Hosted by Maya Jama, the series saw ten Make-Up Artists (MUAs) being put through their paces on real-world industry assignments and creative briefs.

In this week’s episode, world famous MUA and masterclass extraordinaire Lisa Eldridge joined Val Garland and Dominic Skinner on the judging panel as the three remaining MUAs, Sophie, Craig and Dolli, faced their final test.

After a surprise good luck message from Charlotte Tilbury, the finalists delivered a virtual masterclass in front of an industry panel, including Dazed Beauty’s Assistant Editor Dominic Cadogan, Lunar Beauty’s Founder and CEO Manny MUA, Stylist Magazine’s Beauty Director Shannon Peter, Beauty Journalist Sali Hughes, Cult Beauty’s Co-Founder and CEO Alexia Inge, MUA and Content Creator Gary Thompson, Beauty Bay’s Head of Brand Holly Stewart, Supermodel Duckie Thot, Emmy nominated Special FX MUA Brian Kinney and renowned MUA Andrew Gallimore.

Conquering her fear of public speaking, Sophie chose to share her passion for special effects make-up, after she won the special effects industry assignment earlier in the series. Val described Sophie as “a natural” when delivering her talk, saying “You can see that she’s so passionate”. Dominic said, “I think Sophie did herself proud.”

Special FX MUA Brian Kinney said: “I think Sophie has wisdom beyond her years and has a bright future in the business. I look forward to working for her one day.”

After the masterclass, each of the MUAs were offered a career-making industry opportunity by the make-up titans they presented to. Craig was invited by Beauty Bay to do a tutorial across their platforms, resulting in massive exposure. Sophie particularly impressed Emmy Award Winning MUA Brian Kinney who offered to meet her 1:1 to mentor her into her next steps, with advice on how to reach her goals. Dolli also wowed the panel, and was given an offer for a feature in Dazed Beauty, collaboration invitations from Sali Hughes and Cult Beauty, and a booking from Andrew Gallimore.

Each of the finalists then went into the final creative brief. Challenged with creating a look to make a statement: demonstrating who they are as MUAs and encapsulating new skills learned throughout the competition. Sophie’s look focused on the coping mechanisms she uses in order to feel unstoppable, drawing on the comfort she gets from crystals and aromatherapy.

On Sophie’s look, Val Garland said: “This is haunting, ethereal, incredibly accomplished, flawless, beyond beautiful make-up.”

Lisa Eldridge said: “Your sense of colour is exceptional. You’ve chosen green, purple and blue. That could go wrong. But you chose the right shades of green, purple and blue. It’s painter-ly but it’s balanced - and that’s a real skill.”

Dominic Skinner said: “You’ve got the creativity, you’ve got the imagination… but your development is now going to be about editing. But well done. This is exceptional.”

Sophie and Craig were named by the judges as the final two, before heading into the last Face Off of the series, where they were tasked with creating a full beat in thirty minutes, using one colour in various shades, tints, tones and hues.

After the ultimate conflab, judges Val Garland and Dominic Skinner declared Sophie as this year’s Glow Up winner.

Sophie said: “Oh my God. So my crystals must have worked… I’m so happy that this is happening and is real. Nothing really phases me anymore. Glow Up really has changed my life in all seriousness. I think you’ve really got to push yourself the absolute limit to see how far you can go and I have completely done that. And I believe it now… Kind of. Well I have to! I can’t be like I’m not very good at make-up anymore… Because I am.”