Beauty and Spa professionals from all corners of the world, gathered together in the beautiful city of Stockholm, Sweden from 6-9 September for the 66th CIDESCO World Congress, an annual event which aims to further CIDESCO’s mission to maintain world-class standards in the beauty and spa industries.
Held in conjunction with Sweden’s largest beauty exhibition, Hud & Kosmetik, visitors were able to enjoy a full programme of lectures from international beauty experts along with the CIDESCO Congress programme and networking. Organised by CIDESCO Section Sweden and its President, Annica Joensuu, the theme was Beauty of the Northern Lights where the Congress celebrated Swedish culture with a welcome of traditional music and folk dancing followed by Swedish FIKA in the form of Swedish cinnamon pastries and coffee.
PR Board Member, Sandy Fuhr commenced the opening ceremony introducing each of the 40 countries, many representatives of whom wore traditional dress.
The seminar programme followed with talks on probiotic skincare, acne solutions, microneedling, spa market trends, healing waters and more by world leading aesthetic, skincare and spa professionals including dermato-cosmetic scientist, Rene Nagels; the ‘Father of Probiotic Skincare’; Trevor Steyn from South Africa; Professor and chemistry specialist, Dirk Hundertmark; microneedling expert, Dr Andrew Christie; world leading spa expert and President of CIDESCO Section Italy, Dr Andrea Bovero; skincare educator and author, Michael Q Pugliese; make-up artists, Linda Mehrens Flodin; tattoo artist and educator, Jens Bergstrom; former training manager for Givenchy, Sophie Alemany; member of the Greek Heath Tourism Association, Dimitra Tsantidou; and physician Dr Ghoncheh Yazdani.
A Media Make-up and Body Art Competition saw Sweden’s professional and student make-up artists compete under the theme of ‘Gods and Creatures of the Norse Mythology’. Entrants created unique, artistic looks influenced by Nordic tradition and heritage.
The four day programme of events comprised of the CIDESCO Examiners’ and Schools’ Meeting, the PR meeting for all CIDESCO Sections to attend and the annual General Assembly. Two new CIDESCO Sections were welcomed into the fold from Great Britain and Qatar.
A fascinating cultural evening was held at Junibacken where we discovered the world of children with the characters created by Barbro Lindgren. The Gala Dinner was held at the Dynamite Factory in Vinterviken. The life of Ms Kate Wacz was celebrated together with the 60 year Section anniversary of Denmark and Greece.
The 2019 CIDESCO World Congress will take place between 18th and 23rd September in Chicago, USA hosted by CIDESCO Section USA. CIDESCO Section Fiji has also been accepted to host the 2020 congress.
