IBS Las Vegas 2017!
Just this last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas, NV. Now, I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about nail shows recently, but I attend them to do three things: networking/marketing, seeing trends demonstrated right in front of me, and to purchase items that it may be harder to source on my own. Plus, who doesn’t love a colorful wonderland of nail art and products? I mean, I look like a kid in a candy store, here, with all of my treasures from the show!
One of the coolest parts of the show is the fact that so many different nail techs come to one space and share their knowledge as a group. Granted, some secrets remain proprietary so that clients receive “exclusive” services, but there is so much to see and learn every year! Another interesting part is that having so many vendors in one location; it becomes a veritable Google of nail art. Being able to consult different companies to compare products in person can help make decision making a bit easier. Also when purchasing larger quantities of thing, many companies are willing to negotiate pricing, especially for new products!
When shopping at these conventions, I usually have three levels of haul: no buy, low, buy and stock up. No buy is for when I am absolutely broke and just want to get exposure to the industry and see new trends; I usually just walk thru and have a hand naked for demos. On a stock up run, I usually know someone or have a connection at the show and buy as much as I can before they cut me off. This can include pro kits of collections of polishes, negotiating as low a price as I can get on things like files or equipment, or investing in new systems.
For this nail haul, it was a low buy and I stuck to under $100! I got a whole bunch of stuff, though! I got a new swatch wheel, since I’m running out of room on my current one, and some long almond-shaped tips for display nails from SkyLine Beauty Supply. I got some Swarovski skulls in a few different styles and sizes. From Nail Labo I got silver diamonds charms and some cool nail stickers that I cannot wait to play with! There’s some that were designed by the super kawaii Brittney Tokyo herself, some zodiac/astrology themed designs in silver, and some different iconic symbols in both silver and gold.
The part I’m most excited about, though, is the drilling kit that I got for hanging charms THROUGH the nail itself! It pierces the nail and you can add any charm you want. Usually, I like to bring the LA flare to Palmdale, but since this is bigger on the East Coast, I guess I’m bringing East to West! Stay tuned to see how everything is used and what you can do with them!
BLOOPER: This is a picture of the mannequin that is in the ladies room at Peggy Sue’s Café in Yermo, CA. Let’s just say he scared the hell out of my fiancée and I!
