Educational Opportunities
In September, nail technicians from Norway, Greece and Sweden attended Vicki Peters NailKamp in Stockholm, Sweden. The two-day non-product specific workshop gave attendees the opportunity to get hands-on experience and instruction on an array of technical skills, such as such as electric filing, competition nails, timing and tips to work more efficiently. For more information on upcoming workshops and training, visit vickipeters.com.
Local Heroes
Kansas City, Missouri— based nail salon A Finer Touch Nail Spa was honored as the Best Nail Shop at the 7th Annual Steve Harvey Morning Show Hoodie Awards. After being nominated for the past three years, the spa finally brought home the coveted award from this year's show, which was held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in August. For Paula Knight-Osborne, EZ Flow educator and owner of A Finer Touch Nail Spa, it was a dream come true for her business. "From a professional level, [this award] gives us exposure and national attention that we couldn't afford as a small business," explains Knight-Osborne. After being in the nail industry for 20 years, she says that this was like the cherry on top for all of the hard work. Open since 1998, A Finer Touch Nail Spa strives to continually raise the bar of excellence by offering its clientele the latest trends and techniques, including custom-blended enhancements, 3-D nail designs, colored acrylic and more.
Comedian Steve Harvey's New York-based radio show, "The Steve Harvey Morning Show" on WBLS, is syndicated and aired in over 60 markets, and hosts The Hoodie Awards each year. The event features a diverse and talented group of celebrities who present awards to local businesses, churches, high schools and community leaders for their excellence and contributions in their respective communities.
Nailed It!
In August, VB Cosmetics was featured on Fox Networks local Phoenix news program Arizona Morning in the  segment "Cory's Corner," where news anchor Cory McCloskey visited the VB Cosmetics laboratory to get the scoop on the company's booming Dazzle Dry nail polish line. Dr. Vivian Valenty, owner of VB Cosmetics, discussed the proper procedure for applying polish and highlighted the unique non-toxic and quick-drying lacquer formulation for Dazzle Dry, emphasizing that the top coat dries completely in five minutes, allowing the polish wearer to dig into her purse without smudging her polish. To give the public a peek into how nail lacquer is created, the cameras captured VB Cosmetics chemists at work mixing up powdered pigments to achieve a superb shade of lacquer. The segment was a success and we congratulate VB Cosmetics for spotlighting an industry staple: nail polish!
Mega Merger
The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) and the National Cosmetology Association (NCA) announced a merger agreement in August. The two companies will combine their best practices and leverage their strengths, assets and member benefits to improve all sectors of the professional beauty industry through one organization.
"The NCA and PBA forming this strategic alliance was a natural evolution and an obvious opportunity for both of us, as well as for the industry at large. We share the goal of working tirelessly toward the success of our members who represent all facets of the industry," says Steve Sleeper, PBA executive director.
Going forward, the PBA and NCA will work together to conduct more comprehensive research into the industry's best practices as well as combine government relations and lobbying efforts for the best interest of the entire industry. Members of each group will share in the combined benefits of both companies, including free admission to major industry events and free subscriptions to various magazines. For more information on this exciting merger, visit probeauty.org and ncacares.org.
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Go Vote!
CND is currently holding an online Nail Style Competition, where nail professionals can vote for their favorite submitted nail design and help select the winner of the competition. Competitors had to use at least one Colour and one Effects polish from CND's brand new Colour & Effects polish line and submit an image of their design via the CND website. The CND style team has selected 20 finalists and posted the nails for public online voting on cnd.com. The voting is open from November 23 to December 7, so go pick your favorite nail design and help select the winner! (You can vote once per day.) Designs will be judged on creativity, execution and innovation.
The winner of the competition will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York Fashion Week in February 2010, get to shadow the CND nail team while they work backstage and have the opportunity to meet CND cofounder and style director Jan Arnold. The runners-up will receive a new Colour Salon Display valued at $690. The winner and runners-up will be announced on December 8.
Successful Relationships
More than 1,200 nail professionals flocked to Mexico City to attend a two-day seminar hosted by Organic Nails, a Mexican distributor for Cuccio Naturalé. Attendees learned about the latest trends and techniques in both natural nail care and enhancements. In addition to hands-on education, guests were treated to a business workshop presented by Tony Cuccio, CEO of Cuccio Naturalé, who is also a friend and mentor to Luis Rodriguez, CEO of Organic Nails and host of the event.
The entire event had a familial feel as Rodriguez maintains a unique and longstanding mentor relationship with Cuccio. In 1995, Cuccio came into the Guadalajara restaurant Rodriguez was running and told him and his mother that if they learned English they could become millionaires in the nail industry. While they looked at him questioningly, Cuccio went on to explain to him about how the nail industry was changing and what they could do to become successful in it. In fact, Cuccio was so confident in this advice that he gave Rodriguez a $100 bill with his signature on it and told him to keep it for good luck and inspiration. 
Two months later, Rodriguez closed his restaurant and used the money from the sale to travel to Star Nail International headquarters in Los Angeles, where he spent eight days learning everything he could about the nail industry. As a result of Cuccio's mentoring, Rodriguez now owns a nail supply chain with more than 50 locations and produces his own brands with more than 300 distributors in Mexico.
With this strong relationship as a basis for the event, the two-day seminar was a complete success. The attendees were thrilled to hear Cuccio's address, where they learned about the history of his business and tried-and-true tips for nail professionals to increase income, and were inspired by the relationship between Rodriguez and his mentor.
Worldly Education
EuroFashion, a Polish distributor for American International Industries (AII), held an intensive five-day training seminar in August for international distributors, educators and nail technicians. MaeLing Parrish, global educator for AII, and Gari-Dawn Tinger, director of education for AII, traveled to Poland to conduct this seminar where they introduced new products and provided education and instruction on how to work with various AII brands, including Supernail System, EZ Flow and ibd. The seminar included demos and hands-on training with acrylic
and gel products, tips on how to advertise and promote nail services, a discussion on the importance of continuing education and pointers on how nail professionals can conduct a successful training event of their own. Due to the success of the event, EuroFashion is holding similar training seminars in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and Lithuania to promote AII products and provide nail professionals with the necessary tools and technical skills to provide better salon services.
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