Review: Santa Barbara Beauty Expo

[Click photo to enlarge: Ken Cassidy, Keith West-Harrison, Andre West Harrison, Zahira Coll, Skip Williams, Jaya Schillinger]

This year's Santa Barbara Beauty Expo Business Summit had a great line-up, thanks to our host Ken Cassidy.

Saturday's keynote was by Dr. Bob Keller on his research on gene therapy and the future of clinical skin care. Skip Williams shared a wealth of knowledge on how your employee compensation affects your bottom-line profitability. Keith and Andre West-Harrison gave a humorous and informative talk on how to move slow-moving retail items called Don't Put it on Sale, Put it on a Pedestal! They really made the point about how the "hot seller" is always going to be the thing you're most excited about. I also gave my favorite presentation on customer personality profiling with my Personality Keys system. The Santa Barbara Beauty Expo is a boutique show, so it's very intimate and friendly. It was fun to meet people and be able to speak in depth.

What tradeshow is complete without a little shopping?
There were many wonderful companies there, but I was on the lookout for FUN boutique items this year, since a few of my clients are looking for impulse buy products in addition to their mainstay brands. I did indeed find some new items, and bought some samples:

Chakra Masques by VB Cosmetics
I bought a little sampler kit of 7 chakra masques in a small tube, similar-looking to sparkle eye shadow powders. In fact, when I gave one as a gift to my best friend Caitlin, she thought that's what they were. These are much more fun and interesting. Each masque contains herbs, minerals, and is color-coordinated for chakra healing.

Sensual Light Massage Candle by Natural Selection
At first, I thought these were just the cool little candles in travel tins that I already have. But then the salesperson (owner of the company!) encouraged me to dip my fingers into the melted liquid wax of a lit candle. Immediately, I noticed it wasn't hot…just nicely warm. Then she told me to massage some of the melted oil onto my arm. Say what? Ok, I'll try anything. It's not like wax at all! When melted from the flame, the "wax" turns into a liquid massage oil. No wonder they come in sexy leopard-print tins! I got the vanilla one, and it's yummy.

Buddha Baby Shea Butter Stick by Natural Selection
I really liked a lot of things at the Natural Selection booth, but again, I was looking for fun new things. These handy little shea butter sticks are packaged in a push up tube, sort of like a deodorant, and make your skin so soft! Shea butter is a super creamy skin moisturizer, and this unique product in the "baby" line also contains lavender essential oil. What a wonderful (and portable) skin treat! Although it's marketed for children, I think it's a great way for adults to baby themselves, too.