Former Worthing mayor and Herald & Gazette editor given make-over treatment

It all began when I attended a Worthing & Adur Chamber of Trade networking meeting.

The theme was how to get your business into the newspaper, and Herald & Gazette editor-in-chief Colin Channon gave us all tips.

He suggested that to get your business into the paper you would have to engage the community, perhaps offer a competition, maybe offer to write a column – and it would also have to be light-hearted and fun.

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That got me thinking. I went home, dusted off my ideas book and put together a plan.

My idea was to put together a team of local experts to do a makeover on the, now former, mayor of Worthing.

I contacted Ann Barlow and presented the idea. She thought this was a great idea – and asked if I could persuade Colin to join in the fun too.

Well, how could he say no – he was the one who planted the seed!

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I felt this would be a great way to showcase some of the great talents we have in Worthing, and as trading is very hard at the moment for everyone, it would be lovely to bring about a sense of bonding between the businesses.

It did, though, involve a lot of planning.

Casual look

Ann and Colin both said they would like us to give them a new, casual look.

Colin said his wife buys all his clothes – and he’d once had a pair of jeans but when he went to put them on, he found his wife and daughter had thrown them away as they thought they didn’t suit him.

Ann has seriously curly hair and wanted a style she could manage, and wanted to have an image that would show off her character and personality.

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Ann and Colin visited Debenhams personal shopper and Style Me Confident guru Gay Richardson to have an image consultation. This was great fun, as Gay showed Ann and Colin what clothes would suit their body shapes and skin tones. This was a true life-changing part of the overall look.

Wearing the right clothes to suit your body shape and proportions can make you look thinner, taller and much younger. How amazing is that!

And I’d just like to add there was no cosmetic surgery or fillers involved on our makeover!

We then introduced Ann to Worthing’s experts in hairdressing, Dawn and Andy, from Montage Hairdressers for a hair consultation. A week later, Ann was back in front of Andy and his team to finalise the new hairstyle and colour.

Final touches

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Once the outfits were chosen and hair had been styled, top make-up artist Amanda J then applied the final touches.

As Colin has short hair – very short hair – we couldn’t change the style and he didn’t need any make-up on the day.

Then came the final day where both were whisked off to Debenhams to put on their outfits and reveal How to look good NOT naked in the shop window to a gathering crowd outside.

They had a ball !

It was all great fun. The exercise has helped local businesses reveal a little more about themselves, engaged the public – a lot of people wanted to know how to make the best of themselves without spending lots of money – it was light-hearted and, next week in the Herald, we’re offering a great competition to give readers a similar experience.

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I wanted to organise this to encourage other local businesses to work together as a team at a time when it is really tough out there.

What the experts said

-Gay Richardson is an expert on providing styling solutions for dressing dilemmas. She started Style Me Confident more than five years ago and has always been fascinated how clothes can change a person’s mood and confidence.

“I looked at the colouring of hair, eyes and skin tone to determine his colour qualities. His colouring is light, soft and cool and his skin tone would suit colours with a blue undertone, not too bright and not too dark.

The clothes were chosen and worn to make Colin look taller and slimmer.

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Ann’s colour qualities are deep and bright. Because of her colouring, she really suits strong, bold colours opposed to light ones.”

www.stylemeconfident.co.uk 01903 538774 / 07801 869179 [email protected]

-Montage is Worthing’s premier independent hairdressers with a team of highly-trained hairdressers. All their specialists are trained by L’Oreal, the hairdressing industry’s colour experts.

Dawn’s verdict: “Ann has very natural curling hair and has been colouring it herself. Her hair had a build-up of different colours and was dry on the ends.

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This meant Andy had to cleanse the hair first to strip out all the colours.”

www.montagehairdressing.co.uk 01903 217183

-Amanda J qualified as a hair and make-up artist in 1998 at the world-famous London College of Fashion. She was taught by some of the most talented artists in the industry. Leaving college with a full portfolio she went on to work for some of the top glossy magazines, such as Vogue, Marie Claire and Tatler along with a number of established model agencies.

“My rule of thumb is to always start with the eyes. By doing this, if the shadow drops it is easy to just wipe away without ruining the foundation. I then created a smokey eye effect.

Curling the lashes is a must and really opens up the eyes. To finish the eyes a small amount of eye shadow was brushed through the brows.

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After wiping away any dropped shadow, a lightweight foundation was buffed into the skin with a tiny bit of concealer on top where any further coverage was needed, making sure to dust a light dusting of MAC Blot Powder to set.”

www.amanda-j.co.uk 07961 350835

-Rebekah Madell, our beauty therapist, qualified as Level 3 beautician from Northbrook College. She was interviewed and joined Debbie’s team of therapists in 2010.

“I treated Ann to a lovely manicure. Ann’s nails were cut, filed and shaped and painted Ruby Red from OPI and, to finish off, we added gems to index fingers.”

07913 519809 [email protected]

-David Sawyer has been a wedding studio and commercial photographer based in Worthing for 25 years. He works out of his studio in Tarring Road, Worthing.

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David Sawyer Photography 01903 233882 www.thephotopgrapher.biz

-Debbie Stevens is an advanced reflexologist in Worthing, and has won awards for her services.

Debbie organises Well-being and Girls Night In events across Sussex, Surrey and Kent, on a 1-2-1 basis in the workplace or as a girls’ night in.

She has a team of therapists and experts who can help the individual to enhance their own wellbeing. Her team of experts offer holistic and beauty treatments and style and image, hair and make-up and other beauty services.

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To find out more about the popular Girls Nights In events, log on to www.girlsnightsinevents.co.uk

Get your copy of the Herald and Gazette this week (May 31 edition) to enter a competition for your chance to have a makeover like Colin and Ann.

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