How colour is done here
Every colour sitting opens with a consultation in daylight — not at the basin, and not after the gown is on. We look at what the hair has already had done to it, what it will hold, and what it will look like in four months when it has grown an inch and been washed forty times. A colour that only works on the day it is applied is not a colour we will do.
The house works in the European tradition: fewer, better-placed pieces rather than a full head of foil. Balayage is painted freehand, so the grow-out is soft and the next appointment is a refresh rather than a rescue. Highlights are woven to the parting the client actually wears. Gloss and toner are treated as part of the service, not an upsell, because tone is what separates expensive-looking colour from the other kind.
Blonde, and the honest version of it
Going lighter is a conversation about condition before it is a conversation about shade. Dark box colour, henna, previous bleach and heat damage all change what is possible in one sitting, and the answer is sometimes two sittings rather than one long unhappy afternoon. We will tell you which it is at consultation, before you have committed to anything.
Olaplex and K18 are used through the lightening service rather than sold afterwards as a repair for damage that could have been avoided. Cool blondes are maintained with a toner at the sink; brass is a maintenance question, not a mistake.
Colour correction
Correction is the work most salons quietly decline. Banding, hot roots, a home kit that went green, a balayage that came back orange, years of overlapping boxes down the mid-lengths — all of it is fixable, and none of it is fixable in an hour.
A correction is booked as a longer sitting with a plan attached, and the plan is written down. If it needs two appointments we will say so at the start and price both, so nothing about it is a surprise on the day.
Questions we are asked
- How long does balayage take at the atelier?
- A balayage with a gloss finish is normally a half day. Correction work and significant lightening take longer, and we tell you which you need at the consultation rather than on the day.
- Do I need a patch test before colour?
- Yes. A skin test is required at least 48 hours before any colour service, including a first visit for gloss or toner. It takes two minutes at the atelier and we can do it when you drop in.
- How often should balayage be refreshed?
- Painted balayage is designed to grow out softly, so most clients come back every three to four months, with a gloss in between to keep the tone honest.
- Where is the salon?
- 11 Blenheim Street, Mayfair, London W1S 1LL — a minute from Bond Street station, between New Bond Street and Woodstock Street. The atelier is appointment only.