Review - No74 Hair and Beauty

There are some salons that you visit and you just know they've been designed straight from a catalogue of hairdresser cliches.  And then there are those that when you first wander through the doors, you know that they've been a labour of love from start to finish.

No74 Hair and Beauty is one of the latter.  Situated in Clerkenwell, yet feeling like you've wandered into a luxurious country house hotel, No74 is a tiny oasis of peace and beauty in the heart of the City.  Opened a year ago, Michael Reichelt has poured his heart and soul into creating what has to be one of the most gorgeous and calming salons it's ever been my pleasure to walk into.  Michael was recently voted "Entrepreneur of the Year" in the recent Creative Head It List awards, and it's not hard to see why!

Last week, I popped along to try out their Grand Classique facial, which features Yon-Ka products. Yon-Ka are rapidly garnering themselves a cult reputation, created in 1957, the products are largely botanical, and very therapeutic, and are, of course, allegedly used by lots of Hollywood celebrities!

The Grand Classique facial lasts 75 minutes and costs £70 (which, if you ask me, is a bit of a bargain bearing in mind the location), and consists of several cleansings, a mild peel,  steaming, extractions if required/requested, sprays with botanical oils, a mask and lots and lots of wonderfully soothing massage.  I enjoyed my facial very much, it's a very "tingle"-making facial, leading me to worry about blotchiness and redness, but my fears were unfounded, and I left the salon with a glowing complexion - even though my skin is going through one of its periodic greasier than a greasy thing phases), and singing spirits.  My skin has been very soft and smooth ever since too, no irritating breakouts!

It's very refreshing to go to a truly independent salon, who carry out a full range of hair and beauty services, and I've been privileged to be able to visit a few this year, I doubt I'll ever be able to go back to a chair hairdresser again!  No74 is a wonderful location, full of people who love their jobs, and  I hear on the grapevine that one of their latest additions to the team is a former stylist on X Factor, so you need to pop along and get your own celebrity-style makeover! 

The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of No74 Hair and Beauty, and would like to thank Brett and Renata for an amazing experience, you guys rock.

Review - Webster Whiteman

One of the most surreal - and proudest! - moments of my blogging "career" to date was being invited to judge one of the awards for this year's Creative Head Most Wanted awards.  I don't, in all honesty consider myself a hair blogger, but I can't deny that I am interested in hair, hairdressing and styling, so it was a great honour to be asked.

I was judging the Online Salon category, (click here for a full list of winners), and one of the finalists in my category was the team at Webster Whiteman,  I think I may have been more disappointed  than them when they didn't win the award, as I thought their website was a great one, it introduced the team beautifully, and gave a real sense of what the salon is all about.  Go check out their "meet the team" page, which is a great example of a salon with a great sense of humour!

So, when my roots needed sorting out recently (seriously, it's such a bind being an elderly brunette, you know),  I popped along to the comfy, and wonderfully unpretentious, Webster Whitman salon in the heart of Mayfair, just to see if their real life presence was as good as their online one.

I have to say that I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, the entire team is friendly, welcoming, and delightfully down to earth.  Even though the salon is situated slap bang in one of the ritziest areas of London, it's not at all intimidating, and throughout my three hours in the salon (which flew!), I was amazed at the assortment of diverse characters the salon manages to attract, from ladies who lunch to busy businessmen, to the occasionally slightly stressed and vaguely pre-occupied beauty blogger.

I think a large part of this is down to the staff, I chatted to the owners Darren Webster and Lisa Whiteman, who were both busy on the floor themselves, and I had a wonderful time in the hands of award-winning colourist Claire and also with Becky who did my blow-dry.  Both girls are amazing talents, and I won't be surprised if Becky is going to be a rising star in her own right one day, certainly someone who can teach me how to blow dry my fringe properly in a way I can actually remember a couple of weeks later certainly deserves a medal!

So, how did they do?  Well, I was happy with the last cut I received at the Chapel, and I'm still kind of in love with the highlights I had then too, but I was in desperate need of having my horrific roots covered up, so Claire and I  had a chat about covering them up, then blending them in via a semi-permanent shade throughout the lengths, so I wouldn't lose the highlighted effect.  I have to say that I think this has worked magnificently, my hair is shinier, my roots aren't grey, and I still have a gorgeous lightly sun-dappled effect:

As for the blow dry - and my love for a good "bouncy" blow-dry is becoming legendary in certain circles - with Becky, this is the result, full-bodied, but still wonderfully natural-looking, and full of shine:

Love it.  To the team at WebsterWhiteman, thank you very much.

The Fine Print: This knackered beauty-blogger was a guest of Webster Whitman, and is very grateful.

