Shrewsbury hairdresser Philip trims his prices 70s-style

Philip Minton, a Bond Street stylist in the Swinging Sixties and owner of K2 hair salon in the Darwin Shopping Centre, is giving his prices a quick trim on special offer days to roll back the years to the Seventies.

He has found an original price list from the days when he opened his first salon, Kameo, on the town’s Castle Street back in December 1971 – back in the days when Ted Heath was Prime Minister, Sir Alf Ramsey was manager of England and Bennie Hill’s ‘Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West’ was keeping T Rex’s ‘Jeepster’ off the number one spot in the charts.

Customers who visit his website and sign up could find they are entitled to a restyle and blow dry for under £5 or a shampoo and set for £1.50!

Philip, 62, of Weston Lullingfields, who has a second salon in Newtown, said he wanted to share the special anniversary with his loyal customers and think back over his fabulous career which started when he was only 15 and was inspired by Vidal Sassoon, the inventor of the bob.

He said: “I do remember the moment I wanted to be a hairdresser. I was watching TV and Vidal Sassoon came on one of these Saturday night programmes with two lovely girls on each arm and these two women just stood there and shook the beautiful bobs he had created for them.

“I just loved the way he was selling himself and his company and I thought to myself, I would like to do that.”

Nicholas Pitt, Centre Director of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “Phillip’s salon is always busy and always buzzing and still as cutting edge as it was back in the day.

“It’s also been a fantastic learning ground for young stylists and is an important part of the varied offer we have here in the Darwin Centre.”

By the age of 22, Philip, who is married with three children, was opening his first salon and four years later he was profiled in the Christmas edition of Vogue magazine.

But little did he know that the first wife of the man who inspired him to take up hairdressing would later become a valued customer.

He said: “When we opened our second salon in Newtown 12 years ago, Elaine Nations, Vidal Sassoon’s first wife decided to come in and give us a try because she was interested I think to support the new local salon.

“She is a really, nice lady and I have had some fascinating conversations with her over the years. It is quite special to think that I am now styling hair for a lady who has had it done by Vida l Sassoon himself!”

K2 is officially a Vidal Sassoon support salon which means his staff have access to some of the best training in the business and will have day long work experience with some of Sassoon’s top stylists.

Philip has worked with some of the industry’s greats himself, including taking part in a hair show and demonstration with the late New York stylist John Sahag who cut the hair of Hollywood’s finest such as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Philip said: “He was a very talented hairdresser who had some of his own methods of cutting into hair which everyone else copied. He was quite a quiet man when you spoke to him and he lived for hairdressing. He never took holidays because he just always wanted to be hairdressing.”

The hair shows are a particular favourite part of Philip’s job. He said: “I love doing the hair shows because you get an audience and you have to work quite quickly to keep people interested. I like the fast paced nature of it.”

After so many years in the business, Philip’s enthusiasm has never dimmed and he believes it is a fantastic profession for young people to consider.

He said: “Hairdressing is fashion, it’s art and it is always changing. You have to learn how to do things which suit individual features and hair. You cannot stand still on either the business or creative side and that is one of the things I really love about it.

“You have to develop your skills so you can look at a person and make their hair do the very best for their face.”

He added: “It is so much more than just a job. You have got to be working at it all the while and taking it that one step further and you have got to have the passion for it.”

Taking a moment to think about the proudest moment in his accomplished career, he said: “I think opening my own salon and this year being my 40th year in business, which makes you think back over all the things we have done, that makes me feel really good.

“It’s a long time, isn’t it!”

For more on Philip and K2 go to www.k2thesalon.co.uk.