Nearest tube: Green Park
Go for: Colour expertise
Before you read any further, I have a confession to make – but you have to promise not to judge me.
Although I’m a beauty writer, I haven’t been to a hairdresser for eight years.
Perhaps it’s because I’m a control freak, but I thought I was getting along just fine with a box of Nice ‘n’ Easy and a friend giving my ends a trim.
Fed up of looking like I’d stepped out of a McFly song – with five different shades of brassy blonde in my hair – I finally decided to hand over the reins to an expert.
And Mayfair hair stylist Hiro Miyoshi is definitely an expert.
He’s responsible for the artfully undone styles of former Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Paris Carine Roitfeld and Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon, OBE.
The salon is five minutes from Green Park tube station, tucked away on one of the most historic streets in Mayfair, which you’ll recognise from the pages of Oscar Wilde and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
When I arrived, I was ushered into Hiro’s gleaming white salon and sat perspiring gently under the black kimono-style gown.
Although he didn’t say anything, I could tell he was slightly dismayed by the state of my scrawny mane.
He carefully divided my hair into layers and I could see the underneath layers were dark and patchy, while the top was blonde and brassy.
“When do you have to leave?” he asked, “This might take a while.”
You’re telling me.
Hiro recommended a full head of highlights to counteract the different colours, and blend my dark roots into the platinum strands on top.
Before I knew it, I had not one but two stylists deftly painting dye onto my hair with a third dispensing foil.
They painstakingly brushed on the dye, taking care to even out the patchier strands and blend in my dark roots with subtle highlights.
By the end, I had 200 foils in my hair and looked like someone spray-painted Whoopi Goldberg silver.
My hair lifted immediately, and before I knew it I was whipped out of the chair to be washed, conditioned and treated.
Hiro used YUKO – a Japanese hair treatment to nourish my frazzled strands into better condition.
After, he trimmed my locks and shaped the hair around my face, before blow-drying with a roller brush and added some Oribe texturising spray.
The finished look was chic and polished, with lots of body.
I could see he had done an amazing job at blending the different tones in my hair together.
He instinctively understood that I’m a blonde at heart (read: ditzy) but he’d transformed the brassy yellow into a soft, flattering shade that complimented my pale English skin.
What’s more, my dry, damaged hair felt softer and bouncier as I flounced out of the salon.
“You’re a clever girl, but you should leave the hairdressing to me,” he winked, as I left.
I agree.
Get 10% off your next haircut at Hiro Miyoshi. Quote the code ‘TLE10’ for a 10% discount (valid until the end of August.)
