Enough Balayage: it’s time for shatush (with cone)

Regulars, from celebrities, to models, to royalty, are the norm at Neville Hair and Beauty in Belgravia, and when visiting, it’s not hard to see why. The renowned London salon is a regular backstage at London Fashion Week and Parisian couture shows, but its experienced and highly trained staff have lost none of their charm or warmth. Each cutting, color and styling session begins with a consultation in which your hair type will be assessed, you will be truly listened to and advised accordingly.

Belgravia’s flagship salon also offers a food and drink menu if you feel hungry before or after your appointment. In Neville, the customer is at the center and it shows.

Neville Tucker, who opened his salon in the 1990s, is one of the greats of the English capital: kind, mild-mannered and expert in knowing what his clients need. Elena, his charming wife and business partner, leads the innovative part (she opened the first Amazon salon) like the Liquid Gold Smoothing Treatment: a Brazilian crease with 24-karat gold extracts. Regular customers (like Kitty Spencer ed Emma Weymouth) block the day to fix their hair, do anti-cellulite massages upstairs and chat with friends over breakfast together.

Here he arrived Domenico Casella, Tuscan by birth, but Londoners for many years, who with a freehand technique highlights the hair as if you had just returned from a sailing holiday in Greece.

“Similar to balayage, shatush is extremely soft and the results are insane,” he explains. “It’s the perfect color service for those looking to add dimension to their hair,” Domenico skillfully creates the look using just his fingertips and a cone. Using his fingertips and hands to apply the color, this allows him to gently place the right shade. A brush stroke can have a more pronounced effect, but Domenico likes to work with his hands because he has more control over the sensitivity of the hair.

The cone is used to achieve a gradient effect: the hair closest to the cone is darker and more nuanced, while the outside, the hair surrounding the face, is brighter and lighter in color.
Using hands on the cone has more versatility and can create color without using foils, which is ultimately better for the condition of the hair and protects it from heat. “This technique is more suitable for those who are really looking for a natural effect, with less confusion, less regrowth” Domenico tells me while taking a look at my first white hair. “The results of the hybrid color with the cone are more natural and, unlike the standard balayage, the hybrid color technique is extremely visual.”