Glow Up searches for our next make-up star

If you’ve got a skill, chances are there’s a TV contest dedicated to it. So far this year, we’ve seen televised searches for Britain’s best chefs, potters and dog groomers.

This week alone, the BBC are conducting hunts for the UK’s best stitchers in The Great British Sewing Bee or someone who can knock up a decent necklace in All That Glitters: Britain’s Next Jewellery Star.

Now it’s the turn of people who are handy with blusher and mascara to take centre stage as Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star hits our screens. To be fair, no one should accuse this show of jumping on the bandwagon, as this is the third series – although fittingly enough, given the subject matter, it has undergone a makeover.

Glow Up began back in 2019 with Stacey Dooley on presenting duties, but for this new run, Maya Jama is taking charge. The former Radio DJ certainly has the qualifications for the job. She’s hosted an array of programmes across numerous channels, including the MOBO Awards and Save Our Summer with Peter Crouch, and she also has a passion for fashion and beauty

So, understandably, she’s excited about this series: “I absolutely love Glow Up and can’t wait to join the family! I’m obsessed with make-up and creating different looks – it’s going to be so much fun and I can’t wait to see what the MUAs [make-up artists] get up to.”

Luckily, she doesn’t have long to wait as the contest begins tonight when we meet the 10 contenders. Each week, they’ll be set one real-world Professional Assignment, as well as a themed Creative Brief at Glow Up HQ.

The two MUAs who fail to impress judges Val Garland and Dominic Skinner then enter the elimination Face Off round, when they will have to show they really do have the skills – and to make it as fair as possible, they will have identical twins as their models. One MUA will be ordered to pack up their brushes and leave the competition, while the other will make it to the next episode.

At the end of eight weeks, the last MUA standing wins a contract assisting some of the world’s top make-up artists and the bragging rights that come with being Britain’s Next Make-Up Star.

In the first episode, the class of 2021 are thrown in at the deep end with a beauty campaign for a high-street chain. It’s to promote an inclusive cosmetics range for a diverse customer base, so guest judge and creative director of the shoot, Ateh Jewel, doesn’t just want eye-catching looks – the foundation must be perfectly colour matched.

Next, the artists get a chance to show what makes them unique by creating a look that tells a story while also highlighting their technical prowess

The two hopefuls who have ranked the lowest will then face an elimination challenge based around a clumpy lash – it might not sound particularly flattering, but done right, it will accentuate the eye and give one person a ticket through to the next stage.

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