Christmas parties are arguably the highlight of my working year – I love that I get to let my hair down and eat, drink and make merry with friends and colleagues after a frenetic 12 months.
Of course I want said hair to look good – nay gorgeous – throughout the holiday season shindigs too but looking at my yellow locks (which by November, had acquired the texture of straw after too much peroxide), did wonder whether it was as tall an order as trying to create a glass carriage out of a pumpkin. Or a diplomat out of Jose Mourinho.
My Christmas prayers were answered in the shape of ColourNation – a chic, enviably central (ladies – it’s located a stone’s throw from Topshop’s flagship store!) that’s got my hair looking party-worthy once more.
The stylists who pulled this off? Say hello to Salma- ColourNation’s senior colour technician and Lucia, senior stylist. What’s so special about this double act? That’s easy: together they make disastrous hair cuts and colour jobs a thing of the past. They didn’t just give me a trim and a new head of highlights: they shook up my hairstyle while remaining true to me…
Salma sat me down in front of a mirror and asked me – face to face – the big question: which shade of blonde did I want to achieve? My answer: a platinum hue (well blondes have more fun, right?) that is somehow simultaneously age appropriate and flattering to a woman in her thirties. Salma agreed that we needed to get rid of the brassiness (I may have entered the salon in danger of being mistaken for one of Hugh Hefner’s housemates) using a toner.
Next up it was Lucia’s turn to assess my tresses. Ideally, I confessed, I’m after luscious Liz Hurley-esque locks but I’d settle for simply something a little more stylish than my current, commuter worn, shapeless blonde bob.
Lucia got it immediately and after assessing my hair type (fine but lots of it), and face shape (smallish) said that I should embrace my short hair rather than shy away from it. She suggested keeping the layers long as, being a time poor Londoner, I was after a low maintenance style. (Short layers, it transpires, need lots of teasing and tweaking with products on a daily basis… yawn).
And so I settled into a swivel chair, sipped a Flat white while perusing ColourNation’s array of up-to-date magazines and let Salma correct my colour and Lucia sort my style, by evening out the sides and giving me a soft, side swept fringe.
A couple of hours later after yet another heavenly coffee, I looked up into the mirror which revealed what the pair had promised: a reassuring expensive looking shade of blonde and a modern yet classic cut. Bring on the Christmas parties…
Of course an appointment at ColourNation is not only time consuming (I must have spent the best part of four hours sat in the salon, sporting foils) it’s also costly (your bank manager will balk at the bill). And yet despite this I’ll be back in the chair next month for, as any woman will tell you, finding a fabulous hair stylist – the kind you can confide in and have complete confidence in – is no small feat. Now that I’ve found two, I have no intention of giving them up. As L’Oreal would say: “You’re worth it.”
To book an appointment with Salma (colour) and Lucia (cut) at ColourNation, visit www.colournation.com
