I wanted to do beauty and hair from the age of four; my family were quite affected by this because I had to practise on them! Now I’m not going to go into details as I’m sure they would be embarrassed, especially my two brothers who faced nail varnish and lipstick being forced onto them almost daily. When I finally got to do my three years combined hair and beauty course at Pembrokeshire College I was already looking at the places my new profession could take me, so my very first job (apart from summer jobs and two weeks work experience in Knightsbridge, where I had an unusual altercation with Ronnie Corbet in Harrods) was for Steiner, onboard the Holland America ship, Statendam.

Having been sea sick on every boat I’d ever been on, my family were concerned it wasn’t the best idea, but I went ahead, left my home in Kilgetty just before Christmas at the tender age of nineteen and joined the ship for four months in the Caribbean then moving up to Alaska for another four months. Once I recovered from two weeks of almost constant seasickness, I enjoyed every minute and learnt a HUGE amount about my chosen career.

Since the Statendam (15 years ago, where did the time go) I have had an amazing time, working in some truly astounding places which I will be telling you all about in my future blogs. I am now working from home in Kilgetty and believe me at this time of year the call of the Caribbean is very hard to resist!!!

I am honoured to be a judge for the Professional Beauty Awards and this year was delighted to judge the therapist of the year category as well as the differing spa categories. These awards are to acknowledge the best in all things beauty and spa. My fellow judges are the very best in the UK at what they do, from a celebrity facialist and make-up artist to nationwide spa chain owners.

I will be writing about all things beauty for women and men and I welcome your comments and questions about anything I write about, from skincare to cruise holidays !!!!

I also take part in local charity events that have a beauty theme, so if you’re looking for a specialist in something in Pembrokeshire, I’ll help with that too and also tell you what events I’ll be attending.

For my next blog, I’m going to start at the beginning, getting into a good skincare routine and why you should use, cleanser, toner and moisturiser.