Recently, I attended an exclusive Oribe event in South Miami Beach Florida. As a hairdresser, what I view as most important is creating hair
Color; cut and styles that make my clients look gorgeous. That is why I spend my time off work planning and executing photo shoots and attending the best education events in the beauty industry. Oribe events never disappointed me; so after working a busy Saturday night on June 8th I boarded a Virgin red eye for Miami. After checking into my sheik South Beach Hotel, I headed to the Raleigh Hotel to register for Oribe's Backstage. Before attending the Backstage show, I took an amazing tour of downtown South Beach's amazing art deco buildings and interiors. Photographing these amazing buildings was thrilling and hard to get enough of. Leaving the tour 10 minutes early I rushed to the Jackie Gleason Theater to witness Oribe's Backstage first hand.

THE ORIBE BACKSTAGE SHOW, a wild romp through Oribe's perspective of the Latin culture. Acting as the narrator, Oribe introduced aspects of his Cuban/Latin heritage, influenced by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, the Afro Cuban culture, the Chupacabra and Quinceaneras; all orchestrated with a thoughtful audio track, selected by Oribe. Amazing designer clothes chosen by fashion editor Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, stunning makeup by artist Sonia Kashuk and a rich array of hair hues by the Wella Professionals Color Team. "This was my edit, my vision," Oribe explained. "I wanted to share my point of view and get a reaction from people. I thought it was glamorous beyond belief, a little racy and, at times, rather unexpected." The Show introduced five new Oribe products: Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse, Surfcomber Tousled Texture Mousse, Curl Shaping Mousse, Thick Dry Finishing Spray and Soft Dry Conditioner Spray.

Bright and early, the next morning, I dressed and grabbed my stylist bag to participate in a HANDS-ON WORKSHOP. After arranging my tools, I met my beautiful 15-year old Cuban/American model. Her long black hair had never been cut, so it had grown long past her waist.

After experimenting with some of new Oribe's products, he instructed us to create our interpretation of Chupacabra with our model's hair. I began creating a truly unique style, incorporating skills I have learned in recent runway workshop, as well as BACKSTAGE. I began by curling the right side of her hair and pinning it close to her head, to create texture and waves to keep the hair close to the head. On the left side of her hair, I French braided her hair close to her head and continued the braid to the back of her head where it created a long thin strand. On the crown of her head I created a crimped look, by wrapping the hair around large hair pins, pressing it with a flat iron, to set the texture in her straight hair. I backcombed the hair and created a pointy shape at the top of the head (Oribe instructed us to do so). Once I finished the hair, I used gold spray paint to accent the highly textured part of the style, the pin curls and the tail braid. I was happy with the finished style, but I left the show wanted to create, style and photo shoot with complete freedom. Stay tuned for the follow up photo shoot.