I decided about 2 or 3 years ago, to stop colouring my hair because, with all the high lighting I had been doing, I was starting to look more like a blond than my natural auburn. I also wanted to see how I was doing in the grey department. So, I grew out my hair, and was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked my natural colour, although there were some greys sneaking in around the temples here and there through out. My solution to that issue was to never wear a pony tail unless I also wore a ball cap... maybe not the best solution, but it worked.
Recently, the grey was really starting to get me down... I think the extended winter and dreary days also had something to do with my mood, but I was taking it out on the greys.
So, I was beginning to think it was time to head back to the salon, but one of the other great things about not colouring my hair was the money I was saving, so I kept stalling on making an appointment.
Then I got a tweet that changed all of that. I had entered a Mother’s Day contest through @Wondermoms_ca, and I had won!
If you read my mother’s day blog, you know that Mother’s Day was not all it’s cracked up to be at my house, and had my husband not been sick with the flu, he would have been in the dog house.
It seemed that Mother’s Day was on the verge of being tossed aside completely and left for dead, but alas the day was saved by @WonderMoms_ca. She saved me from the grips of the Mother’s Day blues with the good news. So what did I win? A hair makeover with @GregMayHair.
Everyone on Twitter seemed to know and love Greg May and assured me I was going to LOVE his salon... Happy Mother’s Day to me!
On Saturday, I headed for the posh Yorkville area of Toronto to meet Mr. Greg May and see what everyone was raving about.
If you’ve never been to Yorkville, I’ll give you a little taste.
As I walked down the street, passing well dressed women, with designer everything and holding the hand of well dressed men, I noticed the streets were lined with cars that would never be in my budget. Being the first warm weekend in, what seems like forever; all the patios were full of people eating and sharing stories over import beers and martinis.
Surrounded by the pretence of Yorkville, I searched for 124 Cumberland. Then I saw the small, black sign “Greg May Hair Architects”. Although I was excited, this small town girl was a little nervous that I wouldn’t feel comfortable in the likes of an upscale Yorkville hair salon, but as soon as I stepped in the door of the salon, that entire pretence dropped away.
Greg May is a delight. He greeted me with a warm smile and a “Hey, you must be Moe!” he seemed as excited to meet me as I was to meet him.
While he finished up his client, I sat and flipped through magazines. I had only begun to read about the royal couple’s fertility issues when Greg’s assistant, Sonn, came to ask if I would like a drink, perhaps a latte. I asked for water.
As my water arrived, Greg came and gave me a proper greeting... hug and all. I’m a hugger, not a shaker (unless I’m on the dance floor). He then led me to his chair and his hands danced through my hair as we discussed what we might do with it.
He, too, liked my natural hair colour and was hesitant to colour it at all... until I revealed my grey, or as he calls it “the Nordic blond”, hiding at my temples.
After we had talked for about 15 minutes, I felt so comfortable and confident in Greg that I handed myself over to him and told him to do whatever he thought would be best. I feared that he may have visions of short blond hair, but he knew that I enjoyed warmer colours, so he said we would stick with the coppers.
My only request to him was that my hair be fun and sexy.
He decided to do two high lights and one low light, and he showed me each colour explaining how it would look in my hair and although it looked very blond, he assured me it would not be when we were done.
He seemed to read my personality, opting to do the high lights in a way that would make them have more “punch”... I liked that.
While my colour was setting, Sonn brought me Miso soup and sushi. Had I felt like I was in a pretentious salon in Yorkville, I would have been at a loss right then because the only utensils they brought me were chopsticks... to say that I am not great with chopsticks would be the understatement of the year. But rather than stress about it, I giggled at my ineptitude and ended up picking them up with my fingers.
As I sat there, eating my sushi with my fingers and watching a man sell Chihuahuas from a duffle bag through the window, Greg took care of another customer...his brother. It was sweet the way they interacted and it added to my comfort level. I am very close with my own siblings, and family means so much to me, so I love to see other people connecting with their own family.
My colour and my sushi were done, so Sonn took me back to have my hair rinsed. They have these wonderful chairs, well, more like loungers that you sit in to get your hair rinsed, so much more comfortable than the chairs with the back that tips back. I thought I couldn’t be any more comfortable until Sonn started giving me a scalp massage, then Greg came back with these dark chocolate covered almond clusters... It was very near to being a sexual experience... without the sex part.
Greg wouldn’t let me watch him cut my hair, as he wanted to do a reveal, What Not To Wear style. He did explain to me everything that he did as he made art out of my hair using a carving comb.
As he “carved”, we chatted about family and Twitter friends, and it turns out that Greg is from a small town too... no wonder I felt at home. Originally from Bracebridge in the Muskokas and raised on a farm, you really couldn’t get more small town than that... and here he was, Prada shoe adorned feet, firmly planted in Yorkville and fitting right in.
When he turned my chair so I could see what he had created, I couldn’t help but smile. My hair looks so natural (even my mother-in-law likes it, and she hates when I colour my hair) and the cut is truly sexy. I can’t help but stop and look in the mirror as I go by.
Styling hair is Greg’s passion, and it really shines through. Because my hair wasn’t long enough to do exactly what Greg wanted and he didn’t get to show off his scissor skills, he has asked me to come back in a few months. How did I get so lucky?
See you then Greg! Next time I’ll bring dinner... and baked goods!
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