The Hair Bros — Local services in London

I have spent my life disappointed by haircuts. Arming myself with a hair band to immediately tie my hair back and galvanising myself for the next 8weeks of up dos before it grows into something wearable. I have frizzy, fine, thin hair. I have been provided with more random haircuts than I care to remember. With many hairdressers suggesting these cuts are my responsibility due to my hair being a difficult type. Basically I was told my hair was a bit crap and I believed it. I stumbled upon The Hair Bros by chance on social media. Their relaxed style and use of a razor to cut the hair dry was intriging. These looked like cuts you didnt need to straighten or curl the life out of to make them work, they embraced the owners natural hair type. The face framing fringes and tousled waves looked beautiful…on models! But could these cuts work on regular old me…what do I have to loose right?! Well around £190 for a cut isn’t the cheapest cut you can find-but I have to wear my hair every day and maybe investment was the key. The Hair Bros is situated on Sydney St in London, between South Kensington and Sloane Square. As a busy mum, NHS worker and carer for my mother who has dementia, this is not my usual stomping ground. It helps that the building is beautiful and the entire Sydney St team are laid back, smiling and welcoming. They are really kind, immediately commenting on the positives of my hair. We looked at my pintrest of hair dreams and within the hour I was smiling. There was no comment of annoying fly away curls or bits that would not behave. And best of all no hair tie needed! Did I look like a model? No. Of course not, I am five foot nothing and build for comfort not style-but my hair looked like the best version of itself. I left the salon after my first cut feeling…like me. That cut lasted almost 6months, it grew out beautifully. It has been so much easier to manage. I wash it, clip my fringe in to position while it dries and get the family ready for the day. I unclip the fringe when dry/semi dry then run my fingers through it and get on with my life! It’s the healthiest it has been as I use very little product, if any. It air dries so beautifully I don’t have the need for heat on it. I visit The Hair Bros 2-3 times a yr for the main cut and, if I can make it into London, then maybe just for a fringe trim. I can not bear to think of the amount of hours of my life I spent blow drying, straightening or curling my hair, the amount of times I burnt my fingers doing it, the money wasted on useless products, and the time spent feeling that I had crap hair. Thanks Hair Bros. You’ve changed the way I feel about my hair and given me half an hour extra in bed each day. I love...

I feel sad leaving this review, because everyone at the salon was very polite, but I do regret not reading the negative reviews before booking. :(

Based on my experience and what I’ve since read from others, the salon seems to have a favorite technique: layering throughout the hair (inside, outside, and at the front). It seems that if you have specific dislikes or requests that go against this method, they may not be followed...

In my case, I have dense, straight/softly wavy long hair, with fine to medium strands, and I was seen by Oli. Oli was very polite and gentle the whole time, I really have no complaint about that! I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted, I was happy to have a conversation with him, but I thought I was very clear on what I did not want: external layering that makes the ends thin and heavy higher up. I even showed photos of cuts I disliked, and photos I liked where the ends were blunt.

Oli suggested adding some front pieces, which I understood as subtle face-framing (which I've had before), so I agreed. Unfortunately, what happened was deeper layering at the front. As another reviewer said, it feels like two different cuts: a shoulder length cut at the front, and the rest mid-back... the "step" look that I wanted to avoid.

At one point Oli paused to check, maybe he could tell I was getting anxious. He showed me what it looked like, and though I usually struggle to say anything because I don't want to hurt the person, I was so sad I said this was what I had asked not to have. :( I think it was visible I was on the verge of tears, and to his credit, Oli then stopped layering and the rest of the cut aligned better with my request.

I believe Oli genuinely thought this technique would suit me, and it's obvious he's a very competent hairdresser. I just felt sad that my request wasn’t followed and that I ended up with something I don't like. I'm no hairdresser so I might have been unclear, but other stylists I’ve seen in the past had respected my choice.

I left a bit gutted with my cut, though I appreciated the politeness I was shown. I know I'll have to wait until it grows back to fix it...

I’m sure many people will be happy here if they like or don’t mind strong layering, but if you have more specific preferences, I would advice to not go...

I had 3 services here, so my review is based on all of those experiences. I had a beautiful color service in July. The stylist doing my color did exactly what we both talked about, and she was willing (offered to without me noticing or asking) to do a further touch up to cover up some more grays. I also had two very disappointing haircuts here with two different stylists, one in July and one in November. The color service was great and the second stylist I saw in November was very kind and it’s possible we could have had miscommunication, which is why I gave two stars. Unfortunately with both stylists who cut my hair, I was not given what I wanted, or what works for my coarse + mostly straight hair texture. The first one in July was a technical mess with layers longer on one side and so overly thinned with a razor I had to cut off 4-5 inches myself at home to stop it from looking scraggly and limp. The second cut was a fringe trim. Thinking I just hadn’t been direct the first time, this time I showed a video posted by the owners of what I wanted, but was given something different. Maybe the video caption of “Bardot fringe” was focused on more than the actual video of long sweeping fringe, which is where it went wrong. We explicitly discussed keeping fringe layers long enough to tuck behind my ears, and they were not. When I emailed after the second cut to express my disappointment (I initially never said anything after the July cut thinking it was a fluke), I was told by the owners that everyone in the salon would’ve cut my hair the same way and that it obviously doesn’t work for me if I’m unhappy twice, and they'll cancel my next appointment. In the video I showed as a reference they use scissors to shape the person’s fringe. A razor was used on my fringe during my appointment. The owners seemed steadfast over email in their belief that everyone at the salon would give the same cut, but in review replies are saying they do not simply give everyone a one size fits all cut. Many people with presumably more fine + non mixed hair texture seem very happy after visiting, so if that’s you or you’re going in for color, it could be...