Last November, I spent Thanksgiving in Scotland with my daughter Erin, who's working on her Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh. Aside from attending a literary pub crawl, visiting Edinburgh Castle, which rises majestically out of a slab of volcanic rock, and eating dinner nearly every night at Henderson's, one of the best vegetarian restaurants on the planet, I made time to visit some of the city's salons. Like many neighborhood salons, The Cutting Room on Leith Walk in Leith, which provides major port access to Edinburgh, offers "ladies and gents hairdressing." On the opposite end of the spectrum are the five Charlie Miller salons located throughout the city. Not only was Miller named Scottish Hairdresser of the Year three times, but the Charlie Miller Artistic Team has also won 14 British Hairdressing Awards, more than any other salon outside of London. Jennifer Cheynes of Cheynes Hairdressing opened her first salon in Edinburgh's West End in 1976 with just one assistant. Today she owns six salons that cater to the needs of 130,000 clients. Hair by JFK is close to the university. Owned by a husband-and-wife team, Faruk and Karen, the Goldwell salon opened for business in 1995. Since then Karen has been nominated for British Hairdresser of the Year in the Avant-Garde category twice. The awards are such a big deal in Great Britain that JFK lists each nomination since 2001 on its window. That's why you won't want to miss our exclusive photos in this issue from three winners of the 2007 British Hairdressing Awards: Darren Ambrose, Mark Leeson and Angelo Seminara.
 Marianne Dougherty |
 CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP: The Cutting Room on Leith Walk; Hair by JFK is located on Edinburgh's South Side; Cheynes Hairdressing has been an institution for 30 years; Charlie Miller has five locations in Edinburgh. |
THE BEST OF YOUTH
Angel Del Solar began working for Louis Romero in his native Spain when he was just 15. Eventually, he became art director for Revlon Europe and an educator for Pivot Point in Spain, where he trained all of the company's educators. Ten years ago he moved to Seattle, WA, where he became a member of the Gene Juarez Artistic Team. Today the 38-year-old hairdresser owns the Angelo Mendy Salon in Tacoma, WA. One of the newest members of PureOlogy's artistic team, the talented hairdresser has been with the company for the past five years. —M.D.
 Angel Del Solar |