3 Things You Missed at Camp Amika 2024

A Hair Retreat in the Desert? What to Know About the 2nd Annual camp amika

For the second annual camp amika, hairstylists jetted off to the Tucson, Arizona desert for three days of fun, education and community. The Western-themed event was packed with mainstage segments, look and learn sessions and so many fun memories (like line dancing, bonfires and amika’s logo projected onto a mountainside).

The educational segments included lessons in styling and cutting hair of all textures, social media and inclusivity—and of course all things amika. Hairstylists from the U.S. and Canada attended the event to learn from amika’s Stylist Collective and you can get a glimpse of what they learned below.

Scroll through for some of the most memorable scenes at camp amika:

amika's logo projected on a mountainside | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

camp amika hosts Aoife Marie & Michael Shaun Corby | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

Jes Jewel's on-stage wet look | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

The scene from camp amika | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

Line dancing at camp amika Western Night | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

DJ at camp amika Western Night | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

1. Meet camp amika’s educators: The Stylist Collective 

Meet the amika Stylist Collective, a team of visionary hairstylists who represent amika’s artistry and education programs. This inaugural class of five stylists took camp amika’s mainstage and breakout classes to share their game-changing tips and techniques.

Here’s the first-ever Stylist Collective:

• Yene Damtew (@yenedamtew)
• Eric Vaughn (@realericvaughn)
• Pekela Riley (@pekelariley)
• Sal Salcedo (@salsalhair)
• Jes Jewel (@thejesjewel)

BTC Editors talked exclusively with Eric, Pekela and Yene to ask what being on the Stylist Collective means to them and the group consensus was it is an honor to be on the team.

“Being on the Stylist Collective team means so much to me because I think we’re all very different artists who have very different perspectives, but bring a unified voice to the amika pro stylist world,” shares Eric. “We represent so many different areas in the hair industry but when you look at everything we do, it’s so unified and I really love that.”

Click here to see all of BTC’s exclusive interviews and coverage from every event at camp amika 2024.

2. Each Stylist Collective member’s top tips shared at camp amika:

Throughout both on-stage segments and exclusive interviews with BTC, the Stylist Collective members did anything but gatekeep their best styling and cutting tips. Keep scrolling to learn from amika’s hand-picked team of top industry stylists:

• Yene’s tips:
   
  • For breaking into bridal styling: Build a referral program with local bridal makeup artists as well as collaborate with wedding photographers, planners and vendors
  • For product usage for curly hair: There are different textures and curl patterns throughout the head so use different products that cater to each one

• Eric’s tips:
  • For in-stalling clip-in extensions: Before applying clip-ins, crimp two inches of the hair at the root, let cool, then tease to create the perfect voluminous base for extensions
  • For blending and styling extensions and natural hair: Meld the natural hair and extensions together by spraying amika fluxus touchable hairspray thoroughly all over each section then place on a curling iron

• Pekela’s tips:
  • For blending extensions with straight hair: Make sure the density of the extensions is even with the natural hair and flows throughout the head
  • For blending extensions with curly hair: Pay close attention to the curl density and texture of the natural hair and make sure the extensions are a match
• Sal’s tips:

  • For recreating his signature haircut: The goal is to create air pockets in the hair for movement

  • The technique: to recreate his signature haircut: 

    • Section the hair into quadrants

    • Working from the bottom hairline up, take horizontal sections 

    • Carve out the hair to make air pockets

• Jes’s tips:
  • When creating shapes with the hair (like finger waves): Place and style the hair along the natural curve of the head to contour the face
  • For a wet look: No matter the texture, use amika curl corps defining gel for curly hair plus an iridescent glitter to create a sheen

Yene Damtew | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

Jes Jewel & Eric Vaughn | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

Sal Salcedo | Photo courtesy of BTC Editors

3. Here’s 3 ways to make your salon space more inclusive, courtesy of camp amika’s DEI panel

amika’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Expert Gianne Doherty (@giannedoherty) hosted a panel to discuss how stylists and salon owners can work toward a more inclusive hair industry for the LGBTQ and Black and Brown communities. Pekela in addition to hair industry pros Jamie DiGrazia (@jamiedigrazia), Keya Neal (@keyaartistically) and Rowena Yeager (@rowena.yeager) joined the panel and below are the main takeaways:

1. Invest in your education to ensure you’re confident cutting, coloring and stying all textures
2. Switch your salon service menu to reflect gender-free pricing
3. Make your bathrooms gender neutral

Join the cool, kind, sustainable world of amika—click here to become an amika pro.

Products Used

Curl Reactivation Spray

Curl Enhancing Gel

amika

Hairsprays

Fluxus Touchable Hairspray

amika