My makeover at Frederic Fekkai!

Since my blog got such an exciting makeover for New York, you didn't think I'd be left too far behind, did you? Two days back I went over to Frederic Fekkai to get my cut and colour done (or maybe I should start spelling it as "color" now?) to get something fun and summer-y done to my hair. I really thought I'd just get a trim and go a few shades lighter, and just have my hair start looking neat again. Four hours later, I emerged having had the most drastic change I've ever had.. and I absolutely love it!!

This is Mia, and she's the one who gave me the fabulous cut. She's been cutting my hair for YEARS now and is the only one I entrust with getting that close to my hair with a pair of scissors. When I used to make it to New York once a year, I literally would go back to her not having had a haircut since the last time she gave me one. And the reason I knew I'd hit a home run with her? Because my hair still looked great even that one year later. Before I found her, I'd tried going to a whole bunch of hairstylists the world over, but mostly in Dubai and New York, and especially in New York had been to quite a few of the big names as well like Bumble and Bumble, Toni and Guy (Dubai and NY), Garren, etc, searching for The One. I found Mia quite by accident as I had decided to try Fekkai and asked them to give me someone who was good with long hair. Not only is Mia great with my long hair, she completely understands my frizzy, thick, out of control Asian hair, and gives me styles that are manageable and like I said earlier, grow out well. Because Fekkai are known more for their classic styles, my hair never really looks exciting as such, and I like it that way. But like I was telling her this time too, the ladies who dry my hair at the salons always appreciate her work and almost ALWAYS ask me where I got my cut from.

Around two years back I was complaining to Mia about how I was searching for a new colorist in New York and was having a very hard time finding one. I was considering going to see Rita Hazan, the most popular colorist in New York who does the hair of Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez, amongst a whole host of other celebrities. The only thing holding me back was the fact that each of them had hair that just looked too coloured for me. I'd grown increasingly tired of trying the Lebanese colourists back in Dubai that made my hair looked like it had orange stripes in them. I absolutely ABHOR the blonde haired look on anyone apart from people WHO ACTUALLY HAVE BLONDE HAIR!! On the Lebanese, because their hair and their skin is lighter, it suits them a lot more than it suits the Indians that try to copy their look. Anyhow, for a long time there, I just decided to dye my hair jet black and leave it that way. Luckily, when I decided to go slightly lighter, Mia made me meet Jeffrey (pictured above) who, I'm not kidding, colours hair like he's painting a canvas. His theory is very simple- have a colour that makes you look like you have great hair, rather than looking like you have a great colour. His colour will follow my natural waves and will be darker at the top, have a few highlights in the middle, and lighten at the bottom- just like natural hair would. When I went to him and said I wanted to go a bit lighter for the summer, he flatly refused and said, "not too light." Again, I came out with gorgeous hair that looked like it had lightened by a shade naturally in the sun, rather than having a stripey colour that started at the root. Not only is Jeffrey amazing with colour, he is one of the most interesting people I've chatted with, and his knowledge about art and design is what obviously makes him so good at what he does.

So two days back I went over to Jeffrey to have my hair coloured first and then moved into Mia's chair to have my cut. While that switch had made sense to me and the person taking my appointment, we obviously hadn't kept Jeffrey's approach to colour in mind. When Mia asked me if I'd like to do something different with my hair (much shorter with a lot more layers!), I trusted her instinct and told her to go for it. When she was done, we realized all of Jeffrey's hard work lay on the floor of the salon, and he patiently had to re-add in the highlights that followed the movement of my sexy new cut. I love my new look! I'd had it dried straight at the salon, so it looked really polished and sleek, and like my best friend said, made me look "like a CEO"- whatever that means. The next day it had been slept in and another friend remarked, looked like a completely different cut- tousled and cute, perfect for the summer.

If you're in New York and want something different with your hair, I can't recommend these guys enough. I had another friend from Dubai who tried a cut with Mia a couple of years back too, and absolutely loved her new look. I'm warning you now- they aren't cheap! Like, at all! But they're worth every penny. Here are a few more shots of the Frederic Fekkai salon on 5th Ave at Henri Bendel's (taken from their website)-

And here is the man himself, Frederic Fekkai (isn't he GORGEOUS?)-

If you want to try some of the Fekkai magic but aren't making it to New York or don't want to spend that much on your hair, try their hair products that are available at Saks in Dubai, or in most department stores in the US. They smell amazing and are really great for the hair too.
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