Following Susi's cutting edge (pun intended!) new hairdo at William Thomas Hair Studio, I headed to Kingston-Upon-Thames to visit another team that's made it to Monday's L'Oréal Professionnel Colour Trophy final - Zoe and Rachel at Headquarters. During the regional finals, I'd spotted the winning look from these girls and secretly decided they were the ones I wanted to visit, so full of anticipation, I headed South...
I sat down to Rachel and Zoe with hair that provided something of a challenge. My last cut had been fairly drastic (and a little bit Kate Nash), taking my long layers much shorter, doubling the thickness of my fringe and leaving me with hair that now looked suspiciously like a grown-out mullet. I wanted my hair longer again, but was in that messy in-between stage. The colour was also a mess of faded dull, dark blonde, a pathetic attempt to rediscover my 'natural' colour (only to find I hated it).
Luckily, all three of us seemed be on the same wavelength from the beginning. When I said I wanted to go much blonder, Zoe confessed "that's what I was thinking!" and suggested exactly what I was hoping for; a full head of highlights in two really light blondes. Because my skin is cool, shades that are too yellow or honey-coloured don't work on my skin. Contrasting a light ash blonde with my natural dark blonde base is definitely the way to go and the result isn't as light as you'd imagine.
Cut-wise, I was glad to be in hands of someone who was happy to work with what length I still have. Rachel wanted to concentrate on softening the harsh lines in the layers so I could grow them out easier. I was open to suggestion where my fringe was concerned, and after much deliberation we decided to soften it up a bit by only trimming about 2/3 of what was 'supposed' to be my fringe, leaving the rest to grow down with the other layers over the next few months.
With hair that's as thick and long as mine, a full head of foils is a long process. Top that with a cut and blow-dry and it's no surprise I was in the salon for a good few hours. Luckily I was very well looked after. Headquarters is a welcoming, bright and airy salon, and both Zoe and Rachel are friendly and chatty without any of that 'are you going anywhere nice on your holidays' rubbish. They're also really knowledgeable on hair and obviously enjoy their jobs. The salon is big, but maintains a friendly laid-back feel. When I visited there were balloons all around to celebrate the girls' success in the L'Oreal Colour Trophy, and it's obvious the rest of the team were proud of their colleagues' success.
Rachel decided to give me a slightly wavy blow-dry to add a bit of movement to my hair and go for a beachy look. While drying she gave me a brilliant tip on how to get rid of my slight cowlick when blow-drying my fringe (it's all about getting the hair while it's still very wet and 'confusing' the root by ruffling it from side to side as you dry). The natural wave in my hair held the curl a bit more than we all expected, so the finished look was very bouncy and Barbarella-ish. I secretly loved it but have to agree when it dropped a couple of hours later it was much more modern!
And the colour? Absolutely perfect. Going back to blonde has made me realise how much I missed it, and despite there being some really light streaks in my hair, it looks really natural and not at all brassy. The after pictures below are my at-home experiments on the day of the cut. One minute wavy, the next a retro pageboy. I love it!
Gemma visited Zoe Bridges and Rachel Defreitas at Headquarters, 39 - 40 Market Place, Kingston-upon-Thames. Tel (020) 8549 0078 for appointments.