Bored of my boring brown colour and wanting a lift (but nothing too heavy or obvious), I needed a subtle hair pick-me-up. So, I opted for highlighted slicing at Lisa Shepherd in the West End. This is a new technique bringing highlights into the hair starting in the mid sections and through the length, giving a flash of colour to the ends.
The venue
I was so eager to get there I walked into the salon nearly taking the door off its hinges, not realising there’s an auto-lock system operated by the receptionist - oops. She could’ve made me feel a bit silly for my Incredible Hulk show at such a glamorous salon, but instead she put me at ease and welcomed me in. There’s a gorgeous ‘hang out’ area with a coffee/tea machine, more herbal teas than you could shake a ginger stick at, a fridge laced with white and rose wine, orange juice, beer.... the list goes on. Such is the luxury there’s even a selection of magazines and internet usage!
They’ve made such good use of space in the salon, cutting it up (ahem) into sections and making you feel less watched by everyone else being worked on. I know I have a habit of staring which could make people feel a bit uncomfortable, but that curbed it.
The treatment
I was only waiting for 5 minutes until Jason came over (I could’ve actually done with longer, I hadn’t even started on the mag selection!). He was very relaxed but professional, making me again feel comfortable. We had a chat about colours/shades and how I wear my hair usually, to make sure he was doing what would suit me best. He even showed me pictures of the variation results, which really made me feel he was doing what was best for me rather than what he wanted to. That’s often been the case on previous hair colour experiences in other salons.
Starting with a gloss to lift my current brunette colouring, then applying the highlights to the mid/end sections of my hair, he left it to set for a little while (in the gorgeous waiting room enjoying the vino and reading material) and then he applied a toner to settle the colour and make sure the result would be really natural.
I’ve got to say they have the most comfortable washing basins ever. I normally lie for ease and say it’s comfortable on my neck as we all know it never is, but it actually was. I was fine to be left there for a bit while the toner set. After a bit of washing and re-arranging of sections, the look was completed with a natural beachy blow dry.
The result
I left (without breaking the door) feeling really relaxed with that ‘just stepped out the salon’ bounce and I’m really happy with the result: a natural beachy look. It’s brunette with touches and flashes of golden blonde variations through the mid sections of my hair – fantastic.
