The college’s esthetics program held its make-up competition on Jan. 23. In this annual event, students were asked to choose their own themes and design a model’s make-up to best resemble what they selected. Students had some freedom when it came to selecting a theme, as it could be anything from celebrities to movie characters.
“We just give them a few parameters when choosing a theme,” said Lisa Buchmann, adjunct associate professor of the cosmetology program. “They get to let their imagination run wild.”
Students began preparing for the competition early on by learning advanced make-up techniques from their instructors, listening to guest speakers and having lots of hands-on practice. But in the esthetics program, each student has their own level of skill and different areas that they are comfortable with. The instructors and judges took this into account before scoring each student’s work.
“Everyone has their forte,” said Stephanie Sebring, adjunct associate professor. “So for those who want to go above and beyond they can do that, but sometimes it’s the basic application skills that win.”
When the time came for the competition to begin, a panel of judges who are not instructors in the cosmetology program were selected to ensure fairness. The judges were also not informed of the student’s selected theme during the judging process.
“The judges are make-up artists in the Kansas City area,” said Lana Hodes, coordinator of the cosmetology department. “And often times, cosmetology alumni [from the college].”
Once the judges were selected they were asked to critique the student’s work based on a multitude of different aspects. The three main categories were sanitation, application and creativity. After deliberation from the judges, student Kellie Eyeberg was the winner of this year’s competition with a theme of porcelain doll.
With the make-up competition behind them, cosmetology students are now preparing to team up with the fashion department for the annual fashion show in March.
Contact Erica Aldridge, copy editor, at ealdridg@jccc.edu.