Starting a new hair Journey With reed hair, maldon

​A few weeks back, Grant and Vicki from Reed Hair in Maldon, Essex, got in touch with me about coming in to visit their salon and give my hair some well needed TLC.

After speaking with Vicki, who owns Reed Hair, I decided to go for the full works and get both a colour and cut done after my holiday - mainly because I was well aware that my hair wouldn't be in good shape after being dried out and messed around after spending two weeks in the sun and sea!
Prior to my visit to Reed Hair, I went in for a skin test beforehand and met Faye, who would be my stylist on the day. I can't speak highly enough of Faye - when we were discussing what we wanted to do with my hair, she knew exactly what I wanted and recommended to me what she thought would be best for me. Seeing as I already naturally had some lightness through my hair, we decided on an ash toned subtle balayage/highlight technique, which would put some light into my hair the whole way through, without making all of the ends lighter like a typical balayage/ombré. I chose to have solely ash tones with no red at all put on to my hair, as I absolutely hate my hair looking red or copper in any way. The colour Faye used on the top was 616 (Faye and Grant - I remembered the numbers!!) and the colour Faye ran through my hair was a dark ash blonde. 

Reception area

Fast forward two weeks, and my visit to Reed Hair is finally done!
I really looked forward to having an afternoon of pampering once I got home, and Reed didn't disappoint. I was greeted by a lovely lady at the reception area named Jayne, who took my jacket before Faye came down to meet me. One thing I really enjoyed about my experience at Reed Hair, especially after visiting lots of different salons in London in the past, was the one-to-one experience I received at Reed. Instead of just being dumped on to the next person for each different thing, Faye stayed with me every step of the way, which made the experience so much more personal.

Ground floor cutting and styling area

Faye then spoke to me about the layout of the salon, explaining that the ground floor is for cutting and styling, the first floor being for colouring, and even a third floor for their in-house beauty salon. What more does a girl want?!
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​I was taken upstairs to have my colour done first, where Faye and I discussed my skin and hair type, so that she could pick the perfect treatments for me based on what we had discussed. Faye recommended to me a brand called System Professional, explained to me why she had chosen them and gave me some personalised samples to take away with me. System Professional are a brand specialising in the treatment of the hair and scalp at the same time, and are only available to purchase through specific salons which will create a personalised chart for you, such as Reed Hair.
After this, Faye started to put the colours on to my hair. She made me feel so at ease the whole time - we were speaking as if we'd been friends for years! We talked about everything from my holiday to our nans, and I was able to eat and drink throughout which was a massive bonus for me, because basically I'm just a pig who loves to eat 24/7. No joke.
Reed gave me a menu with a variety of different food and drinks to have, with anything from tea/wine, to even fresh sandwiches and hot panini's. The food tasted amazing, especially after eating like crap for two weeks straight! A great idea especially if you're popping in at lunch time and haven't had chance to grab lunch.
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First floor lounge area

Faye then took me into their upstairs lounge area, where I ate my lunch with views down Maldon High Street. It was really peaceful area, where I didn't feel in anyone's way and could chill out whilst waiting for the colour to take.

After I had been to have my hair shampooed and conditioned, and the colour had been washed out and toned, it was then time for the cutting and styling. We opted to get rid of the dead ends first, before adding some subtle layers throughout and feathering the front of my hair, where my parting is. Faye explained to me that this would give my really long hair some added volume and dimension, instead of it looking reasonably lank.

When styling it, I decided to go for a really loose beachy wave where it just sort of looks tousled (sounds confusing, but Faye knew what I meant). She styled it using the GHD Curve, by taking individual parts of my hair and wrapping them around the styler and holding for 8 seconds. Faye told me that alternating the individual strands the opposite way each time creates that beachy wave look I was going for, whereas if you curl them all the same way, it creates more of a 90s wave/curl.
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Et voilà, we have the end result!
If you would like something similar to this done to your hair, you now know exactly what to ask for!

I can't recommend more or speak more highly of Reed Hair, and in particular Faye. They made my whole experience thoroughly enjoyable, and I can't wait to go back to Faye and have more done to my hair. She won't be able to get rid of me now! In my opinion, Reed Hair really is better than all the salons I have visited in London, and even better as you aren't paying extortionate prices for great quality!

An added bonus is that I will also be attending Reed's "Big Hair Do" event on the 28th September so keep your eyes peeled on my Instagram and blog for more!

Visit Reed Hair's website here or call on 01621 842043 | Visit Faye's Instagram | Visit Grant's Instagram
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Disclaimer: This post was in collaboration with Reed Hair and I received the salon experience in exchange for an honest review.
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