AN East Lancashire student scooped a top regional award for her Victoria’s Secret-inspired body art.

Kelly Nixon, 36, of Priory Grange, Darwen, wowed the judges with her painted-on lingerie, at the Associate of Hairdressers and Therapists regional awards.

The mum-of-three, a hair and make-up student at Blackburn College, won first place in the full body painting category of the awards.

She said: “I am so pleased my design won.

“I was inspired by the Victoria’s Secret famous catwalk show, where the girls wear big head-dresses and decorative lingerie.

“It was a pretty intense comp- etition, and I was really nervous at first.

“But I soon got into the swing of things and, before I knew it, I was finished and waiting for the results.”

Kelly’s model for the comp-etition was 26-year-old Natasha Cotton, also from Darwen, who wore nothing but a white bra and knickers for the duration of the competition. She said: “Natasha was great, bless her. She was absolutely freezing.”

Kelly said she got into body art after bringing up her children.

She said: “I was a stay-at-home mum but, when my children grew up, I decided to do something for me.

“I had always been interested in make-up, and when I found out about the course at Blackburn College, I jumped at the chance to get involved.

“I can’t wait for the finals.

“I am making a slight adjust-ment to my design to make it even better.

“Fingers crossed, I will win.”

Three other students from the college made it to the finals of the competition in Blackpool.

They were Roohi Saiyed, who came second in the nail art comp-etition, Tony Cavallo, who came fourth in the evening style cat-egory, and Daniella Thomasson, who came fourth in the avant-garde hair category.

The competition is a major event on the hair and beauty calendar that recognises the best of UK trainee talent.

The contest is open to students who have a wide range of skills, from nail art and creative hair-dressing to specialist make-up.