Review – Better Ageing – Embracing Grey Hair at Jo Hansford Salon, London
By Lisa Brown
For most of us, grey hair is inevitable. Mine started weaving its way through my locks in my early thirties. To begin with, it wasn’t too much of a problem – just a few strands here and there. Fast forward to my early forties and a monthly visit to the hairdressers wasn’t even cutting it.
As most life long brunettes will agree, regrowth is a costly and niggling woe. And it’s not just the colour that’s troublesome, the texture is pretty grim too. In my fiftieth year I decided to gently embrace, rather than disguise, my increasingly grey tresses.
My first stop is the Jo Hansford salon in London’s Mayfair. Jo is renowned as the ‘Queen of Colour’ and penned in the little black books of the city’s elite. It’s by no means the cheapest option, but my previous experiences at the salon have been excellent so I know I’ll be in safe hands. I’ve left my regrowth for a few weeks and when I arrive at the salon there’s a halo of silver hovering around my hairline.
Years of colouring have resulted in a dull, dark brunette tone so colourist Louisa explains the best option is to lift my hair and take it back to a lighter tone, blend the root colour, then consider a few highlights around my hairline. The salon have an in-house product to lift hair safely without damage.
“It’s quite a long process as we have to keep checking to see how much the hair has lifted at each stage – if at all – there’s a chance it may not work on people with very dark brown or black hair. There are other options depending on the individual i.e. someone with dark hair may find having soft caramel lights would be enough to help blend with the grey and soften that demarcation line. The lights could also be put just around the face to soften and brighten up the face so it’s not so heavy with the dark. Depending on the client we take into consideration eye colour and skin tone, including how you would maintain your colour for those who are on a budget or have a busy lifestyle”
It is indeed a long process – five hours to be precise. Luckily the salon has wifi, great coffee and a delicious menu to chomp through, so the time goes quickly. The results are quite astonishing. My locks have transformed from lacklustre brown with a harsh silver halo to a honey-hued mane, with glossy golden lights. I’m absolutely thrilled with the results.
It’s been six weeks since my life-changing colour. The regrowth is much easier to manage with grey locks blending in to my hair colour, rather than working starkly against it. Now my options are a few highlights or a regrowth colour every couple of months. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to embrace the grey completely yet but it’s definitely a step in the right direction…