Blondes have no damn fun in Paris.

From our archives, a post from back in 2005.

It's something I've struggled with for almost three years. A problem of magnitude. I've explored every possible way round it. I promise you I'm not really that demanding...........but from what friend's tell me, I'm not alone.

According to foreign hairstylists with snob clients who make Paree home it's a common complaint.

Can anyone cut and dye hair in this town?

I've tried 7 or 8 hairdressers and/or colorists. They range in price and by arrondissement, some have salons, empires, celebrity clients, some even do selected home visits.

I've had a gay in the Marais, I've had a bourgeois in the place de la Madeleine, I've had a super time with Frank Vidoff in the most charmingly designed salon in the world in Saint Germain.

I've been to the 7eme thinking it would satisfy me just as well as the Ladies Who Lunch, Montparnasse trying to save cash, not forgetting the Canal Saint Martin and Bastille searching for cutting edge.

Prices ranged from 30 - 200 euros but they all had one thing in common, nobody did it right.

Apparently it's even harder to find an afro hairdresser and the worst thing is nobody outside of the city will sympathise as of course they imagine in the capital of style is teeming with the world's best beauty experts.

Being blonde made it even more complicated. The colour ranged from pale yellow to dark orange and I even had to resort to doing it myself with the help of a girlfriend (and that time it turned out blue).

Comments

[suzanne]

Here are some of the comments saved from the archived post in case it helps anyone:

I get cut at coiffirst, near odeon, and they do a great job every time (medium length with layers, nothing tricky) but for my highlights? fidèle qu'au coiffeur de ma jeunesse... which means I have to shlepp to Long Island to get my blond on. gah, I would never let another man touch my blond.
Posted by: maitresse | Jan 09, 2006 at 11:17 PM

I feel your pain. I have curly hair and prefer to keep it short. I'm always mentally prepared for an absolute disaster when I finally get myself to get a cut. One time, I swear to god that the woman cutting my hair mistook me for a poodle. I had to get it cut again.My last hair cut was great. Fabrio Salsa is the name of the chain. They even were an excellent choice for my daughter (a perpetual rat's nest).
Posted by: JennC | Jan 10, 2006 at 01:44 AM

toni & guy !
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 11, 2006 at 04:50 AM

by email from "The Other desperate Susan" Finally, someone else comes out with the TRUTH. I don't know what it is with their training schools but the people who can cut and color in this town can probably be counted on one hand (and I would like to know who they are!). Zee brushing sure can hide a lousy cut. You can tell a good cut when it still looks like something after a month.The latest king-with-no clothes-on is Massato who may know what he is doing (at €400 a head, I would hope so) but has spawned too many untalented acolytes who pull up pieces of hair and snip away with an air of knowing what they are doing. And zen once more, zee brushing....How about this for a new business idea: a female charter flight/TGV trip to the UK for a cut, color, hotel & show. Breakfast included.My itinerary includes:Massato (not the king)a Swedish guy who cuts at homeYugi (a Massato accolyte)a French guy who cuts at home Mod's haira Ma and Pa operation on JJ Rousseau (She at least trained with Sassoon but would answer the phone and schedule appointments while cutting - once or twice, ok but one starts to get to get itchy at the fifth call...)In desperation, I once made an appointment with a 'star' on rue Montorgueil and was kept waiting an hour and a half. I finally got huffy, was ready to up and leave but ended up getting a chic shampoo you lay down flat on a 'bed' with the sink at the end) and a....brushing for free. So I will never know if he can cut.

[Jean]

Thank you for re-posting this. Empathy is a powerful thing, and I am glad to know that I am not crazy for thinking this is indeed a problem. (No one back home believes me -- "but Paris is where all the stylists are....") So far my solution has been to get my hair cut and colored twice a year... in Oakland, California. It's such a comparative bargain (and has such good results) that even with airfare it comes out just a little bit more expensive than the Massato 400€ cut cited above. And worth every strand on my wee blonde head.

[Parisgirl]

I have finally found a hair colorist and someone who knows how to cut hair in Caen - thanks to a friend. If you're in a fix, the Jean Louis David salon at the corner of Rue Montparnasse and Edgar Quinet is a close runner up for basic hair color solutions.

[Dani]

Oh it's so good to know I haven't just had 4 years of bad luck! I've been so traumatized that I took matters into my own hands and now cut my hair myself. Ok, so I was wearing a hat for the last few weeks (short hair), but I'm learning. It's a constant work in progress and I'm not attempting color.

