One of my absolute favourite perks of what I do is being invited to experience amazing treatments, specially hair cut and colours, as I find the whole event such an indulgent affair; you take several hours out of your day to literally just sit around having someone else do things to your hair whilst you sip coffee and read magazines. I’ve always loved hair appointments, but since having Teddy they’ve become something I plan towards and look forward to – it’s usually the only time I can get a solid few hours alone with a good book and if you pick the right place, a few hours in the capable hands of several hair professionals can leave you feeling as good as new.
I was invited to experience a Colour, Cut and Style at the Aveda Institute which I had heard such great things about, but never personally visited, so I made my appointment, fired up my Kindle and pottered off to Holborn where I was fortunate enough to find a parking space right outside – I took this as a good omen! I then entered the building and was pretty taken aback by just how mega it is; spread over three floors it covers pretty much every element of beauty, with the main salon sitting on the ground floor and various treatment rooms and areas dotted all over the place, as well as a barber area and an Aveda shop. It sounds like it’s going to feel cluttered and cramped but it’s just a vast, open space that’s been really well designed so you never feel squashed-in. Another thing they have that’s absolutely brilliant is a Le Pain on the premises, which means that as you sit and wait for your colour to take, you can order anything from a cake to a full blown meal from the cafe (as well as lots of lovely coffee, obvs) which I thought was so handy and such a great touch as it adds to the overall luxurious experience.
My colour was with Yasmin and my cut and style was with Abbey. Yasmin was very sweet and knew exactly what she was doing – she asked quite a few questions as she clearly wanted to get the colour exactly as I liked, and have you ever seen such neatly applied highlights?! I was thrilled with the colour – it was so brilliantly brightened yet it still sat firmly in the cool, ashy end of the spectrum, but didn’t appear flat or grey; Yasmin got the balance exactly right by using a couple of different colours that counterbalanced each other so I got my “ashy” wish without any grey. That is quite an achievement and a testament to her talent. I also have to say that she clearly picked up straight away that I was eager to get stuck-in to my book and happily cracked on with the colour whilst I rudely read away.
Abbey was extremely confident with her suggestions and knew exactly what I needed. Ever since going for the full-on bob almost a year ago, I’ve always preferred to keep it short and fairly blunt, but Abbey said she thought we should add a bit of texture to the ends. I was a bit unsure as a layered bob looks terribly frumpy on a face like mine, but she assured me that what she had in mind wouldn’t be frumpy and I decided to trust her. She was right and that little bit of texture has made such a difference as the cut moves and sits so much better.
I have typical European hair – fine but lots of it – so it can fall very flat if I’m not careful, but the combination of the good quality colour and the brilliant cut has left with hair that I’m really happy with; it’s low maintenance and in good condition, even a month after my appointment. What’s interesting about Aveda is that they’re very focused on repairing the damage colouring hair can create, so not only is their colour gentle and caring to hair, they also use products that will help reduce the damage so hair looks and feels incredibly healthy. If I had one complaint re my visit to Aveda, I’d say it was that I didn’t really get any massage which is something I was kind of expecting – especially during the hair wash – but that’s a minor thing and definitely not much of a criticism. A Ladies’ Cut and Style starts at £54 for an appointment with “New Talent” and the same entry level for a full head of highlights starts at £129. You can view the whole menu here – link – and you can also book online here – link. If I won the lottery tomorrow I’d book myself in for a whole day of treatments; facials, nails, massage and hair, with lunch at Le Pain and a really good book…absolute bliss!
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