We’d be lost without KeraStraight!


Now that’s the sort of statement we love to hear.

We caught-up with Sandy Wood of Sandy Wood’s Hair Specialists, a Wellness Centre for the hair which caters for ALL hair types and textures (talk about putting healthy hair front and centre!)

Let’s start at the beginning…of reopening

Wow wee. What a buzz. We have been so busy. We worked 8 days straight at the beginning and opened 7 days a week. We now open the salon 5 days a week, but longer hours than ever before.

Good to be back? 

Well, what can I say. I really need to be honest about this. All our clients know how much we love hairdressing. They know how much passion and soul we put into every task. But, Style Director, Rheanna and I (like many of you ) were in total shock, fear and dread at the beginning. Very scared about the survival of the business.

We take it you mean the survival of the business during lockdown? How did you manage?

We diarised and planned our day into segments of exercise, learning, new hobbies, I learnt a new language, cycling and worked on the business. We truly immersed ourselves into enjoying the time that had been forced upon us. We had fun. By the time we were due back, it totally broke our stride. But by the end of day one we realised what we had missed.

Tell us a bit more about you, your role?

Rheanna and I are the biggest geeks when it comes to hairdressing. I have been in the industry for 30 years. And I still adore my job. My role is Salon Owner, but also…hair stylist, colourist, extensions specialist, trainer, mentor, receptionist, bookkeeper and janitor. And anything else in between.

Biggest hair crush? Most coveted style of the moment?

My biggest hair crush for me is more of a technique than a person.

I’m loving introducing face framing colours and cuts to my customers. And Chandelier layers - I’m scaring a few people with that idea. But this cut is working wonders on my curly customers, giving the hair freedom to lift and move.

Talking of curly customers, are you seeing more naturals?

I wouldn’t say that we are seeing more than normal. Over 50% of our clients have natural afro and curly hair, and over the last 4 years more and more people have heard about us. And we take them on their “natural hair journey”. We make a plan for them and structure their visits to us to achieve hair health.

But it’s not just afro and curly hair you specialise in?

We have a great following of customers of mixed origin, from Greek to Eritrean, from Norwegian to West Indian and Ghanaian. For our afro hair customers, a lot have found it hard to enhance their curl or even cope with their hair. They have found it hard to find a hairdresser that truly understands their hair type. That’s where we help…so does KeraStraight, we would be lost without KeraStraight Moisture and Protein Mask. We have an extensive treatment list for all hair textures and hair types, and these products work with all our clients. From fine blonde bleached hair to 4C afro hair.

For those opting for a relaxer, how does KeraStraight differ?

First thing first, we make sure all our clients know that a KeraStraight Ultimate Treatment has no resemblance to a relaxer at all. Whilst saying that, we have managed to convert 80% of our “relaxer” clients to an Ultimate Treatment, and stood back and watched their hair recover from the damage and weakness a relaxer causes. Sadly many people were not given an option or solution for anything else.

New styles that have emerged from lockdown? We’re talking the good, (we’ll get to the bad and ugly in a minute)

Many clients seem to have gotten bored of the balayage effect and have opted for a lot more brightening around the face.

I have introduced face framing colour to give them a lift with their colour. Lifting the hair colour and irradiating roots can give anyone a lift on a dull damp English day.

True! And as mentioned, what about those not so good, you know…the DIY disasters that you’ve had to resolve?

Ooh. A new client decided to watch a few videos and attempted to lighten her hair. After 2 full head bleaches, she then decided to darken the colour back to dark brown. Her hair went to a bad shade of khaki. We started with a series of treatments and then we tackled the colour correction for her. We were both pleased with the results.

What are you most excited about for the rest of 2020, the future of your salon, and the future for ALL hair in terms of trends and care?

The trend and future of afro hair seems to be curly-care and shine. And colour!!

A lot of our clients have been working on their natural hair care for over 5 years now. And since getting back we have done so many colours on all hair types. From baby-lights to full global colour and balayage. Our black and mixed-race clients are now wanting to be bold with their colour choices. It’s been incredible to see the transformation, and their smile that goes with that change. 

Thank you Sandy for taking the time to answer our questions this month.

You can follow Sandy Wood on FacebookInstagram and visit her website for more details.