My long term go-to salon is Belfast's Vintage Rocks Hair Parlour. When Michael was a toddler he used to bring his own G-tech sweeper with him and brush up all the hair. With this year being so hectic, I hadn't had a chance to visit in months, so my hair had grown really long and definitely needed a makeover.

This is the 'before'. A home ombre job which wasn't too terrible, but that has roughed up the texture of the hair. Unstraightened this is the nightmare I'm faced with.

I'd been watching a lot of MTV's Laguna Beach and The Hills recently and was totally sold on the over the top 90s' style dramatic highlights.

What I love about going to Clare at Vintage Rocks is she will always try to do what you actually want. If I approached another hairdresser and asked for 'un-natural looking, 90s' mega highlights please' they'd probably assume to themselves I'd end up happier if they made them more natural and go ahead and do that. Clare will listen to what you want, should it be shaved sides with leopard print, or pink roots and blue ends, and if she can do it, she'll do it, and it'll look good too.

On a similar note Clare isn't one of those heart stopping hairdressers who you ask to take an inch off and ten seconds later they've chopped about six inches off and you're getting a lecture about the ends being split. No, you're in safe hands with Clare and you'll never leave Vintage Rocks in tears!

So somehow, from dark brown roots with bleached ombre ends, Clare got my hair in one highlighting & toning step to an all over even effect. It's exactly how I wanted it, as usual!

My hair being the straightest it will probably ever be

Vintage Rocks is pretty much your default destination in Northern Ireland for cool colours too. They are weird colour experts, so visit their website and send them an email if you want to chat rainbow hair ideas.