Hair Care, Perfume and Nailpolish – The Best Products I Discovered at Cosmoprof LV, Part 1

Finally. It’s taken me a minute to get into the products I got to check out at Cosmoprof LV, but now I’m ready to break it all the way down for you. I sat in the BeautE Zone part of Cosmoprof, which meant meeting a ton of brand owners and new entrepreneurs who were looking for feedback and a positive reception for their products. This is what it was like (Marc Bierbaum of Beauty Store Business captured a few moments with me and the creator of 5-Free nailpolish brand Ella + Mila as she introduces me to her soy nail polish remover).

 

 

Back to back sessions of meeting beauty business folks demonstrates a few things.

1 – there are a TON of products out there. Truly. Your brand needs to be special and effective and beautifully packaged to stand out and make an impact at an event like Cosmoprof.

And 2 – it’s also about effectively selling that product. In that moment, you are the face of your brand. I can’t tell you how many times I felt more excited to learn about a makeup or a hair product because the creator of the brand was personable and excited to share their awesome creation!

I came home with two big, heavy suitcases of things and finally I’ve unpacked those things and gone through them, and am ready to blog about them. But here’s the thing — it’s a LOT. Too much for one post. I decided to break it down into two or three posts to give these brands their shine. Post #1 will focus on hair products I loved and nail products I’m excited about. Here are the best of the best products from new and familiar brands that I personally discovered at Cosmoprof, by category. Just so you’ll know what products are new and will be getting major buzz everywhere first!

 

Hair

Brand: Design Essentials

Breakdown: The well-respected hair brand expands further into the natural hair marketplace. Their natural hair game is on point – the Ledisi lookbook is BEYOND beautiful and I love the spotlight on locs! They’ve got a few product lines dedicated to natural hair – Coconut & Monoi for hydration, Almond & Avocado for moisturizing and detangling, and Quinoa & Bamboo for repair.

Must-Try Product: Coconut and Monoi Coconut Water Curl Refresher looks amazing, and it comes paired as the Refresh and Rehydrate Value Duo with their Deep Moisture Milk Crème.

 

Brand: Earth’s Nectar

Breakdown: This Texas-based brand is the brainchild of acclaimed natural hairstylist (and total sweetheart) Tamika Fletcher. Earth’s Nectar is all about repairing dry, damaged natural hair with healthy ingredients. AND it’s available at Sephora!

Must-Try Product: OK, is it cheating if I share three products? Because Tamika gifted me three items that my hair is loving! Coconut Curls is a penetrating, moisturizing, coconut and palm oil based styler. Honey Curls is a “curling agent” that involves aloe, glycerin, witch hazel water and jojoba oil. Green Olive and Lavender Scalp Oil is intended to calm and nourish the scalp. Her products smell amazing and work wonderfully.

 

Brand: TreLuxe

Breakdown: Botanically based, socially conscious hair brand made by a lovely couple from Chicago! Their products look amazing and the packaging is beautiful.

Must-Try Product: Untie the Knot leave in conditioner, which promises to replenish moisture, condition hair, and increase curl elasticity and hair flexibility with a combo of coconut milk, slippery elm extract and broccoli seed oils.

 

Brand: Kare Co

Breakdown: Professional grade brushes, salon wear and tools sold at affordable prices.

Must-Try Product: Their Tangle Buster comb is the ideal width and weight for detangling my natural hair!

 

Brand: Aria Beauty

Breakdown: Woman owned styling tool company that makes beautiful, effective, out of the box blowdryers, curling irons and flat irons that are beautifully packaged and unique.

Must-Try Product: I love the concept and energy behind this brand – a surprising number of hairstyling products are produced by men who are removed from the needs of their customer base. These ladies have come up with ideas based on familiar needs. Their curling irons and hair dryers for brides are so beautifully packaged, they’d make a great gift. Their mini diffusers are ideal for travel. And I need the Bellini hairdryer just because it’s so cool!

