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Plenty of Beauty, not Enough Money

Photos by Mykhailo MARKIV, The Day THIS HAIRSTYLE IS GOOD FOR PRACTICALLY ANY FESTIVE OCCASION

A traditional Ukrainian hairstylist contest was held as part of the Svit Krasy (The World of Beauty) Festival. It served as a dress rehearsal of the world championships in Milan and a qualifier for the Ukrainian national team considered one of the world’s strongest (one is reminded of names, such as Vyacheslav Diudenko and Natalia Balabanova, known far outside Ukraine. Oleksiy Antoniuk, President of the Hairstylists Association of Ukraine (a nonprofit organization), is confident that Ukrainian stylists will win major awards, including gold medals.

Despite such optimistic views on the 2004 championships, Ukrainian hairstylists stress that their profession badly needs government support. Every contest of the Milan caliber calls for heavy spending. It is also true, however, that Ukrainian professionals work hard, rather than complain, earning money to supply their needs (although one can only wonder why they should spend their money, defending the national colors). They teach and work at beauty parlors. Of course, there are philanthropists, says HAU Vice President Liudmyla Abramova, but what is actually needed is serious attention on the part of the state. In Russia and Belarus, this sphere has long been placed under bureaucratic control.

“Human hair is like clay in the hands of a gifted sculptor. To make it look like a work of art, one must be keenly aware of dye colors and shades, as well as hair texture,” muses Oleksiy Antoniuk. With this in mind, among the contest participants were guests from Russia (Vladimir Garus) and Germany (Joachim Wolf). They helped Ukrainian hairstylists learn the tricks of the trade, shared modern experiences and trends. Of course, it would be even better if Kyiv could play host to experts from, say, Italy or Japan, but the organizing committee could not afford it. That is where external aid would come in handy, considering that the Ukrainian national team shows a very good performance even in its current financial status. Its debut took place in 1998, at a world championships in Korea where it was placed 15 among 36 contenders. The Ukrainians came 13th (of 49 teams) at the Berlin championships of 2000. Last year, the Ukrainians amazed the world hairstyling elite, winning the silver in the team standing and the title Best Team: Eastern European Continent at the world championships in Las Vegas.

The festival included the daily, evening, and wedding hairstyle nominations (in the principal and junior age divisions), also progressive haircut. Every contestant had to create a composite image: hairdo, makeup, etc., in the Dzerkalo Mody [Fashion Mirror] magazine front cover format. The jury was made up of renowned experts. Thus, Yulia Bryl, silver holder of the 2002 championships, makeup champion, passed judgment on facials specialists, and Serhiy Byzov evaluated design.

Natalia Pavlova (Yevhen Kulyk Art Group, Kyiv) won in the traditional manicure nomination; Viktoria Klopotova, a private manicurist from Kyiv, and Kateryna Shevchuk from the Bravo Salon in Vinnytsia, won in the glue-on nails standing. Olena Sobolenko from Kyiv’s All-Ukraine School of Style and Facials was the first in the newly introduced festive makeup nomination. The Grand Prix went to Iryna Shchohol from the Vis Art Salon (Dnipropetrovsk). Kateryna Mozyrska from a professional service lycОe in Khmelnytsky won the daily hairstyle nomination. Yevhen Varlamov from Luhansk made the best haircut. All of these, however, performed in accordance with the author’s rules. Iryna Melnyk from the Coteau Style Salon (Kyiv) won the hairstyle-by-international-rules nomination, and the Grand Prix was pocketed by Olena Kanarska from the capital’s Canary Salon. Bohdana Oliynyk (Edelweiss Salon, Ternopil) placed first in the haircut-by-the-international rules standing, and Natalia Prysiazhniuk from Vinnytsia was awarded the Grand Prix.

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