Making the cut: A good hairdresser can be a valued friend for life

Especially when you have unruly hair like mine, which is as voluminous as a privet hedge and, if cut too bluntly, will always resemble a lampshade.

I once had a very good hairdresser –Austen Thomson of Edinburgh’s Paterson SA salons.

He would hack at my hair, undercutting it with an electric shaver sometimes, until it bore a resemblance to a normal, nicely-layered hairstyle. Unlike the other hairdressers who’ve passed through my life, he was brave, and wouldn’t go for the safe styles (sharp bobs, for example) that, though fine on someone with glossy, medium thickness hair, didn’t work on me.

Unfortunately, as he rose through the ranks at Paterson SA, it became increasingly expensive to get my hair cut.

Eventually, the gaps between my appointments extended. I got into the habit of being shorn at any old salon once a year, before growing it back long, to repeat ad infinitum.

So, I was pretty excited when I heard that Austen and his wife Louise had opened their own business, Austen Thomson Hair, and that the prices are pretty reasonable.

Not only that, but they were recently awarded Salon Design of the Year at the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards.

You can see why, as the salon, formerly a bank, is light and airy, with pale grey walls that are set off by a chrome stag’s head.

I visited for my first cut in ages (the last time I went in, Jennifer Aniston’s hairdo was probably the most requested), with, clasped in my sweaty paw, a picture that I had torn out from a magazine.

“Short and choppy please,” I said to Austen, pointing to my photograph of a girl with a funky crop.

And that’s what I got. I felt like my head was slowly being inflated with helium as it got lighter, and chunky locks fell onto the floor.

I appreciate the fact that he doesn’t spend ages styling one’s do but, instead, works on engineering the cut.

After all, you want it to look the same once you’ve washed the gunk out, and too much straightening just flattens down what’s going to puff up again. Although, Austen did demonstrate how to “wrap dry” my new fringe, in order to tame my rebellious cow’s lick.

My crowning glory looked great afterwards – flicky, choppy and, mercifully, thinner.

I’m going to try to maintain it this time.

After all, if you’ve got a good hairdresser, you should cherish them.

• Austen Thomson Hair, 269 Junction Bridge, Edinburgh (0131-555 2277, www.austenthomsonhair.co.uk). A cut with Austen costs £50; £40 with a stylist or £45 with a designer. Quote Scotsman offer when booking an appointment, to be taken Tuesday to Thursday before 1 October, and you’ll get a free deep conditioning treatment.