By Lia Martin

Colourful hair is a mainstay in London now, not just reserved for summer festivals. Having wanted to try out pink for ages, and despite the autumn weather closing in, I headed to Muse of London. A stone's throw from Oxford Street, Muse of London offers a cool, contemporary space that sets itself apart thanks to the high-speed colour and styling sessions that fit in with our never-ending schedules.

At the style bar, they can pin, wave, smooth or craft catwalk braids for just £15 in 15 minutes. All they ask is that you turn up with clean hair. The bleach and root bars will sort out any colour glitches in the space of your lunch break, and there’s a ‘Self Dry’ station for those wanting to blast and go.
 
If you’re looking for wedding hair, this isn’t the place. But the unique hair bars are perfect for style maintenance, ideal during the upcoming festive party season.
 
With a frothy cappuccino in hand, I decided to go ‘ombre’, lightening up my look and running pink through the lengths. With mousey hair, I was feeling nervous about bleach. But, as Creative Director Jason Cocking explained, bleach should never have become scary. How the colourist uses and controls it is key, and the guys at Muse of London pride themselves on ‘creative bleach’ that won’t damage the hair.
 
My fears were quickly dispelled. As I left the salon, my hair felt healthy, happy and very, very pink. It will fade gradually over the next few weeks - all ‘unnatural’ colours do - but I can’t wait to see the transition from bright, to baby pink, to blonde.
 
Jason explained our recent obsession with colour in fashion terms; our haircut is the designer staple, the shirt or jeans that fit so well, we’ll go back to them again and again. Colour is our high street. It’s our current way of experimenting, knowing it can be changed in an instant.  Hair takes ages to grow. Colour can take a lunch break.