Liz Frost
For the past ten years, my hair colour has come out of a bottle. Every six weeks I pop to Boots to pick up the same L'Oreal darkest brown, lather it on and hey presto, twenty minutes later I'm done. It's quick, easy and most of all, at under £10 for my colour, developing solution and conditioner, it's cheap. But there are some downsides to colouring your hair at home: getting coverage on every single hair can be tricky, which means sometimes there are roots as long as Jordan's fingernails in places I can't see; other times I'm a little too thorough, covering not just my hair, but my neck, upper arms and hard-to-reach areas of my back.
Then there's my bathroom, which used to be white, but now has a permanent smattering of darkest brown on the walls, under the sink and even on the toilet seat. So I decided to hand over my tresses to one of the best colourists in town at Hob Salon in Camden, to see how much of a difference a salon colour could make.
In the chair, Christel, my colourist, starts by looking, not at my hair, but at my face.
"What colour clothes do you normally go for?" she asks. I tell her I'm usually drawn to reds and lilacs and that I hate orange with a passion. She nods. "Your skin tone works best with cooler tones," she says. "Putting warmer red tones in your hair will clash with the tones in your skin."
She's right, even though my natural colour has a reddish hue, I feel uncomfortable with any hint of red in my hair and I'm pleased to finally have a scientific explanation.
"There are so many things we can do with colour" says Christel, smiling. I feel like my hair is in safe hands and I'm momentarily tempted to say "Just do whatever you want!". But I refrain.
Next Christel explains that while I've been using the darkest brown shade on my hair, the years of build up means my hair is actually black. Taking a length of my hair, she holds it up against the roots to show me the difference in colour. "The build up has made your colour really dense and flat," she explains. I can see what she means - my hair is practically matt at the ends rather than glossy and shiny.
Taking in my alarmed expression, she smiles: "Don't worry, we can lift those ends and give you a nice glossy even colour."
So, we're agreed that we'll stick to something similar to my existing colour, but Christel explains there are subtle differences in the tones of black we could use. She picks up a magazine and starts to flick through, eventually landing on the background of a photograph. "This," she explains, "is more of a jet black." She flicks a few more pages and points to a jacket on a model: "Whereas this, is more of a blue-black." I had no idea there were so many different sorts of black I could go for.
Christel recommends a blue black, but I tell her I want something a little more natural looking, so we settle on a black with a soft silver tone to take me away from the dense grey black I was before.
At the sinks, she gently cleanses the ends to remove the colour build-up, then it's back to the chair to have my colour applied.
As Christel sections off my hair and applies the pleasant-smelling colour to my roots with a brush, I can't help imagining myself in front of my bathroom mirror struggling not to get any dye onto the white rug. And as I sit under the heater waiting for it to develop, I'm relaxed instead of feeling edgy like I would be at home, worrying about dripping dye on the sofa.
With my colour washed off, it's time for a cut. I'm introduced to Tracey who recommends some long parallel layers to give my hair light and movement.
As Tracey blowdries my hair, I can see the colour emerge and I'm thrilled with the results. I still look the same, but the pearly tone has brightened my hair and it looks shinier than ever. The cut has also given it a swishy texture.
I leave the salon with a spring in my step. It costs £55 to have your hair coloured at the Hob salon (or £90 if you would like to request Christel) it was worth every penny. It's not something I could afford to do every six weeks, but it's definitely something I'll be doing as a special treat when my hair really needs a boost.
Visit www.hobsalons.com to find out more, or call 0207 485 7272 to book an appointment.
