Working With Dionne Smith - International Hair Stylist extraordinaire!

Phew!!!! The last 4 days have been something else. I am so knackered but so excited and happy at the same time! So the 2015 Beauty Africa Expo came by and it was definitely bigger than it was last year - a lot more stalls and products on display; more workshops with professionals giving invaluable advice and in some cases hands on practical tips; more topics were also included in this year's edition.

I got invited by Design Essentials to work at their stand and of course I jumped at the opportunity. International Hair Stylist and Educator for Design Essentials Dionne Smith was going to be showcasing 3 hairstyles for Naturalistas and how could I miss the opportunity to learn! So I happily got myself ready and went off to Eko Hotel. When I got in, 2 of the models had already been prepped so I got started on the third model and did a basic cornrow updo leaving the top undone for the live demo.

Crochet Braids Installed and shaped

Hair set with curl formers and then styled

The first model had a head of gorgeous crochet braids on and Dionne showed the crowd how to do a basic install using a crochet needle and then how to trim and shape the hair afterwards.

Next model had lovely curls created using curlformers and the Design Essentials Twist and Set lotion and Dionne invited a few ladies from the audience to come and have a try at installing the curlformers.

Curl Formers still in hair

Last style was on the model I had prepped - Dionne was going to add  marley hair to get chunky twists in the top and then pin it in place. To make the best of the time alloted, she invited a couple of ladies from the audience to assist in putting the twists in and once done, she pinned it all up and made it look so effortless!

Participants from the audience lending a helping hand.

Final Look of the Updo

She then went on to do something so sweet - spoke to the audience about me and my work and asked them to follow me! I was so so chuffed because she's such a seasoned stylist that I look up to and for her to endorse me and say she also wanted to learn from me was totally humbling!

My gorgeous pouch!!!!

On top of that, she gifted me with this blinged out, hot pink tool pouch!!!! The following day I made sure to wear a pink camisole to accessorize my pouch loll!

With some of the Design Essentials team - in the middle is Cornell McBride Snr, the brains behind the brand

It was definitely a great learning experience for me - not just in techniques but interacting with audiences when doing live demos and thinking through stuff in a certain way.

Unlike last year, I didn't get a chance to sit at workshops as I was working most of the time at the Design Essentials stand; but will still bring you a lot of pictures of the stuff I did partake in.

Till my next post