The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) has announced the finalists in the 32nd annual North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA). The North American Hairstyling Awards is the most prestigious professional beauty competition in North America and honors the salon industry’s top artists who push the boundaries of skill and creativity. Since its inception, thousands of talented artists have used NAHA as a platform to showcase their work to win a coveted NAHA Award.
“This was an unprecedented year for NAHA due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, yet the heightened creativity and vast number of submissions were some of the most impressive in the competition’s history.” shares Nina Daily, PBA’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The industry rallied to channel energy into true artistry, innovation, and camaraderie, and we couldn’t be prouder of this year’s finalists.”
To enter NAHA, each artist submitted their work to an electronic portal — which was evaluated by a panel of 150 of the industry’s most esteemed hairdressers, makeup artists, beauty educators, and experts, including Serge Normant, Danilo, Vernon Francois, Robert Ham, Antoinette Beenders, Shogo Ideguchi, Eugenia Weston, Sam Brocato, Michael DeVellis, Tracey Hughes, Nicholas French, Robert Lobetta, Tippi Shorter, and more. Each NAHA submission is judged online, in multiple rounds, by the panel of judges. The judging process has no contact between judges or knowledge of artist names to ensure anonymity and fairness, enabling a true celebration of excellence, creativity, and technical ability.
“This is the 8th year I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to be a judge for NAHA and the artistry just keeps gettin better and better!” said The Powder Group and On Makeup Magazine Founder, Michael DeVellis. “It is so exciting to see the incredible creativity and passion that comes across in the work these artists put forward. Really brilliant.”
This year’s finalist announcement, in partnership with Schwarzkopf Professional, was broadcast live on Facebook. A full list of finalists can be found at: www.probeauty.org/events-programs/naha
On Makeup Magazine is thrilled to announce the Makeup Artist of the Year nominees: Melissa Musseau, Isidro Valencia, Callie Cabral, Nohemi Capetillo and Sam Watson.
NAHA 2021 will take place on August 29th at Cosmoprof North America Show (CPNA) in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center. Tickets will go on sale this spring at probeauty.org/naha, with special packages exclusively available to Professional Beauty Association members. For more information and on-sale date updates, please visit probeauty.org/naha; get inspired and learn more about the most prestigious night in beauty
Words: Michael DeVellis
Photos: Courtesy of Pro Beauty Association