County Derry Hairdresser declared best in Northern Ireland

A County Derry Hairdresser was declared the best hairdresser in Northern Ireland at the NI B-Beautiful Awards.

Deborah Gibson of Gibson Hair in Maghera won both the County Derry and NI prize at the first ever instalment of the awards.

Speaking after the ceremony Deborah was proud to receive the award and gave praise to her team.

“Winning the awards was something of a surreal experience, something I’ve always dreamt of, having [the awards] to show the hard work, dedication and sacrifice myself and my team have made over the years!

“I’m entirely grateful for the experience and opportunity! There truly are no words to describe the feeling,” she said.

Thousands of entrants were narrowed down to just seven in each category following an eight week voting process.

Finalists then competed in a live practical finals day in Antrim where Deborah had to perform an Autumn look on a model of her choice.

Deborah's look received an average rating of 92.5 out of 100 from the three industry judges and was ultimately enough to win NI's top spot.

One of the judges, Rebecca Cooper, from Rebecca's Hair Studio in Carrickfergus, explained why Deborah scored so highly.

“She had great understanding of what the client wanted and explained very well the style from start to finish. Great use of products and back combing was very on the theme. She also finished in great time as well.”

There were a total of 22 award categories including best eyelashes technician, best make-up artist, best nail technician and best barber.

Another successful Derry competitor was Charlotte Ingham of Charlotte Ingham Make-up Artistry. She was awarded the prize for best make-Up artist in County Derry.