Trio’s good hair day

9:33am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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THE winners of our hair makeover competition with Fifty50 hair salon have been restyled and pampered. CHARLOTTE PERCIVAL follows their journey.

WHEN Vanessa Greenway, Margaret Carrick and Michelle Bradley read about a hair makeover competition in The Press, they knew they had to enter. Each had a different reason for wanting a day of pampering with hair salon Fifty50, in Little Stonegate, York, and each had different hair problems to contend with. Last week, they were treated to a complete restyle at Fifty50, before having their makeup done at Lanamiché. But what did they think to the results? We followed their progress.

I nearly abandoned my hair after kids'

MUM-of-two Vanessa Greenway had almost abandoned her hair after having children.

Looking after Ella, seven, and Betsy, 14 months, meant the only time she had for her hair was to smooth on finishing cream to calm it down.

"My hair was out of control, really. It's really thick and frizzy," said Vanessa, 42, of Murton.

"I entered the competition at a time when I was really fed up and really needed a bit of pampering. I just thought it would make a huge difference and it felt great to win, I was really surprised."

As Vanessa has coloured her hair blonde for so long, stylist Hannah Mason thought changing it completely would be too much.

However, a return to her natural colour would be easier for Vanessa to maintain while juggling her day.

She decided Vanessa's hair should be coloured mainly brown, but with blonde around the front to lighten her face.

"Vanessa needed an easy to maintain and achievable hair cut," said Hannah.

"I gave her hair a simple but sophisticated style and by removing the weight the hair looked a lot lighter and softer.

"Her hair instantly became more manageable and by finishing with the straighteners it gave Vanessa's hair a sleek and smooth finish that enhanced the style perfectly."

Vanessa was delighted with the results.

"My seven-year-old loved it. My husband was amazed at how sleek my hair was, and I've rushed out to finally succumb to a pair of straighteners to try and achieve a similar look," she said.

"It's actually very similar to my old style, but in much better condition and the colour is much more natural and flattering."

I want a low-maintenance, smart look'

WINNING a makeover at Fifty50 could not have come at a better time for Margaret Carrick. Her daughter, Jillian, was meant to be getting married in October, but unexpectedly brought it forward to this month. Margaret had two weeks to change her hair, which she felt was wispy, grey and too long.

"It's very wispy and fine and I just clip it back because I'm not very happy with it at all," she said. "I was looking to go to a salon because it had got so bad."

Margaret, a funeral administrator, from York, was also worried about how to look professional and smart without having much time to dedicate to hair care.

Senior stylist Gemma Hey decided to give Margaret a full head of highlights using a colouring system called L'Oréal Professionnel Color Suprême. It's for hair which is 80 to 100 per cent white, helps to plump up fine hair and keep it looking younger for longer.

Because Margaret does not have time to have her roots redone every six weeks, Gemma used foils to colour her hair so it blended in with the grey, rather than colour it completely.

Gemma said: "We placed a lighter soft blonde in the front section of the hair and a golden sandy blonde throughout the rest. We chose these colours to compliment Margaret's skin tone and lifestyle. We decided not to go too light but to keep the lighter soft blonde around the front to brighten her face, and the golden blonde finely weaved through the rest to add shine and texture."

Margaret said she was delighted with the results. "My colleagues have been very complimentary about it," she said. "It's lovely and much more manageable. It has made me feel more confident and everybody has said nice things about it."

I am a busy farmer's wife who does not have much time to style my hair'

FARMER'S wife Michelle Bradley does not have much time to look after her hair.

"I live and work on a farm so I'm always busy and don't really have time to do anything with my hair, other than tie it back," said Michelle, 43, of Heslington.

"I don't get much time to go out and do my hair nicely either. It's long and very straight and a bit boring and I thought I needed a change."

Salon director Jane Davies took into account that Michelle does not have much time at home.

"Michelle's hair was very long and fine in texture. There was no visible shape as she had not had a haircut in 18 months," said Jane.

"After consultation, I decided that we needed to lose quite a lot of the length to create some shape. We cut off around six or seven inches from the length and started to add some shorter layers to give some movement to her hair, which is naturally wavy.

"We kept the cutting quite practical and personalised the front with some face shaping to enhance her face shape, finished off with a flattering fringe."

Jane also applied semi-permanent colour L'Oreal Hi Richesse, for a full luminous deep multi-tonal effect.

Michelle was much happier with her lighter, brighter look.

"It was wonderful. I was really pleased with it. It was a total change and I feel much lighter now because I had lots of hair before and it's just past my shoulders now," she said.

"My husband said he preferred it before but said everybody had to change sometime and I really, really like it."