‘Hair We Should Have’ With Jamie Stevens

March 2, 2016

Jamie Stevens is a renowned multi award-winning hairdresser and has worked on top TV shows such as X-Factor and This Morning, as well as a list of celebrity clients. Danny and I were invited down to his salon in South London to get ‘the hair we should have’. Having our hair cut together is something we have never done before and now that we have, I kind of liked it.

I was going to have Jamie cutting my hair which I was really excited about, whilst Danny was in the capable hands of one of Jamie’s top stylists, Jonathan. I’m pretty fussy about getting my hair cut and I don’t really do that many hair cut/colour reviews because of it, but I felt like a bit of a change so decided to let myself be transformed.

So here is how we got on….

My Cut With Jamie

As soon as I met Jamie he was really friendly and instantly I felt I was in very capable hands. Instead of asking me what kind of cut I wanted, to which I had no idea, instead he asked me what cut I have had before that I had liked, what I have not liked and someone’s hair that I admired. My answers were; I liked when I had a side fringe, hated my crop and Rosie Huntington Whiteley – as I just love her tousled hair. Jamie then talked through the texture of my hair, which I actually discovered was fine but lots of it, which was a surprise as I always thought my hair was thick. It was good to understand more about my hair type and also my face shape and what would suit me. Rather than me rocking up with a picture that clearly might not work for me.

We decided on taking quite a bit of length off, but still keeping it long and going with a fringe, but more of a sweeping fringe to each side. I have been a bit sick of my old style, I loved the length but just felt like when I wore it straight it was kind of hanging and bringing my face down, so I was up for a change.

My hair was washed, then cut and then rough dried. Jamie says that a good blow-dry can cover up a s**t haircut, so he likes to rough dry it first to see how the hair falls naturally and then tidy up areas that needs be. After that my hair was styled and as he did this, he showed me how to style the fringe at home, which I was worried about being able to manage it. Which products to use and also tips on using the curling wand – I’ve been doing it the wrong way round all this time and he was just really happy to answer any questions I had.

I was really happy with my final look, it was something easy to manage and also something different from what I had. Jamie is clearly super skilled and really works with you to create something unique to you.

Danny’s Cut With Jonathan

After waiting a few minutes while Paula was looked after I was introduced to Jonathan. We sat down and had a long conversation on what hairstyle I wanted, how I style it normally and what makes a good haircut for me. Something that the salon does is suggest the hair you should have, Jonathan suggested a slightly longer version of the James Bond Daniel Craig style, short back and sides with a lot of texture and some length on the fringe. It’s actually something Paula has recommended before and this time I took the plunge.

The haircut started with a hair wash, head massage and a massaging chair, after being offered a beer, wine or soft drink I was sat down at Jonathan’s chair, next to Paula and Jamie and we got started. Jonathan was very friendly, we spoke about football, as lads do and we talked about the state of the barber and hairdressing industry, all while Jonathan obviously was showing off his clipper and scissor skills. Jonathan took extreme care in ensuring my hair was blended well, talking me through his cutting techniques and explained why my face and head shape was more suited to a higher blended cut with shorter length on top. As I have naturally wavy hair Jonathan also suggested to use the waves and kinks in my hair rather than work against them, hence why recommending the shorter look.

To be honest it felt like more like chatting to a mate than getting my haircut by someone new, which is a good sign that you are relaxed and enjoying your experience.

What Jonathan did particularly well was explain what products to use, suggesting to go back to using salt spray for pre styling and using a wax in the top the shorter it is. As well to use styling product back to front, ensuring you use the palms of the hands to apply wax from crown to the front and in the fringe, using the wax between your fingers and on fingertips.

Jonathan was always onto a winner after complimenting my beard and suggesting my celebrity lookalike was Ryan Reynolds, which my new haircut actually resembles and although my hair is probably shorter than I expected when I went in, I am really happy with the haircut especially the texture on top and the blend connecting the top and sides.