Jamie Stevens Hair Salon

From the age of twenty two (so, some time ago) I have been sporting a messy, spiked hairstyle that back then replaced rather long curtains. It knocked years off me at the time (I actually started to look my age) but as time has gone on I’ve been yearning for a new look. "Well just get one" I hear you say - not that easy when you have a fear of hairdressers, stylists, salons and all things that involve the removal of hair. I’ve mentioned it on my blog before but in my youth I went for a short back and sides only for my father to discreetly tell the barber to remove the lot. So with a haircut (I’m loathe to call it a haircut or style) that wouldn’t look out of place at a far right rally and my head looked like a massive peanut. I hated it and so was born an intense distrust of anyone bearing clippers or scissors. Bear this back story in mind as I now talk you through my visit to the Jamie Stevens Hair Salon in Kensington.

So what made me now take the plunge, put my fears to one side and go for what is a completely new look? Well Jamie has released the MR. range, hair care products for men from shampoo and conditioner, to hairstyling and thickening products. There are my readers a lot of reviews to come of them (as well as an interview with the man himself - legend), but if I had to summarise the products so far it has to be - a revelation. The reason I opted now, well, if you read anything about Jamie you just get the impression he is a man who knows what he is doing - not only hairdresser in residence for the X Factor, he offered me the chance of a 1 on 1 cut and style. What I didn’t know at the time was that my visit would literally change everything I have ever done when styling my hair.

So what did I read about Jamie. These are his glowing credentials over at his salon website here:

‘British hairdresser of the year 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 nominee, Creative Head’s Hair Icon of the Year Nominee 2015, International Ambassador for Matrix hair care and winner of many accolades, Jamie Stevens has firmly established himself as a leading light in the hairdressing industry. As the go-to hair guru for numerous celebrities and TV programmes including The X Factor, This Morning and How to Look Good Naked. Jamie Stevens is regularly featured in the national and international media, whilst maintaining a loyal clientele.

Jamie and his team pride themselves in delivering award winning excellence in cutting, colouring, extensions, afro and styling for men and women, coupled with a personalised service to make you feel welcomed and at ease at our boutique style salon in the hands of our true experts.’

As soon as I walked into the salon I was immediately put at ease (it had nothing to do with the beer I eagerly accepted) and taken downstairs to get my breath, take a sip and talk generally about my hair. I explained my nervousness and Jamie immediately started to put me at ease. First of all he took a look at my hair - the assessment being that its really fine, but there is one hell of a lot of it. 

Rather than asking what I wanted (I had a series of pictures in my bag as suggestions) Jamie talked me through a few options with my only instruction being “please don’t let my head look massive”, “please don’t make it look like I’m trying too hard to appear younger” and “something that I can style myself”. Talking through the options I mentioned that I used to have a pretty severe undercut and long hair on top - Jamie showed me the line that an undercut should take to avoid it looking like I’d be wearing a hairpiece and again reassured me that his undercut wouldn’t be severe and would have a taper to blend in with the top.

With my hairline slightly receding, the option I was given would also disguise this and in turn make my forehead look smaller (result if possible). With my mind at ease I agreed with option one, the undercut with swept back longer hair on top. At this point I started to smile, I could picture how my hair was going to look and I had complete faith in the scissor king (Jamie). 

After a relaxing wash and condition (the chairs massage your back) where I had to resist the temptation to sleep it was into the chair for the cut. A drum roll please……

Below are some of the pictures (kindly taken by Helen) taken while Jamie cut away and we chatted about his background, what brought him into hairdressing, why he decided to launch a men’s range and some hints and tips to make styling so much easier. One of the things I found particularly reassuring was that Jamie explained everything in such easy to understand terms, and why he calls a certain pair of scissors the texturisers rather than thinners!

As he cut, Jamie repeatedly told me not to make a judgement on the style. At one point I looked in the mirror and saw Kim Jong Un looking back which made me laugh to myself. After the cut I went back off to have my hair washed again - cue much more relaxation in the chairs and another battle to stay awake.

