Inverness College UHI students head and shoulders above the pack

Four Inverness College UHI hairdressing students are celebrating after brushing aside the competition at North East Scotland Hair and Beauty Festival 2011 recently. Placing first, second and third in the Fantasy category and second in the High Fashion category, the quartet wowed the judges with their eye-catching work.

The annual contest pits budding Vidal Sassoons from colleges across the North and North East against one another in a variety of categories. The students themselves must come up with a theme for the style they wish to create and then plan makeup and clothing to accompany the coiffure. At this year’s Hair and Beauty Festival, held at the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom, over 400 trainees in hair and beauty battled it out for the top spot.

The students enrolled in the Level 3 Hairdressing course at Inverness College UHI really rose to the challenge, putting in weeks of preparation for the big day. Lecturer Seonaid Morrison commented: “As soon as we found out the date of the competition, the students began to work on their entries. They came up with their themes and began to create the styles to accompany them. They really put the hours in.”

Ana Bravo with model

And their dedication definitely paid off, with Inverness College UHI receiving a trio of gongs in the Fantasy category. Students Ana Bravo, Ashleigh Gibson and Sadie McInnes were recognised for their efforts in styling; producing breathtaking looks on the themes of Autumn, animal and ice queen. In addition, Abbi Gray was handed second place in the High Fashion category, completing a very successful day out in Aberdeen.

Sadie McInnes (30) from Aviemore was delighted her work was so highly regarded by the judges: “I wanted to do something wintery because of the time of year and also my sister had brought back some clothing and masks from a trip to Thailand that I really wanted to incorporate, so creating an ice queen seemed perfect. We worked really hard, making the hair really dramatic and spent hours and hours sewing tiny mirrored sequins onto the outfit.

“On the day itself, we travelled over to Aberdeen by bus. My sister modelled for me and we did her makeup en route. When you arrive you have 40 minutes on stage to style the hair for the theme. I was overwhelmed with the response the look received; the reaction to it was amazing. I had a huge grin on my face all day!”

The success achieved by the hairdressing students has sparked efforts to travel to Blackpool next March to compete against trainees from all over the UK and Ireland in the AHT Festival of Hair and Beauty. Lecturer Seonaid Morrison said: “We are set to start fundraising in a bid to make the trip to Blackpool. I’m confident the students at Inverness College UHI are so talented they’ll definitely be in with a chance. It is just such a fantastic experience and really helps boost their confidence.”