I'm sure you can guess from my photos that I don't cut my hair often. It grows fast, tangles into a black sheath of messiness and generally I try not to poke it too much lest it does something frightening. So on the rare occasion that I haul my black sheath into the hairdressers, I'm determined to make it something a little bit special. You name those London salons, I've tried em'. I'm not a loyal customer but rather like trying out a new restaurant every week, I've become a one-time connoisseur of salons. I like good vibes and special touches. So I was uber pleased to stumble into Pimps and Pinups based in, where else but the increasingly bustling Spitalfields. No clinical white harsh bright lighting. No plasmas playing wank music on MTV Dance. It's thankfully un-corporate, and unpretentious about the place with its indie soundtrack, cushty distressed leather couch and a nice beverage to welcome you in - a glass of wine/beer if you need serious unwinding or the usual non-alcoholic stuff. Opened by Australian cousins Simon and John Charrison, they have taken the best bits of their hairdressing experience to create what I think was a laid back, slightly quirky yet still professional salon. The Hollywood-style lit up mirrors and the vintage barber chairs makes it a sort of contemporary retro interior. My black mass of hair got taken care of wonderfully by a lovely guy called Jordan who, thank god, did not fall into the following categories of Product Pushers (the ones that make you come out of the salon laden with products you don't actuallly know how to use), Chatty Natters (the ones that chat relentlessly without paying too much attention to the hair they're cutting) and Silent Artists (the ones who completely ignore you and lull you into thinking they're concentrating really hard on your hair until you look up to find a tri-pronged mohawk). The black mass on my hair is now sleek, sharp and totally acceptable in polite company.
I may have to stop my hairdress connoisseur-ing now as I've found my bi-annual hairdressing appointment.
