A cut above the rest

A hairdressing student from the College of North West London has made it through to the finals of the prestigious Hairdressing Council Student of the Year Awards 2013, which take place in London next month.

Deborah, from Northwood, has just finished her hairdressing qualification at the College, whilst working as a freelance hairdresser, and won her place in the finals of the ‘Red Carpet Glamour Look’ category of the competition after submitting a photograph of the look she had created. She will now go on to recreate the hairstyle at the finals on October 13th at L’Oreal, Hammersmith, where she has 50 minutes to complete the look and then will have a 10 minute session with the judges - renowned celebrity hairstylists Andrew Barton, Lisa Shepherd and Patrick Cameron.

Deborah Keogh is no stranger to being recognised for her hairdressing talents as she was named Avant-Garde Stylist of the Year 2013 by the Freelance Hair & Beauty Federation and took first place in the ‘hair up’ category at last year’s Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) competition.

She was encouraged to enter this most recent competition by Peter Stonebanks, head of hairdressing at the College, and he’s not surprised that she’s been named as one of eight students from around the country to reach the finals. Peter commented: “Deborah is fast becoming recognised in hairdressing circles. Her creativity, passion and drive are second to none and we wish her all the luck in the world for the finals. She was an amazing student and we know that she’ll be going on to make great strides in the industry.”

The winner of the competition will be announced on stage at one of the biggest UK hairdressing events, Salon International, at London’s Excel Centre. Deborah said: “I am over the moon to have got through and would really love to get into the top three at the finals. I’m certainly going to do my best and I am training hard for it. Not only would this be a really prestigious title to achieve, the prizes are amazing - they include a day shadowing celebrity hairstylist Andrew Barton, vouchers for a course at L’Oreal and a course at Wella, an ipad and lunch at the House of Commons.”