Having visited Joshua Altback's hair salon in St John's Wood last month for some party styles I really was genuinely impressed. I tried the blow-dry express service and 45 minutes later left the salon transformed into a party diva ready for Christmas drinks. A few days later, I had a sleek and chic chignon for Christmas Eve dinner. The staff were attentive, friendly and above all professional and left a lasting impression, and the hairstyle lasted too. I had plenty of compliments and my experience made me think about a new me!
So the New Year was beckoning and so was this hair cut. I called the reception team and booked in for New Year's Eve. After all, if I was going to show off a new me, then that had to be the right date to do it! I booked a hair colour with Nick and a cut with Josh and blocked out a few hours of my diary to enjoy my afternoon at the salon.
On arrival, I was greeted by reception and put on the black gown, gathered an armful of women's magazines (from drivel to fashion - mind numbing stuff!) and Nick took over. After a chat about what I wanted (what I definitely didn't want) and what he thought I needed - I was assured I would be over the moon with the results. You do have to put your trust in someone, which is why it helped me that I had already visited the salon a couple of times - I'd seen customers walk in and walk out looking amazing so I was fairly confident!
So with Nick tending to my hair with silver foil galore and pots of golden creamy potions, my magazines and a steaming hot cup of tea I sat and let him do his stuff! An hour and a half later, Nick helped the junior wash my hair out, spending time checking the colour and adding a vegetable toner. In Nick's words "This will give you a nice honey sheen and slowly comes out over 8 washes". I had a Keratin treatment too, to make my dry hair soft, silky and shiny and I sat back to enjoy a head massage too. So far, blissful!
Over to Joshua's capable scissor hands for my cut transformation. Already I could see that my (wet) hair had a honey-caramel hue with fine golden lights - and that was before the blow dry! Excitedly, I don't even think I batted an eyelid when Josh mentioned chopping into my hair to give me layers, bounce and body! Three inches of hair was cut off, there was a nervous churn in my tummy but Joshua was confident and spent plenty of time on my hair. He definitely is precise, careful and not slap dash like many hairdressers I've met. At the end of the cut, he dried off my hair so it really did "move" on it's own, like those shampoo commercials! So there you have it - I left the salon looking like a billion dollar movie star, with honeyed hair as if I'd had two weeks sunbathing in St Lucia (except I didn't have the golden tan to go with it!)...
Already booked my next appointment and left the JA salon with an armful of shampoo's and conditioning treatments to keep my hair looking healthy...
Recommend? Oh most definitely!
