A CHESTER hair and make-up stylist who has worked with a plethora of A-list stars says she’s happier now running a calm, home-based salon from her garden.
Helene Dean once travelled the world with U2, even being flown to Ireland by frontman Bono, and has worked with the likes of Cillian Murphy, Mickey Rourke and Kevin Costner.
She has also styled music icons like Annie Lennox and Sting while Will Young once sang to her baby bump during pregnancy.
But the mum-of-one has swapped celebrity life on the road for a quieter pace at her new, purpose-built garden salon.
Helene, 57, who has been a hairdresser for 41 years, said: “I have always either worked freelance, travelling out, or travelling to a salon.
“So now, having the salon in my back garden is the most convenient thing I ever did.
“It’s just walking into my garden and there’s my clients.
“Another real plus is because it is a small space and not a big salon atmosphere, my clients feel it is a lot more intimate and a lot more personal.”
Helene trained to be a hairdresser in Chester and moved to London when she was 21.
One of her first jobs was working on 1990s TV soap Eldorado out in Spain for a year and returning to London she then became in demand within the music industry.
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She said: “I was working with record companies on music videos and photoshoots for bands.
“U2 asked me to go on tour with them for a year.
“I got to know them all very well, they are lovely, really good people.
“Bono is great, really funny, really generous.
“I travelled on the plane with them, I was part of the team, they classed me as management because I was with them all the time and when they got off the plane, going to a hotel, they had to look good because there was press everywhere.
“They are great memories, staying at the best hotels in the world and seeing the world for free and being paid.
“The tour was a full year though we would come back every three months for a week off.
“Bono used to fly me over to Ireland to do his hair.
“I then stopped touring because I wanted to be closer to home and that was when I started working with loads of actors.
“There was Colin Firth, Cillian Murphy, James Nesbitt, loads really - that’s what happens, one leads to another all the time, through word of mouth really.”
Helene moved back to Chester, but was travelling to and from London after her daughter was born in 2002.
“I did five days with Mickey Rourke.
“He was really lovely, he was doing a movie and doing photoshoots for a press trip and I went with him to The Jonathan Ross Show as his make-up artist.”
Helene was also on hand when Will Young became a household name after winning TV talent contest Pop Idol.
She said: “When “I was pregnant then and he used to sing to my tummy, he sang to my tummy when we were at Buckingham Palace for a big gig.
“And that was when I got friendly with Annie Lennox because she was there as well, and that was when I started doing her make-up whenever she was in London.”
Helene’s new salon was built by family-run Rubicon Garden Rooms, based in Penyffordd on the Cheshire/North Wales border.
She added: “I found Rubicon’s work from the word go nothing less than A1, the professionalism was brilliant and I felt I could contact them any time.
“They were great to work with, a lot of fun, and the aftersales care is really great as well.
“Having the salon so close just means less stress, and financially it is better because I am not travelling, I am not using a car, not having to commute.”
Rob Lyon, sales and marketing manager at Rubicon Garden Rooms, said: “Helene has had an amazing career, working with some of the most famous people in the world, and we are delighted to help her in the next stage of her career by providing this salon.”
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