Make-up department in Carlow Institute scoop awards in beauty competition 

THE Carlow Institute of Further Education and Training’s make-up department has just achieved exceptional success at the prestigious Professional Beauty & Hair Ireland 2026 Makeup Competition, held recently over two days at the RDS, Dublin. Competing against top students and professionals from across the country, the Carlow team delivered outstanding performances, demonstrating creativity, technical excellence and professionalism on a national stage. They took home ten awards and did so well that they scooped the overall top prize in the competition.

The annual competition, open to both students and industry professionals, featured a wide range of categories, including bridal, creative, Insta makeup and body painting. This year’s themes, Whispers of the Forest for bodypainting and Insta make-up and Under the Ocean for creative make-up, challenged participants to push artistic boundaries and showcase innovation.

The Carlow team secured an impressive ten awards in total, including five category wins, alongside multiple silver and bronze placements.

Programme co-ordinator Sara Ashmore Kehoe achieved remarkable success, winning both the judges’ choice and the voters’ choice in the Insta professional make-up category, as well as securing third place in the creative pro category. Danielle Fitzgerald also excelled with incredible artwork, winning the professional body painting category, while student Catherine Hartigan won first place in the body painting category.

A standout achievement for the college was winning the prestigious make-up student college cup, awarded to the institution with the highest combined individual scores.

Sara, a former beauty columnist for this newspaper, said that each entry from conception to the finished look takes months to complete. She said that she was particularly pleased with her students being so successful this year because “the standard was very high. It’s great for the college to get so many awards. It takes a long time to create something like this.

“This competition provides an invaluable opportunity for our students to build confidence, gain industry recognition and enhance their professional portfolios,” she added. “The highlight for me was winning the college cup. It reflects the hard work, dedication and talent of both our students and teaching team.” Principal of Carlow institute David Forde said: “We are so very proud of our talented make-up artistry students and staff and delighted that their dedication and talent is so rightly recognised with these prestigious industry awards, including the college cup. Our make-up artistry programme at KCETB Carlow Institute is nationally recognised as a centre of excellence and that is testament to the creative talent, energy and dedication of the team.”