Angel is now the new home to London’s leading gender neutral salon that is redefining the status quo of coiffeuse.
Just by Angel tube station, a nearby cobbled street will transport you into the dreamiest 1950s-style pastel kitchen you will ever have the pleasure of setting your eyes on – faux Smeg fridge doors and all. Here, my “Dancing Queen” dreams came to life, with Abba being the music choice of the day. The salon came alive with the type of buzz any avid hair salon goer would appreciate.
As someone who was in urgent need of some hair care, I entered KITCH as Cinderella and was immediately greeted by three fairy godmothers who knew exactly what I needed and had the right bag of skills to tackle the challenge.
What is KITCH, and who are the faces behind the brand?
With KITCH being the brainchild of hair geniuses and partners Luca Jones and Scott Humphreys, the inspiration was for KITCH to be a safe space for all, a gender neutral salon where everyone (including all the LGBTQ+ community) can feel free to express themselves in any way they like. With both being advocates for championing the art that is self-expression, hair, style and personality roll into one and your hair transformation experience, whether it be a drastic one or subtle, is a creative, shared process, free from any judgement. With Luca’s 24 years of experience styling celebs plus Scott’s Soho barbering roots, you are invited to take a seat at the KITCH-en table and enjoy this hair wonderland that is shaking up the bustling streets of Angel.
Décor of Dreams
Keeping in line with the salon’s ethos, the inspiration behind the retro kitchen décor is simply genius. For many of us, the kitchen has always been a safe space, where historically many of us have experienced a hair transformation or two, whether that’s been a hair-cut with a kitchen tea towel round your neck or a do-it-yourself colour job courtesy of one of your mates.
Two steps through the door and it is obvious that having fun is at the top of the agenda. Late night getting your hair done in your best friend’s kitchen, disco music on replay and a double G&T in hand meets an unmissable Instagram opportunity. Take one step across the retro-checkerboard lino tiles and it is clear that you in the centre of an intimate neighbourhood, safe community space that will have you readying yourself for your next hair transformation. With an array of vintage style cereal and soap box posters covering the stairwell up to the barber’s area, coloured trolleys as candy-coloured ovens that pull out from the walls, to the reception area that poses as none other than a spinning lilac washing machine. Everything has been designed for a purpose, and that purpose is to shake-up the bog-standard hair salon experience.
The treatment and procedure
KITCH is a totally gender neutral salon that is vegan and universally-priced – What I instantly loved about KITCH is that the procedure and price of treatment is based on hair length, time and products as opposed to normally being based on gender. With this is mind, at the beginning of my experience, I sat down with the third hair whizz, celebrity stylist Jason Collier, to discuss what style I wanted to proceed with and the current condition of my hair in order for him to get a good idea of any previous treatments I have had.
And it is no surprise that he instantly took my idea and made it into a reality. As a natural red head, I mentioned that I wanted to enter my ‘Scarlet Witch’ era, with deep red tones being pulled through my natural copper colour. To add to this alter ego of mine, I wanted a fresh blunt cut to thicken my heat damaged hair, adding in layers to break up the different tones of copper that was being defined. To finish off my treatment, I mentioned that I wanted a bouncy, 90s supermodel blow-dry and it is safe to say, Jason delivered this perfectly. This was by far the most incredible, in-depth hair experience I have had the pleasure to try.
In a nutshell
This is hands down the latest hot spot for any hair fanatic in search for the perfect cut, colour, and bouncy blow. Long gone are the days of the one size fits all mentality. This is a true true luxury salon experience, where the chat is free flowing, the music an immediate mood booster and the faces behind the brand a true inspiration.
To discover more, visit: KITCHhair.co.uk
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All imagery courtesy of KITCH.