It’s a Friday morning and I’m walking through Old Soho on the way to Quintessentially HQ; my nails are minxed to perfection, my new KG heels are shining and thankfully pain free (for the moment at least) and I’m looking forward to a weekend away ‘Oop North’ celebrating two very good friends recent entry into the world of the affianced.
Then disaster strikes; the skies darken at lightening speed and the heavens open, at which point I realise my trusty umbrella is sat on my desk on the other side of Soho Square.
Fast forward three minutes and I’m looking at the remains of my carefully curled locks that have been tangled into a mess of dreadlock proportions thanks to the good old British weather. So what’s a girl to do? The she-lion look I’m currently sporting is definitely not going to work, and short of dashing to Oxford Street and buying a hat, the situation looks pretty hopeless.
And then I’m thrown a lifeline, in the form of Hershesons Blow Dry Bar in the hallowed depths of Topshop on Oxford Circus. The Hershesons concept of ‘stealth styling’ is truly miraculous: in just 30 minutes they can take a hair disaster and turn it into your ultimate hair fantasy – and the best part? You don’t even need to book an appointment.
On entering the bar, the team obviously saw the look of panic in my eyes and ushered me calmly to my seat, produced a glass of ice cold water and showed me the hair menu from which I could chose my new look.
There are 10 styles on the menu ranging from the classic up do in the shape of ‘The Bardot’ to the more avant garde ‘Rag-a-billy,’ a mass of plaited punk perfection.
My stylist informed me that ‘The Audrey’ is the current favourite given the London girls love of the messy bun, but I opted for ‘The Wavy Gravy’ a ‘tousled beach babe meets rock chick’ look – Sienna eat your heart out.
As the warm water soaked through my hair and my scalp was massaged to perfection, I finally began to relax and delight in the luxury of being pampered in the middle of my working day, knowing that I would be back at my desk before my lunch hour was even over.
Using a myriad of Hershesons own brand styling tools (the incredible Hershesons tourmaline waving wand is already on my wish list) my hair was gently blow-dried to give it some added oomph, then the ends were wrapped around tongs and cajoled and teased into perfect curls. A quick brush of my stylist’s skilful fingers to finish, and the mirror revealed a mane of perfect boho waves and one very happy girl!
In just 30 minutes I had gone from drowned rat to Primrose Hill princess and all for just GBP 24. With three salons in London including a brand new store in One New Change in the heart of St Paul’s, there isn’t any excuse not to head to Hershesons and try the Blow Dry Bar experience for yourself. In fact with the sun shining and a hot date on the cards, I think I will be heading back there tonight.
That’ll teach the weather to rain on my parade.