After patting my hair dry we moved onto the styling and his is where my eyes were truly opened. I’d never used a salt spray before but again, explaining how it adds texture to hair and makes it feel and look like it does after a week on the beach (and in the sea) I opted for it. We then moved onto cocktailing. No, we didn’t crack open the booze, instead (and this had never occurred to me in the twenty five years of using product) we talked about mixing styling products together. In my case, Jamie mixed together the wax and paste from the MR. range and blended into the hair starting from the back to the front (again, a revelation).

Within ten minutes my hair was styled to perfection and I was grinning wildly. I looked completely different in a very good way. Here is the before and after! 

Now looking at this you might not really appreciate the gentle undercut, so I've been off to the park to get some shots (ignore the grey hair lol).

Yes, styled myself and still loving the salt spray texture - also taken up cocktailing!

Jamie is a perfectionist and this comes through as he talks, cuts and styles. He is a true gent and an expert in his field. I don’t think I will trust anyone else with my hair ever again after this experience. That’s not me overplaying how happy I am but as I left the salon I was walking taller with confidence and had a smile from ear to ear.

While it took around an hour to cut the time passed by so quickly - listening to Jamie talk about his work, his ethos for the salon and the reasons why he wanted to branch out into the hair care market was truly awe inspiring. I’ve heard people speak with passion, I’ve heard people repeat well practiced lines to camera that appear as though they are telling the gods honest truth but when listening to Jamie speak you know you are listening to a man who has and continues to put his heart and soul into his craft and vision. I kid you not, the whole experience left me walking away saying “wow” over and over again.

FORGET THE REST, TRY THE BEST

You can read more about the MR. range from Jamie Stevens here over the coming weeks, or if you can’t wait, I’d highly recommend that you visit the website here. Not only can you learn more about what the range can do for you but Jamie also has a series of excellent tutorial videos that may just change your own grooming routines. 

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Versace The Dreamer EDT

Wandering around Westfield London this afternoon doing something completely unrelated I ventured into a lovely shop and immediately my eyes were drawn to the special offer they had on Versace The Dreamer EDT, a fragrance my brother used to wear in his late teens and one I really used to like. As I have said, this was on offer so after buying myself a bottle I thought, what the hell, and bought another and I’m offering it here as a giveaway to one of my readers. Father’ Day is coming up, so why not enter below. 

Unlike my recent blast from the past disasters with Davidoff Echo and Obsession by Calvin Klein I tested this in the shop, was immediately transported back in time. It’s lovely! 

The notes to The Dreamer are:

• Head: Juniper, Mugwort, Tarragon
• Heart: Ambered Lily, Flax Flowers, Iris
• Dry-down: Amber, Tobacco Flower

It’s now seven hours after spraying myself in the shop with the tester and it’s still so very noticeable after using just a little of it. This would make the perfect gift for a man who likes his aftershave to start off light with a slightly fruity twist that comes from the juniper but who likes them to fade, get warmer and last for ages. 

It has depth and warmth but the fragrance almost evolves through a series of stages. The ambered lily and iris blend with the juniper after around an hour to make this less fruity on the nose and actually it’s like a mild floral explosion for around thirty minutes until it moves into the dry down. The amber and tobacco flower provide an excellent base that compliments the tarragon and lily to make this well worth a look.

This really does fall into the affordable aftershave category, especially when on special offer - it has a gorgeous fragrance that would be out of place in the office or on a night out. Great value for money.

RECOMMENDED

So what is on offer? It is a 100ml bottle of The Dreamer by Versace

• How long will the giveaway last for? 23 days
• Will I get it in time for Father’s Day? Yes, the winner will be drawn on 1 June 2016, the winner notified and posted First Class.
• I don’t live in Great Britain, can I enter? Yes, yes you can.
• There are some mandatory entries which MUST be completed otherwise your entry will be null and void
• If you are under 16, you will need parental consent to enter because I will need your full name and address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire

If you haven’t seen it on Pinterest, I have a rather large board dedicated to aftershaves that I really want to try. You can see the board here. For the last month or so, Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire has been sat there and it wasn’t until yesterday that I had the opportunity to get my hands on a bottle, have a good sniff and really put it though its paces. Is this an aftershave that deserves a luxury label because of its lovely fragrance or does it need to be consigned to history for it’s value for money. Read on, read on…..