Review - Summerlicious at The Chapel, Islington

At times, I'm truly reminded that mine is a somewhat charmed life. Recently, I spent the most delightful four hours in the company of Billie, Kay and Kim at the Chapel Hair salon in Islington, and was made to feel so much at home, that I didn't really want to leave.

Having read up a little before my visit about the "trend-setting" owners Billie Crago and Georgia Denton, discovering that the salon has won at least five "Salon of the Year" awards, and reading about how "cool" the design of the salon itself was, I don't think I can be blamed for being a little apprehensive about my upcoming appointment.  Add in the fact that on the day itself I was running a little late for my appointment, I was expecting a sniffy reception at the very least.  I could not have been more delightfully put wrong, from the super-friendly receptionist who set me up with a drink and a gratefully received Tunnocks teacake, to my colourist Billlie, my stylist Kim, and my mani/pedi diva Kay, everyone was friendly, relaxed, chatty, and a joy to spend the afternoon with.

I was there to trial their "Summerlicious" offering, which aims to get you ready for your holidays, or just get you all spruced up for the warmer weather. For a special price of £200, Summerlicious includes the salon's signature "floating" highlights, a pedicure, manicure, a makeup consultation and, of course a cut and blowdry.  On arrival, you're whisked into the consultation area (above), for a chat about your likes, dislikes, skintone, hair requirements (mine was, deal with the madness, and make me look less dull, please), and colour requests for nail polishes, and just general chitchat about how the salon works.


Once all that's decided, your summerlicious appointment starts with your pedicure. These take place in the dedicated colour room, which is in the basement of the salon.  Equipped with sofas, footrests, and a fireplace, it's a wonderful little cave to rest and relax in.  Kay, the salon's beauty person, is simply an amazing therapist, chatty and friendly, with an astonishing knowledge of brands and products, talking to her was a joy, so much so that I almost forgot she was playing with my feet.  You regular readers will all know how I feel about feet, so I won't go on about it here again, but suffice it to say that Kay took all my quirks into account and this was probably the pedicure that's had the least amount of flinching and wincing (on my behalf!) as a result.  The salon use Leighton Denny manicure products, and my toes were painted a fetching milky coral-peach shade called Just Perfect.  It is.


Billie was taking care of my colour, which basically meant taking care of my grey roots - I've been greying since I was 18, and I find it infuriating - and then using her signature "floating" highlight technique to do the rest.  This technique is great for darker hair, as the lights start further down the hair (slightly away from the scalp) therefore minimising regrowth, avoiding totally that attractive stripy look on your parting, and just imparting a sunkissed glow towards the ends of your hair.  Aimed at mimicking a natural sun-bleached effect, they're far less obvious than traditional highlights, and less high maintenance as a result.  Billie very clearly knows her stuff, and was happy to talk all through the technical aspects of the treatments of the salon, and her passion for her craft was apparent at all times (ask her about her head collection!).  While Billie was applying the colour, Kay was painting my fingernails, and it was also obvious that these people are a real team who enjoy working together a great deal.

Once your nails are painted, and your highlights are in place, you're led to a sofa by the fireplace with a glass of wine and a magazine whilst your colour is developing. Most relaxing, and much better than being left in front of the mirror to stare blankly at yourself.  Billie had prescribed a particular "Chemistry" moisturising treatment for my hair type once the highlights were rinsed off, which has left me with silkysoft hair, and I was off to see Kim for my cut.  Kim has curly hair herself, so I knew I was in safe hands, during my consultation I'd noticed that Kim understood my concerns with my "mad" hair completely, and so I was happy to just leave her to the cutting whilst I was chatting to Kay again about summer makeup trends (which is again, all part of the service) She also gave me a great blowdry, bouncy and full without being too bouffant.


Even after four hours in the salon, all too soon it was time to leave, but all good things come to an end, I guess. Admittedly I was leaving a lot more relaxed - and groomed! - than I was when I arrived, which is always good thing, bearing in mind my natural state of being!


So-so things about The Chapel:
The name Summerlicious.  It's a simply amazing offer, but the name makes it sound a bit cheesy.


Good things about The Chapel:
Lockers for your bags, a simple, but absolutely brilliant idea.
Keys for said lockers on bracelets so you don't lose them.
The salon itself is beautiful but not at all intimidating when you're in there. Make sure you check out the Hollywood bathroom ...


Great things about The Chapel:
The staff.
The service.
The pricing structure - for all hair services, you are charged by the hour, no matter what you're having done, you have a consultation before hand (free) and you're told how long it will take, plus if your service doesn't take the whole time, you pay less.
Summerlicious itself.  An utter bargain, and a real treat!


Oh yeah, the traditional look at my hair (this is a couple of days later, and all styling errors are my responsibility as a result):

Summerlicious costs £200 and takes approximately 3.5 to 4 hours.  The offer is running till September, so book it quickly! You can have a look at the Chapel website here, and their blog is here.

