The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
What’s all the fuss about…
fnding the right colourist?
After 20 years, I’m breaking up with Lester. Actually, I think he may be breaking up with me. He’s retiring, which means one of the most signifcant males in my life won’t be there in a few weeks.
It’s a no-brainer why women form such intimate bonds with our hairdressers. Like gynaecologists, they are privy to very personal information. Unlike gynies, however, it really matters that they have good taste. If my gynaecologist admitted, mid-inspection, to liking those Balmain fesh-coloured stripy satin leggings, I might think the timing a bit off. If Lester said it, I’d be worried. I need to be able to trust his judgment in all things aesthetic.
We’ve been over the possible replacements. Someone should set up a hairdresser-client dating agency, because it’s not just about them being technically faultless and having a fabulous eye; it’s about being locked together in a tense experiment for two hours every fve weeks for 20 years. You need mutual trust. Making each other laugh helps, too.
I don’t expect to fnd a permanent successor straight away, so I’ll be taking extra DIY care. I’ve stocked up on Color Wow – of all the grey-root retouchers out there, this is the best. I’ve also upped my morning Marmite. I once read on the Telegraph’s letters page that Marmite (rich in vitamin B) staves off greying, and a naturopath confrmed that vitamin-B complex could just slow the process.
Whichever colourist winds up with me will have to work in a salon that offers Olaplex. This salon conditioner minimises the impact of colour treatments on hair.
I have also discovered the only anti-frizz product that works on my baby-fne hair: Maria Nila’s True Soft Argan Oil.
Finally, I’ve indulged in the BaByliss 3Q. It dries hair in half the usual time, and the force from the nozzle reduces my frizz to the extent that my DIY blow-dries are – almost – as good as salon ones.