The annual Cosmoprof convention rolled into town with the latest innovations for your tresses
Chelsey Cook wears a well-rounded hairstyle at Cosmoprof. Photos by Christine H. Wetzel.
The curlers and pins before being attached to the odd looking Swiss Trio Wave System contraption.
Marcia Edwards from Maxius displays the flexibility of the Adjust-a-Curl Rollers.
David Kim gives David Chung a Super Million head of hair in just a matter of minutes.
The Swiss Trio Wave System could be the next big thing at your salon.
Funbetty hair color is specifically for "the hair down there."
Whether it's a perm for your eyelashes or the world's biggest round brush, it's going to be unveiled at Cosmoprof North America.
The global beauty trade show, held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, brings out every doodad, and knickknack imaginable. And the beauty of it all is that every one of them will make you -- yes -- more beautiful.
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This year, we were on the prowl for the latest and greatest hair products. The good, the amazing and the just plain weird. Take a gander at the products you may very well be using on your tresses in the coming year. Some of them may surprise you.
HOW WE ROLL
Remember when Velcro rollers were first introduced and we thought they were the best thing since sliced bread? Well, Maxius has put out something even better; consider it the butter on the sliced bread. They're called Adjust-a-Curl Rollers and if you use the old Velcro rollers, get ready to bid them farewell. Adjust-a-Curl Rollers lay flat and have Velcro strips running along the sides so you can make them as large or small as you wish.
The original rollers, like curling irons, come in all shapes and sizes to create whatever amount of volume you're after. If you like to switch up your look, chances are your Velcro rollers are taking up a good chunk of space in your vanity drawer, not to mention your suitcase. Not anymore. (www.maxiusbeauty.com, $40 for a pack of 10)
STRAIGHT UP
If your hair is anything but stick straight, you probably own every straightening serum, special blow dryer and flat iron imaginable -- all because you want what Mother Nature didn't give you. Well, the most recent innovation banking on your "grass is greener" disposition is the MAXIglide Multi-Purpose Straightener, also from Maxius. Using steam and 120 detangling pins, this hair tool claims to give the tightest curls some Lucy Liu-like locks.
The need for detangling is understandable when it comes to straightening, but steam?
"Think of it this way," said Laura Bassett, national sales director for Maxius. "If you're ironing a shirt and you have a real tough wrinkle, you'll steam it. Well, it's the same thing here."
If you had one too many late nights in front of the tube in the early '90s then you're halfway acquainted with this one. Super Million Hair is a little like the spray-on hair product featured in one of the most memorable infomercials ever -- both disguise bald spots and thinning hair. It's different because Super Million Hair comes courtesy of the Japanese; it's a little faster; a little safer; and a whole lot better.
Adolfo Polo will tell you himself. The Cosmoprof conventioneer was beckoned by a Super Million Hair representative to test it out during a product demonstration. In just 10 seconds -- just like it claims -- Polo's bald spot on the back of his head was filled in with what was far more passable as hair than the infomercial stuff.
Jumping out of his chair and eyeing the female-dominated crowd that had formed around him, Polo popped his suit collar and said, "Alright! I guess it worked" before strutting off. Another satisfied customer.
Super Million Hair claims to have no side effects, comes off only when removed with shampoo, and will not stain clothes or skin. (www.smhair.com, $58.90 for complete set)
WAVE OF THE FUTURE
It looks like that old perming contraption that used electricity to curl your great-grandmother's hair, but this isn't quite as scary. And, if it takes off the way its manufacturers hope, it could replace the hair dryers at your favorite salon. If that's the case, get used to looking and feeling like Medusa every time you visit your hair stylist.
The Swiss Trio Wave System features tons of tubes that connect to the hair curlers on your head. Rather than set your curls under a hair dryer, this machine flips the system.
"It brings warm air into the roller to dry it from the inside out," said Juergen Sahm, owner and president of Swiss Trio Wave System.
Depending on the products you use in conjunction with it (perming solution), this futuristic machine can either wave or curl your hair for anywhere up to six months. (www.swisswaver.com, available to salons for $2,950)
TO DYE FOR
It's not uncommon to dye eyebrows to match a newly dyed head of hair. So then why don't we dye "other" areas too? Nancy Jarecki, owner of BettyBeauty Inc. asked herself just that and answered it with Betty, hair color for "the hair down there."
"This plays into the whole true blonde thing like you wouldn't believe," said Jarecki.
But it's not just wannabe blondes who color their hair, which is why the Betty coloring kits come in all shades from auburn to black to fun. Yup, Funbetty. In this case, fun equals hot pink. (www.bettybeauty.com, $20 per kit)
Jul. 20, 2006
