Awe Inspiring: NW Hairstyling Awards Behind the Scene

I wanted to share a very exciting event that I just attended in Seattle.  The Ville Magazine and Vann.Edge 2016 Northwest Hairstyling Awards has become a very important annual event in Downtown Seattle. NHA returned for it's 3rd year and was located at Foundation Nightclub, benefiting the Pink Gene Foundation. This year's NWHA was presented by Salon Services, Aveda and Kevin Murphy; hosted by award winning host of Talk It Up TV, Anny Hovlnad.  Finalists showcase their designs and the winners are announced. So many talented stylists from Seattle and surrounding areas were there and some of those very same stylists were among the nominees. The owners of Salon Services, Sydney Berry and George Learned were among the local celebrities in the crowd. Jeremy Novack, last years NW Stylist of the Year was back to present his award to this years winner. 

I had the exciting honor of styling for the award show this year along with my Kevin Murphy team of stylists Brooke Lockhart Bernard, Erika Jaggars and led by the talented Tim McClean. Tim worked at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week this year alongside Kevin Murphy himself and is one of the cutting masters for the line. Tim brought a refreshing take on the latest trends and also recreated some of the looks that graced the runways of MSFW. 

The theme of the evening was cult films and Spirited Away was our inspiration. We made sure that all of the main details were ironed out while Brooke and Erika diligently spray painted some of the dreads that were going to be attached to one of the models. Making sure we were nourished with a large lunch we set off towards the venue. At the venue our models had arrived just in time for us to get them into wardrobe and make sure everything fit and worked for the looks.  A few minor changes were made and we settled into a cozy little corner of the club to work some magic. A few of our models were getting their hair styled while some of the models got "spirited away" with our makeup artist Bek Harvey. Bek, who won 2016 Makeup Artist of the year! She was so busy with our crew that she did not even hear that herself announced as this year's winner. We lucked out with her. All of the team worked for hours to make sure all of the looks came together. 

Showtime was fast approaching, we steamed the wardrobe and models got dressed to impress. The finale was the teams moment to shine. The little hallway out in front of our cozy corner was crowded with models and stylists. The energy was electric. Our models lined up and were sent out one by one to wow the crowd. They all looked so beautiful head to toe. Their makeup was on point and the team had done an amazing job with their styles. 

It was a privilege to be a part of this event. I want to give a huge thank you to Sydney and George of Salon Services who are always our biggest cheerleaders, Tim McClean for guiding our team but also giving us some creative freedom, Lisa Marx for being such a huge supporter with the Kevin Murphy team and Kevin Murphy for sponsoring.