I LOVE America's Beauty Show!

ABS WINS for DESIGN!...again...

2011-06-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

We recently won two different design awards.

The first award named the Graphic Design USA's 2011 American Inhouse Design Award was for the print campaign designed for America's Beauty Show 2011. I have won this award for Cosmetologists Chicago now four times in a row!! Woo Hoo!

2011 ABS Photos by Luis Alvarez of Aquage and the whole Aquage Team including Ann Bray!

The most recent award was also from GDUSA and it's their 2011 American Web Design Award. I entered our new website design for www.americasbeautyshow.com.... and WE WON!

I love this design because we now have a large window to show off all our beautiful photography. We also added a personal YOU TUBE window to the homepage.

Special thanks to all who made this site happen:

Tim Hendrickson - editor

Beth Shomin - associate editor

Denis Janis - IT Manager

Chip Valecek - programmer

Photos on website for ABS by Luis Alvarez of Aquage

and BABAK

Photo shoot for ABS 2011 Campaign at McCormick Place West Building

2010-09-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well Luis Alvarez of Aquage has done it again! This is my third time working with Luis on a photo shoot. He brought his whole crew from Aquage and made magic happen as always. We shot all throughout the West building of McCormick Place. That is where ABS is held every year. It's such a beautiful place. We shot the photo shown above on the escalators on the East side of the West building. Luis locked his camera down and photographed the model in many different positions and then put them together in post-production. My favorite parts of this photograph are the similarities of the escalator texture to the dress and the dress texture to the hair texture. Believe me... it was ALL planned. I was told by Ann Bray herself of Aquage this hair piece was worked on for two months!!! And those shoes... bright lemony yellow suede Louboutins of course.

As the weeks go by I will post more photos from this shoot. You won't want to miss them...trust me.

If you would like to see Luis Alvarez and talk to him about this photo shoot he did with for us. See him at America's Beauty Show, March 12 -14, 2011 at McCormick Place West. Registration will open soon and the ABS show program will be out soon. Visit www.AmericasBeautyShow.com for show updates. We are also on Twitter and Facebook. Want to go to ABS for FREE? Join Cosmetologists Chicago, Cosmetólogos Latinos, International Nail Technicians Association or American Association of Esthetics. Visit www.AmericasBeautyShow.com/join and read all about it. It's EASY and it will save you money!!!

America's Beauty Show 2010! Work it!

2009-11-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

Every year as the holidays roll in so does the design of the ABS program book for me, the staff and our fabulous exhibitors. The contents of this single book created just for you and is always filled with the best and the brightest stars in the salon industry. This year it will be hitting mailboxes between Christmas and New Years Day. So if you are in a snowy part of the country and have access to a fireplace, cuddle up next to a fire, with a cup of hot cocoa and dig in. Figure out what you want to learn or need to learn to stay competitive in the industry. If you don't know what you need, let the book tell you. WHAT? I know that sounds funny but every year we create a page in the book with a list of what you need to see and do at the show depending on your profession. This list is always approved by our CC Board of salon owners and professionals. Look for that page this year....Work it!

Earn all your CE hours from us in one weekend! Did you know if you learn more, you earn more? Spend two days at the show and spend one taking great classes and the other for shopping. Or go for all THREE days and SEE EVERYTHING!....Really Work it!

Plan your spectacular professional beauty shopping spree! Are you saying, "Oh I wish I could afford it this year?" Bunk! I say! Be a savvy shopper! If you plan and save for this in December, by March 27 -29 you could have saved up for everything you need and WANT from the show! You can also visit with the exhibitors and get their catalogs and business cards and use that connection after the show for even larger purchases..small too! The beauty of our show is you get to meet real people, see real techniques to use yourself, and these people really want to meet you. Bring questions, ask for their special show deal... Work it!

Every year I'm so excited to jump into the design of this very important book. It's even more exciting when it's ready to go live on our website and gets printed! I always feel like a proud parent. We post a downloadable pdf online around mid December of the book so you can print it out or save to your computer and take it on your holiday travels or hey even post it up in your salon! Maybe you'll find a partner to split travel expenses with! Hmmmm. Do you get where I'm going with this?...Work it!

America's Beauty Show | March 27 -29, 2010 | McCormick Place | Chicago, USA

Visit us at www.americasbeautyshow.com

I was onstage with the 2009 STARS!

