Exclusive: with Vicky Cooke, owner of CARBON Hair Salon

November 23, 2021

We met up with local, female, entrepreneur Vicky Cooke. Vicky is a hairstylist and the owner of CARBON in Hyde Park. This is a gorgeous, chic salon nestled in the heart of Hyde Square, next to Glenda’s. It’s now super convenient to get a fresh blow wave, on your way to brunch next door. The salon is young, vibey and they do a killer blow wave. CARBON uses the best products, such as Kevin Murphy, and Redken to name a few. We met up with Vicky for a quick coffee and this is what we discussed:

What was the inspiration behind the salon name, CARBON:

The name Carbon came to Vicky one afternoon when she was having tea with her neighbor. Her neighbor is an engineer, and while she was in their home, she stumbled across a periodic table on the dining room table. There, she came across the word Carbon. Being a hairstylist, she also immediately remembered that hair was made up of 52% Carbon, and as we know diamonds are also made from pressurised carbon. After conducting some storyboard research, Vicky loved the word Carbon and how versatile it was. Whether you’re talking about steel and construction, diamonds, or hair, the word carbon keeps coming up. The word Carbon was her inspirational spark and the rest ignited and grew from there.

Give us two haircare tips:

Tip number one is to always use a great heat protector. This product will save and help protect the integrity of the hair when heat styling.

Tip number two refers to hair extensions. Bonded hair extensions need to be replaced every 3 months, while tape in hair extensions need to be replaced every 4-6 weeks. You can develop bad knots in the area where the extension bond connects to the hair, this is caused by general wear and tear. There’s a common misconception that adding conditioner to the area can help loosen the knot. However, this approach is not true. In fact, it can actually knot the hair even more. What you need to do, is use your fingers to brush and pull out the knot yourself or with your stylist. It is a time-consuming process, but it’s the healthiest option for your hair. So, if you have knots where your hair extension bonds to the hair, get the knots out by hand, not by using conditioner.

What are your top three hair products to use at the moment?

One, Redken Extreme Bleach Recovery Lamellar treatment. This is a protein-based treatment that can be used to strengthen and nourish damaged hair. It’s a great treatment that helps with hair breakage.

Two, Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate (fondly known as Redken ABC), this shampoo and conditioner will leave your hair feeling silky smooth, and healthy, smelling great, and looking shiny. Your hair will feel smoother with frequent use, and consistent use will help maintain the hair and leave it feeling less damaged.

Kevin Murphy – bedroom dry shampoo hairspray. This is a lovely hairspray that will hold the hair, leaving it feeling less floppy and with all that extra oomph. It smells great too.