My Adventures at IBSnewyork, aka The Beauty Show, For Salons, Stylists & Pros
It's funny how this blog helps me organize my thoughts & sharing my happenings here let me do that while letting others know what I learned or experienced. This whole week my mind has been buzzing with so many fabulous ideas about beauty marketing & specifically for Motives because of my attendance Sunday at the International Beauty Show at the Javitz Center in Manhattan. I've been writing so many notes & making documents to utilize in my marketing.
As always there were so many glamazons to observe & each with their own unique style whether it's just classic metro, trendy chic, goth or rocker, and the ever entertaining fashionistas & models all decked out. I have an appointment with my stylist tomorrow because I am so inspired to finally get some highlights & color in my 'do that I've been saying I want for months. Actually I planned on going in next week but he booked me for tomorrow since there was an opening.
So even though I'm not a cosmetologist, I go to the show for a few reasons. I love to people watch-naturally and stock up on makeup artist supplies at great prices which is what gains my entrance as a beauty professional. There are a few favorite suppliers that I visit but new ones pop up every year. Disposable lip wands are $2 a pack instead of the usual $4. And I shop for my own beauty products & miscellaneous items too, like this time I got a rhinestone pin that says "I DO MAKEUP" and a cute blinged out peace sign necklace. I also snatched up some Essie polish @6 for $20, reg. $6 each & got the most adorable mini-flat iron in a cool zebra pattern that will be great for travel.
I love go to IBS for the beauty education. They offer so many classes that come with the admission ticket. I really had to pick & choose which ones I wanted to take in & ended up missing the makeup class I planned on because I was shopping with a friend. The two classes that I went to were hosted by NCA (the National Cosmetology Association) & focused on retailing in salons to get through the tough economic times in business.
The first trainer turned out to be the President of NCA-which I found out later. I certainly didn't appreciate him dissing me by purposely passing me by with handouts. And no it's not my imagination. It was probably due to a combination of my blingy Motives tee & his arrogance, at least he was entirely professional otherwise. He definitely judged me as direct sales girl & not a salon owner but who's to say that I am not. It's been a dream of mine to own a salon. I like the ownership, not the hands-on. Maybe he has had prior run-ins with other Motives consultants that ruined it for everyone else & jaded his opinion. *Whatever* The info he taught was insightful & I will look into some of the resources he mentioned.
The second class was really interesting and that trainer focused on making designated retail space in every salon. He really got into how the beauty brands & beauty shops are taking money out of the salons with diversion--a big issue. The presentation showed the trendy beauty retailers & vending machines at airports for ProActiv & Elizabeth Arden that cost millions but offer convenient shopping to move product that will appeal to their clientele's impulse purchasing.
The photos of the salons with amazing product displays was really impressive. It was a storefront with an entryway to the salon services that had a gorgeous high end appearance with several rows of shelving to offer pleny of selection for the varyious lines & price ranges. I felt like I was getting some invaluable info that will help the beauty professionals that I work with since I can incorporate this into my Motives presentation & product education which I didn't realize is an important aspect to salon owners that bring in a brand to retail. Staff education about the selling points are key so that they know how to recommend the line are a big factor to the salon's retailing success of it retailing.
Off to finish preparing my Motives presentation binder to show my stylist tomorrow....still needs some tweaking.
Posted by Lisa Moffa at 4/29/2009 12:12 PM 
Categories: Personal Thoughts, Personal Skills
Tags: beauty professional IBSnewyork Makeup Motives salon retailing NCA
Categories: Personal Thoughts, Personal Skills
Tags: beauty professional IBSnewyork Makeup Motives salon retailing NCA
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