Let's get back to the competitions...fake or not?!

I'm sitting at the airport for the umpteenth time and wondering if it's time for me to be the author of a text.
05:30 in the morning, Zagreb. My eyes are closing, but I have to stay awake, so I'll keep my brain going like this.
Competitions have been very popular lately. I've noticed that everyone has their own experience and opinion, and that's, of course, completely okay.
Observers who have never been to the competition have their own opinion, and those who have actually experienced the competition have their own. All of this is actually relative, so let me, as the organizer of the only competition in our country, write my insight into the situation.

First...
No, it's not easy to organize a competition and it requires months and months of work. From choosing the venue, to ensuring quality conditions (did you know that a better hotel in Zagreb charges 15-20,000 kn for 2 days of renting the halls needed for the competition?!)
Now you know!
Joy and happiness.
Every year I "look forward" to Googling and emailing hotels, because they always surprise me with insane prices for their services.
The host, always only the best, Iva Šulentić, beautiful and eloquent, the best combination!
DJ, because without music there is no life.
A bunch of sponsors, so that EVERYONE goes home satisfied, regardless of the prize.
Dinner, booze, trophies, certificates, stage, promotional materials, beds, hours and days spent coordinating applications and answering emails, VAT (long live me from this year, I have migraines every month), entertainment program, judges, photographer, cameraman... I don't even know off the top of my head how much there is.
All of this costs money. And that's why registration costs money. But no one goes home empty-handed.

Else...
The competitions are fixed!☝️
Recently, a colleague wrote that after the winner was announced, she suspected it was rigged. It reminded me of my experience a few years ago where I competed and came in convincingly last. Of course, I immediately developed a conspiracy theory that all the lash gods were against me (although, realistically, I knew I had done a crappy job, but I consoled myself anyway).
At the second competition, where I picked up the prizes, I didn't even think about fixing it, right? 😂Of course, give me that cup, what a setup!!!🏆
Let me explain!
It's not that simple to set up 5,6,7 or more judges to choose the same winner.
And secondly...
What a shame it would be, after all these years of working on building a so-called lash career, to set up my own competition, because, when I think about it, I don't see the point (unless I'm going to set myself up to win, then why would I set up someone else's?) I'm kidding, of course!
Whether it's set up or not, everyone will always think (and write) what they want, just as those who hear or read it will believe what they want. #That'sLife #

Why do the same girls always win (or at least it seems like the same team collects the prizes)?
The answer is very simple!
Preparation!!!

Every year I organize preparations for the competition (not just me, but a bunch of other judges in their countries). I can say without a doubt that I kill the girls (and guys) during the preparations with so much detail that they literally know how much coffee and red bull they can drink without having to go to the toilet during work.

They know every trick - what to do when their hands are shaking, when their glue goes crazy, when their heads are in confusion and chaos, what model to get, how to behave, how to smile, how to blink, how to dress, when to go to the toilet ... because you wouldn't believe it, EVERYTHING matters and everything affects how your eyelashes will turn out in the end. Remember Biljana's text about the competition? She is a living example of how she could have saved time and money, if only she had come to the competition preparation (or at least read the rules 😂😂)
The more you compete, the easier it becomes and the more confident you become.
You can be the best technician in the world, but if you don't know how to handle the adrenaline of competition, the set you do will look like what you did in your first class.
Kallos educators, in order to be educators at all, have a condition that they must compete.
Not so that they look important with some trophy (although that is also a plus), but so that they don't sell fog from someone else's experience when they teach their students. Today it is so easy to buy a book or a script on the Internet and then sell it under your own knowledge.
But what will you do when a student asks you: "Well, have you tried what you're selling me now? How do you know it works?"
Ooops, a colleague read on Facebook that someone had written that in a group...
Sit down, correctional officer!!!!
But, back to the point!

I see that everyone has their own theory on how to become a judge.
One might say - organize your own competition.
But that's not enough, nor is it that simple.
You are NOT a judge at your competition, you are the coordinator and organizer.
You agree on the categories, rules, select the judges, and give strict instructions to the judges on how you want the judging to be conducted, because the quality and recognition of the entire event depends on it.
You must explain to each judge how each rule works and explain it to him if he thinks it should be different.
There are models in front of the judge, and the models wear their numbers around their necks. Their eyelashes are just numbers for the judges and they have to approach each evaluation as objectively as possible. You, as the organizer, have to give them simple and clear instructions for solving sometimes not so simple situations.
I've experienced all sorts of things...
Models forget to go to one, two or more judges...they simply go home, then halfway there they notice that they have to urgently go back. Imagine, you pay 200, 300, 500 euros for the application and competition fees, do the best lashes of your life, the model goes to the judging, and simply "forgets" to go to all the judges, because no one explained to her. (btw, during the preparations we learn how to prepare the model too)
Or, a contestant gets so annoyed by bad grades that a physical fight breaks out.
Or that someone didn't follow the rules to the end, so you have to disqualify them.
These are not simple situations at all and require responsibility.
If your colleagues recognize that you have a sense of logic, that you know how to react in situations that we often find ourselves in during trials, and if the competitors recognize you as a fair and just judge, then that's it. Then you will be on all the judges' lists and you will be able to choose where you want to go.
Where I stand in all of this is a topic for a blog, in which I, I, and I will talk about ourselves. But let's not talk about me now, let's talk about the judges!

The LASH Challenge is judged by judges from all over the world!🌍
And from far away America, and from neighboring Slovenia.
Why?
Because these judges, my colleagues, I would dare say, most of them, are good friends, and I love working with them and I trust them.
Some judges have been strictly just judges for years and no longer even do lashes, but that doesn't mean they don't have an absolutely perfect knowledge of how they should look. The most respected judges in the world haven't worked with clients for years and it would take them 6 hours to do a set of lashes.
There are perfect Lash technicians who will never be educators, because they don't know how to convey their knowledge. And there are average Lash technicians who know the knowledge and convey it perfectly, which is why they are educators. Not everything is black and white. There are many nuances.
Is there any rigging going on?🤷
Probably yes, but I haven't met them directly, because the circle of people and colleagues I work with shy away from it and such things don't occur to them, because they know better.
Every industry has its pros and cons, I like to believe that we are in the first group and that we prevail.
We can all sense something or assume something, but until it is 100% proven, it all remains just that - GUESSING.
One year I banned my salon friends from competing at my place because I was afraid they might win. That's ridiculous, right?! Just so someone wouldn't say something🙈
Well, someone will always say something...what can I do about it?!!
Absolutely nothing!
To do my job to the best of my ability, do it with a smile on my face, and sleep peacefully all night.
That's how I've been doing it all these years and I don't mind it. In fact, I wouldn't trade places with anyone.
It would be nice to conclude this text with some profound advice, hashtag or quote, but I've already landed at my destination, I'm off to do what I do best - educate and socialize😊
This blogging is for everyone, not just me. To be honest, it took me the whole morning, a layover in Frankfurt, and then a drive to the hotel to finally finish it.
But therefore, ALL OF YOU who want to share anything with the world and want to write something, contact us and send us the text for publication!!!
See you at the LASH Challenge, 2019. Hotel Sheraton, 30-31.03.
Btw, while you're here, let me ask you if you've tried our Hollywood glue? It's made for competitions, it works in crazy conditions!! If you haven't, I recommend it😘