A Haircut & Some ‘Me Time’ At Ena Salon, London

Regular readers will know I love me some ‘me time’. Anything vaguely pampering is good with me, whether it’s a spa visit, getting my nails done or a hair cut.

However.

I also have a bit of a trust issue when it comes to hairdressers. Let’s just say it stems from a time when I was 18, and after a couple of hours in a hairdresser’s chair, I emerged with the worst haircut ever (it was so bad, my friends called me Alan for a whole year – I actually looked like a man). But being a typical 18-year-old, I was too scared to tell the hairdresser I hated it, so I thanked them very much, left, and cried the whole way home.

So it’s fair to say that since then, I get a little bit nervous when visiting a new hairdresser. I get flashbacks to Alan, and worry he might make a reappearance.

Thankfully, my recent visit to Ena Salon in Covent Garden, London was a success. PHEW.

Ena Salon is in a beautiful Georgian townhouse which is unusual for a hair salon, and means you climb up stairs to room where they wash your hair (and where they do colour) and it also means there are gorgeous original fireplaces, panelling and stained glass windows. Apparently, when they moved into the building, it had been an office, and they found all of the beautiful features hidden behind plain walls, which they stripped down.

My haircut was in the safe hands of Gianni, a lovely Turkish hairdresser who really knows her stuff. She filled me with confidence, as she chatted about what kind of cut I was looking for, and she made some great suggestions, showing me how she would even up areas of my hair that had been thinned out before.

I think when it comes to having your hair cut, quality of haircut aside, some of the most important things are the small details. At Ena, the room where they wash your hair has a gorgeous design painted on the ceiling – makes sense when every client in that room will be staring at it! Later, my tea was brought to me in a cute glass teapot and was accompanied by a homemade cake (one of the salon staff makes them for the customers – such a nice touch.)

Having my haircut in a grade-2 listed building that could be straight out of an interiors magazine definitely added to the experience – it felt properly luxurious, and I was fascinated as Gianni told me about the salon owners Pedro and Johnny, how they built the business from scratch and about her dreams of opening her own salon one day.

Gianni was also great at telling me about each product she used in my hair, and gave me a lesson in applying serum to tame my frizz.

I’m not sure if it was the Davines products they use at Ena, or Gianni’s magic touch – or both – but my hair was so sleek by the time she had finished.

And it looked just as good the following day…

So I was hugely impressed and I will absolutely be back at Ena Salon for a haircut in the future – they also have a beauty salon where offer a variety of treatments like nails and waxing.

• Massive thanks to Ena Salon for inviting me along for a haircut. You can find Ena Salon at 5 Great Queen Street, London (nearest tube: Holborn)