Always Salon
The Always Salon event was a competition that ran throughout June and early July 2005 on Habbo UK, in conjunction with Always, a feminine hygiene brand. 12 Habbos were selected to become members of the Always Salon, where they would work each day. The Habbo public voted each week and the contestant with the least votes was eliminated. The winner was awarded their own salon full of rares and a permanent Always Salon badge.
The Always Salon
As part of the competition, Habbo Staff created the Always Salon by linking a network of rooms. The Salon could be accessed by the public via the Salon entrance, which lead to several rooms. Each room had an area for the contestants, which was only accessible via the door to the room. All rooms apart from the Salon Entrance were locked and only staff knew the password.
There were originally seven rooms plus the entrance lobby, although an eighth room was added on the 23rd of June as part of the mini-challenge.
The Salon opened to the public on the 13th June at 16:00 and was open each day from 16:00 - 22:00 until the end of the competition.
The Contestants
On the 2nd of June 2005, the contest was announced in the Hotel Newsletter, and Habbos could nominate themselves to join the salon using a form on the Habbo website. Originally it was stated that 10 Habbos would be selected, although on the 6th of June, 12 contestants were selected from among the entrants and were given an Always Salon staff badge and access to the staff areas of the Salon.
| Contestant | Position |
|---|---|
| littleredevil | Winner |
| Brightfairy | Finalist |
| Allykim | Finalist |
| Brightpink | Finalist |
| -cheeky-loz- | 5th |
| Barbiegirl05 | 6th |
| pepsichick99 | 7th |
| Josie- | 8th |
| lele04 | 9th |
| :.:TammiE:.: | 10th |
| Llelie | 11th (quit) |
| Shann:on | 12th |
Mini-challenges
From the 10th June until the 30th, the contestants were set mini-challenges by Callie, the Hotel Manager, at 16:00 each day. Members of the public could attend too, watching from the public gallery, and prizes could be won by everyone present.
| Event | Date | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Reception Re-build | Monday 13th June | Reception |
| Fashion Focus | Thursday 15th June | Room 6 |
| Picture Power | Friday 16th June | Reception |
| Salon VIP | Tuesday 21st June | Room 1 |
| Salon Expansion | Thursday 23rd June | Room 8 |
| Your A Celebrity? (sic) | Friday 24th June | Various |
| Keep Your Hair On | Tuesday 28th June | Various |
| Party Planners | Thursday 30th June | Room 1 |
Reception Re-build
The Salon Staff had to reconstruct the Salon Entrance after it had been "trashed" during the launch party. Below is the review of the first task which was published on the Habbo website:
The First Always Salon Staff took place today at 16:00 BST in the Salon Entrance room. Today's Mini Task was to rebuild the Always Salon room. The room was left looking a little trashed after Fridays party, as you can see by clicking HERE. The Always Salon staff were given five minutes to return it to its original state without letting any Habbos through the teleporters. Seven Always Salon staff turned up for today's Mini Task, they were: Josie-, Barbiegirl05, Littleredevil, Pepsichick99, Brightfairy, -cheeky-loz- & Brightpink. They were all very excited and raring to get on with it! The task started well, with Allykim taking command and suggesting they leave the teleporters to last. Barbiegirl05 seemed a little to preoccupied with greeting Hobbas as she shouted "Hey Mizki" across the room. The Always staff worked well together moving the mode bars across the door to block any Habbos from entering the room then re-arranging the remaining Furni. PepsiChick99 seemed a little confused; at one point and couldn't remember how the room went. Poor Littleredevil was screaming as we can see HERE! PepsiChick99 was still a little confused as she announced "The typewriter goes on the Nordic, doesn't it?" PepsiChick99's confusion continued as she shouted " Swap the Thrones with the Majestics". What Thrones??? As for poor :.:Tammy:.: , she couldn't manage to get into the room... :.:Tammie:.: was the last of the twelve contestants to get their badge so we thought we would give her some extra coverage and include a screenshot of her Habbo!
Fashion Focus
Contestants had to create fashionable outfits.
Picture Power
Contestants had to use the camera to take pictures of themselves and visitors to the spa and decorate the Salon Entrance with them.
Salon VIP
Contestants had to give VIP treatments to celebrities Bonnie Blonde and Johnny Squabble, two characters who had just featured in the Habbowood campaign that had begun earlier, in Spring 2005.
Salon Expansion
Contestants had to build a new room for the Salon together, which became room 8.
Side competitions
During the campaign, a dedicated page was maintained on the Habbo website, detailing news and information about the competition. This page contained shout-outs from Habbos encouraging their favourite contestants, as well as reviews from various Habbo Staff who visited the salon for treatments each day. Habbos were encouraged to send in screenshots of them getting treatments from the salon staff and reviews of each contestant. Winning entries were published on the Always Salon webpage and the Habbo won a month of free Habbo club.
The Winner
Four contestants made it through to the final round of voting. On the 4th of July 2005, littleredevil was announced as the winner of the competition, with Allykim, Brightpink and Brightfairy being runners-up. As the winner, littleredevil won a pre-designed salon of her own which was full of rare furniture, as well as the right to keep the Always Salon badge permanently. Her badge can still be seen on her Habbo homepage, and she is the only Habbo to own this badge.
Problems & Controversies
In the first few days of the contest, one contestant leaked the password to the staff areas, and Habbos began blocking these areas. Habbo Staff members UkchaserAl and Lost_Witness resolved the situation by resetting the room passwords.
There was also a slight controversy at the time when all of the contestants chosen were female. However this was later revealed to be untrue when Brightfairy revealed that he was a boy who had been dressing his avatar as a girl to "fit in" in the competition.