Hair hacks: it’s never been easier to get a fresh look without all the faff

HairLifestyleEmma McCarthy

Now that we are a whole month and one week into 2016, it’s time to take stock and ask a question: what have you achieved so far?

If the new year’s resolutions are a distant memory and the end of dry January has been celebrated with a seven-day hangover, don’t panic — you’re not alone. And remember that often the smallest changes can make the biggest difference. 

Take your hair, for example. A new cut or colour can work wonders on your “new year, new you” mentality, even if the healthy eating/money-saving/liver-unpickling hasn’t quite worked out. But drastic measures are not always required. 

At George Northwood’s newly revamped Wells Street salon the emphasis is on simple adjustments to completely transform not only your look but the way we approach hair styling all together.

Its new Curated Cuts service — which launches this week — offers a bespoke approach that aims to demystify the hairdresser chair jargon with a board that collates four lengths, four fringes, four base lines and four textures. 

Much like the Bob Bar — which was installed in the salon last year to help Londoners get the short chop of their dreams, a la Northwood’s most famous be-bobbed clients Alexa Chung and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley — the Curated Cuts board, created in association with Redken, invites customers to pick and mix a host of this season’s most in-demand cuts, shapes and styles. 

“The whole point is to aid communication in how we talk about hair,” says Northwood. “It’s the 2016 equivalent of bringing in a photo that you’ve torn out of a magazine.” 

Of course, Northwood’s service goes beyond just borrowing a celeb barnet. “You don’t want to turn up to a party in an amazing dress, only to see another woman there wearing the same outfit,” he explains. “It’s the same with your hair. No one wants their cut to be boring or formulaic. This allows people to curate a look. It’s empowering women to take control of their own haircut.”

On Northwood’s Curated Cuts menu is an edit of this season’s most requested styles. On the fringe front there are micro-bangs and cheek-chiselling side sweeps. Customers can also select the length of their choice — from a nape chop to a somewhere-in-between midi — and then go on to personalise their style with a variety of finishes including blunt and sharp or brushed waves with a healthy finish. 

For Northwood this is as much about making the salon experience approachable and straightforward as it is offering choice. “I’m very mindful of how people feel when they first come into a salon. I don’t want it to become this intimidating space. I want it to be a place where women feel really comfortable — even on their first visit. In many ways the Curated Cuts board is a great starting point for conversation.” 

And Northwood isn’t the only one concerned with making hair-styling a less complex process. From a simple parting tweak to the cut that’s essential for everyday bedhead, here are some of the capital’s hottest new hair hacks.

Part ways 

For commitment-phobes looking for a quick hair refresh, consider shaking up your parting. “The nuances of hair are the statements,” says Luke Hersheson, who has recently championed a series celebrating Hair Understatements. “The small things like parting your hair in the middle or a deep, almost non-existent parting can say more about you than you think.” If you’re a straight-down-the-line sort of a girl, why not try a centre forward — a lazy variation on a middle parting. Simply blow dry until nearly dry, then push back your hair and, using your fingers, roughly guide hair into a middle parting, letting it fall naturally. Or why not go really crazy and try out a sexy, side swoosh? Radical. 

Do the twist

If your quest for effortless bedhead often involves hours of careful teasing and tousling, try a cut that promises to do the hard work for you. Aveda’s newly launched Twist Cut offers a simple route to perfectly imperfect texture by applying a simple twisting technique while cutting to leave ends looking raw and undone. “Natural hair is making a comeback,” says Antoinette Beenders, Aveda’s global creative director. “Twisting sections before slide-cutting downwards enhances the hair’s natural texture and keeps it from looking overly polished.” Into it.

Lazy colour

For colour you can take lying down — quite literally — head to Charles Worthington.

The capital’s Covent Garden salon has pioneered the latest take on balayage — aptly named Layage — which involves hand-painting colour onto hair while it’s spread out on a large, flat board, providing a more controlled method of application and resulting in soft, natural-looking blended colour. “The technique allows hair to achieve a natural gradient colour,” says Katie Allan, creative manager and colour expert at Charles Worthington. “This technique can be used for ombre or natural subtle highlights — it’s so versatile.” We’ll take it. 

City lights

Your holiday-planning WhatsApp group may already be alive with disagreements about Luton airport and links to Airbnb villas but Daniel Galvin is offering an easier route to all things sunkissed. The London hairdresser — with salons in Marylebone and Kensington — is preaching the gospel of beach chic with Butterfly Tips, a dyeing technique that adds two shades to the ends of the hair to give natural texture, lightness and softness without a full colour overhaul.

Upgrade your pony

There’s more to bad hair days than pedestrian ponytails. Make like the models backstage at JW Anderson’s spring/summer show with a rope pony. Masterminded by L’Oréal super-stylist Anthony Turner, the surprisingly simple yet reassuringly impressive look can be achieved by parting a high ponytail into two sections and twisting both ends tightly to the left, before incorporating both twists together into one big twist. Talk about show ponies.

ArticleHair hacks: how to get a fresh look without all the faffGeorge NorthwoodCharles WorthingtonJW AndersonAlexa ChungLuke HershesonRosie Huntington-WhiteleyAlexander Wang

From lazy balayage to a pick-and-mix fix, Emma shows you how to freshen up your look

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