Ask a room full of teenagers what beauty looks like today, and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers.
At Tricoci University’s NextGen Beauty Camp, students aged 15-18 talked about everything from natural makeup to braids, colorful eyeliner and special effects (SFX) makeup. Each answer was different, but one idea came up again and again: the biggest beauty trend may be that there isn’t one. Instead, beauty is about finding something that feels like your own.
This idea came to life July 23 at Tricoci University of Beauty Culture Indianapolis, where a three-day summer camp ended with an “Electric Neon Disco” runway show.
Before the music came on, students squeezed together for one last team photo. Minutes later, the room shifted into controlled chaos. Final curls were pinned into place, glitter caught the light, and makeup brushes made one last pass across eyelids before Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” filled the room.
Three teams interpreted the same theme in completely different ways. Neon eyeshadow, braided styles, afros, rhinestone-covered hair and hair tinsel all found their place on the runway. During the second walk, the student designers stepped onto the runway beside their models, smiling as proudly as the crowd cheered them on.
The runway served as the camp’s finale, but Angela Howard, 61, saw it as something bigger.
Howard, Tricoci University’s regional director of admissions and education partnerships, calls the week a “vision casting session” for students who may have never considered careers in cosmetology, esthetics or nail technology.
The company, which is headquartered in Park Ridge, Illinois, has 15 national campuses across the Midwest region. Four of those campuses are located in Indiana, with the one in Indianapolis bordering the city of Fishers.
Howard said that giving students the opportunity to explore the industry before deciding whether it is the right path for them is one of the most important parts of the program. This year 12 students attended the second annual Tricoci Beauty Camp in Indianapolis.
At beauty camp, students learn that success in the beauty industry goes beyond technique.
“It’s not just the skill,” Howard said. “You’ve got to learn how to work with clients, have people skills, understand sanitation and professionalism. That’s what takes you from good to greater.”
Recent high school graduate Ayana Wortham, 16, hopes to own a salon one day. She said beauty today feels less restricted than it once did.
“I feel like back then there was more of a barrier of what you could and couldn’t do,” Wortham said. “Now we’ve destroyed all barriers. You can do anything, wear your hair any kind of way.”
For Jamera Williams, 16, the camp opened her eyes to possibilities she had not considered before.
“My mind has very much been opened to a bunch of different things during this camp,” Williams said. “I’m very grateful that I got to have this opportunity.”
Not every discovery came with a long-term career plan. While Savannah Cummings, 16, arrived looking forward to learning hair styling, she left talking most about special effects (SFX) makeup.
“I didn’t know I was into it,” Cummings said. “I told my mom I should try to do this for Halloween.”
Tricoci University’s regional director of operations and education, Daved Dolce, 46, remembers a time when choosing cosmetology was not viewed as a serious career path.
“When I said I wanted to go to cosmetology school, it was frowned upon,” he said. “‘You’re not going to make any money. It’s not a real career. You need to go to college.’ That just wasn’t the space for me.”
Dolce hopes students leave camp seeing beauty differently than previous generations did: as both a creative outlet and a profession where they can build a career.
After the awards ceremony, families drifted toward the runway for photos with trophies while students congratulated each other, and admired the looks they had spent three days creating.
They had arrived just days before as strangers, but they left as teammates. Cheering each other on, celebrating their creativity and already promising to return next summer.
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Avery Martin is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach her at averym502@gmail.com.
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