Hairdressing students make final of Wella Xposure

Two Hairdressing students from Walsall College have been selected as finalists for the Wella Xposure competition in London.

Run by one of the world’s largest cosmetics suppliers, Wella Xposure is a prestigious nationwide competition that celebrates imagination, creativity, and talent amongst young hairdressers in further education.

Cristina Constantin and Yana Ristic, who are both studying a Level 3 Diploma in Women’s Hairdressing, were encouraged to apply to the competition by their tutor.

The students submitted their designs online and were successful in getting through to the Midlands regional heat semi-finals in Milton Keynes. During the live competition, they were tasked to recreate their commercial cut and colour from the previous photographic heat on their models.

Cristina and Yana impressed the panel of judges and were amongst only four students chosen for the grand final in London.

The talented duo will now travel to Wella World in London on 4th June, where they will pit their skills against the winners of the other regional heats to be crowned Britain’s top student hairdresser. The winner will walk away with a £1,000 Wella Education fund for personal development, a toolkit worth £500, and the chance to shadow top industry professionals backstage at an event.

Yana feels that working in the College’s Graduate Salon has helped her to gain the skills and the confidence to style her model’s hair in the one-hour time slot during the semi-finals.

She said, “I feel that my lessons in the salon has given me real-life experience, which in turn has helped me during the competition. During the semi-final, we had to style our model’s hair in a real salon within an hour, so working under that pressure felt like working in the Graduate Salon.

“A lot of the techniques I had utilised for the model’s hair for the semi-final was taken from what I had learnt at Walsall College. The colour I used was one of the new dyes the college has brought in for us to experiment with, and the cut was inspired by a demonstration at the College. I put my own twist to that cut that was shown to us and it worked!”

Cristina, who recently joined the Lewis Moore salon in Cannock, felt the competition has enabled her to make use of the skills she developed on her course.

“The course has really helped me to choose the right colour for the model, as well as using the correct techniques to create the look I wanted with her hair type. Developing the skills I have now has made my job easier, as you instinctively know what techniques are needed for a specific cut.”

Curriculum Manager for Hairdressing, Tina Kelly, said: “We are thrilled to have Yana and Cristina both representing the college at the final. They both worked really hard in the run up to this regional heat so it’s a great reward for their efforts. Staff will now be working with them to help prepare them for the final.

“Taking part in competitions is a great way for students to test their skills against their peers, push their creativity and talents to the next level and reach their full potential in the competitive hairdressing industry.”

Walsall College offer a number of courses and apprenticeships in hair and beauty. To find out more, come to our next Open Day to speak to a tutor.