Camille Goutal is hosting the launch party for the new Annick Goutal London flagship tonight on Mount Street. We’ll be posting snaps in this space after so check back for more info on the who, what, why, when and where for this lovely launch.
The cult hair care brand that’s been flying off the shelves of Sephora USA for some time now is finally coming to the UK. Ojon is going to be stocked at Liberty of London quite soon and, lucky for you folks who don’t happen to live within the ring road, Liberty now has a transactional e-commerce site so you can get the good stuff from the comfort of your living room in Dulwich, Dover or Durham. Why the hype? Ojon Oil itself, the central ingredient in the eponymous range, is high in Omega-3, -6 and -9 essential fatty acids and is super concentrated. And it’s only grown and produced in a small region of Central America.
Here’s the quick story behind the brand: Ojon was created by hair industry veteran Denis Simioni. Apparently, his wife’s grandmother brought a jar of Ojon Palm Nut Oil from Honduras to their home whilst on a visit, and two years after said visit his wife happened across it and used it on her hair after it turned dry and brittle from swimming. After he saw the results they flew to Honduras, sought out the tribe that provided her grandmother with the oil and set about creating a cooperative of sorts to sustainably produce Ojon Oil (to which Ojon brand hair care has exclusive rights) and work directly with the tribe (also, apparently, know as the people of beautiful hair in their own language), sharing a portion of the profits with them and employing hundreds of producers and thousands of people in the region. The tribespeople have almost comically shiny, long, thick hair in the pictures on the Ojon website.
The range seems to be expanding at break-neck speed (it’s both on QVC in America and in Sephora USA) so I’m curious as to how the tribespeeps can keep up the traditional manner of producing the oil at volumes large enough to meet popular demand.
It’s a brand that most certainly inspires a fierce sense of loyalty in many of its users. If you want to see for yourself, Ojon is available at Liberty of London
“Last week was spent en famille in Burgandy, France. The sun shone like my love of cider mixed with a shot of vimto and is this reason I’m writing today’s blog.
Instead my skin gave me the double-finger salute and broke out in a dappled effect. This skin condition has reared its head up a couple of times before when I’ve overdone the sun exposure. Shame on me.
A few years ago, I’d been living in Goa for 6 weeks and eventually came back to London only to be sent to the Maldives for a job with Japanese Vogue. While out there I thought I was impervious to the sun’s determined rays (Hello?! The 6 weeks prior were spent in Goa.) and subsequently roasted my poor skin for a whole week without any cream. When I returned to London I was told I had been booked exclusively for Helmut Lang’s a/w collection. So I wizzed off to NYC and upon arrival my skin was struck down with these white sploches on both my back and shoulders. My BF at the time had been affected by the same malady and told me to find some anti-dandruff shampoo. WTF?
Well, I thought instead of washing with it, I would just leave it on and maybe my skin would clear up that much quicker. Instead, it turned horribly scabby and scaly. My fitting followed and I was (gasp) promptly put on the next flight right back to London… without doing the show. Gutting as Calvin Klein had also asked to see me.
I believe my skin condition is a strain of Vitiligo. White spots on the surface of the skin. The exact cause is unclear, although there is evidence that it stems from an “autoimmune cause in some areas”, according to the NHS. They say, “any area can be affected…. but it is most obvious and commonly noticed in parts exposed to the sun - face, neck and hands. It is more prominent in people with dark or tanned skin”.
If, like me, you only suffer this condition on a milder, sporadic level, I recommend you use Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo to wash with in the shower. And not your hair, silly. Use it on the affected areas. Buy it at Boots. Of course, I must (being the responsible model that I am) advise you to seek professional opinion for direct diagnosis and medication as this is just the mere recommendation of a remedy that cured my melanin malady. Do not take the words of a model as gospel… just real-life experience and corresponding recommendation!
For a brilliant cover up that is waterproof “Dermablend” do a camouflage makeup that can be bought with a prescription. This is hardbody and has been recommended by people with acute vitiligo.”
We won’t divulge details just yet but we’re very excited to be attending a workshop by one of the most renegade (and now sought after) facialists in the Southeast. She’s going to be holding it at the penthouse home of one of the big names in the glossies very soon. We see in the stars that it’s going to be a good time. Any guesses? We’ll tell you more at a later date but keep the calendar clear for more workshops to follow.
Read President Obama’s acceptance speech here.
I wish I could have been in my hometown Chicago last night to hear it live but alas it was a north London election party for me.
