The waiting area at Gielly Green

London doesn’t have a reputation for being one of the warmest, most friendly cities. The capital’s inhabitants are well known for their flat refusal to engage in conversation on the tube and pity the poor non-Londoner who mistakenly stands on the wrong side of the escalator. The weather is generally distinctly chilly too. However we may just have found a bright spot on the otherwise unwelcoming cityscape! Gielly Green truly is a home from home; a welcoming, cosy salon in the heart of London’s very villagey Marylebone.

GG calls itself a “boutique salon”, but what does that actually signify? It means a hairdressing experience with high-end treatments and services; experienced staff, trained to cater to clients individually and luxe, hotel-like deco. The salon is sleek, well-designed and cleverly thought out, decorated in warm chocolate and cream tones. The chic deco features homely accents such a cosy library corner/waiting area, pretty vases of colourful fresh flowers and a pedicure space with comfy armchairs.

Set over two levels, Gielly Green offers both hairdressing and beauty services from a team of experts. Upstairs you’ll find the GG  hairdressers, whilst downstairs has a cute bar area, a miniature “living room” for pedicures, beauty treatment rooms as well as further salon space.

Gielly Green aims to cater to every whim of London’s ladies, whether you’re rushing around and popping in for a quick blow dry or taking a couple of hours out to relax and destress. If relaxation is your goal, look no further than the salon’s amazing fully reclining chairs, which you can sink into whilst your hair is washed. The team are also reputed for their Indian head massages, although if you’re in a hurry the staff will speed things up to – I particularly appreciated that the girl taking care of my shampoo actually asked me whether I would like a head massage. Whilst it’s lovely to feel the caresses gently helping tension slip away, some of the time busy urbanites just want to wash and go!

Admittedly my blow dry was super speedy – that’s what I asked for, and that’s what Gielly Green provided. However it was also the best blow dry of my life. I have been known to exaggerate on occasion, but a sum total of three strangers telling me how amazing my hair looked can’t all have been lying! The salon seems to have managed to indirectly bring out the friendly side in Londoners.

Gielly Green's amazing pedicure space

My hair is generally fairly flat and without movement so I asked Fred for volume and soft curls. Using a technique I had never seen before, involving looping the hair on itself to replicate the shape of large rollers, Fred succeeded in creating a blow dry worthy of the cover of a glossy magazine. It might have been a gloomy, grey day in London, but my hairstyle looked more Rodeo Drive than Oxford Street.

Gielly Green’s relaxed, informal ambiance has obviously gained a loyal army of fans; looking round the salon, most of the clients seemed to be on first names terms with their hairdressers. The individual approach is important; once we find someone who understands our hair and what we really want, we tend to keep on coming back.

And the salon has some tempting and unique services for its clients including the apparently incredible Brazilian Hair Straightening Technique, which promises to transform dry, frizzy hair into sleek, supermodel locks; Balayage highlighting, organic tanning and even eyelash extensions! The beauty team also offers an a la carte menu of treatments; from individually tailored massages and bespoke facials to luxury manicures and pedicures.

If on walking into Gielly Green, I was unsure what “boutique salon” meant, I totally understood the significance by the time I left; relaxed, smiling and resplendent with a gloriously glossy blowdry.

www.giellygreen.co.uk