Hello Babes! Let me start by wishing you all a happy 2021. We’ve now been shut for around 2 months, with at least another month and a half to go before we will be able to open our doors and welcome you in.

This time away from the salon has left me with a lot of time to think about how we do things currently, and what we could do better with. Those of you who know me already know that this is something I’ve always tried to do. Sometimes we haven’t always got things right but I’m not scared of change and trying to improve.

During Covid-19 and the lockdowns, everyone has faced their own challenges at one point or another. Last year was a very stressful year for a lot of us. People’s mental health has suffered, lots have lost loved ones and some have lost jobs and their businesses… I’m grateful we managed to get through it in (kind of) one piece.

One-to-One

So, upon reflection we have decided to change a few things in the salon. The main thing you will notice is that we’re going to be doing a one-to-one service.

What does this mean? If you’re in for a cut we won’t have a colour wrapped around your appointment, and if you’re in for a colour there won’t be a cut in the middle where you develop.

This is for a number of reasons. I wanted it to be a calmer environment for all. I’m aware a lot of people are still be nervous and I want to try and alleviate that. Coming to our salon should be a nice thing, a relaxing treat, a haven. I also have to think of my Babes working here, too.

Secondly, the new guidelines and regulations have made it increasingly difficult to do things the way we did before so we must go with the times.

We know there were longer waits – before or during services – for some of you than we would have liked. We’re grateful for your understanding while we navigated our way through everything. However, we know this must change.  We want to provide you with the best service possible and we feel this is the best way for us to do that.

Packages

Furthermore, we packaged up balayage and foilyage to include glossing and Olaplex. This will make it clear when you’re booking as a few of you had asked. Just add your cut or blow dry. (There is still the long/thick hair add-on for colour as before if necessary).

Loyalty

Lastly, we decided to reduce the Covid-surcharge to £3.50, with the hope that we can remove it altogether later in the year. We have now introduced a loyalty scheme to give a little something back and can’t wait to show you lovely lot in salon. The recommend-a-friend loyalty scheme (recommend your favourite Babe and they will get £10 off their first visit and you get the same off your next) will also continue to run. Thanks from us to you all for your continued support, loyalty and friendship.

Any questions? Send them here!

We can’t wait to see you, love Sonya & The Babes.

A few of you will already know this but we love to educate and train ourselves further at Brandon May. We always have and it’s a big part of who we are.

Hannah has fully embraced that (as do all our team!) and completed her NVQ3 just before lockdown happened. It put a halt on her promotion but now we’re about to re-open she’s back in the game!

I couldn’t be more proud of the strength and commitment she’s shown to her growth personally, and as a stylist. We hope you’ll all be as chuffed as we are that Hannah is now a Senior Stylist.

We can’t wait to see what’s next for this shining star.

Reopening Update

We are still awaiting guidelines for everything and need to ensure all the relevant procedures etc. are in place. However, we wanted to get booking information from everyone so that we can ensure everyone is booked for the correct services.

As you can appreciate, some of you will have colour corrections, larger roots (which unfortunately need to be tackled differently than normal 6-8 week regrowth) or much longer hair that needs our attention. We therefore are requesting that everyone on the wait list fill out this pre-consultation form to help us book you in for the right amount of time. Once we have this information, we will then be calling to make bookings.

Please understand there is only myself making the calls and I have quite a few of you to call, so as much as I love to chat I will need to be strict with times to get through to everyone. 

Some changes to the way we do things…

Annually, we review our prices and have slightly altered just a handful of services to keep things manageable for everyone. We’ve decided that, moving forward, all appointments booked will be subject to a booking fee of £15 for cuts and blow dry appointments and anything technical will be £30. We have done this for a few years now at Christmas-time, and thank you for your understanding on us bringing it in now for all appointments.

We will be introducing a covid surcharge. This is to cover extra PPE and disinfecting items, along with measures that we will have to implement. We decided to add this as a surcharge so this can be removed once conditions get relaxed. This is set to just £6.

