NAHA Inspires Federico Beauty Institute Students

A great way to inspire new cosmetologists is to introduce them to the creative and vivacious world of professional editorial styling. The inspiration of each student is what Federico Beauty Institute works for. One example is to bring students to the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) every year.

In the industry of beauty, one of the largest events is NAHA. There are 13 different categories that awards are given for, and there is a panel of judges that chooses the winners after reviewing the professionally photographed entries. During PBA Beauty Week, people were given awards at an exciting ceremony. The Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, NV was home for the ceremony.

The students of Federico were amazed at the event, where they met and conversed with beauty industry superstars.

"I have never been to Las Vegas before and FBI made it a wonderful experience!" one student said. "I was amazed by the NAHA show and I can't wait to go next time."

The students were able to mingle with many of the current and past winners of the NAHA. A few of the recipients of the awards that the students at Federico got to meet were Vasken Demirjian who won the Salon Designs award of 2010, Steven Elias who won the Editorial Stylist of the Year award of 2010, and Nicholas French who won the Avant Garde award of 2006, 2008, and 2010. Geno Stampora, the 2009 Hall of Leaders winner, and John Simpson, the 2008 Haircolorist of the year, met the students too.

It was an amazing experience for the students to have the chance to meet with these professionals of the beauty industry.

"We met people that are living the things that we've dreamed about - well, what I've dreamed about. This provided me with a goal to work towards," one student said.  “I could not have wished for a better time."

Someone else explained that "spending time with other peers and professionals that are equally excited inspired me to dedicate myself to this career path and keep improving. I'm even planning on entering the student competition next year."

There are more than simply award presentations at the show. Culture Shock Dance Crew provided a dance performance and Faatemah Ampey and Vivienne Machinder gave an artistic presentation at the show. The styles that were showcased by the artistic presentations were based on beauty and couture fashion. Mackinder's models exhibited extreme gowns, while Ampey's models wore designs inspired by ballerinas.

The students enjoyed going to the event, and pushed others with an interest in the beauty industry to go to future events.

"This was an amazing jaunt! The best thing I ever did was to attend the awards. I believe every cosmetology student should not only be given the chance to go but they MUST go to NAHA!"

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