My New Hair: Balayage / Ombre Hair

If you know me, I've been saying for a very, very long time that I've wanted to go a bit more blonde but I'm usually terrified to do anything too much with my hair which is why I usually stick to ombre from the L'Oreal box I used to know and love and that was that. I'm definitely not an all over head dye kinda gal, as for one I just don't know if I'd love it and two, I actually really like my natural light brown hair colour. I thought about just topping up my ombre with the same kit, but I decided to go with something a little different this time. I headed down to the Mowgli Hair Salon* in St. Johns Wood, London to get my new do, but first up, I just want to give a mention to this lovely area of London. If you haven't been already, then you must (and there's a Space NK opposite the salon, if I ever need a reason it would most definitely be that...). 

I've been to Mowgli a few times with my work at BeautySpotter. and got to know the lovely stylist Dario through doing that. And it's totally worth noting that I've never had my hair dyed in a salon, not because I didn't want to pay the money, just because I couldn't quite put my trust in someone I didn't know for something that was totally a massive deal and after awful experiences with hairdressers cutting and styling my hair in the past, I thought I'd never put all my trust in one to dye it and for years I didn't. I always had my friends to do it, which for some would probably be a little weird as they've had no training and all that, but they dye their own hair and I trusted them and they always did it amazingly as although I always went for ombre, there was never no blunt line between my natural colour and the new blonde that we had added. Though this was probably down to my constant nagging making sure they 'don't forget to blend' - oops! 

Dario asked me if I'd like to come down to the salon and have him do my hair, and this got me thinking. Could I finally trust someone to do my hair in a salon? Would I finally give in to temptation and go for a bit more blonde in my hair? The answer was of course yes, and I bit the bullet and did it and guess what? I wasn't nervous at all. 

Once I got there, I sat down with Dario, cup of tea and biscuit in hand, and chatted through what we were going to be going for. I'm totally inexperienced when it comes to hair and like you know, all I've ever gone for is an ombre, so I'm probably terrible at explaining what I want but Dario handed that beautifully and we decided on a mixture of a balayage and an ombre. With regards to the shade of blonde, I let Dario decide as I honestly have no idea. When it comes to the L'Oreal kit, it's kind of a one shade fits all so I really wouldn't know where to start in choosing a colour. I was super happy with this, and felt totally at ease as I'd seen his amazing work before and knew it would be on the same par. The colour was applied and put into foils, Dario made sure to backcomb the strands of hair before to make sure there were no blunt lines like I mentioned before. This idea is genius and it worked like a charm! I then waited a little while while the colour worked its magic, with magazines and a complimentary hand massage to keep me amused (how amazing is that?!) I was so relaxed. The colour was washed out and then a toner and treatment was applied. The chair had a back massager on, this was heaven and made the experience so much better. Totally soothed my aches and pains (I was super poorly while I was here, but this and copious amounts of peppermint tea and water made it all better!). 

Onto the cut and blow dry and we decided we'd go for about an inch off the ends, with it coming up a bit higher at the front with voluminous and bouncy curls as they would last longer, and also make the colour look incredible (and they totes do). Usually my pet peeve when it comes to blow dries is the stylist curling my hair with straighteners like I do at home. I usually want to come away with something that I don't feel like I do myself but this was totally different this time. Dario clipped and set the curls and I shook the curls out instead of brushing them through. I was so happy with the end result and the curls looked amazing. And guess what? It actually lasted. I honestly couldn't believe it. Usually I wash my hair every day, though I've been trying and struggling to do every other day but with this one, I went two whole days without washing. I swear that must be some sort of record for me, and even on the last day I felt happy with how my hair was looking. 

I'm honestly so in love with the whole cut and colour. I'm really happy I put all of my faith in Dario's hands as he really has made me super happy with him. I actually sent him a message to let him know of his hair wizard-ing ways. This is the perfect colour for the spring and summer, and the shade works perfectly with my skin tone, just like Dario said it would. I didn't venture too far from what I was used to but now I'm just so much happier with the end result and you know, I've found a stylist that I can trust and that's a major part of it all. We've all heard many hair salon horror stories haven't we? But don't worry, you won't find it at Mowgli. If you're after a new do, then I couldn't recommend Mowgli and Dario enough, they're all magicians there, they literally work wonders with your hair. And I'm not just saying that, I promise... 

What do' are you getting for Spring/Summer? 

Lorna x

*Hair cut and colour provided in exchange for this review, but as always all thoughts are my own and honestly, I really do love my new hair!

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