I think I’ve mentioned this in a previous post somewhere — and you can call me shallow all you want — but the way a product is packaged often makes or breaks my decision to buy it. I like beauty and skin care brands that put as much love into their presentation as they do their products. This is why I was bound to love the London-based hair care brand Percy & Reed, with highly stylized bottles featuring adorable illustrations of fab-looking ladies.
You may have seen a bottle of the Percy & Reed No Fuss Fabulousness Dry Shampoo in action in our guide to using dry shampoos; Deszell lusted after the Free Yourself From From Frizz Smoothing Set a few months ago. I also have an unopened bottle of the Hair’s Best Friend Totally Intensive Treatment Oil+ patiently awaiting its turn to be used (alas, such is the life of beauty editors: we buy more beauty products faster than we can use them).
You’ll be happy to hear that Percy & Reed products will arrive in Indonesia via Sephora very soon, so don’t be surprised if you see a slew of reviews about them here. I had the opportunity to meet Adam Reed, one half of the eponymous names behind Percy Reed. Adam is an accomplished hairstylist to the stars, who has helped names like Diane Kruger and Sophie Dahl prepare for the red carpet; he can be found backstage at various Fashion Weeks working his magic on the models, but one of my favorite longtime collaborations of his is the work he does with Henry Holland. Adam was in Jakarta recently to introduce and demonstrate a new hair styler from ghd, and I was there with a long list of questions.
Hi Adam! Welcome to Jakarta. Is this your first time in Indonesia?
Yes it is! I’ve been to other parts of Asia like Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, and something I love about Asia is its vibrancy, and that’s something I see everywhere I go on the continent. This is my first time in Indonesia, but you know what: I have a lady who cooks me the most amazing Indonesian soup — I can’t recall what it is but I’m going to have to try the real thing now that I am here!
[Editor’s note: he later looked it up and figured out that it was Soto Betawi :D]
You’re here to demonstrate the ghd eclipse, but what are some of your favorite Percy & Reed products to use with it?
Our hairspray, we have an amazing hairspray. Our No Oil, Oil, for smoothing and sealing. They’re brilliant, they work really nicely together with the ghd eclipse. Our oil will work to protect, and our hairspray gives a really nice dry finish, and then the eclipse smooth, texturizes, and gives the most incredible finish. And then if you are using heat appliances, a mask is really important. Using a mask is really important — especially in an atmosphere like Jakarta — to boost and condition the hair, and our TLC Mask is really great for that.
I know you’ve only been in Jakarta for less than twelve hours, in the little time you have had here, what do you think Jakarta women can learn from do you think we in Jakarta can learn from London?
You know, the women’s hair here look great, but it looks a bit too much going on: bit too much hairspray and a little bit too big. If the hairdressers stopped ten minutes before they finished, it would look incredible! In London, it’s a little more relaxed now, and that’s the only thing: the hair here needs to look a little relaxed. But it’s brilliant! What people in London do is look at the trends coming in six months from now, whereas people here look at what’s going on now. So look up Instagram accounts of hairstylists, look up Style.com, look up all the social media websites to stay ahead. So over here, I think it’s very on-trend, whereas London is ahead of the trend.
What do you think about the way social media has blurred the lines between the stylist and the user?
Social media has allowed us and magazines to see what’s far ahead. I think from a trends perspective, so much is happening that you can’t just say that this one thing is THE trend, and social media is the best way to see what’s happening. I follow everybody from Ricardo Tisci to young British hairdressers and see what everybody’s doing, but I wouldn’t pick up a magazine and copy that, because I want to be ahead of the trend. And social media — everything from blogs, Twitter, and Instagram — show you what’s happening as it’s happening and that’s great.
What is your favorite decade for hair?
For me, it would have to be the ’70s. It was when women became a bit freer. I love the texture, I love big hair. When you think of Debbie Harry in the seventies and Chrissie Hynde, you think about a masculine feel coming in. In the sixties you think about Dusty Springfield and that sort of big, overdone hair, which was beautiful — but the seventies lent something that was a little bit freer, and it was just a great era. The freeness! Short short hair! If you think of Mia Farrow’s hair in Rosemary’s Baby, it was the first time that really short, cropped hair became cool.
And is there a particular era that you regret happened?
The ’80s. Because style got lost in the eighties, in every sense of the word. I think clothes were quite ugly, I think that everyone was trying too hard with that.
But I know a lot of fashion editors who enjoy the ’80s, even if in an ironic, subversive way.
You know what, I hate irony, and I think that’s why I hate the ’80s. Nobody can get it right — everybody will do it ironically, but nobody buys into it, ever. I don’t think anybody buys into it in fashion, in hair, and definitely not beauty. Nobody ever does a retake of the eighties in beauty, ever! You will never see that ridiculous over-done turquoise eyeshadow. It’s a trend that never takes off. But I reckon in the next two to three seasons, we’re going to see a return to that in fashion and makeup, and everyone will get it wrong. So watch out for that. It will make an ironic resurgence, but it will never, ever make a resurgence in earnest. Luckily.
Needless to say, this was easily my favorite interview to date. I’m a big fan of his work with Henry Holland and the Percy & Reed range — so I was as excited as a fan at a One Direction concert. But he put me at ease with his openness and friendliness, and did one of my favorite things anyone can do in an interview: go completely off topic (I love it when interviewees do that). He even directed me on how to do up my hair when it was time to take a picture with him (“You should do a top knot, it’d work really well on you.” I’ve been wearing my hair in a top knot ever since). Adam was in town to demonstrate the brand new ghd eclipse hair styler. Learn more about this new innovation from ghd when you click on through to the next page!
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