Balayage at Pimps & Pinups

I hate hairdressers, period.
Ever heard of those girls who don't get their tresses chopped for years, YouTube the trim job at home and end up with orange ends that they call 'ombre'? Yes that's me, hello!
Not that I've ever had a disastrous session at the salon that's put me off but just the constant fear of looking like an orangutan walking out of a salon, I've mostly avoided them for half of my life.
Until one day I realised I just needed to fork out a decent amount and head out to a place that had unanimously fabulous reviews. Of course, my first choice was social media sensation Nicky Lazou who's usually globe trotting the world balayaging locks to perfection but considering she lives a good 3-4 hours away from me, I decided against it quite reluctantly.
With an album full of Guy Tang inspired hair transformations, I plonked myself onto a chair at Pimps & Pinups which almost seemed like a glamorous unisex barbers. A hairstylist named Lori, who by the way has a gorgeous dip dye attended me and actually told me my inspirational hair images were achievable. I won't lie but it led to a little happy dance.
I wanted a balayage of course. The last time I asked for a sunkissed dip dye at a high end salon, it was a sunflower colored infestation on my pitch black locks, no thank you. This time I wanted more opacity in the colour, less concentration and a dreamy blending. My only brief was, 'ash brown or blonde' with an emphasis on ash.
After three and a half hours to be precise and bleach, toner, mask and blow dry done and dusted, Lori told me this was the 'ashest' they could go on my extremely dark hair. The result was a golden ash blonde with no hints of pesky yellows and ginger. For just around a £100, the results were impressive on my thick mane which took quite a few stylists to handle.
The salon atmosphere was brilliant - all smiles, lovely coffee, unexpected fleet of bankers and businessmen and great music. Most importantly, extremely skilled staff who exactly know what they are doing. For the first time in my life, I cannot fault a salon. Quite obviously they've bagged themselves a customer for life.
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