‘I hit rock bottom’: the incredible story of A-list hairdresser Adam Reed
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The hair world is renowned for the gloss and the glamour. It’s fabulous! It’s frivolous! It’s swishy blow-dries and it’s bouncy waves! But there is one hairdresser who sees hair in a different light, and that is Adam Reed. “I hate it when people call me a celebrity hairdresser,” he says, when we meet at his new east London salon. “It makes it sound like being ‘just’ a hairdresser isn’t enough. I don’t need the celebrity bit. I’m proud to be a hairdresser full stop.” The irony is that Reed
is a celebrity hairdresser, with Noel Gallagher, Sophie Dahl, Madonna and the
Sex and the City cast all firmly on his CV. But for him it’s about his unwavering love of hair. “They are no different to anyone who walks into my salon,” he says. “Look at that woman at the till! Look at that smile on her face. I am obsessed with the transformative element and how a good hair day can make you feel.”
This joy that Reed describes is a far cry from where he was this time two years ago. It was the early days of the pandemic and, as hairdressing businesses struggled to survive, Reed, 49, took to Instagram to tell his 42,000 followers that he’d had a nervous breakdown. “I was sat on the sofa to watch the Covid daily briefing and that’s the last moment I remember. The next thing I knew, I woke up in hospital with a letter that said, ‘You’re in hospital, your husband and son are fine and they know you’re here.’ ” Reed had dissociative amnesia. “I’d forgotten everything. I didn’t know who my husband was. I hit rock bottom.”
Lockdown had taken its toll on Reed’s professional and personal life. “It was a disaster. The government shut down our industry. I wasn’t making any money. We needed clients’ bums on seats and I needed to pay my team.” He became obsessed with the news. “I was addicted to watching it because I wasn’t getting the advice I needed. I found out many of my staff weren’t eligible for furlough, so I was waiting helplessly to hear when we would reopen.”
Reed came out of hospital after three days, and after taking a break he began to post on social media about his recovery and the various obstacles that have stood in his way: “Over the years I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety and low-lying depression, and I fully rely on my antidepressants. I love that I don’t have to be ashamed of that any more. You would post about a broken leg on Instagram, so why would I not post about my broken thoughts or mind?” Although it was a difficult time, Reed’s breakdown was a wake-up call for him that we all need to pay more attention to taking care of ourselves, physically and mentally.
Enter his new product range, Arkive, which has self-care — or as he calls it, head-care — at the crux of it. Named after himself, Adam, his son, Riley, ten, and husband, Kenny (ARK, geddit?), the aim is to “see washing your hair as a rewarding self-care ritual. I’ve thought carefully about the texture, the smell, the colours of the packaging and the accessible price range.” (The 11-product range
is now sold in Boots and the most expensive price is £14.) I took the products home to try and I’m a huge fan of the Liquid Hairspray — think setting spray without the crisp — and the Hair Primer, which is a heat protector that notably shortened my blow-drying time.
Despite his experience, Reed says there was one silver lining to the pandemic. “The public began to see that the hair and beauty world isn’t just lipstick and blow-dries,” he says. “It goes deeper.” Reed understands the power of hair to lift people’s spirits — he is a trustee of Haircuts4Homeless, a charity that works to improve the self-esteem of homeless people, and he also works with cancer patients and people with alopecia “to give them their armour back”, he says.
Reed’s passion is best experienced at his Spitalfields salon — less chichi hairdresser and more bustling emporium, overflowing with prints and patterns “inspired by a colourful cushion I saw in [the interiors shop] House of Hackney one day when walking to work”. The shelves are crammed with wigs he has created over the years and doodles that Riley, who wants to be a hairdresser when he grows up, has drawn. And Reed loves the idea of customers having a digital detox when they walk in. “I desperately want people to come in without being on their phones,” he continues. “I want them to be in the moment and to talk to me about their day. You’d be surprised how much clients confide in us. People tell their hairdressers more than they tell their own family.”
Adam Reed’s new Arkive range of ‘head-care’ products; prices start at £9 and go up to £14
There are plans for new salons in the UK: his next two spaces are set to be Surrey and west London, and this is the year he is going global, with Arkive rolling out in Australia, the Middle East and America. He is also expanding into the homecare category with products such as diffusers, candles and room sprays coming soon. “I’m obsessed with fragrance. I’ve thought very carefully about the scent in the Arkive hair products. Can you smell the iris in this?” he says, as he spritzes the Blow Dry Spray. It smells so good that I would wear it as a standalone fragrance — and guess what? “I’m launching fragrance too,” he tells me, unable to hold in his excitement. Reed is proof that no matter what life throws at you, things can change — and quickly.
“Arkive is my proudest moment yet. This brand, this salon, they are my for ever,” he says, welling up. “Coming to work in these four walls every day is everything I’ve worked towards. I can’t believe how much has changed for me in the past two years.”
arkiveheadcare.com,
adamreed.london
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