[suzanne]

I remember the crop you got from Shelly. But it looked CUTE and started your "gamine" phase!

[BarbaraGS]

So....is Frank Vidoff worth it? I'm blonde, living in Paris. Should I fly back to L.A. every so often just to get a cut and highlights? My first (and maybe last) Paris experience was with Franck Provost. I felt like I was getting my hair cut at Benihana. The hightlights? Amateur.

[suzanne]

i felt good about the colour but it was quite expensive but seeing as it's a bit cheaper than a return flight to LA, give him a go.

[simon]

I cut my own hair now... with a pair of clippers...Number 2 on top, number 1 on the side....

Gave up on hair dressers this year..... :o)

[CHRISTINA MARAIS]

I GOT THE BEST COLOR AND HIGHLIGHTS IN NEW YORK AT JEUNESSE COIFFURE IN MANHATTAN. THE SALON IS NOT FANCY EVERYONE IS FRIENDLY REASONABLE PRICES GREAT WORK. MY NEW HAIRSTYLIST GLADYS CUTS MY HUSBANDS HAIR TOO AND HE IS VERY PICKY ..CHECK THIS PLACE OUT...

[madeleine Resener]

I moved to Paris from New York 20 years ago and had some of the worst haircuts in my life here, so I can sympathize with all of you!

Try Françoise Guiffaut on the boulevard de Courcelles in the 17th arrondissment. She's a true artist and, although she has on occasion gotten a bit carried away with the scissors, in general I've been happy with her over the years.

[Anna]

I just decided to color my hair dark, I realized that it is impossible to be blond in Paris. My hair turned yellow for the second time and I had to go to my old hairdresser in Stockholm to fix it. They just dont know blond colours. Arent there any swedish hairdressers in this city?

[Lauren]

FRANCK VIDOFF BLONDE IS A NIGHTMARE. Forgive the caps, but as I sit here with DEAD, fried hair that is falling out in clumps (with some Tweety-Bird-esque tufts at the top where the hair has broken from the mistreatment suffered at the hands of this salon) I feel strongly enough to shout it: FRANCK VIDOFF ruined my blonde hair.
First of all, they fried it. Left colour on for WAY too long (my head began to burn) and what resulted was WHITE (not blonde, just the bleached-to-death remnants of a hair shaft) roots, yellow-y middle lengths, and darker underneath with ginger touches. Like a calico cat. I should have known when they washed out the colour and I touched my hair gently only to have a handful of hair break off in my hands that something was awry. They also took nearly 4 hours of my life to do a simple root touch up and "tone" (aka HAIR DESTROYING TREATMENT) and the salon was less than impressive, with ladies crammed into every nook and cranny and two stylists buzzing around. Presumably, this is why my hair was left to fry to death- overbooking and not paying attention- NOT what I pay over 200 euro for.
So in a nutshell: they are rubbish. NOWHERE in Paris can do a proper blonde. I recently saw a colourist in London (she does Yasmin LeBon and Sienna Miller, to name a few) and she was gobsmacked by the treatment my hair suffered, and informed me that it was SO ruined, it could take five years for it to be fixed, as the über-short broken tufts at the top grow out to match the rest of the long length. Also, surprisingly, the healthiest part of my hair was the TIPS, normally the least healthy. And why? Because, thankfully, Franck Vidoff did not touch this part of my hair. But, fat lot of good it does me now that the hair is falling out in clumps from the dead roots.
Thanks, Vidoff Salon...FOR NOTHING. Avoid at all costs if you value having hair that stays stuck in your head.

[The Editor]

it sounds quite horrendous - until further notice, please will all blondes steer clear of this shop until we have verified the reports http://www.vingtparismagazine.com/2007/06/blonde_by_franc.html

discussion happening on our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Paris-France/VINGT-Paris/10150096655280401

[Mariane]

Mariane
Rossano ferretti
ThIs ultimate salon has the worst colorist i ever meet , she is sooooooooooooo bad , so I advise everyone to avoid her.. Shofia is her name… Trust me if u don’t want to have 3 different colors when u ask for highlight

[Kelly]

I had a fabulous experience with Franck Vidoff. Cut and color was a whopping $400, however he was the only person in Paris I could find who didn't pull color through the cap. I am a complete hair diva and now that I am back in the states am seriously contemplating flying BACK to Paris just to have him do my blonde. LOVE him!

[H]

Have you thought of popping over to London?

They have wonderful hairdressers there and it would be cheaper and quicker than flying back to the US.