The Caribbean Nail & Beauty Trade Show Review

Hello!

The Caribbean Nail & Beauty Trade Show started today at the Centre of Excellence and it was well worth the traffic.

I found the event on Facebook and, having never heard of it before, wasn't sure what to expect. I was not disappointed as I found all sorts of nail art supplies at decent prices. However, I thought there could have been more makeup and other general beauty supplies and a better variety of brand names. It also would have been nice if the names and contact information/business cards of the companies had been displayed more prominently. The second and last day of the show is tomorrow from 10am to 8pm.

A special "thank you" goes out to my "not very girly" friend who waited ever so patiently without complaining while I inspected every item and debated on nail polish colours at each booth. Click the link below for the review.


First of all, there was traffic to get there and the huge car park was already full when we reached, with cars lined up outside the venue as well. Most of the traffic was caused by the children's show held at the same venue, as well as the Indian trade fair across the road.

The trade show was held in one of the meeting rooms and had about 5 or 6 rows of booths. The entrance fee was $25TT and once you paid, they put a stamp on your wrist. It took a little over an hour for my friend and I to look at all the booths and then revisit the ones we wanted to buy from.

There was a good variety of nail art supplies and demonstrations- I saw acrylics, gel nails, airbrushing, stamping, mani/pedis, glitter tattoos, makeup, face and nail art brushes, nail polish, hair care products, jewellery, and so on. The prices were decent and some booths had specials. There was also a fashion show which I didn't pay attention to since I was more interested in the booths. Click the link below for more information on the booths.

The first booth on the right just after you enter is Teparg (Tep arg?). They had all sorts of shapes and colours of glitter and they gave me free nail art stencils and a travel packet of emery boards with my purchase. The lady who sold me the glitter was helpful so that made shopping there a more pleasant experience than at some other places I've been to.

There was a really interesting booth which was more about courses for job opportunities than about selling nail art products. A company called Steiner Transocean comes to Trinidad twice a year to interview people for nail tech jobs on cruise ships that go all over the world. The lady at the booth informed us that they tend to take mainly those certified in the OPI nail tech course and they had information on how to register for the course. It's a 5 week course and the last week includes classes on how to prepare for the interview so it sounds like a good opportunity for anyone interested in making a career out of nail art or travelling.

Tres Belle Cosmetique had Elf products and other palettes. They had a good selection of loose pigments and makeup brushes, and a makeup artist was there doing demos. Their business card is double-sided with Tres Belle on one side and Rey Rey Artistry on the other. They also gave out business cards for Henna by Amanda, with Elegant Hijab Pins on the other side (same phone number for both: 788-0251). All four of these can be found on Facebook.

hennabyamanda@hotmail.com

One makeup artist, Lisan S. was offering Carnival makeup specials where anyone who makes a booking during the trade show gets to have a free glitter tattoo done in addition to the regular Carnival makeup for $475 (which includes gems, lashes, a light breakfast and a place to change).

Complete your Carnival costume with your Carnival make up look, for only $475.00 inclusive of gems, lashes, & breakfast. Location: Studio W, 103 Tragarete Road, Woodbrook, Port of Spain.
To reserve your appointment, call 868 757 5160

lisansootim@yahoo.com

Near to Lisan S' booth was a booth selling nail polishes and lip glosses. They had L.A. Girl and Biora nail polishes for $10 each. The colours were pretty and there were a lot of neons.

TT Salon Supplies had China Glaze polishes for $22 with a special: Buy any two polishes for $22 and get a China Glaze Crackle polish free. They also had airbrush and other nail-related supplies.

There was one booth, whose name I didn't get, where I found a good variety of wheels of rhinestones and polymer clay shapes. This booth was at the end of the first lane, opposite another nail booth with nail stamping kits and foot massagers. They sold the polymer clay for $15 a wheel, and the rhinestones and 3D nail art shapes ranged from $15 to $50- at least those are the prices I overheard when people asked about various wheels. They didn't have any prices listed near the products and I never got the two rhinestone wheels I wanted because they couldn't find them. The polymer clay shapes I got were cute and I got a packet of nail stickers for $10 but I wasn't too pleased about having to wait for ages and then never getting the rhinestones at the end of it.

Unfortunately I didn't get the names of all the companies there because not everyone had a sign or a business card, plus after a while it got crowded at some booths so I wanted to get my stuff and get out of there!

Overall it was worth going to and I highly recommend the trade show to anyone interested in nail art.

Happy polishing!