I was honored to be a judge for the third time this year, for the winners of the North American hairstyling awards presented by the Professional Beauty Association. It was a tough job. Since those nominated often had very little to choose between them. I am probably a difficult judge. Because I go for the face, the expression, the makeup, the pose, the lighting, the feeling, the story, the whole photo, as well as the all-important hair. The judging was made more difficult because far too often, there was one great amazing photo, and the other one or two photos by that person were, in my opinion, poor. Or vice-versa. Also, they often didn’t speak to each other. On the other hand, some of nominated photos were extraordinary, and I look forward to see how many I gave the highest scores to actually win. Every judge has different tastes, I have found in the past, some of my very favorites did not win, but others did. I have also loved some photos hairstylists send me later which did not get nominated at all and had them published! And so it goes … Whatever, congratulations to all and good luck to all in Las Vegas on July 9. Stay tuned for the winners. The best will be published in my September and December Peluquerias columns with full pages per hairstylist and, those selected, that are not too wintry, with full pages per photo in July Peluquerias; others will be featured on Helen’s blog after July 9.