This isn’t cheap but it also isn’t in the Creed category of "holy mother of god" that’s expensive – it’s £97 for 150ml of the EDT which suggests that you get a lot for your money.

So, what’s in it?

The key notes within Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire are: Fougère accord, cedar, citrus, sea mist

After just a few sprays you are met with a beautiful light fragrance – the citrus and cedar weirdly blend to give off a slightly floral scent with hints of lavender. That I hadn't expected at first. The fragrance however changes almost immediately getting lghter and lighter to the point that within thirty minutes I couldn’t smell it on myself. Normally when this happens with other aftershaves I don’t worry as people around me either comment that they can still smell it. With Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire I had to keep asking people if they could smell it and the response for a short period of time (around two hours) was overwhelmingly yes, but after three people really struggled to pick out anything and that is a massive let down.

This has one of the loveliest fragrances that I have smelt in a long time and I’m glad I had the chance to give it a try, but sadly I can’t bring myself to recommend this as even after applying large amounts it simply does not last. I applied around five or six squirts from the bottle last night and it wasn’t noticeable after just three and a half hours. This morning I applied even more after a heavy routine of exfoliation and moisturising and yet after just an hour it had faded into oblivion. It had completely faded – not good.

In terms of value for money therefore this doesn’t represent a good investment and I would suggest that you look at more harder wearing aftershaves out there with a citrus base like L’eau d’Issey by Issey Miyake or Bvgari Pour Homme.

Yes it is a great smell, but you can only realistically wear this if you only want wafts of the aroma for short bursts, anything longer and you will be disappointed. In my view it needs a bit of a look at the formula to give it a bit more depth on dry down.

NOT RECOMMENDED

This has been moved from the aftershave wishlist board on Pinterest to the aftershave loathes board where I keep details of those aftershaves that have really let me down.

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Schwarzkopf 3D Molding Wax

When it comes to hair products I’m not short of things to try, and that is why nearly a year after sending me a pot of the Schwarzkopf 3D Molding Wax (shouldn't that be moulding?) I’ve finally gotten around to writing about it. Oops, sorry! I could pretend that it is purely because I wanted to use the entire tub but I’d be lying, it’s actually because I’ve found this one of the hardest posts to write…..ever, and what’s weirder is I have no idea why (indeed, I appear to becoming more and more clueless as I get older).

Anyway, before I digress any further from what is essential about some goop you put in your hair to hair it a bit of background into my hair and the product itself.

When I started using this months ago my hair was in a permanent state of shock, by which I mean I had short and spiky hair. This has grown out and more often that not now I can be found with longer hair that is swept back. The two photographs below show the general styles I’ve been sporting for the last six months.

So, onto the product……at just over £10 this is more expensive than other styling products from Schwarzkopf. In the past I have picked up their products and been mildly surprised by their affordability and performance – you can read about my experiences of got2b Spiking Glue here and got2b Glued Spiking Wax here if you so wish. This is what they say about it over on the Schwarzkopf website:

‘Get maximum, 3D care and protection for your hair with the Schwarzkopf [3D]MEN range, a collection of products that address the daily challenges of a man's hair.

3D MEN STYLING

The first styling brand matching the 3 key performance dimensions of male styling:

[1] Hold

[2] Texture

[3] Definition

Molding Wax

The versatile wax is ideal for creating supple styles with a natural hold, and it is particularly effective on medium-length hair that craves volume and shape. The creamy texture of the wax melts onto hair without stickiness, and offers a natural shine finish that lasts.

