Barrie Stephen

...around 4pm ish. I rang Barrie Stephen and was greeted by a friendly voice that immediately took my first name and then asked if it was all right to put me on hold for one moment. I was on hold for a minute or so until she came back and apologised. Yes this did annoy me a little but then again it shows they were in demand and she did apologise. She asked if I had been there before and I replied “No” so she asked about my hair. (1) How ...
...at the moment the only Barrie Stephen hairdressers are in Leicester and there are two: The original in Anstey and the new Kings Street one. I choose the Kings Street one as it was in town and seeming as I was going to be there anyway it seemed the most appropriate.

First of all I must admit, it was Mary at works leaving day so I’d had a few drinks and then I’d met my friends at 1.30pm and had a few more so I was pretty ... more

I’ve got to admit I’m quite funny when it comes to my hair. I get to a point where I am happy hacking away at it and also asking my mum to trim it round the back but it then gets to a point, Does anyone else know what point I’m going on about? For women, your layers grow out and so does your hair so you end up looking like a hedge or you get so bored you’re like, where is the razor I want it all off. There was an incident where I once did this to my friend Ami-with her permission of course though her mum cried!

Anyway so I imagine if you haven’t already turned off you’re like well why doesn’t she just go to a hairdressers like the rest of us? I would like to be able to ring up the same hairdressers every time and say “Hello *Ang/Nikki/Fred (delete as appropriate) can you cut my hair on Friday?”
But you know what:

1. They always leave
2. Prices go up a lot

So I’ve got to this point where I just try out different hairdressers. On May 20th 2003 I was desperately annoyed with my hair, I wanted to wait till after my holiday to get it cut then again before I go to uni but I thought, I’ve got Friday off so I’m off to the hairdressers.

~Booking an Appointment~
I was meeting some friends in town beforehand so thought I’d make my appointment for around 4pm ish. I rang Barrie Stephen and was greeted by a friendly voice that immediately took my first name and then asked if it was all right to put me on hold for one moment. I was on hold for a minute or so until she came back and apologised. Yes this did annoy me a little but then again it shows they were in demand and she did apologise. She asked if I had been there before and I replied “No” so she asked about my hair. (1) How long would you say it is? (2) What kind of style so you want? (3) What kind of price range? I’ve got to admit I like to know what I’m paying beforehand (I paid £26) and she stated that they started at £21 and went upwards for a standard cut and blow-dry. The weirdest thing was that they asked for three bits of information, (1) my name (2) Contact telephone number (3) My postcode. So there my appointment was booked for Friday 23rd May 4pm with Liam. I’d never had a bloke cut my hair before…

~Arriving at the Salon~
I think at the moment the only Barrie Stephen hairdressers are in Leicester and there are two: The original in Anstey and the new Kings Street one. I choose the Kings Street one as it was in town and seeming as I was going to be there anyway it seemed the most appropriate.

First of all I must admit, it was Mary at works leaving day so I’d had a few drinks and then I’d met my friends at 1.30pm and had a few more so I was pretty drunk (to say the least) before I went. My friends did say, don’t bother going but I thought “Nah”. Anyway I wondered down to the salon, stuffing a few mints in my mouth to take away the alcohol smell and walked in the door to be greeted by a lady with short black hair who took my name, coat and then escorted me upstairs to a waiting lounge. Stairs… I was wobbling all over the place but finally made it there and within seconds was met by a bleach blonde gay man called Liam. (At this point I was thinking bloody hell don’t do that to my hair.) He sat me down asked how long I’d had my hairstyle, to which I replied “Too long” and he took charge and said I’m going to change it then. He scared the life out of me saying I want it short at the back, long at the front, what do you think if I shaved some off… my face was a picture but we agreed he could whatever he liked as long as I didn’t look like Mrs Blobby and it wasn’t shaved.

~The Cut~
He led me to the basins where all the other girls chatted to me while he washed it himself. This took about 5 minutes. He then led me back and started cutting. I was panicking a bit and he asked a few of the regulars what they thought my mum would say-they loved it and I was going ‘Ok Ok’. It felt like I had been in there for about 45 minutes when he’d finished styling it. He also looked pretty impressed when Barrie Stephen came over and praised it.

It was done and it certainly looked different; funky yet nice. Liam left me to pay with the receptionist and shook my hand to say it was a pleasure just as flowers were delivered. They were apparently for the photo shoot and he followed it up saying “can I interest you?” my reaction was “No way” but apparently all the pictures in there were his creations and he spent 10 minutes showing me some of the designs.

He left me with the receptionist who chatted way and we got into a conversation about the hairdressers she used to go to and I used to work in and we both slated it. They gave me a free gift in a bag with a prescription. Bit worrying I know but instead of selling you the products they use they give you a list of what they used and when so that you know and can buy it if you wish to.

~After Service~
Towards the end of my cut Liam asked me to fill in a survey asking name, address, good points/bad points. I know you don’t usually get any after service but just over a week after I got a letter saying I’d been there recently and that they would appreciate some feedback on Service, Cut etc. and for doing this they would credit my account with £3 (so £3 off my next cut).

I’ve got to admit I did quite enjoy going here and well the 45 minutes I thought I was in there turned into about an hour and a half, time flies when you’re having fun ‘n’ all that. I’d be tempted to got there again and my hair certainly got a lot of comments and still does, but often the 2nd time doesn’t live up.

I’d certainly recommend this to anyone who lives in Leicester.

~Advantages~
1. They call you by your first name. Strange but quite modern.
2. The place was lovely and a separate waiting room was nice.
3. Everyone generally chatted to one another, as there are about 7 workstations all next to one another. So close in fact you can hear each other over hairdryers etc.
4. The after service. It was very different but much appreciated and the free gift. BTW it was a hairbrush but I carry in my bag, as it’s a little one.

~Disadvantages~
1. I didn’t get offered a drink. I don’t usually take it anyway but I should have been asked.

~Results~
Hair looks fabulous, is easy to do and I’d defiantly have a bloke do my hair again.

Apologies this is a bit long.

 

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