Products and services weren't the only things on ISSE attendees' minds. They also came to be educated and spot hair trends. Vidal Sassoon, Wella and Sebastian were just three of the hair care brands that showcased their latest collections of hairstyles at ISSE. Traci Sakosits, regional creative director of the Sassoon Academy, described Vidal Sassoon's so-called Geoganic Collection as "geometric externally, but when hair is lifted, you have volume in unexpected ways."

Breana Cole, a 17-year-old beauty school student who will start work in April at Hot Locks in Apple Valley, Calif., said not everybody in her conservative hometown would welcome the bolder styles and hair tints on display at ISSE. "A lot of people there don't go ballsy," she said, "but I would do the reds, the [other] colors and the cuts."