•    Maximum moldability cream wax

•    Create and re-invent with gravity-defying shapes

•    Natural shine finish

•    Apply to dry hair and mould into style’

Styling with 3D is actually quite easy no matter how long the length of hair - personally I find that even with short spikes or a messy look the style is held perfectly in place even without blow-drying. I have to admit that with a short style it does help slightly when applied to damp hair. That said, even after being exposed to stupidly strong wind it only moves the hair slightly which makes manipulating back into style a breeze (pun intended). 

As my hair gets longer I think this is where 3D comes into its own - with a brushed back style like the photographs show it holds, and it holds all day, and then well into the night with no hassle. Seriously, apply this at 8 a.m and it'll still be holding your hair in place at 10 p.m - you can't argue with that kind of staying power. It’s so hard wearing that it is on a par with Structure Adhesive Paste, one of the most hardwearing hair styling products I’ve ever used – the main difference is that this is much easier to style with on medium to longer hair.

Can it all be that good? Affordable purchase price, easy to apply and long lasting hold. What are the downsides? Well, there aren't any 'downsides' per se but my minor bugbears are that hair feels a tad greasy to the touch a few hours after using (simple solution: stop touching your hair) and finally you will be disgusted at how much pollution and grime it attracts and helps clings to your hair. Washing it out every morning brings the inevitable "eurgh" as I watch the manky (Mancunian for dirty) water wash away in the shower - so not a fault of the product, but still not nice thinking how much s**t has been stuck in your hair overnight.

Personally I love this stuff – while it looks like a cream, makes it easy to style as though you are using a cream you could be forgiven for thinking that this may be a cream. I was actually a bit confused when I realised that it is in fact a wax. The purchase price is an irrelevance when you consider that I’ve been using this nearly every day for over six months and it is only just now running out. That’s value people, and value that should be applauded.

This won’t leave horrific residue that starts to flake, makes styling easy and has hold that lasts for ages.

What’s not to like?

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Obsession by Calvin Klein

After digging around the house last weekend I came across several bottles of aftershave that I've had in and out of my collection since my early twenties (that'll be some time then). Included within the collection of dusty bottles was one of my firm favourites from those carefree times of my life, Obsession for Men by Calvin Klein.

Obviously as the aftershave had been sat in a box for some years it had gone off, but just the memories of it made me part with £22 for another bottle from Superdrug. It remains surprisingly cheap in comparison to how much it used to cost back in the day - I'm just tight and actually when sitting back and thinking about it, it probably wasn't that expensive, it was just that it cost more because I earned less and because there were fewer options for us blokes back then (I'm talking early 1990s people, those joyous times before smartphones). 

My new bottle arrived last week and I’m happy to report that the vile smell that wafted from my old bottle was indeed completely different to the rather sweet, yet sickly smell that greeted my hooter (read nose).

Sadly my early twenties me was clearly a bit weird. Thinking back to how I used to think I smelled lovely I wince. I sprayed this liberally and yack, it's not how I remember at all. 

First impressions of the aftershave were not good. As you remove the lid and apply the fragrance your nose is overwhelmed by a warm and fruity sensation, but rather than giving a warm feel it is overly sickly in nature - it's as though they have packed it full of tonka beans to give it a sweet vanilla edge and it's way, way too much - this is not the fragrance I remembered fondly.

After leaving the fragrance on, it takes well over 30 minutes before it starts to blend on the skin and the actual smell changes. It begins to fade, taking the overpowering edge off and becomes what can only be described as a warm sensual smell, still with obvious hints of vanilla. 

There were no notes with this bottle of Obsession so I couldn’t trace where the smells were coming from but once the fruity tang subsided vanilla was and remains the most predominant smell.

Obsession is strong stuff. I cannot stress this enough and a lot of the aftershave isn’t required to give full coverage.

I applied Obsession first thing in the morning (thankfully on a Saturday) and it was evident to me and those around me ten hours later. You can't knock how hardwearing it is, but you can pan the actual smell. I haven't put any more on since and I think I can still smell it! 

After wearing it to work I didn't get the seal of approval from HR (the new blog fragrance ranking system - do the HR team at work like it). It got a you smell fruity comment, a wink from one of the guys in a sarcastic way and one comment of "can you go back to Creed please".

