Anthony Llobet Hair Salon, Barcelona

I’ve been putting off getting my hair cut for ages, for a number of reasons. Not only have I been trying to grow out quite a short bob, which I had dyed a bit too dark, but I’ve also been anxious about finding a hairdresser here that I’ll like as much as my London one. I have very annoying hair; it’s the bane of my life. It’s fine but there’s lots of it so it looks quite thick, it’s wavy and it takes any bit of moisture in the air and uses it to puff up and frizz in quite an alarming way. 

Phil Spector (or me on a really bad day)

However, recently I’ve been losing the daily battle with it more often than not, so it was time to take action. I’d heard very good things about the Anthony Llobet salons here, they’re a small chain owned and run by the aforementioned Anthony, who is of Anglo-Catalan descent. He actually grew up and trained as a hairdresser in West London, finally making his home in Barcelona in 2000. I’d been looking at his Facebook page and thinking about making an appointment for a while, and luckily managed to win their 10 year birthday competition for a free cut. So it really would have been rude not to check it out.

My appointment was with Kelly (from Manchester!) in the Gracia branch. It was reassuring having someone that I could explain what I wanted to, without struggling over the translation. I’m sure I will feel more able to tackle that someday, but as I find it tricky to explain what my hair’s needs and issues (oh, such issues!) are in English sometimes, I think it’s best to leave that for a future date.  I had a bit of a comedy moment trying to get into the salon at first, there are 4 locals joined together and they all have doors but only one opens. Cue me trying all of them like an eejit till I got to the proper door. The salons have a great retro vibe with proper old school barber chairs and vintage style wall posters. Right up my street.

I wasn’t after anything too drastic, my main concern was not losing too much length while getting rid of the darkest dyed bits, and having something that I wouldn’t have to blow dry straight, as I’ve had enough of wrestling with the hairdryer, especially in this warm weather. Kelly got what I wanted straight away; she was lovely and friendly and had some great tips for me as well. She was quick too, I hate spending too long in the chair and love it when someone can get straight to it but still give you a good cut. I’ve popped in some photos so you can see the results. (No before shots, they’re censored). I’m very happy as I think it’s a good transition style to get me to the longer hair I want, as well as getting rid of the blunt fringe that I’ve had for ages. Excuse the terrible quality of the photos, I need to get a tripod so I can do better timer shots.

Bizarrely it also turned out that one of my neighbours from my building works in the same branch; I hadn’t even known she was a hairdresser. I thought she looked a bit familiar when I walked in but as she had her back to me I wasn’t sure at first. I’ll try not to harass her too much for freebies now that I know…

 Anthony Llobet have made another convert in me and I’d recommend them if you’re looking for a haircut while you’re here. They have branches in pretty much every corner of the city, so wherever you are, they should be easy to find. I’m going to leave my colour for a bit, as I want to go lighter and still need to grow a bit of the darkest brown hair out, so I’ll post another review when I go back for that.

Pin It