Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star

In episode one, the MUA class of 2021 are tasked with their first Professional Assignment - a beauty campaign for Superdrug. 

In this week's Creative Brief, the judges want to see what makes their MUAs unique. They must produce a look which tells a story, brings technicality and pushes their creativity.

The judges send the two MUAs whose looks they have ranked to the lowest to the first Face Off elimination challenge, where they are tasked with producing a clumpy lash that accentuates the eye and thickens the lash.

In episode two, the nine remaining MUAs enter the world of film and television make-up, as they are booked to come up with the looks for the third season of American smash hit drama series Pose.

The MUAs have just two hours to create a look for a costumed performer before they hit the runway to showcase their looks for the judges. Only one can win and have their final look feature on the next series of Pose.

Back at Glow Up Studios, this week's Creative Brief challenges the MUAs to create a look that represents what freedom means to them. This could reflect a personal journey, a movement or a feeling.

The two weakest looks are sent to this week's Face Off elimination, where they must create the perfect red jewelled lip.

Maya Jama host as the eight remaining MUAs go back in time to create period make-up looks for the Golden Globe and Bafta-winning TV drama series The Crown.

Joining resident judges Val Garland and Dominic Skinner this week is guest judge Cate Hall. Cate is The Crown's lead hair and make-up designer and is responsible for recreating some of the most significant figures in modern history. Cate wants to test the MUAs period make-up knowledge and challenges them to create authentic and recognisable looks from The Crown for a screen test.

For this week's Creative Brief, the judges challenge the MUAs to turn their models into living pieces of art, influenced by their favourite artist or artistic movement.

Following judging, two MUAs head into the Face Off elimination where they are asked to produce a timeless blue smoky eye. After the judges deliberate, one MUA is sent home from the competition.

At the Selfie Factory in London's O2, the seven remaining MUAs enter the lucrative world of social media make-up creating fun and impactful looks for the global video sharing platform TikTok. Social media has changed the face of the beauty industry, allowing MUAs to build hugely successful careers on their strong online followings. Joining Val and Dominic this week is guest judge and social media and TikTok superstar Abby Roberts, who found online worldwide fame as a teenager by posting make-up looks of herself from her bedroom in Leeds. The winner of this week's assignment will get to create a video with Abby that will be posted online to her 15 million followers.

Upping the ante for their fourth assignment, the MUAs have to grapple with technology as they have just two hours to design, film and create a fun impactful make-up look on themselves, and it must also fit with their assigned backdrop. For their video, the MUAs must film and edit a buildable make-up look to a chosen music soundtrack before their videos are uploaded live on to the platform.

The next day, the MUAs gather at Glow Up Studios to find out which two were judged to have created the weakest videos and make-up looks during the TikTok assignment. They both start the day in the red Face Off chairs with a 15-minute time penalty in the Creative Brief. Staying in the online world, this week's Creative Brief sees the MUAs challenged to create a look based on a face filter. They can choose any kind of filter, or they can invent one of their own.

The judges deliberate and reveal who will go head to head in the Face Off elimination, a make-up skill drill under intense time pressure. They must create a pop art lip, after which one MUA must pack up their make-up kit and leave the competition.

For their professional assignment, the six remaining MUAs are booked to do the make-up on a beauty shoot for global online retailer ASOS. The MUAs create looks for an ASOS Face and Body social media video to the online retailer's 22 million social media followers, the largest audience reach in Glow Up history! Joining Val and Dominic this week and heading up the ASOS shoot is guest judge and design director Vanessa Spence.

Dialling up the pressure for their fifth assignment, the MUAs have just two hours to design and create a look which fits the client's Luminate make-up brief. The MUAs must create creative polished looks that showcase the mascara. Their looks must also feature a shimmery eye and a glow on the skin, align with ASOS's brand identity and be inspiring and relatable. The MUAs' looks and models will then be screen-tested by the judges to see which MUA has hit the brief and created the strongest look that will then go onto be shot and used in the ASOS Face and Body social media video campaign.

The next day, the MUAs gather at Glow Up Studios to find out which two were judged to have created the weakest looks for the ASOS campaign. They both start the day in the red Face Off chairs with a 15-minute time penalty in the Creative Brief, which involves creating a look that is ‘out of this world'. The judges want the MUAs to design conceptual make-up looks that are bold and imaginative. They could choose to explore space as we know it, imagine an extraterrestrial life or create their own vision of another world.

