by Marianna Martynova Yet another spectacular exhibition timed to coincide with Day of Beauty and Motherhood, which will conclude the Month dedicated to Armenian women, took place in Yerevan. The Moscow business center hosted Expo Beauty 2012, a three-day traditional specialized exhibition of the beauty industry. Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan congratulated those present (the participants and the visitors) on the opening of the exhibition. The doors of the exhibition first flew open six years ago. Since then the international forum is held in Armenia every year. During this period the international exhibition has acquired the status of a traditional meeting place of importers, manufacturers, and distributors of a wide range of products and services in the sphere of beauty and health. The dynamics of the exhibition's development are obvious: the number of its participants increased by 10% compared with last year. The visitors, too, increasingly show greater interest in the beauty industry. The current exhibition differed from the similar projects organized in the previous years in that it has covered a larger target audience. The matter concerns first of all professionals such as wholesale suppliers of cosmetics and equipment, as well as owners and employees of beauty salons. Among the participants were more than 60 companies that displayed products of various countries. For many years Expo Beauty has constantly attracted the attention of women, regardless of their age. This year - as in the previous years - the visitors had a chance to see a wide variety of products and services, including cosmetics for medicinal purposes, makeup, perfumery, skincare and hair-care products, hygiene products, bijouterie, fancy goods, child care products, bedclothes, flowers, and wedding goods and accessories. Along with well-known firms whose products are in great demand in Armenia such as Mary Kay, FredericM Armenia, Conte, and Brabion Flora Service which made the exhibition visitors happy by displaying their new lines (new creams, shampoos, ad perfumes), a number of debutants took part in Expo Beauty 2012, among them the Matisse artistic salon-shop that opened in Yerevan recently. Matisse offers handmade articles of Armenian craftsmen. The salon is oriented not so much towards foreign customers as towards those who value uniqueness of items made by hand in a single exemplar. At the exhibition, the Matisse salon displayed mostly bijouterie and small glass-ware, but you can find a lot of other interesting works of art by visiting that salon. The new model of a woman's knickers designed to provide protection and isolation of the thighs aroused keen interest of those female visitors who wear large-size clothes. According to the undergarment's designers Gohar and Susanna (G&S joint venture), it will allow women to feel comfortable. The eco cosmetics, which included products of both European manufacturers and Armenian companies, such as herbal creams, apricot-based oil, and originally designed natural soap were the focus of attention of most visitors. In recent years many people tend to return to a healthy lifestyle, which has led to the emergence of a new type of consumer who makes high demands of the safety and naturalness of cosmetics. Highly professional cosmetologists and makeup artists were present at the exhibition, so the visitors could turn to them for information and advice. Traditionally, the exhibition included many contests and business events. Women had the opportunity to attend master classes of cosmetologists and hairdressers, fashion shows, the beauty pageant Miss Beauty 2012, and even to feel models for a few minutes by taking part in a photo session and the Miss Beauty photo contest. The Steering Committee of Expo Beauty 2012 announced the winner who received a certificate and a small souvenir. The photo session was conducted by the GM photo studio, a creative union of two professional photo artists Garegin Ghazarian and Marianna Meliksetian, who have participated in many photo exhibitions and have been awarded diplomas for their advertisements, booklets, and portfolios. No beauty exhibition without attire for little girls of fashion is a real exhibition. It is these fashion-conscious girls who will later wear all that is designed and created today by our skilled professionals, with the help of advanced technologies. It would be unfair to disregard future winners of the beauty contests! Handmade clothes of Yerevan-based Tosp Company were displayed during Expo Beauty. All items on display were bright clothes made of cotton and designed for babies, prospective mothers, and all other members of a family. The assortment of clothes of the company ranges from children's tights to evening dresses for special occasions. The wedding dresses were fantastic. Nothing beautifies a woman as much as a wedding dress! With the approach of spring, the salons of wedding dresses and accessories start to attract more visitors. The exhibition participants showed not only traditional puffed wedding dresses, but also new ones, many of which had an elegantly narrowed lower part. The wedding dress with elements of the Armenian national style was especially original. The pavilion of the Nane salon-shop offering various kinds of beautiful curtains and blinds was an added attraction of the exhibition. And, of course, there were a lot of flowers. Flower salons also displayed their compositions. Among them were Brabion Flora Service, Demira, Flowers Lucy, Uma, Vermont Arm, and Magnolia, which specialize in decoration of stand-up parties, banquets, conferences and other events and offer a wide range of firecrackers and balloons. In general, the exhibition opened up opportunities for business contacts of specialists engaged in production and sale of cosmetics. The main goals of the organizers, namely, the display of products and services, advertising and boosting the image of each participating company, and the establishment of new business links, have been achieved. The participation of famous companies helped to make the exhibition memorable and significant. Expo Beauty 2012 was a festival, a spectacular and important event not to be missed.

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