Drum’s Keara Lennon pictured in the middle in white, alongside her FACE. Brow Bar team just prior to going into the IMAGE Business of Beauty ceremony earlier this month.

Two local winners at IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards

Deirdre Verney

Published: Tue 27 Sep 2022, 1:56 PM

Last updated: Tue 27 Sep 2022, 1:57 PM

The IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards is described as Ireland's biggest glitter and style fest honouring the very best in Irish hair and beauty and there were two local winners.

Aqua Sana Longford Forest, near Ballymahon, was named Best Spa in Ireland for the second time at the first ceremony since 2020, beating off stiff competition from The Spa at Adare Manor, who took silver and bronze going to The Spa at Galgorm in Ballymena, Co Antrim.

In the Best Brow Artist category, Keara Lennon from Face.Brow Bar, 15 Payne's Lane, Golden Island, Athlone, took the bronze spot at the national awards, while the silver went to Kim O’Sullivan from The Dublin Makeup Academy. The overall winner in the brow category was Michelle Fox of Michelle Fox MUA and PhiBrow.

Keara, from Drum in Roscommon, has been running the brow bar for the last three years and is delighted with the recognition at the IMAGE awards, run by IMAGE magazine.

“To be nominated in the first place was a dream but to come home with a bronze and come third in a category of women who I always admired and looked up too is just unreal,” Keara, who is a Browmaster, said in a social media post.

The IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards, hosted by hosted by IMAGE group contributing editor Melanie Morris, and fashion and media personality Darren Kennedy, took place at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin on September 18, and are a yearly highlight in Ireland’s beauty awards calendar recognising the best of the industry.

Winners were decided 100% by public vote and almost half a million votes were cast in recent weeks in a bid to win a a hair and beauty Oscar.

Commenting on the success for Center Parcs, David Robinson, Leisure Services Line Manager at Center Parcs Longford Forest, said: “The IMAGE Awards celebrate the best and brightest of Ireland’s hair and beauty industry, so it’s an honour to even be shortlisted, and an absolute privilege to be named Best Spa for the second time.

“The team here work so hard and this award is testament to everything they do to make Aqua Sana Longford Forest the number one spa in Ireland.”

This latest award also comes after Aqua Sana Longford Forest was named Best Destination Spa and National Spa of the Year at the Irish Tatler Wellness and Spa Awards 2022.

Aqua Sana is a luxurious spa nestled in the woodland of Center Parcs Longford Forest near Ballymahon and offers a unique experience.

Aqua Sana’s four spa zones and 21 experiences are all themed around the natural world.

The spa offers two unique experiences which cannot be found at any other Aqua Sana spa – the first is Forest Awakening, a mindful garden walk allowing time for reflection. The second, the Forest Garden, is a beautiful room filled with greenery, with a skylight flooding the room with natural light, and the sound of trickling water to calm the mind.