LOVE AFFAIRS
VIDEO: UPGRADE YOUR BRAID FOR 2013
JANUARY 05.2013
by AIMEE BLAUT
After having a week to ease into the new year, it is time to implement those resolutions we made back in December. I am a habitual flat ironer, which leads to split ends and a dried out mane; so 2013 is about updating my hair and not killing it. For guidance I brought my conundrum to the Australian born hair guru living in Paris, David Mallett. Within moments his eyes lit up and he said “plaits!” After a few minor tweaks David updated the standard boring braid into a romantic Parisian updo (easy to replicate at home in minutes). Watch and learn!
Tags: Braids, David Mallett, David Mallett Salon, Hair Resolutions, How To, Jessica Hausman, Paris, Plaits, The Formula Blog Videos, Up-do, Upgrade your braid
THE EXPERT
DAVID MALLETT, HAIR STYLIST
APRIL 02.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
“I grew up in Australia and I lived in England for a long time, as well as Italy and in France -- I traveled a lot so it was a real conglomerate education for me, aesthetically, through the years. The salon is a little mix of all the things I’ve seen. A lot of things that come into the shop are pieces that I have collected over the last twenty years via traveling and antiquing. All the animals came from parks and zoos. None of them were killed -- we have certificates for them all, so I can actually travel with them. She is first one we bought (points to the panther), Sybil.
The salon is homogeneous and eclectic — it’s a universe in here, a total package. We are up to nine years of business now and started off with just two of us and now there’s a team of twenty with a bunch of exciting things in the works.
I am extremely excited about our new massage room that is opening up in a few weeks. It’s been six months in the making and it’s going to be an exceptional service. We are not a beauty salon — we are just hair, although we do nails too, which is something I fought a lot for in the beginning. The broad, unifying factor that brings our clients in is an interest in fashion. I had a lot of clients who, for a very long time, would tell me: “David, when I’m having my color done I would really like to have my hands and feet done.” So we tried it and it’s been very successful.
We had a good month in February and March with Haute couture, and Prêt-à-Porter was also really fun. We had a nice story come out for the salon with Karl Lagerfeld as well. All of those elements — fashion, events, actresses… those are the sorts of things I like to amalgamate into the shop, so we are not a simple hair salon.
Our new products are something I am extremely proud of, as well as the great response we have gotten somewhat quickly from people that I consider the right people — which is a horribly snobby thing to say — but from people in the beauty industry who are very aware of how far you can go with products. I am in my thirty-second year of hair dressing and I have consistently heard my clients come in with the same dilemma, ‘My hair is really dry; I do a lot of blow-drying or coloring, I go to the beach, I’m on a boat — and every time I heavily moisturize my hair, it becomes flat, dull, doesn’t shine and is heavy. So what’s the answer? I need something to hydrate my hair, give it a shine but not something that will weigh it down.’ It was a real challenge for us to get something highly efficient that was easy to use and worked immediately that you can travel with.
The whole idea was to make an amazing product with the universe around it – the quality, the packaging, the smells or lack of smells. Aside for the serum, all the products are scent-free. They are all color-free as well so that people with allergies or sensitive skin can use them without a problem. We made them as simple and pure and clean and effective as possible. The design is meant to mirror and echo the feeling you have when you are in my salon.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Australia, David Mallett, David Mallett Salon, Hair Dresser, Hair Stylist, Paris, Salon
