Retouching Academy Is Sponsoring 10 Beauty Entries at Retoucher of the Year 2026

We will choose 10 Beauty retouchers from our community and cover their competition entry!

If the entry fee is what has kept you from taking part, this is for you. Applications close Sunday, September 27, at midnight PDT.

What is Retoucher of the Year?

Retoucher of the Year is an independently founded international competition created for retouching professionals. Every entrant in a category and region works from the same official RAW files and creative brief, so the result depends on your skill, not on the clients you have had access to. Its founder, Timea Buknicz, explains the full competition in her guest post on our blog.

What does the sponsorship cover?

The sponsorship covers one Beauty entry for each of the 10 retouchers we select.

Emerging retouchers compete in Rising Star Beauty, and established professionals compete in Supernova Beauty.

From there, the competition is the same for everyone: the official images and creative brief are released on October 1, and you have 25 days to complete and submit your work.

How to apply?

You apply on the Retoucher of the Year site, in three steps, before the deadline:

1. Register your email address on the Retoucher of the Year registration page.
2. Complete your profile dashboard with your full name, your country of residence, a link to your portfolio (your own website, Behance, or any other online portfolio) and your Instagram handle.
3. Open the Expertise section, select Retouching Academy and set your level: Emerging or Established. Then enter the academy code RA2026, verify it and save. You should receive a confirmation email once the process is complete.

If anything goes wrong during registration, email the Retoucher of the Year team at [email protected].

How will we choose the 10 winners?

We will review the portfolio linked in each profile and select 10 Beauty retouchers. Your portfolio is your application, so link the beauty work you want us to see.

You do not have to be a pro retoucher: if you shoot beauty and retouch your own images, you can apply too.

We will announce the 10 of our selected winners on Wednesday, September 30.

The Retoucher of the Year team will then send you the next steps.

Register, add the code RA2026, and link your best beauty work before Sunday, September 27, at midnight PDT.

See the full steps and the image guide on Retoucher of the Year