Students from a Teesside college have been hailed in a competition designed to unearth the next generation of hairdressing talent.
Hairdressing and beauty therapy students from Redcar & Cleveland College took part in an annual awards competition to test their skills across various challenges and create a dazzling range of spectacular styles.
Level 1, 2 and 3 students competed against each other in four themed categories – retro 80s, party-style Las Vegas, quirky avant-garde and the mysterious world of fantasy. They performed under the scrutiny of eagle-eyed industry judges, who included Graham Smith from Billingham-based Graham Daniels Hair Salon, Louise Deaton of Starlight Dance Academy, Jayne Wilkins of Wilkins and Stroud hair and beauty store and Claire Lynch of Sally Salon Services.
Prizes were awarded to the winning students from each category, as well as an overall prize for the most dramatic style produced on the day.
The overall winner was Helen Hartas, who impressed the judges with an eye-catching cabaret-style entry modelled by her daughter Imogen.
Helen said: “It was a fantastic, fun competition and gave me the ideal opportunity to put into practice the skills I’ve acquired from my course. It gave all of the students a platform to express themselves and bring their creativity to the fore.”
Delia Leadbitter, director of wellbeing and creativity at Redcar & Cleveland College, said: “Congratulations must go to all of the candidates, who produced work of a very high standard.
“Through our programmes of study we try to replicate what it is like to work in the real world – and this competition is a great example of that. It gave students a chance to showcase their skills under time constraints that they would encounter if they were to get a job in the profession.”
Aside from the competition, hair and beauty students have already been given exposure to the world of work through Mosaic, a commercial salon based at Redcar & Cleveland College’s Corporation Road site. Open to the public, the salon allows students to trade in the same way a business would and hundreds of customers have passed through its doors.
For further information about Mosaic please call 01642 777184 or visit www.mosaic-redcar.co.uk. For further information about Redcar & Cleveland College please call 01642 473 132 or visit http://www.cleveland.ac.uk.
