Film star treatment at The Sitting Room

The Thomas Street salon has added even more glamour with the addition of Gemma O’Brien to the team. Gemma has over nine years’ experience in the hairdressing industry but more recently has been involved in working behind the scenes on various film and TV projects.

The 24-year-old - who started her hairdressing career aged just 13 helping out in a local salon - explained: “A friend of a friend did specialist make-up for a TV show and it struck a chord and I thought that it would be something really interesting to get into from a hairdressing point of view.”

Gemma’s aspirations led to her working on the first series of Game of Thrones, which was filmed in Northern Ireland, including on location at Carnalbanagh.

“It was a really fantastic experience and I loved the whole hustle and bustle,” she said.

She was then called back to work on the second series of Game the Thrones which has just recently finished being filmed.

She added: “It’s a totally different world to working in a salon but the two roles really compliment each other.”

Following on from her experience on the set of the award-winning show, Gemma wanted to expand her training and took part in a industry-approved Wigmaster course.

This adds to her portfolio of training having taken part in various industry-led cutting and colour courses, including specialist courses by the likes of Tigi.

“I’m really excited about joining the team at The Sitting Room,” Gemma added.

Julian Dalrymple, proprietor of the award-winning salon, said she was delighted the have Gemma join the 11-strong team of stylists.

“We’ve just celebrated our first anniversary in our new home at Thomas Street and everything’s going from strength to strength,” Julian said.

She added: “I’d like to thank all our customers for their continued support and wish them a very Happy Christmas.”