Created to discover and celebrate Australia and New Zealand’s freshest urban and regional Apprentice talent through the delivery of exciting hair vision and creativity, the 2025 CURATE Awards have announced the 30 Finalists for this unique competition platform.
Envisioned by Brisbane hairdressing icon and reigning AHIA Creative Australian Hairdresser of the Year 2023 Justin Pace, the ongoing goal of CURATE is to elevate the perception of hairdressing as an exciting career pathway. With an almost 50% increase in entries for the awards second year, the local and international judging panel were again blown away by the incredible calibre of entrants.
As a digital competition, CURATE allows for apprentice talent to shine through the creation of a two-minute video to showcase their cutting, colouring and styling skills, eliminating any geographical barriers to entry. Entrants are judged on a combination of inspiration, delivery of their hair creation, finished result and video editing skills.
Winners will be announced on 13th April and the lucky five will start prepping online with Justin for their full-day photo shoot workshop with Justin in Sydney, one part of their share of the $51k+ prize pool which also includes tickets to Hair Festival and the AHIA Creative Awards Gala, L’Oréal ACCESS Education vouchers, Excellent Edges scissors, ghd Professional electrical tools, ELEVEN Australia products, Sustainable Salons goodie bags, a biography from Lily Blue Communications plus industry exposure throughout 2025.
To acknowledge, support and inspire the talented 2025 CURATE Awards entrants, Justin is also excited to be able to offer all entrants this year a complimentary ‘Viewing Gallery’ ticket for the AHIA Creative Awards Gala in celebration of Mocha Group’s 20th anniversary, a complimentary ticket to Hair The Movement’s Day 3 Seminar- ‘Industry leaders: Journey to the Top’, plus all Queensland entrants will receive a complimentary ticket for MIG Training’s ‘MIG DAY OUT’.
Justin is thrilled to work with the most promising Apprentice talent for the second year;
“The success of the inaugural CURATE Awards last year just reinforced the importance of this initiative for our industry and I was so proud of our winners. 2025 sees us expand into New Zealand and I’m so thrilled to increase our reach to give even more next-gen talent the chance to excel and for this competition to become an integral part of more hairdressing careers.”
A big thank you to CURATE’s collaborators for 2025 who are championing the industry. These include Official Media Partner Mocha Group, Major Partner L’Oréal Access, Prize Partners Excellent Edges, ELEVEN Australia and ghd, Sustainability Partner Sustainable Salons and Proud Supporters MIG Training, Jadore Hair and the AHC.
Special mention also to the 32 industry luminaires who judged this year’s entries, namely Andrew Cobeldick, Benni Tognini, Brodie Tsiknaris, Carolyn Gahan, Chris Baran, Chris Moody, Clive Allwright, Damien Rinaldo, Danni Solier, Danny Pato, Jamie Furlan, Jarred Stedman, Jayne Wild, Jenni Tarrant, Jo Smith, Jude McEwan, Jules Tognini, Julia Homard, Kerrie DiMattia, Kiralee Honor, Kristy Hodgson, Lauren McCowan, Michael Kelly, Rachel Vitullo, Richard Kavanagh, Richi Grisillo, Sam James, Sara Allsop, Scott Sloan, Sharon Blain, Sheridan Rose Shaw and Stevie English.
CURATE AWARDS 2025 FINALISTS
REGIONAL AUSTRALIA – COLOUR & STYLE
Alexandria Oomen, Kaboo Haircutters
Georgia Schembri, Mayko Hair
Kynan Booty, Parlour O
Maddison Stone, The Salon Collective
Madison Groves, Safari Room
Sophie McDonnell, Bella Donna The Hair Collective
REGIONAL AUSTRALIA – CUT & COLOUR
Bella Karlsson, Becky B Hair
Casey Churchwood, Ms Monaco Hair Society
Kealey-Grace Harkins, Jarahs Hair
Lilli Dearden-Ord, Intuition The Art Of Hair
Madison Groves, Safari Room
Sienna Shields, Wow Hair Wickham
URBAN AUSTRALIA – COLOUR & STYLE
Alicia Edwards, The Disco
Cam Day, Co And Pace Salon
Danielle Carman, Fon Salon
Elisha Forgione, Bliss The Art Of Hair
Isabella Molloy, Tigerlamb
Odette Hall, Heading Out Hair & Beauty
URBAN AUSTRALIA – CUT & COLOUR
Bethany Robinson, HeadHunters Hair Studio
Jasmin Movsowitz, Toni&Guy Sydney City
Kobi Lee, The Factory 3013
Lucy Ahearn, Tsiknaris Hair
Shannon Westwood, The Factory 3013
Xanika Kearnan, MAMAWEST
NEW ZEALAND – COLOUR & STYLE
Eva Jones, Bettjemans Hair Salon
Eva Jones, Bettjemans Hair Salon
Jess Wilson, Zibido Hair
Nascita Lindsay, Smoke & Mirrors Hair Lounge
Natalia Newson, Wabi Sabi
Samantha Eddy, Salon One Hair & Beauty
