It needed doing, J’s hair is an unruly mess of ginger curls.  It knots and matts and no matter how much de-tangle spray and how gentle I am with the tangle teaser, J ends up in tears.  I decided that at aged 3 and half, she needed to get a cut.  Unfortunately because of the curls her hair springs up so I knew it was only going to be more of a trim.

I researched the internet, trying to find somewhere local-ish to where I live, not too expensive and who knew what they were doing with a small child who may or may not sit there.  I came across Happy Faces Children’s Hair Salon.  There are two branches, Webbs Road in Clapham SW11 and Muster Road, Fulham SW6.    I checked out the website www.yourhappyfaces.com and found that the Fulham branch is closed on a Monday & Tuesday, Mondays are my day off work and “get things done” day so I chose the Clapham branch.  I read the blurb, and more importantly the reviews. Everyone seemed to be very happy.

I decided to give them a call and for a start have a chat about J, what her hair is like and what I want.  After telling them about J’s hair and that she screams and runs from the brush and hates having her hair washed or brushed, the lady at the other end of the phone advised that in their experience; often children will sit for a stranger rather than their parents.  I crossed my fingers and booked an appointment for just a cut. The salon do a first haircut package but I decided against it

We arrived slightly early but luckily as we had a 10am appointment on a Monday morning, there was only one other child.  When you walk in, you are taken straight into the Jungle.  The walls & ceiling are adorned with pictures from The Jungle Book and jungle animals.  In the centre of the room are four large back to back mirrors with four different chairs for the children. You can choose from Thomas The Tank Engine, Noddy’s car, a pink Princess Plane and Noddy’s aeroplane.  J chose Noddy’s car.  Between the two mirrors are flat screen tv’s which this time were showing Peppa Pig cartoons. Perfect for J to keep her occupied.

We were seen by Nicola and we set about discussing J’s hair care routine (almost non-existent!) the best way to look after it and what our aims for the visit were.  Nicola sprayed J’s hair with an abundance of de-tangler, got the brush out and started very gently.  Unfortunately, speaking from experience; it really hurts having curly hair brushed so J started crying a bit.  It’s okay I was there to hold her hand.  She was very brave and tried very hard to concentrate on Peppa.  Nicola constantly talked to us and let me know what she was doing whilst I picked her brains about what I can do to make things easier on J.  Before we knew it, J’s hair had been all trimmed and tidied and she looked beautiful and very proud of herself.  She was allowed to choose a balloon and given a lollipop to take home.

The salon sell’s organic children’s hair care products by Mini-U for kids.  They had a 2 for 1 promotion on so whilst there was no pushing by Nicola, I decided to get two bottles of leave in conditioner for £9.50.  The hair cut was £16.95 and you get a loyalty card.  The 10th cut is free… it may take some time for us to get to ten!

The salon also runs parties, pampering for girls and pirates for the boys.  There’s a nail bar for older girls too.   Nicola said these are extremely popular.

Overall, I was really pleased with the service we received. It’s hard to tell if it was a “good” cut as with curly hair you can hide a multitude of things but it definitely wasn’t bad, J’s hair didn’t spring up to Annie proportions which it would if it was cut too short.  I’ll definitely be going back and trying to get my 10th free cut.