An Outsider's Journey Through the Science of Beauty
If there is a person in the world who knows less about beauty products and spa treatments than I do, I’d sure like to meet them. Walking into the HBA Global Expo was like entering the world of the unknown. I was surprised, however, by both the planned events of the day and the welcoming environment of the expo as a whole.
After entering the Javitz Center, we were directed to a large auditorium where we heard speeches by Dan Brestle, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Personal Care Products Council and Mike Indursky, President of Bliss. With both serious notes and humor combined, I was introduced to the wide-ranging world of cosmetics.
Following soon afterward, Shimmy Mehta, founder and president of AngelWish, gave insight into his charity. His short speech and movie clips alone silenced the crowd with their heart-touching words and images. Shimmy explained AngelWish’s amazing cause; providing wishes to children, stricken with chronic illnesses.
Shimmy went on to introduce the 3rd annual winner of the Positively Beautiful Award, Kelly Choi. The Positively Beautiful award was established by HBA Global to annually recognize a celebrity who uses their name and talents to further a cause that champions inner beauty and self-esteem building. (HBA Global) Kelly Choi was selected as the winner of this prestigious award for her close work with both AngelWish as well as Citymeals-on-Wheels, a charity that provides food for the homebound eldery in all parts of New York City. Being so involved with two incredible charities, Kelly seemed an obvious and deserving choice for the award.
Kelly, who was clearly humbled and honored by her award, gave a speech emphasizing the importance of these charities and encouraged others to help as well. Seeing a celebrity who is so active and adamant about helping others was truly an unexpected and empowering experience. Kelly stuck around after her speech to snap some photos with eager fans and colleagues.
At 10:00 AM sharp, the experience began. Most people (myself included) associate the beauty industry with pretty smells and sparkly face paint. But the fact is that the beauty industry is just as much about science as it is esthetics.
At the HBA or Health and Beauty Association Global Expo the science of cosmetics was on full display. They had everything from the facial scanning stations capable of detecting sun damage and making product recommendations to creative shampoo pumps and product packaging.
After having some great conversations with various reps and trying to retain the vast amount of information we had been given, we were introduced to the skills and style of Eve Pearl.
Who knew that there were cosmetic celebrities? Probably everyone at the expo besides me. Humbly stating her achievement of five Emmys (one of which was displayed on-stage, just incase skeptics like myself were watching), Eve obviously knew what she was doing. After a short introduction, Eve began her ‘trend inspired’ makeover on eager model Natasha Huang.
With a flare of comedy and easy to follow instructions, Eve was able to show the crowd how fashionable makeup can be simple, unique, and accomplished with numerous techniques. Throughout the display, she emphasized how several of her products were interchangeable and completely natural, providing possibilities unlike any similar products. “This is not art this a science!” Eve boldly proclaimed to the crowd.
With her matter of fact teaching method she explained how anyone is capable of “Doing it” like the pros, dispelling mystique of the “Makeup Artist”. She spoke of how she had no formal training when she started off and that with the right technique and a little practice anyone can do it. After meeting Eve and perusing through a few more booths, we switched over to the Spa portion of the expo. Where I thought I knew very little about cosmetics, I knew even less about spas. I’m still not sure whether pores should be opened or closed, but I know about ten ways to do both.
From the more generic masseuse beds to the revolutionary methods of weight loss, the smaller scale spa side of the expo had just as much variety to offer. Some of the more notable inventions, LED laced masks, promised wrinkle reduction and clearer skin. While they attracted me due to their TRON-like movie appearance, others marveled at the possibilities that it could hold.
As we walked around, it seemed like the same old “miracle diets” that have been promised for years now. One lecture that I stopped to listen to, however, had multiple large-scale tests with amazing results. Could the ‘miracle’ weight loss method really be out there? If it is, it will most likely be featured at the HBA Global Expo well before the general public even gets word of it.
So in conclusion, I have to say that the HBA Global expo blew my expectations out of the water. Expecting to walk in to a giant Macy’s makeup section, I was instead introduced to what seemed like the future of health in our world today. From a man who knew nothing about makeup until a few days ago, I never thought I’d see myself say this: Go to HBA Global 2012, it won’t disappoint.
- Photos by JP Smith, JP Ink
