BEAUTY proved to be more than skin deep for a college lecturer after she secured a prestigious award for the second consecutive time.
Darlington College tutor Victoria Robinson has been awarded the title of Makeup Artist of the Year in the North East Beauty Industry Awards – atonement for all her hard work. She collected the same prize the last time the competition was run in 2019.
The 40-year-old mum of two, who has worked as a make-up artist in the film industry alongside the likes of James McAvoy in the war epic Atonement, said she was thrilled to be recognised.
“I had to put together a portfolio of evidence about what I had done and clients voted for me,” said Victoria. “There were 10 finalists and when my name wasn’t read out as part of the commendations I thought I’d been unsuccessful. So I was really pleased when they said I had won. I had a really good night at the awards ceremony.”
Stockton-born, Victoria decided to study L3 theatre and media makeup after leaving Our Lady and St Bede Catholic School.
“Working on Atonement was my first paid work and I had to make up hundreds of extras, often on Redcar beach, to look down and dirty, like they hadn’t washed for weeks. One day I ended up standing right next to James McAvoy and didn’t even realise at first.”
Victoria now works at Darlington College and runs her own makeup business, as well as being mum to Elissa, 11, and Mia,18.
“Elissa is fantastic at makeup, really talented, and following in my footsteps,” she said. “They were both delighted when I won.
“I tell our students about the amazing opportunities available to them in this industry, whether that’s in film, or doing proms and weddings. I have a lot of people asking for glamour make-overs at the moment as they are being influenced by Instagram and reality TV.”
For more information about opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.