcase your mad skills 
   
3. Get Discovered – put yourself and your business on the map to attract the perfect clients 
   
4. It’s a Match! – get booked, paid, and re-booked all using Booksy. 
   
5. Long-term Clients – use the built-in Marketing tools to ensure client retention and repeat business 

Did you know about 68% of beauty professionals are looking for ideas and tools to optimize their business, be more effective and acquire new clients! Booksy can help with all of that.  

“Booksy‘s vision and goal is to establish itself as the top marketplace where beauty professionals and providers can discover new clients and keep them returning while promoting their talents. We want our users to thrive business-wise and provide the tools they need to accomplish that in a meaningful, robust, yet easy way. Through the Get Discovered campaign, we are looking to reach new beauty professionals and businesses and underscore our significant and unique advantages in the market,” commented Dee Hadley, Head of Marketing, Booksy. 

Book anytime, from anywhere. Who wouldn’t want to Get Discovered through Booksy? 

As Fresha’s subscription-free salon software continues to gain momentum across the hair, beauty, spa and wellness industries, its global position has been affirmed with its debut entry on the prestigious Marketplace100 : 2022: a highly influential list that ranks the world’s largest consumer-facing marketplace start-ups and private companies.   

Entering the list at 43, the highest ranking of any salon software company in the global hair and beauty market, Fresha’s placing confirms its position as the world’s leading, and fastest growing salon software. 

Delivered by Californian Venture Capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, the Marketplace100 by a16z + Future ranking list is compiled using data based on marketplace activity scores for each company that includes GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), per Bloomberg Second Measure (for companies that Bloomberg Second Measure tracks), as well as Apptopia data for app performance and SimilarWeb data for website traffic. 

“This ranking is a hugely important for Fresha,” says Fresha founder and CEO William Zeqiri. “It confirms that we’re making significant impact on the global stage, and this is driven by a transformation in terms of how our partners have embraced our technology and are using Fresha to manage their businesses. It’s also a reflection of how Fresha perfectly syncs with consumers and the way they now find the ideal salon, and book and pay for services and products online.” 

Formerly known as Shedul, Fresha’s exponential growth is the result of a result of a global investment strategy that has positioned it as the world’s leading, and fastest growing salon software. Backed by New-York based equity firm General Atlantic – backers of tech giants including Facebook, Snapchat and Airbnb, along with separate investors including global beauty entrepreneur Huda Kattan, Fresha has been valued at over $640 million. With over 60,000 partners and 200,000 hair, beauty and wellness professionals using Fresha, the platform has already processed 450 million appointments via its consumer-facing website and app. 

To achieve complete business efficiency, promote your services, run marketing campaigns, retail online and protect your business against no-shows and late cancellations, join or switch to Fresha today…for FREE! 

Unique high-quality brushes designed specifically for barbers 

Garden has been a staple in the hair industry for more than fifty years, with the sole purpose of providing stylists with high quality, innovative, & cutting-edge salon tools. Over the years there has been a rise in dedicated artisan barbershops and a demand for brushes unique to styling men’s and short hair. 

Olivia Garden is excited to introduce a new line of high-quality tools designed specifically for barbers – the OG Barber™ Collection. 

The OG Barber Collections provides a wide range of high-quality enhanced tools exclusive to men’s grooming. This new collection includes paddle and round brushes featuring ceramic + ionic technology with ion charged bristles to help hydrate the cuticle, eliminate frizz, flyaways and add shine to hair. 

The collection is available in two different designs for varied usage: 

• The OG Barber™ Vented Paddle Brush – Olivia Garden’s classic scalp hugging design massages the scalp with comfortable ball tips allowing barber’s to quickly detangle hair with the ion-charged bristles hydrating the cuticle to add shine. The vented design maximizes airflow for ultra-fast drying so there is never more heat on the hair than necessary! 

• The OG Barber™ Round Brush – Features a barrel designed for creating shape and volume with Olivia Garden’s high-quality ceramic coating that retains heat evenly, so hair dries faster. The V-shaped bristle design allows for barbers to easily pick up even the shortest hair and control tension. Available in three different sizes, including Small (1”), X-Small (¾”) and XX-Small (½”). 

