June Croken - Hairdresser on Fire
Going to the salon for a haircut is never something I look forward to. In fact, I often put it off for as long as my hair will let me - before I visited June, I hadn’t had a cut for 18 months. I KNOW.
The thing is, I always get this weird feeling before I go, as if I have to impress the hairdresser. It’s sort of the same feeling I get when I walk into Chanel, or a super fancy restaurant. I have every right to be there…but I don’t feel like I do. It’s as if I’m just waiting for the hairdresser to kick me out of her chair, for daring to even think I know what I want in a haircut.
Well June knew what I wanted even more than I did. This wasn’t a haircut, it was a hair makeover.
When I walked into the studio, I already felt more relaxed. It’s a small space, and June books her appointments as one-to-one sessions so it felt private, but also like I was just hanging out at a friend’s place. The decor is right up my alley with records lining the walls, a plush sofa with cute pillows, a framed photo of David Bowie, and a pacman table. June had cucumbery water waiting for me (what I like to call gourmet water) and tea as well. I also changed out of my boots and into slippers.
June also didn’t stop talking from the moment I walked in, until my last hair flip out the door. She’s been nicknamed “the bossiest hairstylist in town” - in the BEST way possible! We started with a hair consultation, which I had never actually had before. She was happy to answer all my questions, and taught me a lot about how to keep my hair “happy” :). We also analyzed my facial features, and height, and what sort of cut would suit me best. I have a square, very slightly heart shaped face with attention focused on my eyes and mouth, so we decided to go for longer chin grazing layers, with blunter, sharper ends. I love it. My hair has never looked like this before!
June says she sees her clients as paintings and tries to style their hair to make them look their best. She truly is a hair architect, and she probably gets that from her creative graphic design background. As much as she was guiding me in what she thought would look best, she also made sure I was completely comfortable with my decision.
Besides the fact that June is a talented hairstylist, and that her studio is wicked cool, and that I had a lot of fun - she is also a responsible businesswoman. I mentioned that I had donated my hair to locks of love twice in the past, and that I felt bad that I wasn’t willing to chop off enough this time to donate. June assured me that the discarded hair in her studio gets repurposed to mop up and contain oil spills - how great is that? It’s hard to run a one-woman show AND keep a business sustainable, so kudos to June!
So there’s my rave review. If you’re in Toronto I hope you go and pay June a visit when you’re in need of a hair makeover, or hair “experience” as I should say. I know I’ll be going back in the summer for something new :)!
June's WebsiteJune's InstagramJune's YouTube hair tutorials!
P.S. Thanks Monique, for showing me the light ;)!