A week of magazine shoots - and charity work

It’s been a week of great contrasts here at Cream. Yesterday, our Artistic Director Dean Brindley was in London, working on a shoot for Hair magazine.

The brief was five days, five ways and Dean, along with Hannah Evans, who manages Cream’s Training Academy, spent all day creating five amazing long-hair looks for the glossy mag.

They had a fantastic time and produced some stunning work. But more of that – including some sneaky behind-the-scenes shots – later. Because really, this past week has been about Lorna Sales and the amazing charity work she’s been doing with support from Cream.

Stylist Lorna works in our Cheltenham salon. She joined us from a company in London in October and she’s been a fantastic addition to the Cream dream team.

A couple of weeks ago – you might have read it on GloucestershireLive, in the Gloucestershire Echo and Punchline Magazine and heard her on BBC Radio Gloucestershire – she travelled back to the capital to meet up with her friend Chris Hill, a charity worker and author, and Pummi The Homeless Barber.
Pummi’s story is incredible: living on the streets himself, another homeless man handed him a comb and a pair of scissors and asked him to cut his hair.
He had no idea how to, but he did it – and he loved it. And he then spent weeks staring through barbers’ shop windows, trying to figure out how to cut hair properly.

Now he works with Chris – and Lorna – cutting the hair of the homeless in London, to bring some dignity to them and to try to help them to stay off drugs and rebuild their lives.

Lorna spent a rainy Sunday in Charing Cross, cutting rough sleepers’ hair and chatting to them. But as she says, the homeless problem is huge in this country, and it’s no different in Gloucestershire. So she spent her day off yesterday cutting the hair of the homeless at Cheltenham’s Trinity Church drop-in sessions, The King’s Table and The Garage.

It’s something she plans to continue every other Monday. She said it was an amazing experience – had a very productive day doing something practical to help.
As she says: “If everyone just did their bit for five minutes, the world would be a better place.” She’s an inspiration to us all and we’re right behind her. We’re looking forward to welcoming Pummi to Cream over the next few weeks as Scott gives him some formal cutting training, so he can continue his work up in London and beyond.

Told you it’s been a week of contrasts. We’re so fortunate to be able to work on these London shoots – and don’t get us wrong, we love it. But we also know we’re in a really privileged position, and we’re determined – with Lorna – to do whatever we can to help those who don’t share our good fortune.