Hair
The Texture Style Awards Are Back — And Submissions Are Now Open
Enter now through June 30.
Hairstylists get ready for some more love — and hair education — from the Texture Style Awards. The groundbreaking hairstylist competition designed to celebrate all hair textures is back with even more award categories and a live awards ceremony.
And, no, this is not just a Black thing. Celeb hairstylist Monaè Everett first launched the awards in 2021 with the message that “hair is hair.”
Her mission is two-fold: celebrate the beauty of all hair textures and equip and empower hairstylists with the education and tools to effectively and properly style all hair textures.
In fact, she says, there are really only four hair textures: kinky/coily, curly, wavy, and straight. She calls the awards a “rallying cry to both the entertainment and beauty industries” to change how they approach hiring and representation.
“Research shows that 70% of the world has hair that is considered textured,” she explains. “Yet, major beauty companies primarily showcase straight hair in their marketing and social media efforts, with less than one percent representation of other textures.”
Of course, that does lean heavily toward curly and coily textures that often get the short end of the styling rope in major campaigns and on styling sets, as well as at our local salons.
That’s why Everett is also hosting free virtual and in-person education workshops to help hairstyling newbies and pros level up their skills with tips and tricks specific to each texture.
The awards have expanded to 10 categories with separate awards for each hair texture, including up and down looks, as well as two student categories. Winning hairstylists will take home up to $750 in products and one-on-one mentorship prizes from Beauty By Imagination, the company behind CURLS, Ouidad, WetBrush, and Bio Ionic, and The Aveda Arts and Sciences Institute.
Submissions are open now through June 30. The awards will be hosted August 13, 2023 in New York. For more information or to enter, head on over to texturestyleawards.com.
