Julia Iacopetti poses before the annual spring Cosmetology hair show on May 6 at the Haugh Performing Arts Center. Themed “Desire for Beauty,” the look won grand prize at the show. (Chris Fernandez/Clarion)
The Citrus College Cosmetology Hair Show brought together themes of contemporary classic and avant-garde together and the audience were treated to a spectacle of creativity by the results.
From wild makeup to creative hairstyles and detailed nails, the models wowed the crowd for the hour long show May 6 at the Haugh Performing Arts Center.
Cosmetology team “Desire for Beauty” won the grand prize for their work on model Julia Iacopetti. The judges were all former Citrus alumni who work professionally in the fashion industry. “Desire for Beauty” was Citrus student Natalia Pryannik’s idea. Pryannik created a custom hairpiece using real hair, butterfly decorations and battery-operated lights for Iacopetti to wear, while Luvy Soto applied makeup and Joanna Eade created nails that took on the shape of fusilli noodles.
Pryannik said with avant-garde, creativity plays an important part in the style.
“With avant-garde, you have to push the boundaries and do something unexpected,” Pryannik said. “That’s why we came up with this idea, to use nail tips for the makeup, for example.”
The team showed creativity in attaching fake nail tips to Iacopetti’s face, giving her an eyelash look that could be only imagined with an avant-garde theme.
“When you see your concept, you see your vision, you kind of go for it,” Pryannik said. “We’ve got to do it, because it’s something that the judges are going to appreciate.”
The preparation for the show began at 8 a.m. Friday and the live competition between the Cosmetology department took place at 2 p.m. inside the Student Center. The participants had 90 minutes to apply makeup and do hair and nails for their models.
After the 90 minutes were up, the judges walked around the room for 35 minutes, observing each model presented by the teams. The judges deliberated while final preparations for the main event took place. The audience was treated to a dance number from the dance department and cosmetology student Summer Barratt performed two songs.
This year’s hair show was different, allowing the audience to see each model twice on stage, instead of the customary one-time walk down the runway. The audience applauded often as the models took turns down the runway, starting with contemporary classic followed by avant-garde.
Awards were given out at the end of the hair show for categories in hair, makeup and nails for contemporary classic and avant-garde and the grand prize was awarded to Pryannik and her team.
Pryannik has participated and won in competitions before. She recently finished second-place for avant-garde at the International Salon and Spa Exhibition in January in Long Beach.
“I love to do competition because it’s such an amazing experience,” Pryannik said. “Every time, you learn something new and you meet such incredible people.”
Pryannik was recently awarded a scholarship from the Professional Beauty Association, given to only five students in the United States.
“It gives you such a power and confidence to do something that people are going to appreciate,” Pryannik said.
Her team believed in the vision Pryannik was going for with “Desire for Beauty” and the idea was executed exactly the way she hoped, Pryannik said. The team swept the competition, taking home first place for avant-garde in hair, makeup and nails, to go along with the grand prize trophy.
