Industry Hair and Esthetics Named Contessa 38 Finalist in Salon Team Category

Industry Hair and Esthetics, a salon in St. Catharines, Ontario, is a finalist in the Canadian Salon Team of the Year category at the Contessa 38 awards. The entry brings four hairstylists into a single competition collection, an unusual scale for one salon's team submission.

The Contessa awards, organized by Salon Magazine, are Canada's long-running professional hairdressing competition, now in their 38th edition. The Salon Team category judges a coordinated body of photographic work produced by a salon's staff, not by an individual stylist, which makes the roster itself part of the entry.

Who Built the Entry?

The finalist lineup from Industry Hair and Esthetics covers every discipline the category demands:

• Hairstylists: Marilyn Vendittelli, David Vendittelli, Blossom Goertz and Eleni Partalas
• Makeup: Marlene Gerschon
• Wardrobe styling: David Vendittelli
• Photography: Natasha Gerschon

David Vendittelli carries a dual role here, styling both hair and wardrobe across the collection. The Gerschons split the visual presentation between them, with Marlene on makeup and Natasha behind the camera.

What Does a Team Entry Require?

A Salon Team submission is judged as a unified collection, so consistency across multiple stylists becomes the technical challenge. Four hairstylists must deliver work that reads as one aesthetic in five submitted images, while makeup, wardrobe and photography stay aligned with that direction.

For a working salon, that discipline has a practical parallel. Producing a Contessa entry typically means blocking out chair time, coordinating models or mannequin work, and budgeting for photography and styling, costs the salon absorbs against the marketing value of a national finalist credential.

Why the Category Matters Regionally

St. Catharines sits in Ontario's Niagara region, outside the Toronto core that dominates most Canadian competition shortlists. A four-stylist team from a single suburban salon reaching the Contessa 38 finals signals depth beyond the senior chair, since a team entry cannot lean on one star stylist's book.

The submitted collection comprises five photographic entries credited to M. Vendittelli, spanning the hairstyling, makeup and wardrobe work listed above.

What Comes Next?

The Contessa 38 winners will be announced at the awards ceremony following this finalist round. Watch the Salon Team of the Year result, and whether Industry Hair and Esthetics converts a four-stylist finalist entry into the category win.