It’s a strange time for and I feel the need to  to ensure we do things fairly for everyone involved. If anyone has any questions about any of the changes we’re making then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Your Experience 

I want to thank everyone who filled in our feedback questionnaire, this has been really helpful. We will announce the winner before we open!

Collectively, we have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure your experience is better than ever – and safe, too!

We cannot wait to welcome you back to the salon. It’s felt like a lifetime!

All our love, Sonya & The Brandon May babes xx

It’s Sunday morning mid-May, before 9am, my mind is turning to what salon life will look like post-lock down. May is usually a very busy month for us; but instead we’re all staying home, staying safe.

I’ve been thinking about when we can reopen a lot lately. Trying to plan is literally like pushing sand up a hill with a rake.

The truth is this: currently we don’t know when we can re-open for definite, and we certainly don’t know what this will look like for our industry. One thing is for certain, things will be different.

Where We’re At

While our team have been brushing up on their health and safety skills, all gaining their Barbicide certification, I’ve been:

• busy measuring things in the salon to maintain safe distances
• researching PPE
• trying to gain insight into what regulations will be when we re-open
• Zoom calls with others in the industry to share knowledge
• doing risk assessments

You get the jist! We’re doing all we can to try and ensure our environment is as safe as we can make it for our re-opening. We still want to maintain that vibe you all love, and keep the Brandon May spirit alive.

July

As things currently stand, July is the earliest we can open our doors again. This may change and we’re watching the updates along with you all to get our information. We love seeing you all and hope this date remains as we can’t wait to be back.

Priority List

Don’t worry, though! We’re adding everyone who had appointments to our priority list – you will also receive a call. Furthermore, if you have yet to book in then you can also be added. Email your name, mobile number, services required and preferred stylist to info@brandonmayhair.com. Simple!

Products

We are still posting out products and this is a great way to support us and #shoplocal, while still getting the products you love. If you send your requests to our email, Facebook or Instagram then we can arrange that for you.

One last thing

Throughout, The Babes have been great: from the week before we went into lock-down, which we made fun despite it being a sombre time, to having my back during our catch up calls during this pause.

You guys, our guests and friends, have been so supportive and this love has kept me going. Knowing we have such a great community of people who love our space, Your Home, has been really valued during this difficult time. If there’s anything we can do for you – hair related or otherwise – then please do get in touch. We love hearing from you, seeing your updates and just keeping in touch!

To Be Continued…

Ciao for now – much love, always,

Sonya x

With it being the Grammys, BAFTAs and Brit Awards recently we thought we’d talk about our favourite red carpet looks from all three and give you some pointers on how you can achieve red carpet-ready hair yourself!

BRIT AWARDS

In our eyes, there were two shining stars of the Brit Awards 2016.

Adele – who recently cut her hair into a mid-length bob (we did a blog post on this a while back!) and livened up her colour with some balayage. She showed this look to perfection with a pop lip and strayed from her usual all-black attire to a stunning red gown. If you’d like to book in for a consultation to give your hair that extra va va voom then we’d love to have a chat with you.

The other was Perrie Edwards from Little Mix. Her natural, sun kissed colour is on point and is set off perfectly by the way it’s been styled. Recreate this at home using sea salt spray (£14.75) and using Label.M Titanium Pro Iron (£74.99) to give that ‘beach wave’. Finish with Soufflé (£13.25) and voila!

Grammy’s

Our favourite from the Grammy’s was Bella Hadid with her slicked back centre parting. This perfectly complemented her glossy, dark chocolate colour. Carrie Underwood closely followed: she also had her hair brought back, but, in a slightly more relaxed way.

BAFTAs

The BAFTAs was a different night altogether for hair.

From Laura Whitmore with her glam up-do to Kate Winslet’s wonderfully icy blonde, the stars went all out. The guys went for more slick-back styles from a bygone era (Leo & Sacha Baron-Cohen). We absolutely loved!

There were plenty of gorgeous styles to choose from with the ladies. But, the who just pipped it for us…? Isla Fisher, take a bow. Her super shiny, auburn hair suited that vintage glamour finger wave down to a tee. We’ve featured a few different vintage styles on our Instagram page, go take a look!  Instagram.com/brandonmayhair