 

Brand: Naturally Smitten

Breakdown: Amazing, heavenly scented products made with love, especially for type 4C natural hair!

Must-Try Product: Um, ALL of them. Naturally Smitten makes the kind of hair products that smell SO good, people will straight up ask you why you smell so edibly delicious. So far my hair adores the Curl Delight Mist and Tangle Free Pudding.

Brand: Tassel hair accessories

Breakdown: Truly beautiful, unique headbands that go beyond festival chic.

Must-Try Product: Their headbands are beautiful, and so are the hair elastics. Love the aesthetic of the Chained+Charmed collection.

 

Fragrance

Brand: Clique by Roble

Breakdown: Popular celebrity event-hosting, raconteur chef deviates from the expected – instead of a line of cookware or marinades (both of which would likely be awesome, BTW) – Roble drops a fragrance for the ladies. The scent’s notes are derived from two of Roble’s signature recipes. “It started with the idea of developing an irresistible fragrance recipe that could maintain the freshness of a citrus cocktail on top, with an alluring and sensual dessert base containing notes from one of my favorite signature dessert recipes – French Toast Crunch,” he explains.

 

Hands, Feet + Nails

Brand: Ella + Mila

Breakdown: Named for the creator’s daughters, this 5-Free, cruelty free, vegan nailpolish brand has some hot colors in their line – sultry blues and glitters await you! Their logo is an adorable elephant, because elephants symbolize love and family.

Must-Try Product: I’m feeling the blues with their Bags are Packed nail polish and Oil Me Up cuticle oil. And their Samba collection is beautiful, bright and FUN!

 

Brand: Pharmagel

Breakdown: This company makes pharmaceutical grade anti-aging skincare products, and I believe I was told many of their products are available primarily at dermatologists offices.

Must-Try Product: Hand Therape Sanitizer, a protective, moisturizing, anti-aging hand sanitizer that kills 99.9% of germs AND gives your hands intense hydration. Basically what the game’s been missing for high-maintenance germaphobes (I might be one of them). It’s expensive but will make your hands feel like luxury.

 

Brand: Sole Serum

Breakdown: A numbing cream for your feet, for ladies who wear heels or painful pointy-toe flats. WHY HAS THIS TAKEN SO LONG?

Must-Try Product: Let me tell you, Sole Serum Soothing Serum for Relief of Foot Pain was a hot topic at Cosmoprof. Basically this product is NECESSARY for women who are standing or walking all day in heels. Or flats. Or in general. It’s a serum that you massage into your feet. It involves tea tree oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, and 4% Lidocaine to make the pain go away. If you think you need it in your life, you do. Trust me.

 

Brand: Londontown

Breakdown: “a prestige line of superior nail care systems and enhanced, “9-free”, treatment infused high-pigment lacquers.” Basically nail care that helps to strengthen and grow your nails, infused with natural oils.

Must-Try Product: I’ve got two. Restorative Nail Cream, a deeply penetrating cream meant to be massaged into your nails, and packaged with soft gloves. This is a restorative, replenishing for deteriorated nails, made with Britain’s rapeseed flower oil and natural extracts. Perfect for those of us who like UV gel manicures, wraps and acrylics.

Kur Instant Smudge Fix, a miracle in a bottle that I think thins out your polish allowing you to fix smudges and dents and then seal with topcoat or something. Allure breaks down how it works. In summary, it is awesome and it is here to change the game.

 

Brand: Tattoo Junkee

Breakdown: Edgy and fun beauty product brand specializing in stickers and stencils for nails and lips.

Must-Try Product: The coolest thing — Tattoo Junkee’s Minnie Mouse collaboration, which includes nail and cuticle tattoos! My next manicure is going to be NEXT LEVEL.

 

WHEW. And that was just about hair, perfume and nails! Stay tuned for part 2 where I tell you all about the skincare and makeup! Cosmoprof was a whole lot and then some and each of these brands deserves some shine!

See anything you’re dying to try? Tell me what’s caught your eye in the comments!