My experience at the T&T Hair and Beauty Trade Show 2013

For a few years I'd hear about this expo/trade show in Port of Spain and being the home body that I am (seriously I have no social life lol) I would always let it past and then say "oh shucks, next year." A fellow vlogger friend of mine Safiya is an avid attendee and after hearing her experience of it I decided to go. The event was held from Saturday May 4th -  Monday May 6th at Capital Plaza (formerly Crown Plaza) on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

So I paid my $40 and went in. To be honest although most expos are the same, I still didn't quite know what to expect as I walked in, but with pleasant staff giving information when needed I was able to manoeuvre my way to the main hall where there was a plethora of booths set up, with constant activity on the main stage. For some reason the the announcements over the PA system were somewhat inaudible to me so I honestly didn't pay them much mind (except for when they were drawing the random door prizes, after all, who wouldn't want to win a door prize lol).

One of the first booths I walked to was the Himalaya herbals booth. This company creates herbal and natural remedies in the forms of face washes, shampoos, conditioners and then some. I bought from them a set with a Gentle Refreshing  Face Wash and a Clarifying Mud Mask for $30. I got into dialogue with these lovely ladies about how people are taking more interest in more more natural alternatives for hair and skin care and ended up with a few samples of their protein shampoo, conditioner as well as a Nourishing Body Lotion and Fairness cream. So far I've tried just the face wash and I love it so I have high hopes for the other products in the line.

Next up were the booths that were distributing products such as Beautiful Textures, African Pride, Creme of Nature, Profectiv to name a few. The head of this company (R.A.S. Agencies) who brings in these products is Andrew Hirst. We had a good chat about the local consumer market for hair, the effectiveness of the marketing of products locally amongst other things. He is a riot, his entire team there were very friendly and informative (I think I made a networking connection there, let's see how that goes). Passed by the motions booth, saw a childhood friend getting her hair done. It was laid!!! Inspired me to put in a weave sometime soon. I know I need to give my hair a rest. Got some samples from them too. I'm a fan of some of their products, but I am yet to try their natural hair line. Another day for that.

The Palladio brand of make up is beautiful. I'm familiar with their eye shadow quads, the colours are very pigmented and long lasting. I need to get some more make up (there is NO such thing as too much make up okay!!!). After chatting with the lovely ladies I had the opportunity to meet Ramon Alberto, an international make up artist for Palladio, and good grief the man is a beast with make up!!!! I watched him work on this lady's eyes and all I can say is wow. He is so full of life, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him and he gave me his call card (which I cannot fins at the moment #sadface), but I intend to keep in contact with the ladies from the booth as they are located right in my home town. 


I had a wonderful chat with Nicole Aleong of Body NV Distributors. They were promoting their new line called SHi-Soft Hair Instantly. I got a whiff of the products and ER-MAH-GERD....they smell amazeballs (yes, i just said amazeballs...it really smelt that good.)  If it works as good as it smells, I'd definitely invest in the set (which retails at $450), but they also were having a give away of one of the sets, so of course I entered. I'm guessing I didn't win, or else they would have called my by now lol. 
I walked around to a few other booths, some were very engaging. I'd barely walk up and they would immediately start a conversation and introduce themselves and what they were selling. Others just sat their in their booth and stared at you. I'd say "hi good afternoon I'd like to get some info on your products" and they would look at me like if I were disturbing them. I mean come on!!! If I'm not mistaken, how these expos work is that you pay them to exhibit your goods. Now some people do it to get exposure and create brand awareness, while others have their products on sale. Either way sitting in your booth and not engaging patrons is definitely not going to help you accomplish whatever goals you set out to do at the expo (I'm just saying). So as I made my way around I ended up at the Palladio booth. 

So I made it around to a few more booths, went upstairs, saw some more booths. Chatted with these persons who specialise in Keratin applications for hair (I may consider it if I want to wear my hair straight sometime in the future...notice I said straight not relaxed lol). Came back downstairs to see the hair styling competition happening on the main stage. Sadly I did not get to see the final product, by the time I was almost done with covering the entire event, people were coming in droves. I'm not a crowd person so that was my cue to leave.

As I made my way out I ran into my girl Felicia of Felicia's Hair Studio doing her thing at the TRESemme booth (she is a fantastic hair dresser). While there I got a few samples, which worked out for me because I got to try the TRESemme natural shampoo and conditioner, something that I've been meaning to buy for the longest time but any time I get to Pennywise they never have. As my made my out I had to stop again to talk to my Tres Belle Cosmetique Family. They sells make up, accessories and soooooooo much more. I bought my ELF eyebrow kit and tinted moisturiser from them and I absolutely love the stuff. So of course I had to show love to them and my darling Reya of Rey Rey Artistry. Overall the time spent (approximately 2 hours) was well spent. 

My advice to anyone who plans to go the next instalment (which unfortunately is next year), is to go early and avoid the crowd. That way you won't have to worry about bumping into anyone and you get the chance to  chat with the vendors and get more information/network without having to worry about someone trying to reach over your head for a bag of samples. Don't get me wrong. Samples are all good but I honestly enjoyed the networking side of my experience. Who knows what could possibly come out of exchanging my contact information with someone of these vendors. Time will tell.

Gas in my car to trade show $25.00
Entrance to trade show $40.00
Face wash/mud mask package $30.00
Samples to last me months and networking for further opportunities??
PRICELESS

CHECK OUT EVERYTHING THAT I GOT AT THE TRADE SHOW!!!!!

Regards,
Tshenelle aka Nelly B.