Kristina & Ben Anmeldelser 

Kristina was amazing! I walked past and asked if she had any availability for a trim and she did the most amazing makeover. I got a wash, cut, dry and she even curled my hair for me. Very friendly lady and I’ll definitely be back!!

I have been going to Kristina’s salon for a couple of years now and she’s been nothing but lovely and genuine. She’s always respected me and respected every new life that comes in, and instantly make them feel comfortable and at ease. Not only is she a kind hard working woman, she does hair beautifully. Hence why I keep coming back to her, so definitely recommend coming to her because she will change your hair for the better. Once again she is a lovely woman.

I have been going to this salon every 6 weeks for well over three years (I xxept during lockdowns ofcourse), as I live five minutes walk away and have my roots done regularly. I have always been very happy with the results. Kristina is absolutely lovely. She is kind and considerate and treats everyone with respect. I have only had good experiences here and can not recommend highly enough. It took me ages to find a hairdresser I was happy with and the fact I keep going back is proof of my positive experiences.

At first I was a bit apprehensive in coming to Kristina&Ben hair salon, as I typically never try out local salons. However, I have it a shot and I am so glad that I went to her. I asked for a full head highlights, a kerastaste treatment and blow dry. Kristina did my hair wonderfully, it feels amazing and the colour looks so good- I am thoroughly impressed and I enjoyed my experience at the salon. I would definitely recommend coming to her salon.

This is a review that I wish I didn’t have to write, a review that I shouldn’t have to write, but that I feel I MUST write as someone who is firmly against any form of ignorance and racial prejudice.

I want to make it clear that this review is NOT an attempt to ruin the business of a hardworking self-employed woman, but rather an attempt to prevent anyone else from having the same upsetting experience that I had yesterday, and also to, hopefully, give the salon owner some food for thought in how one should not engage with ones clients.
Had she not already begun to put the foils in my hair when she started to air her views, I would have made a quick exit, but as it was too late for that, I sat and listened to her, biding my time, having decided to have a word with her at the end of my appointment.
She shared how her daughter had met some “undesirable” friends at uni – Black, Filipino (“They are bitchy!”) and Indian. Bad friends that would "brainwash" her daughter apparently.
She said she’d previously found out her daughter was dating a black boy, and that this would “Ruin my life and her life too!” and that “All a black boy wants is a white girl”’ (I couldn’t believe that she thought it was perfectly acceptable to utter such words)
Whilst she was finishing my foils, a young white British female client came in.
The client mentioned that a friend of hers, who is Indian, used rose water in her hair, and the salon owner replied that Indian people get bald when they’re sixty as they use rose water. “Have you seen people with any worse hair than Indians?”
I was sitting taking notes on my phone throughout, not wanting to forget anything I had heard, not that I could…
Usually the treatment I book for a full head of highlights takes 4 hours (highlights, Olaplex treatment, cut and blow-dry), but I was out in just over two hours. I was told the treatment (Olaplex wasn’t used in this case) was free for first time clients, but it clearly wasn’t left in my hair for long enough as although the top layers of my hair are quite soft, underneath it’s like straw, over processed and stressed as if I had used a home bleach kit. I have never experienced this previously at any other salon (I had to visit a local salon this morning, who suggested an intense hair treatment product to help replenish the lost moisture which will hopefully return my hair to its previous healthy condition).
I found “KristinaandBen” online, the gallery of images looked amazing, and I foolishly believed that their high number of followers, 10.9 k, was real, and that this would be a good salon to try out. My much more savvy daughter later pointed out that these were not real followers as each photo posted only has a few likes – you live and you learn!
Anyway, back to the main reason why I am writing this review.
Back in the chair as she gives my hair a trim, she goes on and on about how beautiful my hair is and how Swedes have the most beautiful hair in the world, and how we all have blue or green eyes I told her that this is not the case! (We come in all hair, skin, and eye colours, believe it or not)She asked me twice if my daughter had the same beautiful blonde hair as me, first time I’ve ever been asked that question. I replied that she had beautiful thick, dark brown hair, and waited to tell her the rest.
As I had paid and was ready to close the door behind me, I turned around and told her that I am the mother of a Mixed-Race child, who coincidentally has both African and Indian heritage, and that I found her views deeply hurtful and offensive.
I added that she will have other white clients like me with non-white children, who will also take great offence to her views. She came over, gave me a hug (which threw me a bit) and said – "I’ll let this be my wake-up call." I told her that we are living in London, a multi-cultural city, and that she must be much more careful with what she says to her clients.
You expect a trip to the hairdressers to be an uplifting one - this was the most unpleasant experience I have ever had at a hair salon. I was fighting tears of anger, sadness, and disgust as she aired her ignorant and racist views, as if it was ok for her to do this simply because I am white, and as if my skin-colour would automatically mean that I’d be sharing her views? This is NOT ok.. It is something I may have expected to experience in the Deep South, but not in London, one of the most multicultural cities on the planet. And like myself, she is also a foreigner in this city, which makes her behaviour all the more baffling. Am hoping that the salon owner will indeed let this be her wakeup call, not just for the sake of her future customers, but also for her to discover how wonderful life can be when you live it with an open heart.