Gain an insight into the final day of competition in the Beauty Care category at WorldSkills 2008 in Sydney!

Chief Judge, Sue Collins around the Beauty Care Arena, shows us the magic of the beauty industry unfold as contestants compete in the ‘Interpretation Make-up’ and ‘Nail Enhancement- Nail Art’ categories.

About Beauty Care:

In order to compete at the National WorldSkills Beauty Care category, students need to have completed their Certificate IV in Beauty Therapy at TAFE or one of the many private colleges throughout Australia. Entrants must also be under 21 years of age.

WorldSkills is the only national competition for Beauty Therapists, and organisers take pride in setting standards that meet Australian Beauty Therapy guidelines and international standards as well.

There are nine competitors this year vying for ‘National Winner of the Worldskills Beauty Care Competition. For the Regional competition, competitors in this category had already completed their Certificate III in Beauty Therapy.

To become a fully qualified Beauty Therapist, one must complete 12- 18 months of full time study. The industry is booming and growing. Because beauty care is related to the health care industry there’s ever growing room for further education and career development eg. Dermatology, Cosmetic Surgery. Qualified therapists can work all over Australia and overseas.

The competition focuses on non-machine procedures like spa facial techniques, hot rocks massage, full body wrap, body exfoliation, facials for mature aged skin, interpretation make-up and artificial nail art. Entrants complete three tasks on the first day and two tasks on day two and three.

Cosmetic products are supplied as well as linen and larger equipment. Beforehand, students are sent samples of the product range to study and become familiar with. Entrants bring their own make-up brushes and other small hand tools like tweezers.

All models have to be really similar so not to disadvantage competitors. In the ‘Interpretation Make-Up’ task, entrants are given four photographs of faces with different make-up styles. Two of them are fairly natural make-up styles and two glamour or catwalk make up styles. The students must pick a photograph to copy and apply to their model.

They must choose a make-up style that will best suite the client, one that will flatter the face shape and over-all look of the person. They must consider whether the model has a round, square, or long face etc. They are judged on the suitability of their choices and their application technique. They have two hours to complete this task.

In the ‘Nail Enhancement and Nail Art’ task entrants have three hours to apply a full set of acrylic nails to a client.

Australia came fourth last year in the International WorldSkills held in Japan. 2005 saw them come sixth in Finland, and 2003 they took out the Bronze in Switzerland. Last year's Australian national winner is now working in London.

They apply tips, blend tips, they must not damage the natural nail, it must look natural and then they apply nail art. Students have had 8 weeks of nail art training prior to this event. Entrants use a photograph or diagram of the nail art in front of them to copy. As well as keeping clients happy, students learn all aspects of hygiene and environmental best practices.

About Sue:

Beauty Care chief judge, Sue Collins, has been involved in WorldSkills for the past ten years. Originally a nurse in hospital operating theatres, Sue sought a career change and on a break from work she got into beauty therapy. Not long afterwards she started her own beauty training school, Cairns Beauty Academy.

She got into World Skills because she thought it was a good way to test and assess her students. While Sue oversees the judging panel, her primary role is to make sure that competitors are happy and being judged fairly for their work.