Situated on one of London’s most famous roads, the Portobello Road outpost of sustainable hair collective Blue Tit is the group’s tenth salon to open in the capital. All the salons within the Blue Tit stable are located in iconic London neighbourhoods, including Greenwich and East Village, and the Portobello salon marks the group’s first foray into West London. In common with its sister sites, the internal décor complements the salon’s environs, employing bright colours, striking artwork and a monochrome geometric floor. Conveniently, it is open until 8pm on weeknights.
Blue Tit is renowned for offering beautiful hair for people of all hair types, placing particular emphasis on individuality, creativity, and freedom of expression, whilst ensuring minimal environmental impact. Setting a new standard for the hair and beauty industry internationally, Blue Tit is the UK and Europe’s first salon collective to achieve BCorp certification – which is awarded exclusively to businesses that are committed to purpose beyond profit and to leaders that use business as a force for good.
I was excited to experience the salon for myself, and was impressed by the quality of the before and after care provided, as well as the cut and colour experience itself. I was booked in for a full head of highlights, balayage, and a cut with Kamila, who is the co-owner of the salon. A couple of weeks prior to my appointment, I popped in for a patch test, which is a mandatory formality for new clients (no pre-booking is necessary, and clients can simply nip in for the test, which takes mere seconds). I was greeted warmly by Millie, the young receptionist, who kindly performed my patch test and confirmed my booking for me.
Upon arrival for my lunchtime appointment, Kamila welcomed me, offered me drinks (they make sublime smoothies), and spent a lot of time discussing my colour and cut objectives, really focusing on the desired colour outcome. She decided to use a combination of highlights and balayage to attain the required effect: I wanted to tone down the brassy blonde ends and achieve a more natural look. Elena, the friendly salon assistant, gowned me up, and I spent a blissful time having my colour deftly applied by Kamila, who worked efficiently and meticulously. She is a great conversationalist, and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting away with her whilst she packed up my hair into neat little foils. She proffered a wealth of advice about how to keep my hair looking and feeling its best after leaving the salon: for instance, she recommended that I refrain from washing my hair for at least 48 hours after leaving the salon to allow my colour to take fully.
After the colour and shampoo Kamila applied a luxurious Olaplex treatment, which helps to rebuild hair after colour treatments. She also gave me a heavenly head massage, which I wished would never end. After a trim and blow dry, I was ready to go, and delighted with my fresh locks.
The ethos underpinning the Blue Tit collective is that a hair appointment ought to be an experience, not a transaction. My appointment with Kamila more than lived up to this: I felt wholly rejuvenated and overjoyed with my bouncy blow-dry.
Blue Tit
255 Portobello Road, London, W11 1LR
