Kirsty Heslewood competes at Miss World 2013

The summer seems to have rapidly disappeared over here at Fresh Academy Watford, but we have plenty of news to be excited about! Last May we met over 30 of the Miss England Finalists competing for the title of Miss Modelesque. The winner would gain a spot in the final 15 of Miss England and would receive a stunning wall hanging from their photoshoot.

We met some beautiful young ladies, and during the last few weeks leading up to the final of Miss England we were all talking about who would be crowned Miss Modelesque 2013!

Miss Modelesque contestants, Kirsty B, Alyssa and Kerri.

We were absolutely thrilled to see Kirsty not only win the Miss Modelesque title, but go on to be crowned Miss England 2013!

Our very own Charlie Kaufman with Kirsty Heslewood after she is crowned Miss England 2013

We're now avid fans of Kirsty, she came back to visit for part of her portfolio shoot just before departing for Miss World and she did an amazing job - here is one of our favourites from the shoot.

There are only a few days left of the Miss World event. Throughout the month-long event Kirsty has been keeping us up to date via her facebook page. We were thrilled to see her reach the semi-finals of The Beach Fashion contest, and today she made it to the top 10 in the Top Model Award!

She is the first ever Miss England to make it to the top ten in this round. The final part of the Top Model Award takes place tonight - keep an eye on the Miss World News to find out how she does!


Kirsty at Miss World 2013 as she is awarded a place in the top 10 for the Top Model Award
Image courtesy of missworld.com

Good Luck Kirsty! Can't wait to hear all about it when you return!

Want to join in next year? Click here to enter Miss England 2014.

A FRESH start with Back to School

Autumn is just around the corner – yes, we know we are still talking about the Summer but in just a week it will be September and it’s back to school and back to work for the grown-ups!  The sun is still just about shining over Fresh in Watford and some of us are still lucky enough to be relaxing poolside, perhaps with a cocktail in hand but us back at the photography studio are thinking ahead (as always!)

Mums and Dads (Grandparents too) must be thinking about getting uniform pressed and ready, name tapes all sewn or stuck in, new favourite character school bags and the ritual shiny pencil case. For parents with first time school goers it’s magical watching your cute little one all dressed up in smart uniform – maybe that blazer is a bit too long, maybe the sleeves to the navy school jumper are creeping way past your little boy’s fingers but bet he (or she) looks absolutely divine.

To celebrate the fresh start to the school year, you may be contemplating a photo shoot with your little angel or angels. We think you should let the professionals at Fresh Families do it for you.  We don’t need to tell you again about our amazing state of the art 8,000 square foot studio – we know you have heard it before.  We don’t need to tell you that we have over 30 purpose built photographic sets to choose from, or that we have a huge selection of superb accessories and props to compliment your child to perfection… Nor do we need to mention how accessible we are to the M1, M25, A1 and A41… Not to mention mainline train stations and free parking! 

What we do need to tell you is that you will enjoy the very best in family photography with one of our highly trained photographers (they are great with kids too!) We can also tell you that we will offer you an absolutely FREE photo shoot (really – FREE) worth £100 and, oh go on then, we’ll throw in a £50 off voucher toward any wall hanging you choose from us.

So, there you have it – now you really can immortalise your child’s image forever with our Back to School photo shoot and we are very happy to include siblings too.

All you have to do is mark on your school calendar a suitable date, call us on 01923 212 673 to book quoting “back to school” and give yourself an A* for being so brilliantly organised!

Introducing Mr England 2013/14 - Jordan Williams

A couple of weeks ago the girls at Fresh Academy had the opportunity to meet and photograph the new Mr England - Jordan Williams. Not only did we shoot his new portfolio, but we were able to have a quick chat about his achievements during the competition and his aspirations beyond being crowned.

So, let's start at the beginning of the story, what was it that inspired you to enter Mr England?

I heard about it through a local Miss England organiser scouting when I was out shopping so I went on to enter Mr Coventry not knowing much about the competition. I was lucky enough to end up winning the competition and finishing 4th at Mr England 2011! I loved every second of it so the next year I entered Mr Rugby and won which meant I had another shot at Mr England. I feel my experience from the 2011 competition helped me win and it's such an amazing experience!

You were up against some tough competition, how did you feel when you won?