One MUA struggles with their prosthetic cheekbone application, whilst another battles with a bald cap, and risks are taken with an alien-human DNA mash-up and an alien high fashion beauty look. The judges deliberate over which two MUAs have produced the weakest looks before revealing who will go head-to-head in the Face Off elimination, a make-up skill drill under intense time pressure. The two are tasked with creating a structured glitter eye, with the MUA who least impresses packing up their make-up kit and leaving the competition.

It is glitter, gloss and glam this week as Stacey Dooley returns to her favourite dance floor. The MUAs battle it out in Britain's most famous ballroom at Strictly Come Dancing.

This week's guest judge is Bafta Award-winning hair and make-up designer Lisa Armstrong. Lisa is responsible for creating up to 50 original make-up looks every week on Strictly, and today she has a new team to help design and execute the make-up for movie week. Working to the exacting time pressures of a live show, the MUAs must deliver make-up that embodies the Strictly brand - lashes, glamour and glitter! Each MUA is allocated a different movie and two characters that they have to design a look for. Whoever impresses the most has the opportunity to work with Lisa backstage at the live show, but those that fail to deliver run the risk of starting the creative brief in the red face-off chairs. With looks including Pokemon and the psychedelic-inspired Austin Powers, one MUA surpasses Lisa's expectations and executes the make-up beautifully, whilst another's bad attitude upsets the judges.

The next day in Glow Up HQ, the MUAs are asked to transform their model into a superhero. One MUA pushes their creativity by using a food blender to help create the base to their look, whilst another blows the judges away with an amazing illusion make-up.

The two MUAs who impress the least head into the elimination face-off, but their glitter lip skill drill throws the judges into deadlock as they battle to decide who should earn a place in the semi-final.

It is the semi-final and just four MUAs remain. This week's assignment requires serious flair as the MUAs are booked on a beauty editorial for world-renowned photographer and director and this week's guest judge Rankin.

Rankin's magazine Hunger is known for pushing the boundaries of fashion, style and make-up, and he wants the MUAs to think about experimental beauty, express themselves and most importantly inspire him for today's beauty editorial, which has a theme of the future. The shoot takes place in a tank of water, so each MUA must plan and produce a unique make-up look which fits the theme and works well with the water. Rankin is not only judging their make-up but also how they work with him to create the perfect image. The stakes are high - if Rankin is happy with an MUA's final look, the shots will feature in his magazine. Will the semi-finalists be able to keep their cool and make a splash under the watchful eye of one of the world's best-known photographers?

The next day in Glow Up HQ, the MUAs face a surprise creative brief for the first time in the competition and are asked to design and create a look based on one of the four classical elements - earth, wind, air and fire. In a bid to make it into the final, the MUAs pull out all the stops, with looks featuring a silicone mouldable plastic, oriental, tattoo-style drawings using intricate line work and a 3D-layered look using hair.

Once the creative briefs have been judged, Val and Dominic must decide which two MUAs enter the elimination face off. The MUAS are asked to pull off a rainbow eye with seamlessly-blended colours. Only three MUAs can make it to the Glow Up final.

It's the final of Glow Up, and three MUAs still have the chance to be crowned Britain's Next Make-Up Star. After seven weeks of industry assignments, the judges have opened up their personal black books to put the finalists in front of a global panel of industry heavyweights. To help further the MUAs' careers after the competition, the judges ask them to present their signature make-up styles in a masterclass to industry giants such as Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty, beauty influencers and professional MUAs. If they impress, the panel could book them for jobs in the future.

The guest judge this week is masterclass mogul Lisa Eldridge, who joins Val, Dominic and the panel to watch the MUAs present individually. each must showcase their USP by creating a signature look, be engaging, explain their techniques and deliver great make-up under pressure.

The next day in Glow Up Studios, the MUAs take on their final Creative Brief. They must show the judges a look that demonstrates what makes them unstoppable as a MUA, encapsulating how they have grown throughout the competition. One MUA's interpretation of unstoppable is based on crystals, which have helped her get to where she is, using the colours as well as unconventional items such as dried lavender and crystals. Another MUA draws inspiration from MRI brain scans and endorphins, hoping his positivity pays off and showing that if you put your mind into it, you can be unstoppable. The last finalist lights up her model with UV paint, in her daughter's favourite colour, showing her inner warrior that signifies she will always be by her daughter's side.

Once the Creative Brief is over, the judges must decide which MUA has fallen at the last hurdle and which two head into the final Face Off, with only one being crowned winner of Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star.