Dance With Me!

A post on beauty?  Here?  Call those ladies at the beauty counters that gave me funny looks when I said I didn't know what a primer was and they'll shake with laughter at the mere thought.  Furthermore I should destroy this category of posts having now met PROPER beauty bloggers that have me all mesmerised because they have The Knowledge that can magically separate a good lipstick from a crap one.  Still, I think i can just about manage a Thumbs Up post to a hair/beauty salon without hopefully needing too much technical nous and I am insistent this time on the Thumbs Up even if I might be talking complete cuckoo...

I don't have the locale knowledge to call it the best.  I don't even get enough haircuts to claim that everyone will come out with miraculously great hair.  I just know that Pas de Deux has become the salon whereby I will plan trips to New York around a time when this shaggy mane needs a hefty trim just to go in.  Obviously I'm not demanding with hairdressers which is why I'm rarely faithful to one particular salon in London - a 2-3 inches off and a trim of the fringe.  That said,beats headphones for cheap, even with a slight and subtle haircut, there's still a wealth of difference in technique to be found in amongst hair stylists and having been to Pas de Deux twice because of some lucky New York trip timing, I can say that Stella there is precise,cheap dr dre beats headphones, exacting and knows how to get a ruler straight fringe without jabbing your eye out.  I jest but I can recall a hairdresser who got over-enthusiastic with the shaving brush to get rid of the spiky bits of hair and ended up taking out my contact lens with her incessant brushing...

Pas de Deux's two hair stylists are Tomo and Stella and they're joined by two colourists as well as the famed Fumi,Coach Messenger Bags, who I know as The Girl Who Does Good Brows.  They're a crew who broke off from working at Prive in nearby Soho Grand and set up shop on their own towards the end of last year.  I followed The Girl Who Does Good Brows aka Fumi through emails which is how I ended up at Pas de Deux...

The feel of Pas de Deux couldn't be more different from the sheeny shiny and slightly corporate Prive.  There's an indoor reclaimed wood swing inside for a start...

I don't ask of heart palpitating decor when it comes to salons given my inexperience and because of my primary goal of coming out with a semi-straight fringe.  That said, Pas de Deux is lovely - rustic without it being twee with small vintage touches seen in the equipment storage that doesn't seem to overstate their love of the yesteryear. 

I especially love the blackboard which faces the hair washing basins.  Currently there's a lengthy review of Black Swan which actually spoiled the film a little last time I got my hair cut here, as I craned my neck to read the whole thing.  I'm all for blackboards with lengthy passages of text written on it so more of that please...

Like i said though, it is all down to the exacting trim/fringe maintenance and The Good Brow Lady that makes Pas de Deux a pleasure to go to rather than a chore.  Shame on me for finding salon epiphany in the wrong city but my irregular hair cutting does mean salon trips across the Atlantic isn't as ridiculous a notion as it might sound...

Though I am considering a twice-weekly visit during New York Fashion Week where I might get a hair gloss treatment just for the hell of it...

Yup, you heard right.  HAIR GLOSS treatment.  Am I defecting?  Is this the turning point?