2009-06-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

This year at the show I got to go onstage with this years celebrity judge Luis Alvarez to present the 2009 STARS winners of the 9th Annual Stars Hair, Make-Up & Fashion Photo MAKEOVER Competition sponsored by America's Beauty Show and Modern Salon Magazine. Celebrity Styling. Celebrity Judge. Celebrity turn on The Runway@ ABS. All this plus $850 cash! That’s what the 9th Annual STARS Hair & Fashion Makeover Photo Competition offered three salon professionals. The 2009 Stars Competition found high fashion hair worthy of runway recognition, as judged by Luis Alvarez of Aquage, the creator of the ABS 09 visual images.

Here are the winners. Congrats to all!

Salon Team:

Laurentius, Salon Color: Kim Ha Tran; Make-up: Laurentius Purnama, Philadelphia, PA

"Extreme Color, difficult to do, multi-dimensional and loose."

Salon Team:

Enzo’s Salon & Spa DJ Victory; Amanda Forrai; Make-up: DJ Victory,

N. Roylaton, OH

"Full length is beautiful, great shot!"

Individual:

Sandra Carr, Wooster, OH, "Red-head – great shape, cool!"

America's Beauty Show wins the GRAPHIC DESIGN USA's 2009 AMERICAN INHOUSE DESIGN AWARD for their ad design!

2009-06-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

The prestigious American Inhouse Design Award for the 2009, presented by Graphic Design USA magazine, was given to Cosmetologists Chicago, owners and producers of America’s Beauty Show, for the Show’s concept print ad.

The two-page spread, seen by hundreds of thousands of cosmetologists worldwide, featured an iconic model with Chicago’s magnificent skyline in the background. The concept was a collaboration between Cosmetologists Chicago’s Creative Director Kristen Erickson and Luis Alvarez of Aquage, who photographed the high-concept ad. The distinguished hairstylist Ann Bray created the hairstyle for this and all the 2009 America’s Beauty Show advertising.

“Working with Luis Alvarez and the Aquage artistic group was so inspiring,” said Erickson. “But I am exceptionally proud to be part of our America’s Beauty Show team, bringing worldwide beauty to Chicago.”

About the Award:
The American Inhouse Design Awards, sponsored for the last 40 years by Graphic Design USA, is the original and premier showcase for outstanding work by corporate, nonprofit and institutional inhouse departments. The mission: to help assure that inhouse designers get the full recognition they deserve from colleagues, the creative community and, perhaps most importantly, their own upper management.

“The 2009 America’s Beauty Show was a huge success due to the commitment of those involved with it at every level. Kristen and Luis’ artistic vision for our event is worthy of the all praise it is receiving.” added Cosmetologists Chicago CEO Paul Dykstra on congratulating the winners.

To find out more about America’s Beauty Network’s involvement with salon community or for information on membership and upcoming educational events call (312) 321-6809 or visit www.AmericasBeautyNetwork.com.

Photo Credit: America’s Beauty Network

America's Beauty Show at McCormick Place West ... A BEAUTIFUL PARTNER and is GREEN too!

2009-06-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hi again everyone! Well the show was simply fabulous I must say! If you missed it you can join us next year at McCormick Place West, March 27 - 29, 2010. I loved the McCormick Place West building and want to talk about it more because I love it's design and architecture. The design was done by Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates. Here is some more informationt's called an addition, but the just-opened McCormick Place West in Chicago is more like a stand-alone, self-contained, 740,000-square-foot convention center, connected by an enclosed walkway to the 2.2-million-square-foot McCormick Place in Chicago. And it was designed with association meetings and conventions in mind.

The "west building," as city officials call it, opened August 1--eight months ahead of schedule. Attendees of the American Society of Association Executives annual meeting, held August 11 to 15, were among the very first to see the new building, gathering for the opening night celebration in the 103,000-square-foot Skyline Ballroom, one of only two ballrooms in the country over 100,000 square feet in area.

Although the rest of the ASAE meeting was held in the main building, McCormick Place West was built for events just like it. "We wanted to design a building for groups that were having meetings, with exhibits" as opposed to events that require mostly exhibit space, said Dave Causten, general manager at McCormick Place, leading a tour of the facility during the ASAE conference. McCormick Place, which is a popular destination for trade shows, simply couldn't accommodate as many meetings--both association and corporate--as bureau officials would have liked to book.

