Salon Success Jingle Mingle at Malmaison, Manchester

Hey,

I recently had a wonderful time with the guys at Salon Success - a distribution company who represent some of the best names in haircare; I'm talking, Paul Mitchell, Olaplex and Hair Angel.

We met up at the fabulous Malmaison, in a private dining room in the Chez Mal Brasserie. Food, good company and great hair products - what could be better?!

This event really kicked off my festive feelings. The room was beautifully decorated and the meal, complete with cute mini crackers, was wonderfully warming on a cold November day.

We were served a hearty celeriac veloute which is not something I'd ever choose myself from a menu but my god, it was good!

This was followed by a delicious pork belly, served with creamy mashed potato and seasonal vegetables.

Finished off with a decadent chocolate brownie with cream and a rich sauce, the meal was the perfect base for chatting about hair, Christmas and everything in between!

I'm already a big fan of Paul Mitchell products and that was a big draw in attending. I've dipped in and out of using their products for years and it's great to see that after all this time, they've maintained their brand ethos of high quality product and formulas, minimal branding and ethical values.

We got a firsthand look at PM's Christmas gift sets, which all have a 'love is...' theme. I got to take away a 'love is sleek' set containing a shampoo, conditioner and a serum.

As well as old favourite, Paul Mitchell, I was introduced to some new (to me) and exciting brands too.

First up is Kenra - which has been around for decades in the USA but is new to the UK thanks to Salon Success! The Artformation hairspray had actually been recently recommended to me by a stylist so I was over the moon to receive a can to try for myself! It's everything I hoped and more and has become my go-to. I'll definitely be purchasing this one.

I also received the brand's Revive shampoo and conditioner for repair and strengthening, plus a heat protection spray which is something I'm hugely guilty of neglecting during my styling routine.

Next up, an essential styling tool - the classic hairbrush. The Classic Dressing Brush we received by Marula Oil is created with boar-like dual-level vegan bristles and a beechwood handle. This is the most gorgeous hairbrush I've owned and feels completely luxurious to use.

Lastly and perhaps my favourite haircare discovery was a brand called Celeb Luxury. Experts in colour, I loved hearing about their innovative products - especially the one we were given to take away, 'Gem Lites'.

The Gem Lites 'Colorwash' series are shampoo-like formulas with 'Colorposit' - a technology to add tones of colour whilst shampooing! These come in various shades and can be used each hair wash to build up colour or used alternately to maintain your tone. The colour chosen for me was perfect - Tahitian Pearl; a deep tone to maintain brown hair and counteract brassy tones.

My hair is naturally dark but has quite a lot of warmth to it (which wasn't fun to discover when I went through younger phases of trying to bleach sections of my hair to a cool platinum and coming out with brassy yellow). I prefer my hair to be a cooler brown and had it coloured my perfect tone before my wedding in July and while the regrowth isn't really visible, the warmth is definitely coming back through. I've been using this shampoo intermittently and it's really made a difference - hello deeper, richer, ashy brown hair!

Are some of these brands new discoveries for you too? Let me know!