The Fine Print: Get Lippie was invited along as a guest of the salon, for review purposes.  I really have to stop talking about my mad barnet, as I suspect I'm on some sort of "insane" hair marketing list and that's how people find me.

Review - Compton Hair: Onix Brazilian Blowdry

Now, I don't know about you, but I find the thought of trying out a new hair salon pretty terrifying, I've been known to hang around outside salons for ages trying to pluck up the courage to actually walk in and make an appointment!   As a result, it's entirely possible I don't visit the hairdresser as often as I might.

Now, when you consider that I have crazy hair:

(hair after applying straightening shampoo, conditioner, serum, balm, and home blowdry!)

that might seem a bit short-sighted, but ... I've learned my coping strategies over the years, I don't wash it every day, I use my straighteners once or twice a week, and when all else fails, I tie it back. Wash and go hair just isn't something that is possible for a curly-girl like me.

Or so I thought.

When the opportunity came up to visit Zoltan Vargyai at Compton's Covent Garden salon and try out the next generation of Brazilian keratin treatment I nearly bit someone's hand off in my eagerness to say yes! Keratin treatments, also known as a three month blowdry, have been around for a while now. They semi-permanently straighten and condition your hair, so making it easier and quicker to style.  Unlike a Yuko treatment however, the straightening effect fades over a number of months, so they're cheaper, but also unlike Yuko, Onix can be used on colour-treated and/or damaged hair.

Previously, keratin treatments have had the major disadvantage that you have to leave your hair unwashed, untouched and unstyled (literally, you can't even tuck it behind your ears!) for at least three days after having the product applied, but the new Onix treatment renders that obsolete, meaning that you can wash your hair the same day, if you want, and you can style your hair however you want without worrying that your hair will "set" into a new, and unwanted shape. Plus, the treatment can be done in about an hour, if you're lucky!  I have a LOT of hair though, so I was in the salon a fair bit longer than that ...

I spent yesterday afternoon having the process done.  The Compton Hair salon itself is very relaxed, all the staff went well out of their way to make me feel at home, and Tom - who actually carried out my treatment - was, I have to say, utterly adorable.  We spent a long time chatting about my hair, and what I wanted from the treatment, before we got started and the chat continued throughout, so much so, I barely had to pick up my book! There was also a bit of an iPhone application face-off at one point, but I shall gloss over that, I have the least cool selection of Apps, ever.  I also had a chance to speak to Zoltan himself, but I'll bring you more about that in a later post.

The treatment itself isn't that complicated, your hair is washed twice with a special clarifying shampoo to open the hair cuticles, then the keratin treatment is applied and left to absorb into your hair. Your hair is then dried and straighteners are used to set it into it's finished style.  Here's how my hair looked at this stage:

Apologies for the poor quality of the iPhone picture there!  Now, if you wish, you can leave the salon at this point, and leave the keratin on your hair for a couple of days before washing it out, or you can leave it on for another 45 minutes and have it neutralised and removed at the salon.  I opted for this version of the treatment - I'm an instant gratification kind of gal, always have been! Once the keratin was removed, my hair was very roughly blowdried with fingers, NO styling products, brushes or straighteners were used at this point, and here's how it looked when I got home after a slightly rainy walk through Covent Garden:

Lookit that shine!  (Don't lookit the stupid expression on my face ...) Ordinarily after a few minutes in a damp atmosphere I resemble a dandelion clock after a particularly vicious static storm, or Marc Bolan after a nasty electric shock, so just to get away with a little light fuzzing at the ends is amazing. Especially after only five minutes under the hairdryer! Normally getting my hair this straight is about an hour-long job, and it's back-breaking, to boot.

I can't wait to try styling this myself, I specifically requested that Tom leave me with a little root lift, so when it dries naturally it'll be a bit more "bouncy" than it appears here.  I was delighted with my experience in the salon today, seriously, they're lovely people! And I absolutely love the results I've been left with so far.  I'll bring you a further post a little later in the week about how I've found dealing with it at home, I think the key part of any salon treatment is how your hair behaves once you try to replicate the results yourself!

It's important that you use an SLS-free shampoo and conditioner after the treatment, as sulfates strip away the keratin treatment, so I purchased the Onix products to ensure I get the best results, and I'll let you know my thoughts on those too.

You can find out more about Compton Hair here and more about the Brazilian blowdry itself here. Prices start from £145, and the treatment can take from 1 to 4 hours depending on the length and thickness of your hair.  If you do go, ask for Tom, and tell him I said hello!

The Small Print: This treatment was provided free for review purposes.  All reviews are honest, regardless of the source of the product.