CLAUDIA CONNELL: Why my dream hairdresser is one who shuts up!

There’s nothing like the confidence boost that comes with emerging from the hairdressers with your roots retouched, your split ends trimmed and a bouncy ‘salon’ blow dry to boot.

But, my word, this bimonthly grooming ritual comes at a cost – and I’m not just referring to the eye-watering prices some salons now charge. Neither is it about the static shocks from the crackly nylon gowns or the stiff neck from tilting your head back as far as it will go into a basin that you can’t see.

No, I’m talking about the excruciating agony of having to make small talk with the stylist – an agony that can last more than three hours if you’re having a full head of colour, cut and blow dry. If, like me, you also have occasional special treatments (like Keratin straightening) you’ll find yourself captured for up to five hours.

While some people are happy to natter away to the person doing their hair there are many others who find it tedious, awkward and even stressful.

For some reason, confessing your dull and glamour-free life to a hairdresser several times a year becomes embarrassing

Congratulations then to Finnish hairdresser Kati Hakomeri who has started offering a ‘silent appointment’ service at her salon in Helsinki.

Earlier this month The Mail reported that over the course of her career Kati has come to realise that many of her clients view their salon as a place of sanctuary, somewhere to sit, enjoy a coffee and escape the stresses of their everyday life.

Kati also clocked that regulars often didn’t have anything new or exciting to report and felt embarrassed to have to admit it. I’m with you there Kati!

Saying ‘nowhere,’ to a friend when she asks where you are going on holiday this summer is no problem. Replying ‘watching Netflix in my dressing gown,’ when quizzed about what you’ll be doing that evening, is similarly easy. Ditto ‘last night’s leftovers,’ in answer to an enquiry about your planned evening meal.

But, for some reason, confessing your dull and glamour-free life to a hairdresser several times a year becomes embarrassing. So, in my case, I’ve previously invented a thrilling fantasy existence just to sound less tragic.

Caribbean holidays, dinners in Michelin starred restaurants and an array of exciting hobbies. The only trouble is that you have to keep track of the fibs or you’ll come unstuck.

‘How was the holiday in St Lucia? Did you try waterskiing in the end?

And ‘how are the Russian lessons going? Can you say a sentence yet?’ Are both questions that floored me when I, briefly, forgot the nonsense I’d peddled on my previous appointment.

Of course, changing salons is always an option. But as any woman will tell you, once you’ve found someone who doesn’t mess your hair up you tend to stick with them no matter what.

That’s precisely why I endured seven years of Wendy, my former stylist. She knew how to cut my thick, curly hair so that I didn’t look like an extra from the Muppet Show. Sadly, she also talked so much and fired so many questions that I left appointments feeling as though I’d run a marathon.

Even if I took a book or opened a magazine she didn’t seem to pick up on the signal that I’d rather be reading than listening to her break down of every single contestant on The Apprentice.

When your hairdresser takes such a keen interest in your life you also feel compelled to return the favour. So it was that I regularly asked Wendy how her son was getting on at school, whether the vet managed to sort the dog’s limp out and if her gran had a date through for her hip operation. I didn’t care about any of it.

 Travelling to Helsinki for a cut and blow dry with Kati seems extreme, but I bet I’m not the only one who has Googled Easy Jet fares 

If that wasn’t bad enough, some hairdressers even draw other stylists and customers into the conversation and it ends up becoming some big group discussion.

With four decades of salon visits under my belt I know that the age of the stylist makes little difference either. Younger ones want to talk to you about their – and your - love lives, while older ones detail their aches, pains and doctors’ appointments.

Having to conduct the whole exchange while making eye contact via your own reflection in a mirror adds another layer of discomfort to the experience.

Lots of people cut and coloured their own hair during lockdown and I know plenty who, after restrictions were lifted, decided never to return to a salon. Some wanted to save money but I’m sure that others simply couldn’t face the thought of going back to making hours of small talk.

It took me moving to another part of the country before I saw the back of Wendy the Windbag.

It’s true that salons in the UK are starting to introduce silent appointments, but they are still few and far between. Travelling to Helsinki for a cut and blow dry with Kati seems extreme, but I bet I’m not the only one who has Googled Easy Jet fares.