A visit to Notting Hill salon, STIL, for a hair transformation

By Christina Raptis

Nestled in the heart of Notting Hill, STIL salon has been perfecting hair for the past 5 years. Known for their specialist colour services I was super excited to be visiting for a much needed hair makeover!

Founded in 2016, the new, modern salon provides effortless hair styling and finishing with an emphasis on colour specialist services. Founder and Director Christel Barron-Hough arrived in London from her native Sweden in 1999 and her innate sense of style, creative flair and technical skill has seen her emerge as one of the industry’s most influential hair colour experts. Her vision was to create a holistic creative space providing hair services and treatments, rooted in expertise, informed by fashion and tailor-made for each individual.

Previously working as Creative Colour Director for a leading London salon group, Christel won numerous accolades including the prestigious British Hairdressing Awards British Colour Technician of the Year Award no less than three times.

Christel has also worked as a UK and global brand ambassador for international product houses including Wella Professionals and TIGI. These multi-faceted roles – spanning creative projects, education and product development – has seen Christel shoot global brand campaign imagery, produce fashion trend reports and create colour trends on the catwalk at Fashion Week for shows including Mark Fast, Sophia Webster and Manish Arora.

Her knowledge of trends, combined with an artist’s eye for colour has seen Christel work with high profile names including Ellie Goulding and Pixie Lott, whilst her work has featured on TV and in glossy consumer print publications.

The salon’s minimal, Scandinavian design captures a cool aesthetic and contemporary edge which is a perfect balance of style and comfort. The 700sqft of open plan space houses six hair stations and features an exquisite blend of natural materials. A white colour palette throughout was chosen for an art gallery feeling - essential for allowing hair colour to really ‘pop’. The corner colour bar and dispensary is handmade using reclaimed timber whilst marble surfaces and fine leather chairs add a feeling of luxury, with a welcoming reception area.

STIL believes that understanding personal image and style is a significant factor in determining bespoke techniques for each individual. The salon offers personalised consultations and made-to-measure colour services designed to create looks suited to each client’s natural complexion, eye shade and fashion style - whether that’s subtly evolving, maintaining or totally transforming their colour.

I was booked in for my consultation with Colour Director, Anna Alford - upon arrival I was warmly greeted and introduced to Anna. We spoke about what my hair goals were and what type of colour I wanted to achieve. After analysing my hair and seeing what colours work well with my complexion and eye colour, Anna showed me a few photos of what she thought would suit me best. As you can imagine and probably relate to, I am very precious about my hair and do not usually just trust it to salons which I have not previously used. However, Anna instantly made me feel assured and relaxed as she explained the best methods and treatments to achieve my desired look. Happy with our discussion and hair ideas I left eager to return the following week for my appointment.

The salon's signature treatment is the 'Scandinavian Blonde' - the ultimate pure blonde colour service, based on a double-processing treatment. Simple, yet very eye-catching, the resulting colour is often an all-over bright platinum or beige-blonde. Being more particular with what I wanted to achieve, I was given the 'Change my STIL' service which is tailored to individual needs - mine a mix of highlights with a gloss treatment.

Excited to start the process - Anna began to meticulously paint and foil each strand of my hair. After some time my hair was fully covered in foils, this combined with my face mask worn in compliance with Covid rules, made me look like a creature from outer space! As I sipped on a coffee and read the latest magazines, time flew by and I was soon ready to rinse. Once washed and prepped I was introduced to Jack who would be cutting and styling my hair. After a short discussion he trimmed off all my dead-ends and created some shaping around my face before blow-drying and creating a very cool S-shape wave with a straightening iron - this takes a very skilled hand indeed - something I have tried to replicate at home without much success!

I was absolutely thrilled with the outcome and as you can see from the photos below I thought the end result was amazing and just what I had hoped for.

I would highly recommend visiting, no matter your hair needs, the team at STIL will look after you with the greatest of attention in a fabulous environment that is created to help you feel both relaxed and pampered. Christel and the STIL team offer a supreme wealth of hairdressing knowledge and expertise. Their personal approach, combined with individual flair delivers high calibre hair for each and every client. I had a lovely experience at the salon and will definitely be visiting again!

STIL Salon

2 Chepstow Road, London W2

T: 020 7243 1521

www.stil-salon.com

Back