The Right Cut

I’m someone who never seems to get round to getting my hair cut until I wake up one morning, look in the mirror and think, “Help!”

I invariably just pop into a hairdressing salon when out on a shopping trip, in the hope of having a rescue cut there and then. I’ve previously visited various branches of Supercuts, the chain that has a no appointment policy, so attempted to get a cut there again last week, when it got to the stage that I could not longer see past my fringe.

Calling in at a branch of Supercuts in a local shopping centre, I was pleased to see that no one was queuing there. I presumed I would only have a minimal wait and attempted to book in. However, I was told that a man was in front of me, although he’d currently wandered out, which I thought strange as I have always been told that once you have booked in you have to wait in the salon, otherwise if anyone comes in whilst you are away, they get priority. Apparently this rule does not seem to apply to everyone. In addition to this I was told that I would have a 45-minute wait. Now, I’m not being rude, but when said man walked back in during this conversation he didn’t have that much hair to work with so where did the 45 minutes come from? Especially as there were two stylists in attendance at this time.

 

This information, together with the generally unhelpful attitude with which it was delivered, made me decide not to stay. The question was where else could I go at short notice?

Not far from the shopping centre was a small hair and beauty salon that I decided to pop into on the off chance. I received a warm welcome and was pleased to find that a stylist was available straight away. I was then offered tea or coffee – no chance of that at Supercuts with its conveyor-belt mentality!

The stylist, Alec, then proceeded to wash and condition my hair, with a gently head massage, then cut and styled it very professionally, being friendly and helpful throughout. He was careful to angle the hairdryer away from my face, something that I appreciated as I hate being blasted full on the face (it makes me catch my breath) as some hairdressers do.

The whole experience only cost me £24 and the salon operates a loyalty scheme. So if you live in or are a visitor to the Medway area of Kent, do call in to Phixx in Chatham for a great hair cut in a friendly atmosphere.

Of course, for those of you living elsewhere, I recommend that you abandon some of the more impersonal hairdressing chains in the High Street and give a smaller independent salon a try.

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