Last December saw the glamorous and eagerly awaited annual Aesthetics Awards, hosted at the Grange Hotel, and complete with winter wonderland atmosphere.
A celebrity extravaganza emerged at the drinks reception, creating a vibe and first impression that the event could easily be mistaken for the Oscars. Appearance is everything in this industry and with impressive and easily recognisable faces, all looking more like the celebrities they were there to impersonate than the stars themselves, everyone wanted to be photographed with their idol. With Colin Farrell and Will Smith amongst those represented it was easy to resist Johnny Depp (but that may have been because he was fragrantly challenged).
Antonia Mariconda hosted the event and entertainment was provided by the funny Dr Paul Sinha.
AesthetiCare unsurprisingly scooped many of the prestigious awards with their eDS™ and Dermaroller™ being recognised as winning treatments but there were some new faces on the podium this year. Dr Cheralyn Lumley took the crown of Aesthetic Practitioner of the Year, Sharon King was Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner and Dr Johanna Ward became the Rising Star.
Best clinics were clearly to be found amongst the doctors on the South Coast with Dr Xavier from Southampton and Dr Linda Eve from Bournemouth taking awards, however the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses retain their well-deserved crown for Best Association or Industry Body.
Dr Patrick Bowler is now firmly established as the ‘Grandfather of Aesthetics’ in the UK with his Brinkenhoff Award for Lifetime Achievement and Services to the Industry; he followed this with his own personal celebration two weeks later of a new granddaughter.
The good natured banter and enthusiasm shared by all intent on having a great evening ensured this will be a firm fixture on the aesthetic calendar again next year.