Incredible! Didn't believe it to begin with as I really didn't expect to win! I was really happy that I made my family and friends really proud and even now im still getting so many congratulations messages! It's unreal.

We’ve heard you are the first Mr England to have tattoos! Any other surprises up your sleeves?

Yeah I heard that! I think that's insane! I love my tattoos and each and every one of them has a great deal of meaning to me mainly surrounding my catholic faith and the pride of remembering my grandad who was a spitfire pilot (hence the spitfire tattoo on my chest). Any other surprises? Umm well i suppose its no surprise that im living at the gym with my personal trainer and the experts and Nuffield Health at the moment in preperation for Mr World! Expect a very different me in 6 months!

What is the most exciting thing that has happened to you so far, since winning the title?

A few things that I cant talk about but all the opportunities are really exciting. I loved my day at Fresh with Maresa and Vicky! I've been lucky enough to be invited to play in a celebrity football match as a celebrity which is insane, alongside cast members of hollyoaks, eastenders and waterloo road.

How was your experience at Fresh?

Awesome! I'm not a model, never have been... I'm a professional singer so I'm most comfortable with a microphone in front of me but the girls made me feel so at ease it seemed to come naturally. We had a luagh practicing 'the smoulder' (reference from 'Tangled') and we had a great day! I would highly recommend a shoot at Fresh to anybody. Since my shoot at Fresh I have been looking at modelling agencies to get some work! A couple have already contacted me since i won. I will use my experience at Fresh going forward, it was so invaluable!

What are you most looking forward to in the future?

Mainly Mr World! I figure I've come this far, why stop here? I'm also running The Great North Run and have loads of plans for charity work over the next two years. I am open to suggestions and love getting involved so please follow me on twitter @MrEngland2013 and get me involved at your event!

Any advice for future applicants?

Enjoy it! Be yourself! And Smile! If you do those things you will be there! I didn't think I had a chance and now my life has changed completely so I just want everybody who is interested to go for it and never give up. I won second time around! ;)


Thanks Jordan, we're looking forward to welcoming you back in a few months time, I'm sure your hard work will pay off and we're enjoying following your updates on Twitter!

Oh, and how could we forget? Here are some of our favourite's from Jordan's shoot.

 

 

Fresh Celebrates the Royal Birth!

Once again, the nation (and FreshAcademy) was kept in suspense and The Duchess of Cambridge became centre of attention for the second time!

We’ve been waiting for the birth of the Royal baby for a good fortnight now, speculation was rife that the new heir or heiress to the throne (who will be the 43^rd monarch since William the Conqueror) was due well over a week ago but there was no show. Finally, it was announced at 7.30am yesterday morning from Kensington Palace that Princess Kate had gone into labour and had been taken earlier to the prestigious Lindo Wing in Paddington to give birth.

We waited…and waited…and waited. The news stream was the same, BBC News had in their own words “No News”, Sky News again was on repeat. Our Fresh Academy Studio was a hive of excitement with bets weighing heavily on a future Queen being born.

We left the Studio with no sign of a new Prince or Princess and returned to our own homes – where we sat in the humid evening watching, and waiting…..

Finally, at around 8.30pm we had the announcement we were all waiting for! Our Prince and Princess had produced a son and heir to the throne – weighing in at a whopping 8lb 6oz and born at 4.24pm! A very exciting moment for the nation. The announcement was made four hours later than the birth itself, allowing Wills and Kate some precious time with the baby with no one else knowing their little Prince had arrived.

We can’t wait to catch a glimpse of the new Royal heir, sometime today when William and Kate leave St Mary’s – pictures on the steps hopefully!

                                          (Newborn photography by Fresh Academy)

 
Here are some interesting Royal baby facts you may or may not know!

New Royal Prince is now 3^rd in line to the throne, knocking Uncle Harry back to 4^th place
The birth was announced in the Royal tradition, with a note pinned on the gates of Buckingham Palace
There will be a 41 gun salute in London today to celebrate the birth
The baby will wear a lace christening gown made by the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly and her team
William has never changed a nappy (bet he has now!)
Baby will be christened in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace

Congratulations to Gemma L for guessing Kate was going to have a boy on our Facebook Page! You have won yourself a photoshoot with a 5 x 7” print included! 

For all of you out there wanting to commemorate, we can promise you a photoshoot fit for a Prince or Princess at our Studio for just £19 with a 5 x 7” print of your choice included.

