Luke Jacob

When you have curly hair the idea of going to the hairdresser’s is a lot more dramatic than for those straight haired women. There is the fear of a hairdresser screaming with terror at the prospect of having to try to tame your mane, the risk of coming out looking like or the sound of the sheep shearers coming out (this actually happened to me as a child).

As a result I will have to admit I didn’t actually get a professional haircut for near on 10 years, instead just letting my friends chop off the odd inch with a glass of vino in hand. This summer though I decided it was time to face my fear and seeing on Twitter that there was a new hairdressers round Spitalfields was a perfect opportunity.

Luke Jacob is opened in Feruary of this year on Commercial street just a few doors down from The Ten Bells. I went along in June, slightly worried about the fate of my locks. The place is nice and cosy and who doesn’t love that wallpaper?! After being given a glass of wine to settle my nerves, Deane spent the next hour washing, brushing, shaking, cutting and generally taming my hair. I was really pleased with the end result. Not too short, no shearers in sight. At £45 a cut for women, the prices are really reasonable, particularly considering the Spitalfields location. 

A sign of a good hairdressers is if you go back and back I went at the beginning of the month, and back I will go for my hair cuts whilst they are still there. Tea, wine, good reading material and great friendly staff... no reason not to really. 


Luke Jacob
80 Commercial Street
London
E1 6LY
0207 247 0087

May Bank Holiday

A sunny bank holiday weekend is one of those elusive things which, when actually happening, make every Londoner the most cheerful person you've ever met. I had a wedding reception in Kent to go to on the Saturday evening, so Friday was kept tame with just a few much needed, post work gin and tonics at the Clapton Hart.

Saturday afternoon – project beautifying started with getting my nails done at Nails 4 You on Dalston Lane. At £28 for a full manicure and pedicure, my winter neglected feet were scrubbed, scraped, buffed and ready for sandals. You can get a mani-pedi for the same price at the little stand in the Kingsland Shopping Centre but at Nails 4 u they are always super friendly and quick which is a real bonus. Plus massaging chairs - enough said. 

Next came my waxing at Ria. Now my reason for going to Ria is that it's cheap and you can usually always walk in or at least call them an hour in advance and walk in. Also location wise I can get a quick wax whilst picking up dinner from Sainsburys. On the other hand if I could afford to go somewhere pricier – I most definitely would. The customer service is pretty shoddy and often just quite frankly rude. But hey ho – beggars can’t be choosers in the waxing world.

Now yesterday was one of those bank holiday Mondays we all dream of. I was busy doing some last minute packing as am off to Hong Kong fora week but I wondered down to Dalston in the sun. First stop was Street Feast who were back in Dalston for the Land of Kings/ Kids weekend. After battling my way past swarms of children I found the car park where Street Feast had located itself. As usual my food indecision reared its ugly head but in the end I went for Original Fry Up Material – it was a sort of brunch time after all. I went for the English – what I can only describe as a sausage egg muffin which would bring McDonald’s Egg McMuffin to its knees. It was amazing. That’s all I can say.

On my way home, Harvest (the new health shop/ café on Kingland road) were selling whole young coconuts to drink curtesy of Cocoface. At £2.75 each it was much better value then paying around £2 for the little VitaCoco water’s I occasionally treat myself to. When the coconut water had all gone, I went home and attacked the coconut Kill Bill style in order to get to the flesh inside. Yes it took 3 knives and 20 minutes but eventually: Alice 1 – coconut 0.

I had a nice and chilled bank holiday and hopefully this weekend was the sign that summer is well and truly here... when I get back I really must sort out my balcony. Now, I’m off to Hong Kong for a week to eat as much dim sum as I possibly can. In fact I will most likely return in the form of a dumpling with legs. 

Nails 4 U

18 Dalston Lane

E8 3AZ

Ria Beauty
Unit 26 & Kiosk 2, Kingsland Shopping Centre
Dalston
E8 2LX

Harvest E8
130 Kingsland Road

Dalston
E8 4PH