“Olivia Garden has been creating innovative tools for the professional salon industry for over fifty years and it is about time we entered the barber space,” said Anne Maza, Co-Owner of Olivia Garden. “We created the OG Barber Collection with valuable features that assist barbers in getting the job done with ease and comfort every time.” 

Each brush is uniquely designed with a timeless tortoise shell effect that will look slightly different on each brush. 

Both designs offer an ergonomic handle design that is non-slip, suitable for all hand sizes, great for easy rotation and entirely snag-free with a retractable sectioning pick. 

All brushes will be available at select Olivia Garden retailers, as well as on www.oliviagarden.com. 

For more information about Olivia Garden, visit www.oliviagarden.com or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

Business consultant Phil Jackson from Build Your Salon, offers these tips for managing your money within the salon.  

We are living in turbulent times and even world events occurring far from home are having an impact on your business.  Energy prices are on the rise and it won’t be long before our manufacturers have to pass increased costs along to our salons. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. So much seems outside of your control. There are, however, a few simple moves you could be making to protect your business and ensure you remain profitable. 

Firstly, review your prices. I’m hoping you do this regularly anyway, but I’ve heard of a few salons that are delaying their pricing review ‘until things settle down’. To be blunt, things won’t settle down any time soon and you run the risk of running on reduced profit in the meantime. Holding out to see what your suppliers are doing could mean delays of weeks or even months. Far better to decide your prices on the information you have now and make an educated guess on what might happen in the next couple of months. Then implement any changes sooner rather than later. 

Price reviews can cause a little upset with your customers (though few will expect your prices to remain the same, particularly in the current climate). You can take some of the sting out of the increases and ensure your prices are set where they should be by reviewing prices more frequently. Six-monthly price reviews tend to mean smaller increases and some services may not need reviewing at all. In times of drastic change don’t be afraid to increase sooner than that. I am certain your customers would rather that than see you operate at a loss or even have to close your doors for good. 

Changing prices is far easier if you have made the decision to finally ditch physical price cards. Make your pricing available online or alternatively, if you have something you want to physically give your customers, exclude the prices and instead provide them with a link or QR code where the latest prices can be accessed. That means that changing your prices is a simple two-minute job rather than paying hundreds of pounds for a print run of price cards. It’s also friendlier to the environment than binning a box of unused cards. 

Encourage online bookings. Not only does it mean you can take bookings 24/7, it means your customers are shown the latest, up-to-date prices at the point of booking too. It will never suit everyone but it can make a huge difference to your business, particularly if you implement a booking fee to reduce no-shows. 

Finally, take the opportunity to review your costs. Some increases are unavoidable but shop around as much as you can for utilities and other supplies. Even 1% of costs saved can make a massive difference to your profits over a year. Sadly, we can’t exclude wages from this review. If you set your commission to an affordable level a few years ago but your fixed costs have increased, either your variable costs (including commission) will need to reduce or you are going to have to reduce your profit margin. Remember to take legal advice before making changes to contracts or pay. 

There is currently an affection for small businesses and salons that means your customers are less price sensitive. The best way to weather a financial storm is to remain nimble, adapt quickly and keep a firm grip on those things you can control. 

The Fellowship PROJECT: Men Team headed to RB Training in Stoke-on-Trent for the most recent training day to spend time with this month’s mentor, Gary Machin. 

Gary Machin, director of the Rogers Barber Shops, Founder of RB Training & Chairman of the Barber Council, has been a barber for more than 30 years. His recent work has taken him around the globe representing the British Barbers Association as lead educator, judging competitions, educating and supporting major companies. 

The team were joined by their team leader, Simon Shaw, and they spent the day learning all things men’s grooming – the art of shaving and skincare.  

Team member Tammy Reynolds said: “Our shaving day with Gary Machin was phenomenal. We were so well looked after by his team and after being taught three different shaves we even came away with a goodie bag of British Barber Association products. The Academy and barbershop were incredibly professional and faultless.” 

Scott Musgrove added: “Gary’s day focused on a shave day, which was completely new to me – so all the techniques and methods were all fresh ideas. It was a great day!” 

Blayre Turnbull said: “We had an amazing day with Gary Machin. I learnt so many things I didn’t know about shaving and the way he made an open razor shave look so effortless was brilliant.” 

