Fave Friday: Haircut

Part 2 of luxurious London.

I've been getting my hair cut at Stuart Phillips now for a bit over a year. Because I am so sporadic with my haircuts, this equates to three cuts and the blow dry I wrote about last year in January. It's a long way to go for a hair cut, and not very convenient, but totally worth it.

My hair is cut by Mitz, a Japanese stylist who always seems to know the right thing to say. My absolute favourite conversation with him ever went like this:

M: ...and maybe a fringe?
Me: Er...mmm....
M: They are very fashionable right now (holds some folded hair across my forehead)
Me: (remembering the bad old days of growing out the doorstop fringe from my teenage years) No, no, I don't think it would suit me...
M: Yes, yes, you're right - too young!

Still makes me chuckle when I think about it now.

He has given me some excellent tips. GHD straighteners are too hot. Mix together mousse and Moroccan Oil. Use the cold shot at the end of a blow dry to get rid of frizz - practically life changing! Last week he twisted the bulk of my hair into a rope at the end and did extra cold-shot work on it, saying it would make the style last longer, and it did. He is also full of good stories and recommendations for London; this time he told me about cutting Anita Roddick's hair and not knowing it was Anita Roddick until she had sadly passed away.

The thing I like the most about Mitz, though, is that he makes me feel really good about my hair. He regularly murmurs during the post-cut blow dry that he loves styling my hair, and even though the haggard old cynic in me is pointing out that I am paying him to style it, a bit of me still believes him. He manages, mostly, to hold off scolding me for not getting my hair cut for months at a time. At the end of the appointment he fetches my coat and then waits to hold the door open for me on my way out. And I do leave feeling like I can go out and conquer the world with my new haircut, even though nobody else notices it has been cut - or perhaps especially because of this.

Now, I have had hairdressers before whose work has pleased me, but this is something else entirely.