EXPO 22: Rejuvenation Reigns at Expo West Palm Beach

As we look to the future of modern creative hairdressing, Expo ‘22 put on our platform the best independent educators in North America, to learn from and be inspired by each artist’s perspective.

A Sunday evening rooftop welcome party set the mood for two remarkable days in which guests were also able to meet new hair friends and discover new opportunities in the Florida sunshine.

Expo guests & artists meet & mingle at the rooftop welcome party at the Canopy Hilton West Palm Beach

The morning after, guests gathered for the creative presentations. With anticipation building, show inventor Nick Arrojo opened with candid insights on the challenges of managing ARROJO NYC through the pandemic. The message: No matter how high the mountain looks, it can be overcome.

Nick shares his story of a $12 million debt, incurred through the pandemic, overcome through a never say die attittude.

The hairdressing presentations began with Peter Gosling, the Canadian master craftsman who brings together hairdressing and barbering to revolutionize men’s grooming. He demoed a Timothy Chalamat inspired cut highlighting how to maintain the masculine elements in mid-length styles for men.

Peter Gosling demonstrates modern men’s hair cutting

Peter’s finished model shows off the ‘uncut’ trend sweeping across men’s grooming

Following Peter, Jamie Sea, AKA prettylittleombre, took the stage to feature her signature hair painting skills. The presentation not only shows vanguard painting techniques allowing for quick, desirable colors, but the value of a positive attitude in creating a soaring clientele.

“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.” Jamie uses clever cultural references to help colorists understand her hair painting techniques.

Jamie’s hair painting model shows off her face-framing, “money-piece”

Completing the morning presentations, Garrett Markenson oozed artistry as he worked through a a freehand razor cut bob on coiled hair. Recalling how he watched Nick flat-iron then razor cut hair in 2007, Garrett spoke of the importance of breaking the rules to find new shapes, styles, and directions for the future of hairdressing.

Garrett highlights how, rather than taking sections, he feels for the density of the hair, allowing intuition to take the lead.

Garrett’s finished model displays the beauty and grace of short curly hair

A catered Mexican lunch also included a talk from star of @ScissorMakesCents, Kelly Cahen. A powerhouse salon owner and business coach, Kelly spoke of systems any salon can put in place to increase success, while also telling a deeply personal story of how a Tindler-Swindler-type almost stole her business from under her apron.

Kelly Cahen’s inspiring presentation reminds us that we can all control our destiny

The afternoon began with a bang. Sarai Speer, AKA @ThePlatinumGiraffe, put on an uncompromising, no holds barred, social media presentation to emphasize the importance and value of social media, and how one can conquer it with consistent on-brand content. Most important of all, says Sarai, is to be true to yourself and let your voice be heard. Word.

Sarai Speer’s presentation empowers us to conquer social media with a laugh and a smile

With the crowd ready to take social media by storm, Corinna Hernandez, creator of the Pony Education platform, took the stage to present an effortlessly soft razor cut pixie-crop. While also sharing ideas for hair stylists to get involved at international Fashion Week’s, Corinna’s beautiful razor cutting technique reveals the power of the razor to create trendsetting texture and taper.

Corrina Hernandez’s razor cutting technique is grounded in technical excellence and creative versatility

For Corinna Hernandez, shape, texture and taper come together to create a perfectly imperfect pixie-crop

A remarkable day was closed by Tracy Vasquez. Owner of Scotch Bonnet salon in West Palm Beach and the visionary behind the FUEL hair show, Tracy’s cut and color featured eye-catching natural texture and colors inspired by the British burnt grass she saw on a recent trip across the pond.

Tracy talks through her inspiration for this cut and color

Tracy’s finished look is a stunning natural texture with pops of sunburnt color - a fitting way to end the day

With connectivity another of Expo’s theme’s, the daytime inspiration gave way to an evening celebration at iconic West Palm Beach venue, Datura & Four. Featuring an appetizer buffet, open bar, DJs and dancing it was a night of reverie, fantasy, and fun.

DJ EmmaX starts the good time boogie get down

We are hairdressers, and we like to party. Sorry, not sorry!

Guest artists join the ARROJO party, making for inclusive one-for-all, all-for-one vibes

Everybody dance now!

The next morning, we shook off our hangovers with help from Geno Stampora’s memorable, funny, and heartwarming presentation. One of only 24 people to be recognized in the NAHA Hall of Leaders, Geno joked about telling his clients the haircut he gave them was crooked only because they sat with cross-legs. His message, told in sidesplitting yarns, is that being a great hairdresser is great, but being a great people person is all that you need to go to the top.

Geno speaks home truths, fires up the crowd, and gives us a laugh a minute

Following Geno, Nick and Lori Pantel from Wella took the stage to talk about the new partnership between ARROJO and Wella, as well as how this historic color brand is bringing new innovations to the industry.

Nick and Lori discuss how color manufacturers like Wella can empower hairdressers, and especially the new wave of independent artists. It’s great to know a brand like Wella has our back, and yours

Closing the Expo show, the ARROJO Creative Trend ‘23 Presentation with Lina Arrojo, Paul Merritt, and Gina Arrojo. Featuring the trend release video and two live hair cuts and colors to reflect the direction of this punk and street inspired collection, the offering spotlights the design details distinctive to ARROJO. Edgy yet desirable, commercial yet cutting edge the styles bring out each model’s personality, reflecting the tailor-made approach we stand behind.

Lina and Paul talk through their technical and creative inspirations for these looks

Paul Merritt shows off his freehand scissor cutting technique

ARROJO Trend Presentation models looking and feeling their best

These incredible cuts and colors perfectly suit the personality and lifestyle of models Taylour and Genesis, emphasizing the importance of the right cut and color for the right person

EXPO left us with inspiration, rejuvenation, and fire in the belly. Thanks to everyone who came to West Palm Beach with an open heart and mind - we hope you had as much as a good time as us!

Very Special Thanks to Everyone Who Came to Be A Part Of Expo West Palm Beach.

Very Special Thanks to Wella for Supporting ARROJO Expo.