The Vale Life team were very pleased to be able to work again with the creative team at Fich and Ramous to help us create our front cover and inside features.

BEING FICH & RAMOUS...

We gave them a tough brief, exquisite gowns, beautiful young models, a working farm, chickens - not the norm, but as usual they rose to the occassion and came up trumps. We caught up with the team to find out how they thought the day went.



Lance, how did the day go? We were presented with an unusual brief, to create hair styles to compliment classic, elegant evening wear juxtaposed with a retro, agricultural genre. The creative juices were gushing as we brainstormed possible storyboards for such a scenario! ‘The morning after the night before,’ ‘Debutant meets boy,’ ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover,’ and so on.

With some tweaking and teasing here and there we were all thrilled by the finished results. Graduate stylist Claire Bunton, or Bunty as she’s more commonly known, was responsible for the styling of the models in evening gowns.

Before embarking on her career as a hairdresser, Bunty graduated from Liverpool University with a degree in music and is a singer/songwriter and music producer in her spare time!

Bunty is very clever at using hair as a medium for expressing her creativity and in addition to fab cutting and colouring, Bunty will create an unique and imaginative hair up for all occasions, whether it’s a classic finish or funky rolls, braids or dreads.

Bunty, how did you manage to create such stunning styles?
To ensure that the hair styles weren’t lost in the background of hay and straw, we created masses of volume prior to styling, by crimping the hair then lightly smoothing the surface using a soft brush and with a certain amount of back combing and lots of spray the styles were pinned in place.

As a finishing touch styling irons were used to create curls. Stylist, Shelley John as well as working flat out on the girls also got to grips with the Young Farmers.

Shelley, how was it working with the Young Farmers?
As well as creating the looks for the girls I took charge of the Young Farmers, ensuring that their hair styles were tended to, and after a certain amount of gels, waxes and sprays the Young Farmers became fitting escorts for their elegant companions.

Last, but by no means least, was Salon Owner and Style Director Lance Pryor- Collins. Lance had the most challenging hairstyle of the day to master, that of the model bride. Lance is a formidable name in the world of hairdressing and has owned salons in the South Wales area for the last three decades.

A former winner of many prestigious awards such as the L’Oreal Colour Trophy, the Clynol Award, the Wella Award and three times Welsh Champion, Lance is renowned for his trend setting cutting and creative colouring. During his time in the industry, he has trained some of Wales’ top hairdressers and salon owners.

Lance, that was a masterpiece of creativity. Where did that come from? Creating a curly, retro look for the bride in short, layered hair was a huge challenge and I had to dig deep into my creative past to rise to this challenge! I used a hairdryer and comb only, to create an old fashioned ‘blow wave’ in the front, made popular by the barbers of the 50’s and 60’s. The main body of the curls was achieved using a small styling iron. The finished result, along with Amanda’s stunning make up, made a perfect complimentary look for the exquisite bridal dress on the front cover.



“The creative juices were gushing as we brainstormed possible storyboards for such a scenario! ‘The morning after the night before,’ ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover,’ and so on.”

Fich and Ramous 10a High Street Cowbridge CF71 7AG (rear of Beauty Within Day Spa) 01446 775522 www.fichandramous.com

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So there we all were, summer ball gowns, fantastic bags and shoes, a beautiful bride and models - a typical July day in the Vale of Glamorgan and yes, of course, it was raining.

LIFE COVER

We had high hopes for the photoshoot for this issue of Vale Life magazine which proved to be a real challenge to all our skills and combined experience.

It seemed a great idea at the time, when Jennifer, Mark and I cooked up our ‘bride on the farm’ idea a couple of months ago in the midst of the June heatwave. It was brilliant that the High Society girls were up for it, although their taste for adventure stood a real test as the models strode out into the afternoon rain through the farmyard in their designer dresses.



We used lots of dustsheets (only the best) and the freshest hay bales and warned the chickens to be on their best behaviour! The success of the shoot was mainly down to the great welcome and assistance from the team at Amelia Farm Trust. We couldn’t have asked for more helpful and co-operative people.

One little boy in the watching crowd did think we were filming an episode of Dr Who, (obviously the one where the Young Farmers defeat the Daleks with just their pitchforks!). However, the shootout was not between the brave young farmers and Davros, it was the combined talents of the assembled creative crew that won the day.

Contact Martin Phillips for photography to match any challenge!

Commercial, Portrait and Wedding photography by Martin Phillips DipAD AMPA ABIPP.

Martin Phillips Photography studioredkite, 32 New Road Station Hill Porthcawl CF36 5DN 01656 771525 martin@studioredkite.com www.studioredkite.com

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My name is Amanda and I’m a self employed professional beauty therapist. My salon, The Beauty Spot is located within The Business Centre off Cardiff Road in Barry.

I’m extremely passionate about my work and I am rewarded by the positive impact my treatments have on my clients, both mentally and physically.

At The Beauty Spot, we offer a comprehensive range of treatments and stock a range of medically approved products by MD Formulations. The ID Bare-Essentials make up range is particularly popular with clients, celebrities and make up artists around the world... I love it’s versatility.

We achieve natural looks for brides and it’s durability means it’s suitable for television and flawless enough for photography and competition work.

Make up has always been a favourite area of my work so I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to work on the Vale Life photoshoot. Having my make up photographed for a magazine front cover has been a life long ambition. I was very excited, although a little nervous knowing that it would have to be perfect, but I gladly accepted.

Having been involved with many creative looks, this day was truly a highlight in my career. I loved working with a professional and energised team and had the privilege of working along side Lance of Fich and Ramous hair salon, whom I must say was highly entertaining and fabulously creative.

We worked hard to produce a 1950’s Hollywood Marilyn Monroe meets Gwen Stefani styled look, for our stunning cover girl and with Martin’s expert eye, I think we nailed it! The inside spread was fun too, we had fantastic models in High Society’s glamorous gowns, so decided to team an edgier ‘morning after the night before’ hair with appropriate makeup.

The experience of the day has given me the confidence to be more creative and experimental in this field and I am now looking forward to any future opportunities to work again with a great team of professionals. Thank you Vale Life magazine.

The Beauty Spot The Business Centre, Cardiff House Cardiff Road CF63 2AW 01446 731230

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