HAIR stylist Gemma Snowball proved she was a cut above the rest at a competition that brought together 220 of the North-East top hairdressers.

Gemma, the newly appointed stylist at Elite hair salon in Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, won the BL Hairdressing 2000 photo competition.

Her prize was to attend a professional photoshoot in Newcastle where she cut, coloured and styled the hair of three models. See below. Photographs of the session are on the BL website at www.blhairdressing.co.uk.

WHEN it comes to Christmas shopping, men are renowned for their outstanding ability... to leave it all to the last minute. On Christmas Eve, the shops are bursting with blokes raking through the leftovers to try and find the perfect gift (or anything half decent that's left).

But it seems things may be changing. Instead of leaving it to the day before and rushing round in a mad panic, a small but significant number of men will take a sick day off work to get their shopping done.

A survey for DealTome.co.uk of more than 2,000 people nationwide confirmed how men hate shopping. Of all the stress that shopping at this time of year brings, crowded shops, long queues, having to take children shopping and finding a parking space were the things men hated most.

Less than half as many men look forward to Christmas shopping than women and, not surprisingly, more men would be glad to have to never buy another Christmas present. Indeed, three per cent of the men quizzed won't go near the shops this year and said they would spend nothing on gifts. The good news is that among men who have someone special to buy for, a third of those in the survey said they'd spend more than £100.

The research revealed that 33 per cent of people spend more than four days shopping. Furthermore, four times as many men as women will spend less than an hour on their Christmas shopping.

DealTime.co.uk, a leading online comparison shopping service, also discovered than at least one in ten men would prefer books, music and household or DIY appliances as gifts.