A BEAUTICIAN has beaten hundreds of entrants to make it to the final six hoping to be named Therapist of the Year at the Professional Beauty Awards 2015.

Salon owner Marie-Louise Coster, 37, who runs All About Mi in Chipping Sodbury will complete an assessment day in November before the winner is revealed at an awards ceremony in London on 22 February 2015.

Made up of 10 categories including Nail Salon of the Year, Make up Specialist of the Year and Aesthetic Therapist of the Year, the Professional Beauty Awards 2015 aims to recognise those who make a real difference to the industry and encourage their development.

Marie-Louise who lives with her partner Richard in Chipping Sodbury, has been a therapist for 20 years and said she was excited to have made it to the final stages of the competition.

She said: “I am thrilled to have reached the finalists and I look forward to attending the assessment day where I will showcase my skills and tell the panel a bit more about me.

“It has been a very busy time as, in August, I was elected as chairperson at Habia - the government approved standards setting body for hair, beauty, nails and spas.”

Marie-Louise said her career as a beauty therapist would have stalled if a college tutor had not seen her determination to succeed.

She said: “I am still as passionate about the industry as I was when I started 20 years ago. After being unable to afford to take a two year unpaid apprenticeship at a salon I applied to go to college to realise my dream.

“My application was very late and the Head of Beauty Mrs Dibble at Brunel College who interviewed me told me she would put me on a waiting list but that I would most likely have to wait a year to start unless a number of people dropped out.

“A week before the course started, I received a phone call telling me I had a place. She later told me that no one had dropped out but she could see how determined I was and how much I really wanted to be involved in the industry.”