The new McCormick Place West building allows us to bring new types of meetings to the center," said Tim Roby, president and chief executive officer at the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. So far, about 80 meetings have been booked in McCormick Place West, one-third of which have not met in Chicago before, added Roby, speaking at a press conference. Approximately 62 of them are association meetings. The first full convention in McCormick Place West, the National Confectioners Association's Candy Expo, takes place in September.

A tour of the facility reveals a state-of-the-art center custom built for meetings with design input coming straight from the source--meeting planners. A customer advisory board consisting of meeting planners provided feedback in two key areas: the location of the 103,000-square-foot ballroom on the third floor, directly across from the 470,000-square-foot exhibition hall. Originally, the massive ballroom was planned for the fourth floor, but planners felt that would create too much vertical movement.

The other recommendation was the layout of the meeting rooms. Most of the 61 meeting rooms, which total 150,000 square feet, are on the first floor, configured in an "H" design, with registration and lobby space in between. The width of the building is as long as Chicago's Sears Tower is high --minus the antennas--with dedicated bus lanes right in front. Overall, the ratio of exhibit space to meeting space is 2:1, compared to McCormick Place, where the ratio is 3:1. The meeting rooms are all divisible, with large doors in the front and back to make it easy to get equipment in and out. There are additional meetings rooms on the fourth floor.

The second floor concourse includes restaurants, shops, a business center, and food court. The fifth floor has a rooftop terrace with spectacular views of the city on three sides. It can be used for special events, receptions, cocktail parties, etc., for up to 800 people, and it overlooks rooftop gardens on two sides. The building is certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), meaning it is designed in an environmentally responsible manner.

When you come to the America's Beauty Show in 2010 bring your camera or you'll really regret it.

-Kristen

www.AmericasBeautyShow.com

America's Beauty Network ... sign me up!

2008-09-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Do know what it's like trying to be creative by yourself? Well, I think it's really hard.

A few things can happen. You can get locked up in a world where you think everything you do is amazing and then you step out of your "happy bubble" and people may chop you down, you start thinking you're just not good enough to hack it in the real world. You might have ideas of quitting. I know it's harsh. But that's what everyone who is creative risks. Everyone who is great at what they do has to take risks. It's part of life.

In my line of work I like feedback. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. ha ha. But I make sure I have a group of people I can ask and go to to help me be better at what I do.

America's Beauty Network can do this for every salon professional on the planet! No joke.
This network is made up of four individual associations dedicated to Hair, Latino Stylists, Nail Techs and Estheticians, ruled by a board of actual salon professionals who know what they are talking about. They are dedicated to making good salon professionals, good salon owners, good nail technicians, good cosmetologists and good estheticians ... GREAT! Through education and experience.

Our staff takes pride in creating economical ways for you to feed your creative desire by bringing the best of the best in the beauty industry to the stage every time we plan an event for our members. I MEAN EVERY TIME!

Sometimes I feel so empowered that I think I could just grab a pair of scissors and become a rock star stylist. I actually cut my husband's hair one time when we first started dating and it was so crooked and there was a bald spot in the back. Yikes. It was harder than I thought. I was going to art school at the time. I thought, I'm creative, I took 3-D sculpture class, I can do this.

I also get that same feeling walking through an art museum. It makes me want to paint and draw instantly. Do you know the feeling I'm talking about? You feel you need to do it your way. It's really personal.

Are you getting educated at a beauty school? ... Good for you! You can make it to graduation I know you can! Educating yourself after beauty school is important too! That is where the GREATNESS steps into your life. I'm talking about walking on water stuff!

All I'm saying is if you want to be a legend, it will help you tons to have America's Beauty Network on your side. Our education is the ticket to becoming GREAT!

Join now and get into to America's Beauty Show for FREE!
That's one of the largest benefits you can get by joining. No one else can offer this to you.

Visit www.AmericasBeautyShow.com to become GREAT!

The ABS 2009 photo shoot with Luis Alvarez of Aquage

2008-09-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever collaborated with another artist on a project and during that creation period know that creative magic has just happened?

Well I sure did when America's Beauty Show collaborated with Luis Alvarez of Aquage for the ABS 2009 photo shoot.
This year we wanted to show models in and around Chicago. Our shows city.

This shot was taken at North Beach in Chicago. The clouds were so weird that day. It had rained to whole day before. In this photo Cindy, our model, is the sun. Just like the the weekend of America's Beauty Show, we are the sun for Chicago.

