Working in a salon is still a huge part of the enjoyment I have as a hairdresser. It is a way of allowing me to explore my creativity.

I love working with and looking after my clients and it has also been very enjoyable working with a new team of people as I’ve always felt that, as a hairdresser, you are constantly learning and evolving and it is a sharing of ideas. Dave and his team are both professional and fun to work with, with a good dose of salon banter each day!

We visited The Imperial War Museum – an amazing building – a very Guggenheimesq modern structure. Here we watched very moving accounts and experiences of war from the first world war to present day. As harrowing as that was, they also showed some of the social impact and trends, particularly of the 2nd world war and just after. It showed a lot of footage of clothing, make-up and hairstyles of the day. It was a great “make & mend” culture with people using bootlaces, for example, to put their hair up. I thought this was particularly interesting as there is a great vintage revival at present.

Early August, we returned to Manchester, our old stomping ground (we lived and worked there for 10yrs and loved every minute of it) for the weekend. We love going back to the city as we find it very inspirational, as it is ever-changing and ever-evolving and is a very fashion-forward city. I love the street-based fashion identity which is always edgy and ahead of its time.

We went as a family to check out the Salford Quays development, now home to the BBC Media City / Granada TV (a lot different to when we left it in late 2002 when it was just in its infant development). We went to an exhibition at The Lowry, “Warhol & The Diva”. it presented some of Warhol’s most captivating portraits of the divas he admired, including Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minnelli, Debbie Harry, Elizabeth Taylor and explores Warhol himself as a Diva, transforming his own identity in front of the camera within his “Self Portrait in Drag” series. He used a series of different wigs and make-up to try to become the glamorous divas he immortalised on canvas. I watched a short film with a stylist, make-up artist and hairdresser working on Warhol to create all the various looks which were captured on his famous polaroid images. One of the Curators explained that the polaroid brings the muse’s facial features and soul to the fore and celebrating people’s personal facial characteristics. Even the kids got a chance to dress up in the style of Warhol’s muse’s and had their polaroid taken as a keepsake, encouraging the next generation of “gallery-goers”.

Although PASSIONATE ABOUT HAIR.COM was born on line in June 2011, we went live to the public for the first time when we had a stand at The Birtsmorton Court Wedding Fayre in September. It was so exciting and both Lheesa and myself got a real buzz. We received such great feedback from the venue and the other suppliers and even caught up with some friendly familiar faces which was terrific.

One of those faces was Mitzi, together with her team at The Bridal Gallery, Malvern. I styled the hair for her bridal models, as well as consulting and styling for our prospective brides. From that initial collaboration with The Bridal Gallery, PASSIONATE ABOUT HAIR.COM went on to style the models’ hair for their bridal catwalk shows at The Cricket Club, Worcester (Sept), Tewkesbury Park Hotel (Oct) and The Pear Tree, Smite (Oct). We would just like to give a big shout out to Claire, Fiona, the 2 Sams, Millie and Suzi for being such professional models and fabulous fun to work with. Lheesa and myself look forward to working with you all again next season.

*** Also, just wanted to say a big “well done” to our 6yr old daughter, who took to the stage in Smite and really and truly enjoyed herself – a model in the making perhaps?!

In all my years of doing wedding hair, it was not until the birth of PASSIONATE ABOUT HAIR.COM that I realised that the wedding community was so close-knit. Actually it is really great to see other professionals at work, especially when they are as passionate about their craft as I am. The people I regularly work alongside are Portia Oliver (Bella’s Beauty) who is a fabulous make-up artist; Jayne Pugh (Flowers by Design) who creates bespoke floral designs and has created wired individual flowers for me to place in the hair on many an occasion; and Mitzi and her fabulous team (The Bridal Gallery, Malvern) who can make all your wedding dress dreams come true.

However, there are so many more fabulous fellow artists we have met along the way. . . check a few of them out on our LINKS PAGE and apologies to those we have not mentioned.

A few of my memorable moments come to mind. . . like on my approach to one wedding, I saw a marquee whose centrepiece was a double-decker vintage route-master bus (I later found out when shown around that it was actually a bar with a cocktail lounge on the upper deck – uber cool!

And the time I was doing a bride’s hair at 12pm, with her brother and his wife watching my every move on a webcam live from Australia – how technology makes the world such a small place – boy was I under pressure!

At another wedding, we were invited to the evening reception at Colwall Village Hall where Lheesa and myself attempted line dancing for the first time in our lives – it was great fun and we did remarkably better than we thought we would!

We have had an amazing first summer season, tending to the needs of our beautiful brides. In all the years I have been doing wedding hair, I have always found it a special honour and privilege to be so warmly welcomed by brides and their families and friends and allowed to be part of their special day.

Since PASSIONATE ABOUT HAIR.COM’s inception in May this year (2011), I have tended to tresses all across the Three Counties, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Everyone’s wedding has their own personal identity and the hair will always be influenced by firstly, of course, the dress but also by the bigger picture of the wedding. there will always be one element that will set a wedding apart from its neighbour and there will always be a personal point of difference. This fuels my creativity and excitement.

Starting a new business has been quite nerve wracking. You would think that having run our own successful salon before, it would have been a breeze but in reality we were starting again from scratch and you can never be too sure how people will view you.

But you can also gather a great deal of strength in re-invention, taking with you your life experiences and weaving them into new energies.

However, we need not have questioned our self-belief as PASSIONATE ABOUT HAIR.COM has had a wonderful start and has been well received.