Coray & Co does have an excellent reputation for high end quality and top notch service in Cardiff, but a glance at the 'famous heads' link on the website could put the younger demographic off. Undeterred, I went ahead and booked my first appointment with Michael, a senior stylist at the salon.
After spending the last eighteen months desperately trying to find a stylist who finally understood what I wanted - the perfectly 'natural' no-highlights-highlights - I was hanging on against all odds that this salon would be my hair-holy-grail. Up until now each appointment had almost always ended in that same terrible moment when presented with your new hairdo in the dreaded back-view mirror action, and asked: 'So what do you think?' Cue: forced-smiles through gritted teeth at another 'golden' (read: brassy) disaster for me.
Chaps: If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I can only compare it to asking for a grade three on the sides, and a trim on top, and ending up with a grade one all over. And as I have no idea on the various gradients of men's cuts I'm not sure that even covers it.
The search, for me, is now over however: Michael made a huge effort to spend time talking with me about exactly what I wanted before we even got to work. This was despite the fact that I arrived late - and yet I didn't feel even in the slightest bit rushed. We talked at length about what was going to work with my hair, what wasn't, and why. When finally agreeing on the mission at hand (Michael's patience was endless) and work began, I was treated to all the hot and cold beverages I desired, whilst enjoying Michael and his colleague's very funny repertoire - you can sit back in silence if you like - but you'd be missing out.
After the highlighting process and a leaf through Harpers (there's a wide range of publications on offer here across the scale) and some great lattes, my hair was luxuriously washed (and yes I came away with product - it's amazing) it was then cut and dried to perfection. I finally had the hair I had been dreaming of since moving back to Cardiff - and not a forced smile in sight.
Is it a budget salon? No. Is it worth it? Most definitely. Will I be visiting Coray and Co again? They're already on my speed dial... read more