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Darlings, it’s going to be nothing but great hair days for me from now on. Why? Because the legendary Gary Rom Hairdressing of Pretoria fame has finally made its way to Joburg! I’d always heard great things about Gary Rom but driving to Pretoria on a regular basis just to get my hair done sounded a little impractical. But, unbeknownst to me, the hair extraordinaires had sneakily made their way to Joburg without me even knowing and opened up a new mini salon at Melrose Arch! Once I’d heard the news I just had to make my way there to try it out for myself.
Tucked away inside the cosmetics department of Edgars Melrose Arch, the relatively new hair salon is based on a slightly different business model to the rest of the Gary Rom group. The mini salons are part of a brand new partnership with Edgars which will see the brand go national super soon with more salons in Edgar’s stores. And, the great news is you can now swipe your Edgars card to pay for your latest hair salon visit and salon exclusive products!
The thing I love most about Gary Rom is that they’ve cultivated the Gary Rom experience, which ensures that each and every client that sits in their chairs gets top-quality treatment every single time. I paid a visit to Felicia at the Melrose Arch branch and was blown away by how much attention was paid to my locks. When I arrived I was ushered to a stylist station for my one-on-on consultation about my hair - and this wasn’t a five minute chat; no, it was a thirty minute session and it felt a little more like a doctor’s consultation than a hair appointment.
Felicia introduced me to the Gary Rom seven-step evaluation where the stylist gets to know the client and his or her hair a little better. I was asked about my lifestyle, what type of hairstyles I’ve had in the past, what products I use on my hair and all sorts of other questions which sometimes seemed a little irrelevant but were actually quite important to the stylist to consider when she was styling my hair. The rest of the process involved an in-depth analysis of the condition and quality of my hair (including thickness, moisture levels, the condition of my scalp and more) and I was given a rating out of ten for each category.
What I loved most about this process is that you don’t start from scratch every time you visit the hair salon – your hair gets assessed at every visit and your stylist works with you every step of the way to get your locks to their very best state. I was also impressed to hear that they won’t colour you hair unless your hair and scalp are ready for it. Why? Because, if your hair isn’t in a great condition the colour won’t look great and it won’t last as long as it should – which is bad for your budget and your hair.
Speaking of budgets, I also love that each consultation also includes a chat about the client’s budget for that session, and before the stylist gets to work they will recommend what they think is most important for that particular session and how to spend your budget in the best way possible. Which means you won’t plummet into a shame spiral after blowing your budget on a R1500 hairdo and R800 worth of products. My cut and blow was just R425!
Once we were done with the chat it was time to get down to business and Felicia put together a list of the speciality Gary Rom products for the shampooist to use on my hair in the shampoo room. (Yes, there’s a dedicated shampoo room and it houses the most comfy reclining shampoo chair known to man). Then, with sparkly clean hair, I headed back to Felicia for a cut and style. I was beyond impressed with how it turned out and even vowed to her that I will be back again soon for my next cut, and every cut from now on.
Trust me, if you’ve reached a stalemate with your hair and are due for a change this is definitely the spot to try! I felt like a million bucks afterwards and my hair hasn’t looked this good in ages. What's more, they also offer one hour one-on-one tutorial session (R400) where you can take your own styling tools in and learn how to use them with your stylist! Visit .
By Crystal Espin
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