Birthday Blog Post

Yesterday I had a haircut to die for. To. Die. For.

I arrived a little flustered, having had lengthy train delays. Let me say this now, I don't like to be late - especially for a first meeting.

So there I was, complete with luggage, in Hanover Square. I have to be honest, I have a soft spot for Mayfair. There are such beautiful shops, delectable cuisine, and sophisticated members' clubs. Jenny Packham has a flagship in Mayfair - say no more?!

Once I arrived, I was sent upstairs and reassured that being five minutes late was 'totally fine!'. Shortly after seating myself in a lovely room with minimalistic decor, my new hair maestro appeared: Alejandra. Dressed in very cool patterned jeans, with gorgeous hair herself, she grinned at me and asked what the plan was.

What wasn't the plan?! I told her unequivocally that I was in her very capable hands. She berated the last haircut I had - I'd quite liked it at the time but, with very fine and smooth hair (and a lot of it), you can see every snip and piece of shaping and layering. Alejandra assured me that she could take the weight out of my hair without it being chopped to bits. She promised movement, volume, and a haircut that would look good EVERY DAY, simply because it was what my hair wanted and it would just be doing its thing without getting in my way. I was packed off to have my hair washed by somebody else in another gorgeous room. If I am completely honest, I have to admit that this part was not the greatest. Whilst the lovely lady shampooing and conditioning my locks was washing my hair with gorgeous shu uemura products, I was sitting in a position that was putting far too much pressure on my spine. I'm not sure how I managed to settle into that position, but I just couldn't enjoy the head massage and lovely smelling soap because I was really struggling. But that was almost certainly my fault, rather than the salon's so all I'd say is that you should make sure that you are happy with whatever position you adopt before your neck is firmly in the sink and being scrubbed!!

I was returned to Alejandra with a towel turban and was excited for the real work to begin. I had expected the haircut to take an hour from start to finish. The only time I've ever spent any longer than an hour in a hairdresser was for balayage (foils are a BIG NO for my hair).

It took 1.5 hours to just cut it! BUT it is so wonderful to really feel that Alejandra was taking her time to get every single strand right. As she significantly reduced length and weight, I watched as my hair started to look like it was worthy of celebrity status. I guess that's to be expected from Ferretti's salon - I mean Ferretti is sought after in the celebrity set, so I could expect to walk out of there like a character from Made in Chelsea - not a celebrity, but just looking like I've invested in my appearance.

The funny thing is that most girls DO invest in their appearance - and many don't skimp. My haircut before may well have been half of what I spent at MRF, but it had never looked anywhere near as good. I sat in the chair marvelling at Alejandra's skill. The great thing was that she was so friendly and there were no other appointments for the majority of the time I was there, and so we had a good chat and she told me all about what it was like training in the Method. In return, I told her my own stories and lamented the inability for my hair to hold a good curl 90% of the time. Once she had finished cutting, she spritzed my locks with some water and then asked how we should finish it. I had told her of an occasion when a hairdresser had not taken my advice when I said it wouldn't curl and insisted that she was able to do it... I was fine with it just being given some body but, instead, she curled the shit out of it, covered it in hairspray, and let me leave. I turned up at the party with it already flopping a bit and feeling thoroughly crunchy. But NOT THIS TIME. When Alejandra had finished with me, I had hair like Alexandra Chando in the Lying Game - and for those of you in the know, that's all I ever wanted from my hair! Ecstatic I wasn't even slightly miserable to hand over just short of £100 in return for my new look.

I'd recommend it to you all - but shh, I don't want to find that I can't get an appointment with my new found miracle worker. She even hugged me on the way out :)

I'll be back there, no question. Once I'm earning enough, I'll be sure to go to MRF for my balayage too. Alas! For now I fear that its a little out of my price range.

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Olivia x