Professional Beauty North Nail Competition 2023: Meet the winners

The Professional Beauty North Nail Competition 2023 saw students, nail professionals and educators compete on the show floor at Manchester Central to put their skills to the test.

Professional Beauty collaborated with The Federation of Nail Professionals (FNP) to host the prestigious Nail Competition, with eight exciting categories – from gel polish and salon enhancements to artistic expression in the catwalk and Insta nail categories. 

The competition took place over both days of the show (September 24–25) and those with the most points across the categories were named Student of the Year and Nail Professional of the Year.

"The Professional Beauty North Show in Manchester was amazing with so many wonderful people and brands," said Jacqui and Sean O'Sullivan the competition directors.

"The Pro Beauty and FNP Competitions were really buzzing and we are so proud of the work our competitors achieved, the standard gets better with every competition we run. Kirsty Meakin did an awesome job with our Learn A Skill Competition and we are delighted to have her in our team."

"We are so looking forward to 2024 when we will be holding competitions in London, Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester," they continued. "We will also be announcing details of our new overall champion next year, so watch this space for more details."

Note: some categories were separated into two sections – one for professionals and another for students to compete. 

The winners of the 2023 Professional Beauty North Nail Competition 2023 are:

Competition Nail (professional)

First: Octavia Smith

Second: Dominika Jedrzejczak

Third: Kirsty McDonough

Learn a Skill (professional) - sponsored by Kirsty Meakin

First: Kirsty McDonough

Second: Michelle Harding

Third: Lucy Houghton

Shape of Your Art (professional)

First: Kirsty McDonough

Second: Octavia Smith

Third: Monika Kuriata

Manicure (professional) - sponsored by Glitterbels

First: Lucy Price 

Second: Octavia Smith

Third: Kirsty McDonough

UV Gel Polish (professional) - sponsored by Gelish

First: Kirsty McDonough 

Second: Lucy Price

Third: Dominika Jedrzejczak

Salon Nail (professional)

First: Kirsty McDonough

Second: Dominika Jedrzejczak

Third: Octavia Smith

Catwalk Showcase (professional)

First: Kimberley Johnstone

Second: Caroline Bruce

Third: Kirsty McDonough

Catwalk Showcase (student)

First: Molly Jeffcock

Second: Sandra Komorowska

Third: Alison McGealey

Instanail (professional)

First: Kirsty McDonough

Second: Anita Chahal

Third: Caroline Bruce

Instanail (student)

First: Lauren Jeffrey

Second: Jasmine Marsh

Third: Molly Jeffcock

Instanail Voter’s Choice

Michelle Harding

Pro Champion

Kirsty McDonough

Many thanks to everyone who entered this year and to our fabulous judges: Marian Newman, Jacqui O’Sullivan, Sean O’Sullivan, Kirsty Meakin, Alex Fox, Hazel Dixon, Clare Woodcock, Zsuzsanna Fecsik, Andrea Rimmer, Scarlett Senter,  Andreea Rimmer and Mandy Rainford-Jones.