The London Invasion

For about a year my husband Andrew had been talking about this amazing hairdresser from London whose work he was incredibly impressed with. So when he found out this hairdresser and his girlfriend would be visiting California he offered to let them stay with us while they were in town.
I had never actually met or even conversed with Jody Taylor or Holly Hawgood before they came to stay with us, but from the moment I opened my door for these two there was instant chemistry. Jody is a well known and award winning hairdresser in London and his girlfriend Holly is a hairdresser as well. (It was a little like meeting the British version of Andrew and I, which was really cool.) It's kind of crazy the way things work out, because of instagram Andrew and Jody connected over their shared passion for hair which led to the four of us becoming instant friends.

(Jody hadn't been to Disneyland in 15 years and Holly had never been so of course we had to take them to the happiest place on earth!)

Being that it was such a rare opportunity to have this an amazing hairdresser in our midst Andrew set up an evening that was unforgettable. He invited a handful of the best barbers and cosmetologists in southern California to share men's

haircuting and styling techniques and to learn from each other. I was completely blown away by the amount of talent and skill that was in one room, but even more by how humble and eager everyone was to learn. There has been a very unfortunate and bitter divide between barbers and cosmetologists in recent years. This night was so encouraging to see that gap beginning to be bridged.

(Instagram from left to right:  @drehair, @iamrickyhoover, @krisrichardhair, @edwardklipperhands, @jodytaylorhair, @andrewdoeshair, @iamdanielwinter)

(Instagram: @tabcutshair)

(Instagram left to right: @paigemwallace, @hollyrosehair)

We had three models and four haircutters, one barber demo, one cosmo demo and one barber/cosmo team demo. Each one doing a rad haircut while demonstrating their individual techniques. Personally I don't do any men's hair, I have 100% female clientele. Men's hair just isn't my cup of tea. Despite that fact, I was completely intrigued and inspired watching these guys cut hair. As you may be able to tell by these pictures everyone else was too.

(model cut by @iamdanielwinter)

(model by @edwardklipperhands and @jodytaylorhair)

(Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the model done by @hailwormatron)

The haircutting Stars of the evening.

My amazing husband Andrew who made this night possible and Jody our guest of honor.

The four of us were having so much fun together we didn't want the visit to end. Jody and Holly already had plans to go to Las Vegas and since it's only a 3 1/2 hour drive from where we live we decided to go too. We had the best time with them and to be honest, it was really hard to say good bye. On the bright side, I'm pretty sure there's a trip to London in the near future. We've already been promised a place to stay. :)

(The Wynn, Las Vegas)