All these shots will be used in all the marketing and media pushes for ABS this year. Check us out especially in Modern Salon, Estetica and Canadian Hairdresser and VIBRA Magazines.

We hired four AMAZING models. It was a four day shoot. During that time is when the creative magic happened.

Luis Alvarez was the photographer. Here's his bio. The VP of Creative & Education and cofounder of Aquage. Named one of the Top 75 Educators of the Century by Modern Salon, Luis was recently honored by Intercoiffure with the Knight of the Ordre de la Chevalerie in Paris.
Luis personally photographs all Aquage images as well as many covers and editorial spreads for trade publications. Luis believes that knowledge is an energy source we can all tap into to
inspire creative growth. He encourages every professional hairdresser to become
a student for life and to take advantage of every educational opportunity to enrich both mind and soul.

I just want to say from my personal experience Luis Alvarez is an amazing stylist, educator, photographer and person. He's the kind of guy that you want to listen to every word that he says because you will learn a lot about everything you do and how to do it better. Now I'm saying that as a print/web graphic designer/creative director.
If you are a salon professional listen up and do this right now ...

STEP 1: Get a pad of paper and a pen and sit down somewhere comfortable

STEP2: Make a list of all the big name salon pros you would like to meet. If you don't know anyone by name, page through a trade publication like Modern Salon, Estetica or VIBRA.

STEP 3: Put Luis Alvarez on the top of your list. Right at #1!

STEP4: Come to America's Beauty Show March 28-30, 2009 at McCormick Place | Chicago AND MEET HIM IN PERSON! He'll be at the Aquage booth and on 'The Runway @ABS".

The amazing hair stylist at the shoot was Ann Bray! I remember her holding wads of hair that she was preparing for the next days hair sculpture and I thought, I wonder what she's going to do with that? Then the next day comes around and wham I see the model with this amazing, you wouldn't know how she did it updo and then you realize what a powerhouse designer/stylist you have in front of you and she is the sweetest lady you could ever meet. This is Ann's bio. She is a long hair NAHA winner and winner of Intercoiffure's Createur de Mode award, a master of competition dresswork and has trained winners at every level of competition including the only gold medal in U.S. history during the World Championships.

Put her on your list too!

Wanda Alvarez was the Make-up artist for the shoot. She put the tattoos on the models and even added colors to some of them with body paint and a watercolor brush. She designed all the models with a dramatic eye and light colored lips. Just beautiful work as an end result. Thank you so much for your artistry Wanda! We had so much fun laughing at the end of the day. I can't wait to see you again.

This kind of artistry of course takes time to build. ABS can help you with finding the best products to work with, talking to your peers, mentors and salon stars from all over the world.
The beauty industry is so personable, I love everyone I've met so far in it.

Thanks again for a great shoot. It was unforgettable.

Kristen

Here's the 411 on the show!

2008-09-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

I work for America's Beauty Show. If you are a Salon Professional or student it is truly amazing what you can see, learn and what you can take home from this event!

Here's the 411.

----

Come experience one of the largest professional beauty shows in your industry, owned and managed by salon professionals just like you!

• Shop for new innovative products that your clients and you will love!

• Get educated real fast with our wide range of workshops, Master classes and Manufacturer Classrooms (we call it Product Knowledge College)! (Hands-on and lectures)

• Learn from and network with the beauty stars in your industry like Nick Arrojo of Arrojo and Wella Professional, Robert Cromeans of Paul Mitchell Systems, Luis Alvarez of Aquage, Anthony Mascolo of TIGI and many, many MORE!

Because they REALLY want to meet you! No kidding!

• Our Program Book will be out and online in December 2008!
Make sure you see it!

• Save gas and carpool to Chicago, Illinois for the weekend of
March 28 - 30, 2009 to McCormick Place.

• Book a hotel in the Show room block and take the shuttle to and from the show!

Our show is co-located with America's Expo for Skin Care and Spa.

So bring your salon professional friends! It will be an amazing experience for all!

Like we always say, Learn More Earn More®

• SAVE MONEY! Get in FREE if you join one of our associations created just for you within our America's Beauty Network.

Call 800.648.2505 or visit us at www.AmericasBeautyShow.com to find out more and to how to register!

Hope to see you there!

If you want to meet ask for me at the information desk at the show.
I'd love to meet you!

-Kristen