Client - Neville salon Commissioned by - Elena Lavagni
By Courtney Greatrex
Getting my hair cut had always seemed like more of a chore to me than anything else. Once every three months I would walk from my family home, to visit a family friend who also happened to be a hairdresser.
There, I would sit nursing her pet dog Buddy while she put foils in my hair and snipped at my locks, chatting away about what was (or wasn’t) going on in our sleepy Hertfordshire village. Nothing special.
It went like this for about three years. I never thought about changing this routine because it was comfortable, cheap and a family friend.
That was until I moved to London and it was no longer feasible to commute 30 miles just to get my hair chopped.
So I went about trying to find myself a new stylist. First I tried one local hair dresser near my new north London flat.
It was a male hairdresser was the strangest person I have ever met. At one point during our session he jokingly tried to strangle me with my own hair. It was weird and distressing and I was too scared to say I didn’t even like the cut he’d given me.
After this traumatic hair-cutting memory, I didn’t think much of getting my hair done again for about months.
It was this summer when I realized that my regrowth had been ignored for so long that I began to look like I’d had a dip dye.
And then Neville Hair asked me to try out their salon in Belgravia and I ever so gratefully accepted.
Neville is situated right by Sloane Square and Harrods and is everything you’d expect a high-end beauty hotspot to be.
I was immediately whisked downstairs for a consultation with colourist Nana.
‘I want to dye my hair to look like it hasn’t been dyed’ I told her hesitantly.
To my surprise she completely understood what I was trying to say, I want to remove the yellowish bleached tones in my hair from years of foils, and get back to basics.
Nana set about creating colours tailor-maid for my skin tone and hair type, which on the best of days is wiry and always dry no matter what I do.
While she plastered me with about four different coloured dyes, we chatted about the clientele of the salon and her past roles in hairdressing.
Nana has recently moved to Neville from an impressive role as creative director at Tony and Guy.
I honestly feel like I was honoured to have her colour my hair.
After she’d finished washing out the dye, I was taken upstairs for my cut and blow dry by Yuri Jimenez .
Neville is frequented by a huge array of London’s most high-profile people. Made in Chelsea stars are always popping in and out, ITV This Morning’s Holly Willoughby is one of their most loyal customers and the wealthy residents of Belgravia pop in – just to get their hair washed. Pah!
Despite the seemingly exclusiveness of the salon, even I, someone who has a checkered past with hairdressers, felt entirely welcome.
While it may not be in everyone’s budget, it’s okay to treat yourself sometimes and I honestly believe that the haircut and style I received at the salon will be something I will keep for some time. I left with a fantastic blow dry and weeks later, my colour is still looking fresh and exactly what I was after.
Five stars!
Before and after:
