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Search for Contessa Entries
contessas
About Contessas
A Contessa award is highest accolade a beauty professional can achieve in Canada. However, Contessa winners are not the only entrants to benefit from the competition. Finalists, semi-finalists and media and marketing savvy participants all gain from the experience.
WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER ENTERING THE CONTESSAS?
01. For the exposure
The Contessas garner media attention from across Canada and abroad. Winning collections are often published in high-profile publications like British Hairdressers Journal and the Toronto Sun. The Contessa awards are also generally profiled in local television networks and shows like Citytv’s Breakfast Television Toronto edition. Salon Magazine publishes all winning Contessa entries and constantly uses Contessa images year round. Winners, finalists and semi-finalists are often interviewed and quoted in stories pertaining to the categories in which they entered.
For example, Rocco Campanaro, artistic director and co-owner of Axcess Salon & Spa in Richmond Hill, ON, has previously won multiple Contessas. After winning Elite Master in 2003, Campanaro received media inquiries from all over the world and had his work featured in England, Russia and Japan.
02. To build your business
Many Contessa entrants see the Contessas as a business building opportunity. The exposure that is acquired gets your name out there and the photos you submit can be used for many other business building and marketing initiatives. You can place your photos in your salon, create an ad campaign, post them on your website, submit them to a publication, etc. The more you use your photos, the more bang you get for your buck. In this way, creating a collection is really an investment.
03. To hone your skills
Since the Contessas are a competition, you really want to showcase your best work. This means that you will practice your skills under a bit of pressure and a set deadline. Competing will help you grow and challenge yourself. Entering will give you the opportunity to see your strengths and weaknesses, which will make you a more seasoned professional.Stacey Staley, owner of Blonde Salon in Toronto, has seen her growth as a stylist develop as a Contessa competitor. She won the 2010 Multicultural category and said it has been a major milestone of growth as a person and as a hairstylist.
04. To develop your creativity
Putting together a Contessa entry allows you to speak out creatively. It gives you an opportunity to showcase work that you wouldn’t necessarily do at your salon. You can push the boundaries of your creativity and challenge yourself artistically. Contessa photographer Babak says the awards are not about winner or losing, but a matter of participating. “You can look through magazine pictures and say you could do better, but unless you get out there and really try it, you haven’t done it,” he says.
05. To build your team
Working together with the team at your salon on both a technical and creative level helps create a sense of team unity. And having a strong team is always good for business and a personal level as well.
CONTESSA HISTORY
The Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Awards — the Contessas — are Canada’s longest-running and most prestigious awards honouring excellence and creativity in salons and among salon professionals across Canada.
Founded in 1988, the Contessas are produced by Salon Communications Inc., the owner of industry publication Salon Magazine (English and French editions), consumer magazine Elevate and websites salon52.ca and elevatemagazine.com.
The Contessas invite
licensed hair, nail and makeup professionals to compete in 24 categories, 21 of which are photography-based and include a rule change in the Nail Enhancement Artist category. The Contessa Community Service Award and Salon Business Excellence Award round out the competition.
Judging for the 21 photo-based awards is performed “blind” panels of independent experts, assessing the photographic submissions by number and category only. The identities of each entrant remain anonymous. Community Service is judged separately by the Allied Beauty Association (ABA), while an independent business panel, including representatives from a school of business, judges the Salon Business Excellence award.
Submissions are evaluated on originality, creativity, fashion appeal, model suitability and technical execution. The quality of photography, makeup and wardrobe are also considered. In the nail category, grooming and enhancement are evaluated. The panel judging salon interiors work from detailed floor plans that supplement the photographic entries.
Winners are announced at the annual Contessa gala, a black-tie event held in Toronto and hosting about 1,000 attendees from across Canada.
The mandate of the Contessa Awards is to highlight, promote and honour Canada’s premier beauty industry talent. The standards set by Contessa winners contribute to the ongoing betterment of the Canadian beauty industry.
