Last night, November 8th, the Contessa 2016 winners were revealed at the Westin Harbour Castle to an enthusiastic crowd of over 1,000 hairstylists and beauty professionals.
Mandy McFadden of Salon Decorum in Newmarket, Ont., brought home the coveted Canadian Hairstylist of the Year award with her exquisitely crafted and textured collection. Contessa veteran Guylaine Martel took home the title of Elite Master Hairstylist with her signature edgy style. All-star couple Marilyn and David Vendittelli will need to build another shelf in Valvano Salon (St. Catharines, Ont.) since they took home three trophies between the two of them! Marilyn won both Fan Favourite and Session Hairstylist and David won New Hairstylist of the Year. See the full list of winners here.
The cocktail hour was packed with guests enjoying a whisky bar courtesy of American Crew and a red carpet to pose for photos and interviews with finalists and sponsors. The photo booth provided by UNITE was a huge hit, and of course the drummers leading everyone up to the ballroom was quite the show!
Our MC, Noah Cappe, was charming as always and kicked off the show encouraging guests to use our hashtag #Contessa2016—which now has over 1,300 posts! Based on our Exotica theme, the three segments were Birds, presented by the Wella team, which focused on birds of the northern wild, including the elegant snowy owl. Next up was Flowers, presented by Schwarzkopf Professional, which had a high-fashion feel and no shortage of colour. To close off the evening, Redken presented our first-ever men’s segment, Birds of Prey, which followed the falcon, raven and strix in three different fashions to reflect trends in men’s grooming. You can watch the entire presentation through our webcast.
The Contessas simply wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Their support, along with the incredible passion and dedication put forth from the hairstyling community makes this show successful each year. See our sponsors here, and our talented finalists’ galleries here.
Photo credits via Instagram: @salonmagazine, @picklepr, @n8carden, @noahcappe, @swatchandlearn
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