After months of lockdown longing and an unintentional — no-so-subtle — root melt, I finally found a local Surrey hair salon that could treat my colour-damaged tresses and inject a bit of life into my much-faded hair.

I kindly received an invite from the team at SJ Forbes to come and try a couple of treatments at one of their nearby salons. Owned by husband and wife team, (Sean J Mcelhill & Hayley Gibson-Forbes), they opened the stylish and modern SJ Forbes in Egham, Surrey in July 2015, followed by their Windsor salon in July 2016, and have established a dedicated client base and respected reputation in both locations.

Checking out google maps to see which salon would be easiest to get to (we live in West Byfleet, Surrey) it turned out that the SJ Forbes Egham salon is only 20 minute drive away. Just enough time to pop on a podcast or howl away to your favourite album on your drive there.

The other plus of the SJ Forbes Egham salon is that there is plenty of parking right now — with a lot of people still working from home during lockdown 2020 — the pay and display car park just around the corner from the salon was pretty empty when I turned up for my 4:45pm hair appointment. FYI parking is about £3.50 to £4 for up-to 4-hours, but if you arrive in the evening, I think it’s free after a certain time. But be sure to check! The parking meter doesn’t take cash, but you can download the RingGo parking app and link your card and add your vehicle to pay for parking in a more paperless fashion. If you don’t drive, you can get a train to Egham station — it’s a very convenient stone’s throw of a walk to the salon door, which makes it super handy if you need to do a mad dash in wet weather and not ruin your shiny new ‘do.

As I was having a cut & colour and hadn’t visited the salon before, I was invited in for a colour patch test earlier in the week, to make sure that I wasn’t going to have any irritation from the dye. The patch test takes around 5-mins, so doesn’t eat into your day at all!

On arrival at the salon, I was greeted by a lovely member of the team who swiftly dispensed hand sanitiser, took my temperature and checked my coat into the cloakroom, whilst reassuring me that Co Director, Hayley Gibson-Forbes, would be with me shortly.

This was the first time I’d been into a hair salon following the UK lockdown restrictions being eased for hair & beauty businesses, and I can honestly say, I was impressed by how well the SJ Forbes team had managed to deck out the salon to put up new glass divider screens between the socially distanced hair stations.

Hayley told me that they usually have around 30 staff, but have adapted things so that the teams work in different shifts, to minimise the number of people in the salon.

I wore my own face mask to the appointment, but was kindly given a temporary replacement one to wear, so that the hair colourant wouldn’t stain mine.

Hayley got to work asking about my hair, what I was looking to achieve, when I’d last had it cut and coloured, etc.

As someone who tends to get more than a little bit nervous when it comes to visiting the hairdressers, I was instantly put at ease by Hayley, and her luscious locks (it’s like when you go to the gym and have a Personal Trainer, you want someone who looks as buff and healthy as you aspire to be! Choosing a great hairdresser is no different.)

As you can see from my before photos, my hair colour had faded from the coppery/ginger colour (I usually get when I dye it at home with Garnier Olia 7.40) to a strawberry blonde with very dark brown roots.

After months of home hair colouring, I’d forgotten just how luxurious it is to have someone else take care of your hair needs. It was exactly the pamper session I’d been craving!

SJ Forbes are a Goldwell salon — the first one I’ve ever tried! Hayley talked me through the variety of different shades and hues of coppery colours that were on offer and the Pure Pigment concept that Goldwell has developed with colour photography experts, Fuji Film. Eventually we settled on an Goldwell 80R colour and a Goldwell BondPro+ treatment to take my hair back to ginger.

Q. What is Goldwell BondPro?

“ Goldwell BondPro+ protects and strengthens your hair during your hair colouring or perming service.  

Your hair will feel revitalised, healthy and more nourished after a treatment with Goldwell BondPro+.  

This is a two-step process that involves:

A Protection Serum that penetrates the hair and protects the hair fibre from within during the alkaline bleaching, colouring or texturising process.

A Nourishing Fortifier that reinforces the bonds in the hair, making it stronger and deeply nourished.”

My hair colour had faded quite considerably, but the finished result added a new richness and depth to my red hair, and a glossiness that it’s not seen in months!

Hayley touched up my roots first, before mixing up more colour to nourish and rejuvenate the faded lengths and ends. Then it came to one of my favourite parts of any salon appointment — the back wash — I was literally floating on a cloud as Hayley put on part 2 of the BondPro+ treatment, and then followed up with the most luxurious head massage I’ve ever had! Hayley used the Goldwell shampoo & conditioner, to protect my fresh colour.

Salon Co Director, Hayley says: “I think BondPro + is an incredibly important addition to add to your colour treatment. For me it’s about hair condition and colour durability, shine, etc. It’s about making sure your home care is correct to prolong the colour, at its best, for as long as possible.

I tell clients if you brought a Gucci suit you would dry clean professionally, not put it in the washing machine with your Daz powder, So treat your hair the same. If the hair is in great condition, it’s more likely to withstand a colour change and/ or something quite different from your natural base.”

When it came to my hair cut, I knew that I didn’t want Hayley to be too scissor happy. And she wasn’t! She carefully reshaped my locks to add more movement and remove a bit of the weight / dead ends, but she did it in a way that meant I didn’t lose too much of the length either, and then she re-chopped in my fringe to frame my face.

The End Result

I am thrilled with the finished effect! Thank you very much to Hayley and team for looking after me. Excited to see you guys again soon. I would definitely recommend SJ Forbes to anyone looking for a new salon in the Windsor / Egham or surrounding Surrey area.

It’s also worth noting that they do really cool pastel colour hues in pale pink and mermaid turquoise blues. So if you’d like something a little wilder, without venturing into Central London, then this is the hair salon for you!

Tempted to get a trim or refresh your colour?

Book Your Hair Cut & COLOUR at SJ Forbes Hairdressers in Egham & Windsor, Surrey— Tell them Lucie sent you! ☺️

Book in for a complimentary hair colour consultation and take advantage of your hair colour technician’s expertise to find the perfect hair colour for you.

CALL SJ FORBES ON 01784 430444 (Egham), 01753 853388(Windsor) or book using the online booking pop up on the website.

Check out SJ Forbes Egham and SJ Forbes Windsor on Instagram for more hair inspiration.

[Disclosure: Cut & colour treatments kindly gifted by SJ Forbes for the purpose of this review.]