I am Meryl Streep having her hair washed by Robert Redford in Out of Africa ...
SOMEONE is kneading my scalp, nape and behind my ears: long, masterful, hypnotic strokes that make my shoulders unclench for the first time since March. I am Meryl Streep having her hair washed by Robert Redford in Out of Africa. I am all the women Warren Beatty lays hands on in Shampoo. A stranger’s touch after months of avoidance feels curiously deviant. It is also completely and utterly awesome.
Half past midnight, Saturday July 4, and Britain’s hairdressers are back in business with talk of 3,000-strong waiting lists. Legions have appointments at 8am. However, king of colour Josh Wood wanted to race back into the salon the moment this became legal.
Here at his west London atelier, there is a (distanced) party atmosphere as Gwendoline Christie, the Game of Thrones star, Katherine Jenkins, the singer, and perfumer Jo Malone, are attended to, safely enthroned in their separate zones, coiffeurs hovering about them in plastic visors.
“Safety is obviously key,” beams Wood, 53. “This is about restoring confidence. I’ve been consulting with government in my position as a board member of the British Beauty Council and have found them very thorough.”
Half of the salon’s chairs have been removed, appointments will be taken online, payments made by card. There will be longer opening hours, with shift work to reduce staff presence, temperature checks, stringent disinfecting, no cutting of dry hair, no food and drink, and PPE available.
And, good Lord, isn’t it incredible to be talking to people, not at home, doing something in the flesh. Not just doing anything, mind, but engaged in that sublime state of being groomed.
As Christie enthuses: “In these times of chaos, control over how we feel about ourselves is so significant. I have been counting the days until I can be reunited with Josh.”
By anybody’s standards, Wood has had a good Covid. No one close to him has been afflicted, while business has been booming with a 2,986 per cent increase.
Millie Kendall MBE, chief executive of the British Beauty Council, expects to see the industry shrink by up to 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Government continues to dismiss the sector as frivolous, despite its adding almost £30billion a year to GDP. “Compare Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions when male MPs made jokes about the urgency of reopening, despite our supporting over 600,000 jobs.”
As for wild talk about a ban on chat, Wood waves a hand: “Darling, try and stop me. I can’t wait to hear the gossip.”
I am reminded of the immortal truth revealed in Fleabag’s final season: “Hair is everything. We wish it wasn’t... but it is.”
‘As for wild talk about a ban on chat, Wood waves a hand: “Darling, try and stop me. I can’t wait to hear the gossip”’