My Favourite Hair Salons in London
Isn’t it amazing what a great hair day does to your confidence? Having a fabulous blow dry (and of course a great colour and cut) can transform not only your finished look, completing a glamorous evening outfit or adding instant ‘wow’ to a more casual day time look, but it’s how it makes you feel that has the greatest impact.
I get rather a lot of questions about my hair, where I get it coloured, what I use at home, and where my favourite places are for styling, so I thought I’d share all my answers in one blog post! I hope you find this useful!
Favourites for Colour
I gave the colourists at Richard Ward salon in Chelsea the ultimate challenge; to make my hair look natural again after a full head of bleach. Now I truly believe that so many girls look fabulous with bleached locks, but the complete head of colour was too harsh for me, so not wanting to take any more risks with my hair, I went straight to the best; Richard Ward. The salon staff are incredibly experienced, with a minimum of 4 years of specialist training, and you immediately feel like you’re in safe hands as they ask plenty of questions about what you like and dislike about your hair, while offering their professional opinion as to which styles and colour would suit you the best.
The experience itself is a wonderful one; as soon as you step through to door of the salon in Duke of York Square, a warm welcome is extended to you as you slip on your gown and are taken upstairs to the private cut or colour areas. There’s a champagne bar in the reception; a very welcoming lounge area, and the spacious salon has a friendly vibe despite the uber exclusive customers that frequent the salon (including Kate Middleton none the less!). My colourist, Lou, explained that growing out the bleach would not be a short term fix, instead, it’s taken me around 8 months of frequent visits before I can say that I truly love my hair colour and feel that it looks natural. A mix of toning and highlighting appointments, as well as using the L’Oréal Professional Smartbond treatment each time I visit has ensured that my coloured hair remains undamaged and nourished; you wouldn’t believe the amount of colour I’ve had applied to my hair – and yet the hair quality is still so strong and for that I will forever recommend Smartbond!
Another salon that I adore and totally trust with my hair is Daniel Galvin. The man himself revolutionised the world of hair colouring, and even has an OBE to prove it! The humongous flagship is the kind of place you want to pop in for a coffee with friends, the vibe is so great – and it’s the small things that I love such as the delicious salads and juices you can order while getting pampered! I find the stylists really quick at Daniel Galvin – they often colour my hair in half the time as other salons, so great for occasions when I don’t have a spare half day to sit in the chair! They use the Kerastase Fusio-Dose for conditioning the hair during colour appointments; like mixology for the hair, there are 5 different concentrates that can be mixed and personalised according to your hair’s needs, and you can come in for a treatment to boost hair’s condition, whether you’re there for a colour or just a cut & blow dry.
For a Great Blow Dry
When it comes to leaving my hair looking fabulous for up to four days, my favourite place to get a blow dry is Dry By. I find that the trick here is to ask them to pin up the curls as they cool down, so they set in a curled shape – and when I make time to stay in the salon long enough for this, I’ll have perfectly wavy hair for 3 to 4 days after visiting the salon. The interiors here are beautiful with a gold marble table around which everyone sits for their hair styling, and the coffee here is fabulous too! It’s definitely been designed with instagram in mind and the blow dries are my favourite if I’m creating some blog content over the following few days! I also love the mani and pedi options at Dry By, and it’s perfect if you want to multi task and get your hair and nails done at the same time.
For the blow dry I’m sporting in these pictures, I’d visited the Sassoon salon in Covent Garden. For hair that looks great the same day as the blow dry takes place, this has to be one of my favourites. Not just a blow dry bar, the salon specialises in cut and colour too and is very conveniently located if you fancy sprucing up your locks during a shopping trip! The Liquid Hair treatment that they offer, by System Professional, is a miracle for damaged hair – it repairs hair from a molecular level and instantly improves hair structure; well worth the extra 15 minutes of treatment time. My only tiny negative about the salon is that there’s no wifi! Something to consider if you like to get work done while you’re being pampered.
Another salon designed to be super Instagram friendly is Duck & Dry. They now have 3 salons, the latest opening being a small but fabulous salon within the Sweaty Betty flagship on Carnaby Street. Also on the top floor of the flagship is a Farm Girl cafe AND it’s dog friendly, so as you can imagine, I love to hang out here! Their salon located just off Oxford Street on Market Place square is the biggest and most photogenic, in fact I wrote an entire blog post about it here. Also with a great cafe and nail bar too, you could easily spend an entire afternoon here with girlfriends, getting pampered, enjoying some prosecco, and taking some snaps!
What I Wore
Dress by
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Bracelets by
What are your favourite salons in London?
xoxo
