Jose Osorio of Saco Montreal Is a Contessa 38 Finalist

Jose Osorio, a stylist at Saco in Montreal, is a finalist in the Contessa 38 awards, competing in the Canadian Hairstylist of the Year category. His entry consists of five competition images, shot by photographer Ara Sassoonian with makeup by Ekaterina Ulyanoff.

The Contessas, run by Salon magazine, are Canada's long-running professional hairdressing awards, now in their 38th edition. Canadian Hairstylist of the Year is the program's flagship title, and Osorio's finalist slot puts Saco Montreal — already one of the country's most decorated competition salons — back on the shortlist.

What does a Contessa entry actually involve?

Each finalist submission is built as a photo collection, not a single shot. Osorio's entry runs to five images, each credited to the same core team: Osorio on hair, Ekaterina Ulyanoff on makeup and Ara Sassoonian behind the camera.

That team structure matters for salons watching from the chairside. Competition work at this level is a production, not a spontaneous shoot — stylist, makeup artist and photographer each carry credit, and the finalists are published image by image. For a working salon weighing whether to enter future editions, the budget line covers crew, models and post-production across a full collection, not just one booking.

Why the finalist list matters for salons

For Saco Montreal, the nomination is another proof point for a salon that has built its brand partly on the Canadian awards circuit. For independent stylists, the finalist collection functions as free education: the images are published in full, so cutting, colouring and styling direction at the top of the Canadian market is visible to anyone studying it.

The category Osorio sits in — Canadian Hairstylist of the Year / Styliste Canadien de l'année — is judged across the whole entry, which means consistency over five looks counts as much as one strong frame.

Who made the entry?

The credited team, as listed by the awards:

• Hair: Jose Osorio, Saco, Montreal, Que.
• Makeup: Ekaterina Ulyanoff
• Photography: Ara Sassoonian

All five of Osorio's competition images are published in the finalist gallery, and winners are announced at the Contella 38 awards event later in this cycle. Watch the winners' list for whether Saco Montreal converts the finalist slot into the Canadian Hairstylist of the Year title.