If you followed me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you already know that on Sunday November 10, I attended the Contessa 2013 Canadian Hairstylist of the Year Awards.

It was held in downtown Toronto at the Westin Harbour Castle.

I’m not a hairstylist, but one of the amazing PR firms I collaborate with (Langton Communications) invited me to the event because they thought I’d enjoy it – they were so right! 🙂

The Contessa Awards are pretty much like the Academy Awards, except for the hair industry. They were founded in 1988 and are Canada’s longest-running and most prestigious awards honouring excellence and creativity in salon professionals. (Top manufacturers and distributors of professional beauty products support Contessa. They have many sponsors including CND, JOICO, L’Oreal Professional, Marvel Beauty Schools, Paul Mitchell, Redken 5th Avenue NYC, and many more!)

According to the press release PR provided, the submissions “are evaluated on originality, creativity, fashion appeal, model suitability and technical execution”. They also take into consideration the quality of the photography, makeup, and clothing.

They announced the nominees for each category, and then the winner headed to the podium and gave their acceptance speech. (There were some that were so raw and emotional – you could truly see just how much it meant to them and how much hard work they put in to deserve their place in the spotlight. It was inspiring!)

A lot goes into the cuts, colours, and vision for the entire image, which includes makeup and nails. (This post is very picture-heavy, but stick around because I’ll show you some of the winners’ photo submissions. One winner is actually a nail artist, which I thought was really cool to see. I’ll show you the manicures she came up with.)

Even though I brought my DSLR camera, I rarely busted it out. So all the photos you see in this post that were taken by me were with my smartphone. The quality isn’t the best, but I also included some Instagram videos, so you could get a glimpse into what it was like to actually be there. (A pictures says a thousand words, but a video says even more!)

The entire night was like nothing I had experienced before. It was so great to see everyone dressed up and to be among creative artists who challenged the status quo and who weren’t afraid of taking risks.

I’m in desperate need of a haircut, and there was so much inspiration at the Contessa Awards!

What an honour and a privilege it was to be invited! I am so very grateful to the entire Langton Communications team, especially Donna-Lee, Michelle, and Maxine, all of who I saw at the event.

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