Hair-venture with Amy Freudenberg
When Amy Freudenburg, Brand Manager for Lanza, invited us to join her for a full day of Lanza education we jumped at the chance . Having just Nerd Stalked her we knew Las Vegas would be the most ideal venue to hang with Amy and her crew.
So we quickly booked our flight headed to Nevada . Traveling on the cheap has become second nature for us these past two years. We always try to get the biggest bang for our buck, but sometimes the saying "You get what you pay for.." bitch-slaps us in the face.
This was one of those trips....
We arrived to the airport at 5am and began our 24 hour Las Vegas adventure. We checked into the Plaza Hotel where the evening class was being held and were greeted with a strange aroma, that was faint but noticeable.
Knowing the renovation was in full effect, we checked in and headed to the elevator. Once the doors opened to the 18th floor we are instantly slapped with the smell of sewer and a hint of retirement home. Gagging all the way to the door we rushed into our room to escape the horrors of the hallway.
Erin immediately called the front desk to ask about the stench in the hall. (See our Dramatic reenactment of the conversation below)
Erin: Hi, this is room 1867. We noticed it smells like the sewer has been rerouting into your hotel. Has something happened? Is it being fixed?
Concierge: (a tone of shock) Hmmmmm, gosh we have never heard that before.
Erin: Seriously? It is pretty Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles status in the halls. You can't smell that? Really??
Concierge: Well, we appreciate your concern and we will definitely look into this matter and get right back to you.
Needless to say, we are still waiting on the response.
We are Hair Nerds so a little thing like sewer smell wasn't going to take us down, we turned the air conditioner on full blast and kept the air moving to make sure the stench didn't have the opportunity to invade our room.
We had an hour before class started and figured we'd freshen up before we left. I wanted to change my outfit but started to hear a weird noise. I looked up at the vent directly above me and noticed the noise was getting louder. I started to panic as it became more of a scratch like some rabid animal was trying to claw their way into our "suite".
I ran from the bathroom jumping and screaming. Erin almost passed out laughing from the ridiculousness of the situation. We had been checked into the Plaza for a mere 20 minutes and already the shenanigans ensued. Feeling bad she poured us mimosas to calm our nerves.
On our way out we prepared for the worst and shut the bathroom door just in case our imagined friend decided to join us. We both took a super deep breath and sprinted out of the hotel.
Happy to be relieved from the Plaza, we headed over to the MAKA headquarters to meet Amy and prep for the class. We were able to explore the Lanza line and dive deep into their color line.
Being the total #ProductWhores we are, we immediately started popping open lids and smelling the products and checking out the textures. To say we were impressed with the smell is the understatement of the year... all the styling products reminded us of candy flavored cocktails and a relaxing day at the beach.
Being a bleach-oholic I am immediately drawn to Trauma Treatment from their Healing Color Care line. AmyFreudenburg calls it “Hair in a bottle”
Lanza was kind enough to provide a huge gift basket of goodies for one lucky reader.
Amy teaching hands on updos was something that I was super excited to be able to participate in and being able to actually assist her was even more of a bonus.
Amy showed us three different beautiful bridal updos and educated us on product knowledge for proper use of the Lanza Healing Style line and bridal business etiquette.
We used Healing Style Spray Gel to hold our sets, which surprisingly was super workable and held without the crunchy hard feeling you usually get when working with a spray gel. I loved it. We finished our looks with Healing Style Design F/X and worked in a little Keratin Healing Oil.
The class was so interactive and all the stylists created their own version of Amy's technique. After making new friends and helping with some clean up, Amy showed us her NAHA entry! We were so excited and impressed by her work. We loved getting sneak peeks of NAHA submissions because we are basically obsessed with the Award. Good Luck Amy!
Before we could leave, Amy gave us a Lanza bag full of swag and we left with smiles from ear to ear.
"Amy Freudenberg Lanza Bridal Class"
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Back at the Plaza, we had a couple of hours before needing to head upstairs to our second Lanza class of the day. We ran down stairs to grab a drink and appetizers.
Once we met up with Amy, she was already back in action showcasing her techniques for all the local Las Vegas stylists. We bumped into some of our new friends from the earlier class and enjoyed a round of drinks.
Exposed was packed with a full house. After the presentations we hung out with Amy at her Lanza table and got to chat with tons Las Vegas stylists like Robert Aganza, Artistic Director of Salon at Bellagio.
Salon life on the strip is quiet different from the average daily most of us experience. It's fast paced and wild but talent you must have to survive. Amy spent most of her career on the strip and once the stories started everyone dished their "Salon on the Strip" secrets. (I feel a future Hair-venture coming, as a result of these conversations.)
The class was a complete success and we all were starved, so Amy took us to this cool resturant called Oscar's (Beef ,Booze, & Broads). How much do we love this name? But Oscar's actually has a tons of history, amazing food and a guest list to die for. The view was amazing and Oscar was even hosting a little VIP Soiree. Amy insisted we try the Espresso Martini, Delish!
Once we were settled Amy told us tales of her educator adventures, like the time she had to stop her advanced class to teach her veteran stylists how to properly place a foil? No joke...We ended our evening with more stories, tons of laughter and a made new friends. We could of stayed out all night but with a 5am flight back to Cali, we needed our rest.
The obstacle course of smells up to our room stayed consistent and we got ready to hit the sack. But wait? Where were our blankets? Oh, you mean blankets aren't included?
we had them bring us some "extra" blankets to try to stay warm while our air conditioner was on full blast. And this is what we got...
We unfolded the blankets and there were softball sized holes all over them. Looking at each other we began hysterically laughing. Of course there were holes in the blankets.....
Instead of calling the concierge again we put on all the clothes we brought and caught some sleep, borderline spooning to keep warm.
Once again we had the best time doing what we love and meeting Hair Nerds in different zipcodes. We cannot wait to make another trip out to Las Vegas and look forward to hanging out with Amy Freudenburg at NAHA this year!
Amy slapped the official Hair Nerds sticker on her updo kit (where it belongs)!