Personally I will only use this again when hell freezes over. Yes my tastes have evolved over time, but it's so sad that I used to love this and now find it far too sweet. It certainly isn’t a fragrance for going out on the pull wearing and would make you stand out for the wrong reasons at a special function.

When I used this in my late teens and early twenties I liked it, my friends liked it and more importantly the girls loved it. Looking back I think I’ve outgrown this, my tastes have changed significantly over the years and this isn’t one I’ll be buying again.

I can’t recommend this, but what I would say is try out a tester just to see if you can handle the fruity side of Mr Klein.

NOT RECOMMENDED

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Echo by Davidoff

Davidoff Echo, an aftershave for men was originally an impulsive purchase by yours truly when firmly in the mindset that spending $35 for a 100ml bottle wasn't too much if it was nasty once I got my sniffing tackle around it. If you want to buy a bottle after reading this, then you can for under £20 from places like Fragrance Direct. Before you rush over to buy a bottle, read on.....

The first thing that attracted me to this on the shelf was the stylish bottle, it has to be the funkiest aftershave bottle. Made from clear glass it is more of a sculpture than a bottle. On deeper research it comes to light that a designer was commissioned to actually make the bottle! A bit over the top for an aftershave, but a nice touch all the same. A work of art? No? 

To this day I've never seen Echo advertised in the UK so you really have to do some digging to find the marketing blurb, or as I shall now call it 'garbage':

'Dynamic, cool and masculine Echo is an urban trendsetter'

The notes to Echo build it up as an airy innovative fragrance that contains:

Head: Suede, musk, liquid air.

Heart: Sandalwood, cedar wood, nutmeg.

Dry-down: Chilli pepper, black pepper.

From reading the notes I would be inclined to think from the notes that the fragrance would be very dry and heavy on the nose and the combination of suede, musk and sandalwood would make this strong providing a very hard wearing masculine fragrance.

Actually applying the fragrance is a bit tricky due to the size and shape of the bottle. The smooth ridged glass combined with wet hands is not an option and I found that I had to use two hands. One to hold the bottle and the second hand to actually press the atomiser! The first thing to strike me was that large amounts of the aftershave are dispensed with one press of the atomiser, meaning that three squirts are more than enough.

My initial thoughts about this fragrance were correct, heavy suede with a warm musk was the first smell to strike me and it was far from cool. After shaving this stings, it stings a lot and in my case inflamed the area around my neck when I applied it after shaving. I am not a big fan of heavy fragrances and as such I wasn't happy when I first applied this, but to its credit, the head notes do fade very quickly, however the woody and spicy notes are equally as strong as the head notes and again, these seem far too heavy on the nose. 

Thankfully within 10 minutes of application the head and heart notes do become lighter and less evident, however there remains a warm, woody spicy fragrance and the dry down notes to me were at no time evident. This doesn't mean that they weren't lingering though. An hour after applying Echo my better half would not come within 50 yards of me, due to the "awful pepper smell". 

In the interests of seeing if the fragrance altered over time, and indeed how long it would last I persevered - I even tried changing my moisturiser, tried it with a beard, tried it shaved all to no avail. Unfortunately the fragrance does not calm down. 

Overall, I was drawn in by the cool bottle and cheap price but was left disappointed by the heavy fragrance. To this day Echo sits on the shelf in the bathroom and is never used. Although some people would like this sort of fragrance (Davidoff themselves do say that it is for a more mature audience - that rules me right out). 

I personally prefer light fragrances that have a citrus base and personally would never ever buy this for myself or as a gift for others. It simply is not refreshing enough and lacks that certain something that would make people stand back and say "wow, that smells lovely".

Davidoff Echo in my opinion would appeal to those who like Christian Dior Fahrenheit, Polo by Ralph Lauren and Diesel Zero Plus. I could also only see it suitable for daywear due to the heavy nature of the fragrance.

If you like your fragrances to be light, citrus based and easy on the nose you should avoid this at all costs.

NOT RECOMMENDED

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