Lucy Melvin added: “We learned about the different tools of shaving and the different quality of brushes and how to look after them. We learned about shaving facial hair and what problems we should look out for when shaving such as bad skin and thin hair. We were taught about the importance of head positioning when cutting the beard and how we should always use gloves when cutting beards and applying product. It was so much fun, interesting and educational and I can’t wait to try this service at some point.” 

Janene Hawkins concluded: “We received amazing hospitality from Gary and Racheal! Precision service for shaving delivered, BBA signature shave, fabulous to watch and I learnt so much more about products and the shave itself, ensuring my service is elevated to the highest of standards.” 

PROJECT: MEN TEAM LEADER: Simon Shaw 

PROJECT: MEN TEAM MEMBERS: 
Alex Burt – Teddy Edwards Cutting Rooms  
Emma Simmons – Salon 54 
Sophie Fedoriw – Safy B’s 
George Smith – TONI&GUY 
Tammy Reynolds – Tammy Reynolds for Hair 
Leanne Jones – Leanne Jones Hair Studio 
Janene Hawkins Bush – Sir & Co Barbers 
Blayre Turnbull – Urban Hair & Beauty 
Scott Musgrove – Scott Musgrove Hair 
Ian Young – Pompadour 
Roisin Murphy – Hairven Salon Group 
Lucy Melvin – Diamond Appearance 

This past weekend (Sat Apr 9 – Monday, Apr 11) the SalonEVO and BarberEVO team packed their bags and took off to Chicago to attend the 99th annual America’s Beauty Show put on by Cosmetologists Chicago.

Beauty professionals, from barbers, cosmetologists, and beauty and skincare experts gathered for a weekend full of education, inspiration, demonstrations, networking, and of course, a little bit of fun too!

This year, EVO took their booth to the next level, offering attendees a unique opportunity at being on the coveted front cover of SalonEVO, with an incredible life-size, interactive, walk-in front cover photobooth. The EVO booth was also the spot to be if you wanted to learn from amazing educators, such as Miguel Rosas from Wahl Pro and Lici Febo from Andis who both performed live demos to an inspired audience.

The EVO front cover photo booth was graced by many of North America’s leading hair and beauty lights, such as the Ulta Beauty Pro Team, with Nick Stenson and Anna Manukyan, Danielle Keasling, David Lopez and Michelle O’Connor. As well as educators like the effervescent Kristin Kaide, Queen of the South, Nieves Almaraz and many, many more!

The team also had the enormous privilege of attending the 10th Annual Beauty Changes Lives Experience, which was an incredible night of fun, inspiration and education, bursting with industry icons all keen to support this wonderful charitable cause.

Thanks to all who stopped by and said hello! Until next year at ABS!

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Robert Eaton has been welcomed as the new President for the Fellowship for British Hairdressing at a star-studded event in London.

Ken Picton, who has led the organisation for the past three years, handed over the reigns to British Hairdresser of the Year Robert Eaton in front of industry peers at the President’s Night.

Held at the Brewery in East London, Ken relived some of his favourite times as President – and the challenges brought with the pandemic. But before he could leave there were a few surprises – he brought his Drinks with the President live to the stage with some of his favourite guests including Sally Brooks, Mark Woolley and Michael Douglas, while a video highlighted just some of the things he has implemented during his reign.

The F.A.M.E team presented their first show, Evolution. Alex Cook, Darrel Starkey, Jessica Hau and Lydia Wolfe – a showcase of their skills learnt so far this year, with stunning 5ft colourful ponytails, precision cuts and dynamic shapes.

Ken recalled: “When I took over as President in 2019 we had no idea what was ahead of us. But we have worked hard to modernise the Fellowship for a new era of hairdressing. It’s been a privilege to lead the Fellowship through these turbulent times and I look forward to being part of the future.”

Receiving his regalia, Robert added: “Today is very special for me, when I started my journey in the family business it was about networking and making friends. My whole career has been shaped by the Fellowship; I was part of the 2003 F.A.M.E. Team which was incredibly special and instilled in me the importance of nurturing the next generation. Now, it’s my time to give back and help young people in this industry. I want to work with as many people as possible to evolve the industry and continue the heritage the Fellowship has always had.”