Gwenelda - London’s Home Beauty Service for Mums and Kids
Gwenelda, London’s Home Beauty Service
Since the birth of my daughter 10 years ago, I have desperately struggled to maintain a outward standard of presentability, regardless of how my house, emotions or work are going. While my hair and clothing are always clean, more often than not they look a bit tired, or completely worn-out if I am to be honest. Every few months I make a solemn oath after buying a new dress, blouse or after getting my hair cut that I will try and maintain my new look and try and make sure I don’t look neglected.
When my daughter was first born I searched in vain for a London-based hairdresser to come to my home to cut and style my hair. At the time the only services I could find were geared towards home-bound seniors. As for getting into the salon, my feeling was that any child-free time that I did have was dedicated to sleeping, not given to the salon, so I slowly grew my pixie cut out (above) and learned out to make a bun.
Now that my kids are a bit older, and in school full-time, its a bit easier to get out and get a trim and even a few highlights to add some warmth to my middle-aged face. Unfortunately once you have coloured your hair, hair cut and highlights can take a very long time and I personally don’t find sitting in the salon very relaxing and put haircuts off indefinitely (incredibly embarrassing photo above)
When I learned of Gwenelda a few weeks ago, I thought this was the most practical idea for mums. Gwenelda is a home beauty service where hair and beauty professionals come to your home and offer a wide variety of treatments: they cut your hair, do your nails, facials, waxing, hair colour, cut your kids’ hair, facials, extensions, massage and make up. What is even better, the prices are very reasonable (kids haircuts £15; cut, wash and blow-dry £50; highlights T section £45).
To me this sounded like a solution for busy mothers. Mum and the kids can get their hair done at home, and spare themselves the trials of dragging children out to hair salons or hiring a sitter to mind them. If mum has an evening out and needs her hair done and nails done, she could schedule an at-home appointment getting ready before the sitter arrives. Even better, mothers of multiples who don’t want to chase curious toddlers around a salon, can have their children’s hair cut at home.
I got in touch with Gwenelda as I desperately needed to get my hair colour repaired after my highlights have been bleached over the summer by chlorine and salt water and my hair, generally worn up in a bun, has not been cut in a couple of years. I am really a bit embarrassed to post this picture, but here is a mum in desperate need of a mummy makeover:
I worked out a date and time with Gwenelda when my kids would be home after school so that my son could get a trim, I could get my hair cut and coloured, but I could still get the kids their dinner, help with homework and keep the evening chores ticking over while I had my hair processed.
It worked amazingly well. The lovely, warm and charming Donna Graham came to my home after the kids and I came back from the school run. I had sent the above photograph of my haggard looking hair, we had a long chat about what we could do to improve it. While we both loved the idea of a severe, half-moon fringe, the reality was that I would not maintain it. Instead we arrived on the idea of a “sweep fringe” and taking several inches of damaged hair off my ends. She saw my colour needed correcting and that I needed a LOT of layers hacked into my hair.
As my hair was processing, I helped the kids with their homework, listened to violin practice, and washed up the dinner dishes. When my son was getting his hair trimmed, I packed the school bags, signed the contact books, filled out school photograph forms and began the long journey to bed. My kids did not just love Donna, they loved the entire experience. My son told his class he got a “delivery” haircut at his home.
I am not sure who was more pleased with my haircut, my daughter who claimed I now look like a nanny or her older sister; my husband who was trying to shoo the children to bed, or me who is enjoying not looking in the mirror and flinching (my haircut had absolutely no affect on my 6 year old).
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