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SEARCHBefore the Miss USA preliminary competition, CHI artists prepped all 51 contestants for the mainstage event.
Larisa Love guest styling backstage at the Miss USA preliminary competition with CHI.
Jamie Newman
MODERN joined Farouk Systems Inc., along with handfuls of gorgeous women, backstage at the Miss USA preliminaries at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on May 11.
The 51 contestants reigning from each state (and the District of Columbia) got full-on glam for the Thursday evening event. The event determines who will make it into the Miss USA competition's top 10 on Sunday night, one of whom will be ultimately crowned as Miss USA 2017 during a live broadcast.
Beachy waves and textured looks reigned backstage as staple hairstyles created by the CHI team of stylists featuring guest artist Larisa Love. Styles changed slightly from one look to the next, but that usually meant a change in part for a straight bob, or a loose, a tousled upstyle after being down in cascading waves, pins being added, or styles shifted from one side to evenly distributed.
Many of the Farouk team backstage travel a lot together and do many shows each year together, so they're used to working alongside one another.
This was stylist, and Farouk Systems educator and platform artist, Meagan Shephard's second year backstage at Miss USA. She loves the organized chaos of being constantly busy prepping, styling and switching up looks on the contestants. With a live show that is so dependent on perfect timing, MODERN asked Shephard how she styles quickly and efficiently between looks.
"You get a really good curl set in the beginning, then it's going to stay and hold proud," she says. "CHI products are really workable all day, so we can brush out the hair and it's not going to brush out the curls. We can continue to pin up and it's not going to weigh down."
Shephard says to achieve many of these looks, her hero product is CHI's Ultimate Control. She says it has no weigh-down, it's not sticky, and it allows her to do multiple looks.
"All these girls have absolutely beautiful hair, so it's kind of easy to work with!" she says. "You have great products and great hair (with great extensions in many cases), you wish everyone in your salon came in that way."
Originally posted on Modern Salon
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