Highlights from Phorest’s 2023 Salon Owners Summit

With more than 600 attendees from across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, Phorest held its seventh annual Salon Owners Summit for salon owners, managers and beauty professionals.

When & Where: January 8 to 9, Dublin, Ireland

Throughout the summit, the company’s leadership team, including chief product officer Paddy Monaghan, took the stage to share some of their exciting new features and launches for 2023.

Among the attendees was Bruce Peters, owner of Zazou Salon & Academy in North Vancouver, a longtime Phorest user who appeared onstage with the brand’s head of data, Brian Long, to share one of Phorest’s new reporting features.

Workshops were also held on important industry topics including mental health, led by barber and educator Tom Chapman.

Salon owner, colourist and educator Sophia Hilton led a seminar on workplace toxicity in salons.

Following the first day of seminars and workshops, the event held a networking drink reception and high-energy Bingo Loco that brought everyone together for a night of dancing, laughs and fun.

The event also included workshops that provided business advice and inspiration for everything from pricing structures to salon culture to hiring, along with guest speakers who discussed the importance of sustainability, building a brand, elevating the guest experience and more.

Joining Forces

L’Oréal Canada’s subsidiary, SalonCentric Canada, has acquired Ontario-based distributor Alternative Beauty Services Ltd. The acquisition will enable L’Oréal to expand its distribution in Ontario while bringing SalonCentric to the Canadian market. “We are very excited about this partnership with SalonCentric,” says Tony Marinaccio, president of Alternative Beauty Services Ltd. “This partnership provides us with the opportunity to keep doing the incredible work we’ve already been doing while enabling us to become a modern-day distributor that is adapting to the ever-changing needs of both today and tomorrow’s professional beauty industry.”

The Art of Hair

Wella Company has partnered with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Paris for Des Cheveux et des Poils (Hair & Hairs). The upcoming exhibition takes viewers on a journey through 600 works—all made between the 15th century and today—to showcase the historical, cultural and personal influence of hair and grooming on physical appearance and societal perception throughout the years. The exhibition aims to explore the relationship between the body and fashion, focusing on the history of hairstyles and body grooming. Among the works are highlights from Wella Company’s contributions to the beauty industry, which include the first hair dryers with builtin motors and other archival hair tools, historic marketing materials for products such as Wella’s Koleston, which is known as “the first hair colour cream in a tube,” and neverbefore-seen work by Wella Professionals global creative artist Alexis Ferrer. The exhibition opens on April 5th and runs through September 17th.

Powerful Partnership

John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS) has recently appointed land protector and model Quannah Chasinghorse as its newest global ambassador. A model and member of the Alaskan and Canadian Hän Gwich’in tribe and South Dakota Oglala Lakota tribe, Chasinghorse is redefining beauty and sharing her heritage while advocating for climate action and the preservation of Indigenous lands. JPMS and Chasinghorse will be collaborating on the brand’s 2023 Iconic Campaign, which will celebrate bold and fearless trailblazers through a wide range of initiatives. The campaign will share Chasinghorse’s commitment to authenticity, equity, self-expression and inclusion. The partnership will also help further promote JPMS’s sustainability initiatives.