Hair today, gone tomorrow!

Hair today..... Photo: Katharine Anker

I shuddered and shrank in resigned defeat when I first heard that a decent haircut in one of the high street salons would set me back 60 quid. “It’s your long thick hair love,” drawled one chic pink-haired hairdresser who took note of my crestfallen expression. “And it’s London. It’s expensive.”

And so my hair grew, twisting out of shape to resemble stringy ropes, and I despaired, hoping that my winning smile would distract from my dishevelled appearance. I did make heads turn, but not for looking stunningly beautiful.

Rescue came in the form of my awesome editor, who passed on a timely tip – you can be a ‘hair model’ and get a professional haircut for next to nothing. All  you need is a chunk of time and a dose of good luck. You can either come out looking fabulous or like Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.

I booked myself in for a classic haircut at Vidal Sassoon academy, as I had read horror stories about those who ventured into their ‘creative’ academy. I reached the salon (just off Bond Street tube station) to find a queue of people in desperate need of a haircut. I felt slightly smug as my student ID got me the haircut for just 5 quid, as opposed to the 12 quid that non-student ‘models’ had to pay.

A stream of impossibly trendy (note: futuristic hairdos, funky ensembles) Japanese trooped in, surveying the models with mild curiosity. One of them would be my hairdresser for the day. They were students from Japan, in London for a one-week training course with Vidal Sassoon.

The models were sorted according to their hair types, and I was put under the difficult category. I can say so because the teacher in my section kept praising my hairdresser (a sweet girl who didn’t speak a word of English) every time she successfully snipped off a lock of hair. Scott, the teacher, asked me what I wanted and I bleated out “something that gives shape to my mane”, slavishly grateful that I was in that seat for a mere 5 quid. And that was exactly what I got.

...gone tomorrow Photo: Katharine Anker

The haircut took 3 hours, but not because my hairdresser was slow or my hair a mesh of steel-wool, but because Scott was supervising 7 other students. When I came out, I no longer resembled the Lion King but a sheared version of Simba.

More info on Vidal Sassoon can be found on their website

Toni and Guy also run academies in London. More info here