Battle of the Strands
A beauty battle of epic proportions, the Battle of the Strands 2012 — held recently at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas — featured salon teams that duked it out with irons, mounds of hair, buckets of gel, and unlimited creativity.
Garnering the support of pro-beauty sponsors like Sexy Hair and Schwarzkopf and focusing on extreme styles, the rambunctious event also featured enough twists and turns to make the kitchen cupboard challenge by Shear Genius look tame.
Having survived two online judging rounds and tense eliminations at the actual event, Glam Alliance, a spunky salon based in Minneapolis, fi nally blew away fellow contenders with its showgirl interpretation of a faux hawk.
How audacious were the teams' assignments? Twice, they had 30 minutes to gather supplies and props for challenges that weren't announced until after they had assembled everything they hoped they would need. And, for the final challenge, one member from each team was forced to round up all supplies blindfolded.
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| Winning team members Andrew Schmitz, Brenda Torre and Crystal Mitchell worked as a tightly tuned team to create extreme show-stopping designs. |
The demands: Create a red carpet look that could stand up to a night out in Las Vegas, including spilled drinks, sweating and making out; a sacrifi cial virgin, to be given to the volcano gods; and a final challenge that focused on gold, runway-ready styles.
Battle of the Strands' final judges included YouTube star Kandee Johnson; fashion designer Nick Verreos and Las Vegas television anchor Dayna Roselli. Kim Vo, the 2011 Battle of the Strands winner, was an online judge as well as host of the show. (VegasBeautyUnbound.com)