I have something exciting to tell you… Over the weekend, I had a hair makeover. That’s right – a full-on makeover! For all my life, I’ve had light blonde locks that I’ve maintained with a monthly half head of highlighters AKA a root refresher.
Then, in January this year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone for the first time ever and go chocolate brown. My boyfriend and all my friends had been urging me to do it for months and months considering I have bright blue eyes, which they convinced me would stand out even more if I had darker hair.
Anyway, long story short – I regretted making that decision instantly. I hated my chocolate brown hair from the minute I first saw it in the mirror! It took me four visits to the hairdresser and lots of treatments to claim back my signature blonde locks. Once I got back to my desired shade of blonde, I swore I’d never change my hair colour again. Ever!
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to visit the newly-established Ginger hair salon in Parkmore and review their services. Now, for a good couple of months, I’ve been totally obsessed with the grey hair trend. If you live on WeHeartIt and Tumblr like I do, you’ve definitely seen what I’m talking about. No – going grey isn’t a hair nightmare, and yes – lots of A-listers have been spotted sporting gorgeous grey locks! The catwalks are teaming with grey-haired beauties, too.
Anyway, since I received this invite and confirmed my appointment, I pondered the idea of “going grey”. I was totally unsure about it up until the very moment that I sat down in my stylist’s chair. And, yup, you guessed it – I ended up going for silver strands in the end! So what made me do it? And do I love it? I’ll tell you all.
So, on Saturday morning, I arrived at Ginger at around 9:30am. The salon is conveniently situated on the busy and buzzing 11th Street in Parkmore. Upon entering the salon, I was greeted by the very lovely, bubbly Jenna – one of the owners. I was also delighted by the beautiful interior – simplistic, all white and just ever-so-chic!
Jenna quickly showed me to my warm and welcoming stylist, Kelly – the other owner of Ginger. Kelly sat me down and offered me freshly-baked red velvet cupcakes and a cappuccino before getting to talking about what I wanted done with my hair. Pretty nervous to say the least, I whipped out my iPhone and began showing Kelly a couple of reference pictures I’d saved of the grey hair trend (like the ones below). Immediately, she got excited, assuring me that she could totally do that for me. And, yes, her enthusiasm is what made me say, okay, let’s do it! I felt confident, and the process began straight away.
The grey hair trend – don’t you just love it?
I’m obsessed!
First off, my whole head of hair was bleached, which is never a pleasant process (I know all of you platinum blondes out there feel me on this one!), but beauty is pain, as we all know. Now, because bleach is so super-damaging to hair, Kelly made sure that it was mixed with Olaplex – the new hair treatment everyone’s talking about right now that reconnects broken disulphide sulphur bonds in the hair that happen during thermal, mechanical or chemical processes, like bleaching. This was my second experience with Olaplex, so I was really confident that my hair was “safe”. (It’s really a revolutionary treatment!)
After about half an hour, I was taken to the basins to have the bleach rinsed out of my hair. A lovely assistant made sure I was comfortable in one of the plush and comfy leather seats at the basin (yes, they have leather chairs at the basins – and they have foot rests, too!), and began rinsing my hair. She was very gentle, and did a great job at thoroughly rinsing my hair and at that point sensitive scalp. Kelly then came back over and applied the silver grey tint to my bleached blonde hair, which was also mixed with Olaplex to avoid damage. For ten minutes, I sat back and relaxed while my hair absorbed the grey tint.
The assistant then rinsed the tint out of my hair, and shampooed my locks twice. She then applied another anti-breakage treatment, followed by a deep conditioning treatment to soothe my hair and scalp, and then gave me the most amazing head massage ever. My goodness, it was so relaxing! I then moved back into Kelly’s hands for a blow dry and she asked me what I’d like done styling-wise. I decided on loose curls.
When Kelly was done drying and styling my hair, I fell in love instantly! I loved my ice-cool blonde mane with the gorgeous silver tint she’d put on! Before I left the salon, Kelly made sure that I was clued up on how to best maintain my grey hair before my next trip to the hairdresser. She also sent me home with a bottle of Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector, which is a take-home treatment to use once a week between salon visits to keep your hair in tip top shape. Ever since my hair makeover, I’ve only received compliments and had ladies stop me in shopping centres to ask where I had it done!
My new hair coloured and styled by Kelly
Overall, I must say that I had an exceptional experience at Ginger. The stylists were all very attentive, and I left with exactly what I asked to have done (and that’s a rare happening in a hair salon, as I’m sure you know). It’s a gorgeous, upmarket place that uses and stocks only the best brands of products, and their prices are super-reasonable, with a ladies cut starting at R315 and a full head of highlights going for R1000.
I say ditch the overpriced mainstream hair salons and try this intimate little place out. I’m confident that Jenna, Kelly and their team will take brilliant care of your hair and make you feel (and look) like a queen! Another plus? They have a nail technician in house too, so you can get your nails done at the same time as your hair. Also, get your boyfriend to tag along for a cut by Ashley, one of Ginger’s stylists who specialises in male haircuts (I saw him snipping away while I was there and his work was flawless!).
Want to book an appointment? You can do so online here.
DETAILS:
Address: 78 11th Street, Parkmore, Sandton, Johannesburg
Phone number: 011 326 7456
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jennakellysginger
Website: http://www.g4ginger.co.za/index.html
PS: Wondering what my go-to hair products are? Click here and find out!
Love, Cands 