Beauty Expo Australia 2016 wraps for another year – find out what happened at Australia’s biggest weekend of beauty!
With impressive numbers and a great international representation, both in terms of brands and visitors, Beauty Expo Australia 2016, 20-21 August, had plenty of wow factor. Crowds lined up first thing Saturday to get through the doors of the Sydney Exhibition Centre space on Glebe Island and feast their eyes on all the makeup, tools, waxing products, technology and skin and nail care on offer from across the globe.
One notable addition to this year’s program was the Skin Sanctuary, which saw prestige international brands such as Babor, Dermalogica, DMK, Payot, Pevonia and Sothys spread out in luxurious, peaceful stands that encouraged visitors to stop and really immerse themselves in the brands’ worlds.
“Research showed us that we needed to highlight the pivotal role that skincare plays in the industry,” says event director, Julia Erben. “So the Sanctuary was introduced as a focal point on the trade floor where visitors could interact directly with some of the biggest brands in the business.”
Also on the expo floor was Australian skincare icons Pelactiv and Inskin Cosmetics, while French brand Pevonia made a comeback after an eight-year break from Beauty Expo Australia.
“It was time for us to get face-to-face with our clients once again,” says Liane Waud Scior. “There’s some really good quality business represented here and people who are genuinely looking for products and brands to align with.”
Education was a major draw card this year too with more stage shows that ever in the Hub and many seminars selling out. Beauty Expo Australia 2016’s education program was even more successful than previous years with more than 80 professional skills workshops, business seminars, beauty boot-camps and hands-on artistic sessions on offer to experts.
“While we’ve always offered education as part of the Beauty Expo weekend, the calibre of education and presenters this year was extraordinary,” says Julia Erben. “This was reflected in the fact that six of the sessions were completely sold out prior to the show opening – something that we’ve never experienced before.”
The Hub, a dedicated area which showcases demonstrations from different industry sectors (think makeup, anti-ageing, nails and grooming), also proved a major draw card for visitors.
“Feedback shows us that this is an excellent way to represent the professional salon industry, both for our visitors but also for our exhibitors,” says Erben. “It helps us deliver the right visitors direct to the beauty brands and also makes it easy for visitors to quickly locate the exhibitors that are of interest to their businesses.”
The highly anticipated Face2Face Makeup Awards and Nailympia Competition proved popular not only with audiences, but also with participants, with the competitions generating close to 300 entries – the highest level to date.
“We are very proud of both of these competitions,” says Erben. “They have the potential to propel careers to extraordinary levels and we look forward to following the success of all of our 2016 winners.”
Beauty Expo Australia 2017 will be held at Sydney’s new International Convention Centre (ICC) in Darling Harbour, an amazing state-of-the-art facility that organisers say will allow for innovative staging and an even more exciting educational program.
“Salon professionals are obviously hungry for solid, independent education and product innovation, which is a good sign for a dynamic year to come,” says Erben. “And with educators and exhibitors having had such a successful event this year, many contributors are extra keen to commit to 2017. Watch this space over the next twelve months for some truly exciting news about where the Australian salon industry’s favourite event is heading!”
Stay tuned….
#BeautyExpoAus