In November I may have (just) finished my Diploma in Beauty Therapy, but I still couldn’t say no to one last chance to play on campus—I had to be a part of the annual Masters Awards Night.

For those of you that don’t know, the Masters Awards Night is held every November, highlighting achievements across Fashion, Hair, Makeup and Beauty students, along with running a variety competitions, runways and more.

Here's a glimpse of our 2018 Awards Night:

At our 2017 Awards Night, I had the exciting experience of winning Beauty Student of the Year. This meant the world to me. From not knowing what I wanted to study at 16 years old and choosing beauty initially to ‘fill the space’ for my VET subject requirement in VCAL to now being recognised as beauty student of the year was an amazing, overwhelming experience.

For 2018, I decided to get a little more creative and entered the festival themed competition. It was my job to design a look inspired by Coachella, ready to be debuted on the runway. When I think ‘festival’, I see colour and glitter so that was the main focus for my look.

I collaborated with a young Australian girl who just started a small business designing festival outfits. I worked on designing the garment with her to make sure it matched my vision and would work with the overall look. I also had the fun opportunity to work with a hair student from T.M. in designing the hair look, which I also ended up getting quite hands on with. It was so great to get to work with students who weren’t in my class but were a part of the #MastersTribe. Finally, I brought on the glitter. I did all the makeup and body art myself and honestly never thought I’d have so much fun creating it.

My main goal was for my look to speak ‘Coachella’ rather than one particular aspect of it being the ‘feature’. I spent the day on campus with my model getting her hair and makeup ready, then finally dressing in her outfit, completing the final look.

That night, we opened the doors to the public and had our runway show. The runway itself was so much fun - my model absolutely rocked it and owned the ‘festival theme’. All the hard efforts paid off - I placed second! I’m so grateful for my team and the judges for seeing all the work that went into creating this.

Also, shout out to Tayla for winning the photography based comp, The Face of The Masters - how amazing is this shot?! It was well deserved.

After all the madness, when I think about the Awards Night it’s bittersweet for me. It was exciting to participate in the Coachella comp but sad as it marked the end of my beauty studies.

Studying at The Masters was such a great experience. It was welcoming, supportive, inspiring, hands on and always exciting. I’m so grateful for the experience I had, the friends that I have made and the support from the staff, in particular from my teacher Pam. She helped me find my passion in the industry and I truly don’t think I’d be where I am without her.

Having graduated in 2018, I’m now working at The Spa Skin + Body in Gisborne as a beauty therapist. I hope to soon work on a cruise ship and offer beauty services around the world, or possibly own my own spa/salon one day. Who knows what the future holds!

Want to follow my journey? Follow me on Instagram at @cindybeauty__