Calling all stand out talent! There’s still time to enter the 2017 Hair Expo Awards...

Tuesday 28 February 2017, Sydney: Have you got amazing ideas that you can’t wait to share? Do you stand out in both your creative vision as well as your personal achievements? Is your team just the best, has your business taken off, or is your salon the most beautiful place you know? If the answer is yes, then it sounds like you’re ready to go for the big one… the Hair Expo Awards!

Entering the awards will place your work in front of a panel of 12 international and 12 national judges, which form some of the biggest names in hair globally. In 2017, this includes Mark Hayes and Edward Darley from Sassoon; Tabatha Coffey; editorial legend, Peter Gray; multiple UK Hairdresser of the Year award-winner, Angelo Seminara; Jayne Lewis-Orr from Hairdressing Journal International; Jorge Cancer from the education icons of X-Presion; Andreas Stavrou from the UK Fellowship; and Gerard Scarpaci from the US hair industry platform, HairBrained.

We have brand new prizes for all category winners to help you get the most out of your win… These include sponsorship of your post-win PR campaign so you can promote your success to future clients! We will also offer winners a chance to participate on the Hair Expo Stages in 2018, plus we will promote ALL finalists via our 30,000+ industry database and on our social media channels.

And for all you regional superstars: could you be shining in Hair Expo’s new state categories? Being selected as a finalist or winning a Schwarzkopf Professional Hair Expo Award will be one of the highlights of your career and propel you to yet another level of opportunities – just ask our previous winners and finalists.

Our 2016 SA/TAS Hairdresser of the Year award-winner, Kristy Hodgson, has these words of wisdom for potential entrants: “Take the plunge. It's not even about winning – it’s about producing a collection that represents you and that you are proud to share… once you start, it's amazing to realise and reflect on just how much you actually do in a year; putting on paper your growth over the past 12 months and what you intend to do next really makes you stop and think.”

If you’re entering a creative category, you’ll know that you will need to submit a photographic collection before your written entry. The good news for 2017 is that you now have the option to submit images from a photo shoot also used for other purposes*, meaning that you don’t have to devote extra resources to multiple shoots. If you don’t know where to start, take the advice of our People’s Choice Award winner from 2016, Chinney Yeap, who says: “mood boards are essential. My motto: ‘Be all you can be!'”

Once you’ve made it to the finalist stage, you’ll complete a questionnaire – this is where it’s time to look at your successes from the year; what are you proud of? What is the essence of your creative vision? Were there any challenges you fought hard to overcome? Putting pen to paper is a great time to reflect on what makes you tick, your career milestones, and what you love about being a hairdresser. If you find the written entry daunting, enlist a friend to help you brainstorm – it’s often easier to feel confident about your ability when someone else is on hand to reinforce how amazing you are!

With an unmatched heritage of more than 30 years of supporting the industry, the Hair Expo Awards consistently highlight the best-of-the-best professionals from Australia and New Zealand and sets the bar for the industry.

If you’re inspired to enter, you’ve still got time! A full run-down of what to do, what to expect and what the rules are for 2017 can be found at www.hairexpoaustralia.com/hair-expo-awards

*Please note: The above does not apply to the categories of Australian Hairdresser of the Year and New Zealand Hairdresser of the Year. For more details, please see rule 27 of the Rules & Regulations at http://www.hairexpoaustralia.com/hair-expo-awards/Entrant-Information/Rules--Regulations/

ENDS

For more information, images and interview requests, please contact Belinda Craigie, PR & News Editor: +61 (0)2 9422 2986; Belinda.craigie@reedexhibitions.com.au

Notes to editors:

Schwarzkopf Professional Hair Expo Awards categories for 2017 are as follows:

Creative category photographic collections and written entries for business categories are due at 5pm AEST on Friday, 7 April 2017 and can be submitted online at www.hairexpoaustralia.com

Full terms and conditions, including entry criteria, can be found at www.hairexpoaustralia.com/hair-expo-awards/Entrant-Information/Rules--Regulations

A short video with all the latest information is available on Hair Expo Australia’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJG7w_pCCio

Each entry, with the exception of entries to the Apprentice Student of the Year category, will incur a $50 entry fee.