To book, please call Fresh on 01923 212 673 quoting “Royal Baby Offer”
Offer available for a limited period only.

CONGRATULATIONS GREAT BRITAIN!

PS: Kate, please make sure you have some gorgeous newborn photos done, you know who to call!

Face of the Hair Group – Heat Winners and Wild Cards Announced!

Summer is here and we have some great news to add even more sunshine to your day! Our Face of the Hair Group finalists have been announced!

Out of thousands of entries that we received this year, our Heat winners were selected from the shortlist of girls who attended the Fresh Academy Studio for their entry shots. Our judges had such a difficult task narrowing it down as the standard of entries was just so high this year...
So high in fact, that they have selected 3 additional Wild Cards!

Our three lucky Wild Card winners are:

Fernanda Zorzal, Holly Drinkwater and Meral Gjonbaiaj.

The Heat winners are:

Charlotte Davies

Elizabeth Cox

Yasmin Ryan

Destiny Toussaint

Skye Wilson

Nadia Sayers

Ayesha O’Kelly

Amber Twell

Mia Wolsey

Gemma Druce

Preya Chhatralia

Alexandra Cadman

Eleanor Martin

Chloe Rambirini

Destiny Sedlacek

Brucha Howe

All the Heat winner’s photos can be viewed on the Face of the Hair Group website here.

On the judging panel this year we have our very own Charlie Kaufman CEO of Fresh Academy who was recently responsible for selecting Kirsty Heselewood as our Fresh Modelesque winner. Kirsty went on to claim the Miss England crown earlier this year! Having aided the careers of many successful models during the last 8 years, we were eager to find out what stands out for Charlie when judging a competition like this. When we caught up with Charlie in the Studio last week, he said…

"I’m all about the girls look. Is an editor of a top fashion title going to want to use our winner on one of The Hair Group promotions in their magazine? Are they edgy enough; is their look current, could they do Commercial, Beauty and Editorial?"

But it is not just presenting your outward beauty that will be your ticket to modelling success. Keely Silver, Fresh Academy’s Marketing Director always has high expectations during the interview round of the competition. Keely gave us a simple explanation of what she is looking for during this round.

"I am looking for a model to be able to express her personality and convey a ‘can do’ attitude."

Next in line on our judging panel is Ruth Deane, editor of Everymodel magazine. Ruth has a trained eye for new talent in the modelling world. Thanks to Ruth and the competitions she judges, many modelling dreams have been realised. To name a few, Siobhan Perry (an international model) Bailey Tye Baker (featured in Les Miserables and Snow White) and Alize Lilly Mounter (Miss England 2011) are all successfully working as a direct result of competitions they entered.

Ruth’s advice is both practical and encouraging…

"Personally I will be looking for a fresh, healthy looking model with natural beauty. Her hair will preferably be her natural colour, in great condition, with no added extensions, flashes or styling which defers from their natural self. To judge a great model is to see them in their raw state. Styling can be done later. What I look for in the first instance, is a blank canvas."

With that in mind, it seems an event like this is not as simple as posing for the camera during the makeover photoshoot at round one. We asked Stevie Walters, director of ModelsPlus, how the girls could get prepared. Stevie meets many girls every week who hope to break into the modelling world, she gave us some top notch advice for our FOHG finalists and unsuccessful contestants alike.

"Get plenty of early nights and drink lots of water so your skin is at its best. Get plenty of exercise so your body is toned. No over-tanning, keep sunbeds to a minimum as UV is aging and bad for other health reasons. No over-tanning products either and remember to think carefully about what you are going to talk about. Winning is not everything… Beauty comes from within."

So girls, keep your head up, smile and be yourself… This sounds similar to Charlotte Holme’s advice she gave to the Miss England contestants (Miss England 2012). On the topic of Miss England, we’re absolutely ecstatic to announce that our presenter this year is Laura Coleman, former Miss England 2008!

We can’t wait to meet all of our finalists in August! They will be strutting their stuff in casual jeans, bikinis and finally (our favourite) stunning ball gowns. Our FOHG winner last year has already begun her success story since being featured in Marie Claire and Hair Flare Magazine. We can’t wait to see who will win this opportunity this year to kick start their career.

Good luck to all our girls – keep your hair looking lush and in the meantime…
Please don’t dye it blue!