It’s no secret to residents or frequent visitors that Jasper is full of hidden gems, whether it be a relatively unknown hike leading to a beautiful view, or a talented individual in the community.

The more time one spends in the area the more they get to find these gems. And while Candice Davis is by no means new or unknown to the hair styling scene, she likely has become even more of a staple name in the hair salon industry after recently winning a silver medal in Victoria, B.C. awarded by the Hairs, Arts and Sciences (HAS), which is the Masters Judges Panel of Canada.

Davis, a fourteen-year veteran judge of HAS hair style competitions was recognized by the group for her experience, consistency and expertise in judging small local competitions to huge national ones, including Skills Canada competitions.

But don’t let her years of experience fool you, Davis is one of the youngest ever to win the award, which only comes around every four years, and even then, only 11 judges from across Canada are awarded a medal.

Davis was aware she was a winner before the gala, in order to be able to plan to be at the event in Victoria ahead of time, but she still didn’t realize until after how important it was.

“It’s very significant. I guess I didn’t realize until after the award. I didn’t realize there were so few,” she said, adding that she was hugely flattered, but that she didn’t know what to do with it.

Davis, of Heads Up Hair Salon, said it is a big deal for someone to win from such a small town and such a small salon. 

“Most of the people have huge salons. I’m from the smallest salon. Especially away from a major centre. Some of the people in this group are in small towns but near a city, so for them to go back and forth into the city is no big deal, but for us it is quite a bit bigger of a deal,” said Davis.

The competitions that Davis judges these days are usually big ones. Because she has children, she only travels to both Edmonton and Calgary once a year. The competitions are often provincial or national competitions, and Davis judges the competitors on the suitability of the style, whether it fits the category, if it suits the model, if it’s well done, the colour, and more.

The judges, who have to take a lot of classes to become a judge, are given score sheets, and judge the hairstyle by criteria only. “We don’t judge on how we feel on something. We have criteria that we have to judge things on and it’s not whether you like or dislike something. It’s very scientific on how everything goes through,” she said.

Judges score sheets are put into a national computer and are compared to other judges who have judged the same competition in the past. Some judges are great at judging one category and not as good at another. Davis’ judging has been consistent in all categories, and consistent with other judges around the country.

Davis and the rest of the judges always end up working overtime at the competitions, but, she said, “The competitions are amazing, they are really excellent.”

As for what she will do with the medal, Davis would like to frame it, although “I have to wear it twice a year, so I don’t know. You are supposed to wear it when you are judging,” she said.