All hair and beauty service providers can submit themselves or nominate someone else for one or more categories. 

The entry fee covers administration, application processing/initial review, and judging costs later in the competition. It also helps support the ongoing running of our organisation, including our dedicated customer service team, submissions department, business development, and initiatives designed to benefit and support our finalists.

Shortly after purchasing your entries, you will receive a submission form. Please notify us ASAP if this doesn't come through within 48hrs of your purchase.

Your submission will undergo an official review to ensure you meet the standards to be put forward to the final round. Applicants should be insured, working to professional standards and adequately qualified to be considered for the next stage.

You will be contacted within 6 weekswith the outcome of your application. If you haven't heard from us within this time please get in touch as sometimes emails can go to spam or bounce due to full inboxes or incorrect/apple pay email addresses entered. If you are not shortlisted as a finalist you will be fully refunded straight away.

‎ Once you're a successful finalist, you'll receive a digital finalist pack. This includes official finalist logos, social media templates, a ready-to-use press release to gain recognition in your local area, business and marketing guides to support your growth, and an exclusive discount booklet.

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For 2026, we’re introducing even more ways for our finalists to gain exposure. In 2025, we launched our documentary series, and this year we’re building on that success with community events and more to help finalists showcase their talent and get more involved in the HBA community.

Before the HBA annual event, all finalist submissions are anonymised and sent to three independent judges per category along with set criteria. Once we receive these scores back at HBA HQ - we compile them to find the average score for each submission.

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The average score is the final score for each submission.

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Submissions are then sorted into numeric order from highest to lowest to determine the final placings.

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The Global Top 100 are selected from these rankings and published in the official Top 100 booklet, released the day after the event.

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Placing in the Global Top 50/Top 100 is not guaranteed.

We call upon the hair and beauty industry to unite annually in celebration at the worlds most prestigious hair and beauty event. Undoubtedly, industry challenges have been present in recent years, and our mission is to reignite the spotlight on the hair and beauty sector by generating maximum event exposure - providing a platform for reputation rebuilding.

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For HBA International 2026, we will be inviting finalists and our community to take part in a live studio audience show, followed by an afterparty.

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At the event, the Global Top 50 are announced on stage along with celebrity hosts, guests and fantastic entertainment.

After the event the Global Top 100 List will be released to our website. 

• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will receive a FREE personalised, framed, and hand-stamped certificate directly to the address registered on their account.
• Generic digital placing certificates will be sent out for anyone who has placed within the Top 100. (Personalised, framed, and hand-stamped options available in the HBA Store.)
• Highly Recommended certificates will also be sent out to people who didn't place, but were close to reaching the Top 100.