If you ever find yourself wishing you’d chosen a different career path in life, take it from Elena Lavagni – it’s never too late. After she settled in London and gained a degree in psychology which she puts to use daily in her business life – building the booming beauty business: Neville Hair & Beauty.
Owner and founder of six-floor salon Neville Hair & Beauty, and service provider for the first Amazon Salon in Shoreditch which opened 20 May 2021, Elena is the force behind the ‘it’ salon, she and the Neville team are responsible for taming manes and turning heads.
Popular with the fashion set, there is always a race to Neville’s for last minute blow-dries or pre event mani’s. The swish salon is credited for perfecting the 5-day blowout for a blow-dry that lasts all the working week (and most famously the fashion week!), and Lavagni also introduced LA’s favourite Ombralayage; which combines ombre and balayage, – a unique and favoured colour trend amongst London’s elite, the blondi, chocolate blonde and now the instant blonde – for time poor clients.
I love working in my industry because…
Anything is possible if you are transparent and good at what you do. Being able to transform someone’s day through great hair is an extremely rewarding feeling for me and the team. Not only is hairdressing the perfect mix of creative innovation and social experience, but it’s also completely unpredictable; you could be on the tube one minute and doing the hair in the royal palace the next.
I’m best known for…
My persistence, a skill which has been put to the test repeatedly over the past few years with the pandemic. I also thrive on unearthing raw talent. By identifying the potential in people and investing time in developing their skill set it allows me to surround myself with people I feel are better than me (salon staff and PR, Marketing).
My top tip for any bride would be …
Make sure your hair is healthy as having healthy hair means it will be in better stead to withstand the heat and treatments necessary for the big day. At Neville Hair and Beauty we recommend brides come in 6 months before the wedding for a consultation that will determine the best course of action to get the hair in peak condition by the time the bride walks down the aisle.
My top tip for any groom would be….
To keep the haircut classic and timeless, as pictures from the big day will be around for years to come. Whenever a groom comes to us for advice, I recommend he visits our barber Fadi at Neville at the Bulgari Spa as his attention to detail is incredible and will also groom facial hair to blend nicely with the haircut.
The hair trends I’m loving currently are…
Really considered hair colours that highlight and complement the skin tone and eye colour. In terms of styling I love the lived-in look, unkempt but polished. I am also loving the use of dainty accessories in hair, we’ve recently launched the Neville range of fashion hair accessories which are a great way to elevate your hair game.
The Neville accessories can be viewed here: https://nevillehairandbeauty.net/product-category/neville-store/neville-hair-accessories/
The podcast I’m listening to is…
How to cut it hosted by Dome Lehane. I also frequently listen to ADHD experts.
My favourite place in the world to skip the crowds….
I would actually rather stay at home! Whether in Italy or London, I take no greater pleasure than with home comforts.
And finally, what’s next for you …
My current focus is our flagship salon and rebuilding after the pandemic. It’s been a few years of tough love for our industry, but I’m pleased that we have used an unpleasant situation to create a new exciting offering for our clients such as our Mani & Manes manicure and blowdry bar, which is open 7 days a week. We are also spending a lot of time and resources on building a confident and active team that feel empowered and where everyone learns from everyone. In terms of other activations, we are pleased to announce that we will once again be partnering with Chopard for the Cannes Film Festival this season.
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