Cult Beauty’s Alexia Inge already has an amazing face but it didn’t stop her from seeing Emma Hardie to trial her Amazing Sculpting Facial, naturally lifting and plumping the skin… apparently it’s so relaxing that people regularly fall asleep. Her approach? Deal with the skin on a molecular level to rearrange everything into sitting more prettily on your bones. Sounds good to me, especially since I faint at the merest glimpse of a needle (although we have some brave in-house testers who have recently braved the needle for your viewing pleasure, to be posted soon). Read what Alexia thinks of Emma’s understanding of her molecules:
“Emma Hardie is making a name for herself as a bit of a facial maverick. She managed to heal herself from a disease that has the medical profession throwing their arms in the air, ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy) and learned so much from the arduous experience that she now comes at the time-old tradition of facial massage with a very fresh approach.
She uses the body’s bio-electrical field, a sort of intranet for the body coordinated by the brain (which controls the functions of every living cell, from metabolism to repair to DNA regeneration). The actual facial consists of a light, exfoliating cleanse and then Emma uses a specially formulated balm for the sculpting massage, all the products she uses are from her own range which she will be launching commercially next year (more to follow, CB will let you know closer to the time).
In our consultation, pre-facial, Emma asked me if I had any concerns I would specifically like to address. I have recently, for the first time in my life, been getting a couple of deep cystic spots around my chin and dry, flaky skin under my nose, so I asked her about that. Apparently these are both signs of an unhappy colon, in my case brought on by stress. As with reflexology concerning your feet, your face maps your body and my congested chin is telling me I need to pay closer attention.
The Sculpting massage varies between complete stillness where Emma uses buzzing finger tips pressed lightly on my face to “effect the composition of the skin” making it more malleable to the flurries of activity that use pressure points and sweeping lymphatic draining movements to re-arrange my face. The results were stupefying. No joke. Even my younger sister begrudgingly said she could notice a difference. It looked like the skin on my face had just been on a month break in the Alps eating nothing but cucumbers… Emma took 5 years off my face.
Emma can be found at The wonderful Hale Clinic in London, or more frequently in Oxford. For more information or to book an appointment Tel: 01865 516027 or Email: info@emmahardie.com.” - Alexia Inge
BFF with supermodel Kate Moss (and apparently the man who guides her on most of what she wears. Who knew?), James Brown is the hair stylist to some of London’s coolest clientele and styled Kate on her 1992 Vogue cover. He’s a session stylist, and now brand creator, who isresponsible for the lust-worthy looks of Agent Provocateur and beautiful manes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, Johnny Depp, Amber Valetta, Julianne Moore and Gisele Bundchen. Without further ado, see what our succinct stylist has to say in our interview with him:
HOW DID YOU START DOING HAIR?
My sister used to come home from the hairdressers and immediately wash and restyle her hair the way she liked it and I eventually persuaded her to let me have a go and was eventually doing hair for the entire street. I landed my first job in a salon in Croydon at the age of 15, although they thought I was 18!
WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Friends and family.
WHY DID YOU CREATE YOUR OWN RANGE?
Working on shoots, I was always mixing products to get what I needed, so I decided to create my own range that was simple and effective.
HOW DID YOU DO IT? Working on shoots, I was always mixing products to get what I needed, so I decided to create my own range that was simple and effective.
WHAT’S THE SINGLE BEST TIP FOR HAIR CARE YOU’VE HEARD? Rinse your hair in cold water to get it smoother and shinier.
WHAT’S YOUR SINGLE BEST HAIR CARE TIP? Keep it simple and work with your hair, not against it.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST HAIR TRENDS FOR FALL 2008 AND SPRING 2009? Strong colour.
WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD SEE MORE OF IN THE HAIR INDUSTRY? Compassion and patience!
IS LINDON THE HAIR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD? Yes!
WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL? My house in Ireland.
WORST HAIR TREND YOU’VE SEEN? Extensions.
BEST HAIR TREND YOU’VE SEEN? Plaits – simple and sexy!
FAVOURITE HAIR COLOUR?
Dark brown.
DO YOU HAVE ANY CELEB CLIENTS WITH WHOM YOU LOVE WORKING? Kate Moss and Sarah Jessica Parker.
WHAT’S THE WORST HAIR STYLE/TREND YOU’VE EVER WORN? Extensions – when I was about 17!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE LONDON WATERING HOLE? The Clifton, St Johns Wood.
FAVOURITE MOVIE STAR HAIR? 1950s glamour.
BEST INNOVATION IN THE INDUSTRY? Straightening irons!
WHAT NEW PRODUCTS WILL WE SOON SEE IN YOUR RANGE? I have a range of 5 new exciting styling products in the James Brown Range which just went into Boots store at the start of October. I’m most excited about the Shine & Fragrance Mist although everyone seems to be going mad for the larger size Hair Reviving Dry Shampoo. Daisy Lowe says she wouldn’t have survived Glastonbury without it.
WHOSE HAIR WOULD YOU LOVE TO DO? Cate Blanchett
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN IF YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING ELSE? A jockey.
