We visit Aldo Coppola, Rome.

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous...


Sometimes, when we can prise ourselves away from the chair, we travel. And sometimes the travel bit goes astray (but that's another topic entirely). So for the weary tourist what could be better than popping into one of Europe's most famous salons for a quick 'de-tressing'. Sounds good to me!


The entry to the salon is hard to find. There's nothing to distinguish it except a discreet Aldo Coppolla sign. Very discreet. The doorway is a simple but glamourous sliding opaque glass doors.

The reception was warm if a little confused. English was not really on offer. Our sign language almost made up for the lack of Italian from our side. That's our fault of course, we English speakers are so inadequate abroad.

As with all salon's the receptionist's job is not an easy one. So this day way no different to any other. Telephones ringing, clients coming & going. Tourists wanting haircuts now. We got the impression that the stylists wasn't too keen to handle another client in what was an already busy salon.

As usual the receptionist won the debate & the choosen stylist eventually warmed to the idea of doing Belinda's cut. Sound familiar?

Luckily an English speaking junior was found to assist. So Belle was able to get across what she wanted. If you've every seen Belinda, she has a shortish crop. Much shorter than any local woman we'd seen in the streets of Rome.

Espresso was served and we all settled in for a relaxing cut.

Observations of the Salon

The salon itself is floor to ceiling mirrors. Very nice, we all like mirrors don't we.
Behind the glass was cupboard storage. Which is a really neat idea.

All of the salon furniture was Phileppe Starck. Lets face it, that stuff looks great!
I did not however that some of the furniture does wear too well. This might just be because of the constant use in a very busy shop.

The staff were probably two thirds male. Which I guess means that the industry is of at least equal appeal to the countries youth. Nice one.

Retail was none exsistant. We saw Redken, L'Oreal & Kerastase in salon use but no retail was ofered or sighted. We may have missed the take home products in reception though as it was busy.

I think the colour in use was Majirel - but I'm only 90% certain on that. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Given the speed of the staff, I'd say they were booking on 30 minute blocks. Belle was definitely a squeeze in. And her stylist did well given that his next appointment turned up early. Can anybody scream "slooow shampoo!". we've all been there before.

Probably one 'bug bear' was the staff's grooming. most wore denim with uniform t-shirts & trainers. Call me old fashioned but I didn't like it. Too grungy for the surrondings & not appealing surely to the clientele. This is Rome's most famous salon afterall.

Different Strokes

I think that everytime i visit a salon other than my own, I learn something. Or I see something new or exciting.
This visit was no exception.

If you've ever seen an Aldo Coppola stylist cut hair you'll have notice the very unique way in which they 'palm' their combs.
Imagine that you're about to palm your comb. Most stylists place it in their non scissor hand - right?
Coppola stylists place the comb under their chin. Yes - under your chin. This looks weird to me. But 'when in Rome..'
I first saw this done by Keith Harris in his Wella tour of Australia a few years ago. He worked with Coppola at one stage. Keith told me that Aldo himself did this quirky thing himself. Hence it's now a company wide habit.
Try it - you might like it.

Another little quirk of interest is the lack of sectioning clips. We didn't see any at all. In there place... the human sectioning clip.
Picture this... you make a section of hair, your junior then holds that section. Repeat for the entire haircut, you section they hold. At one stage there were three hands holding various sections for the cutter. It works, but I don't know how cost effective that would be?

I'd say that the Italian hairdressers can Blow Dry very well. I saw no evidence of this first hand. But on the streets we noted that most women have medium to long hair. and most were blow dried straight or with a glamourous wave. We all know how strong Mediterranean hair can be, so I'd guess there were some strong blow wavers in action. Lots of hot tong work too.

Given the abundance of longer hair I began to feel sorry for hair cutters. There's not much action called for.

Creative colourists would be disappointed too. There's not much colour excitement to be had. lots of dark hair with natural foil variation running through. Nice, but not too wow.

Finishing up

All in all a nice salon to visit. Good service. Good quality work. Beautiful decor.

I'd say on a par with most Melbourne & Sydney salons. Maybe not quite the equal of some of our best shops though. That's more of a positive reflection on Aussie salons rather than a knock on this one. Ado Coppola Rome is a very good salon that we'd reccomend.

Cost for the ladies haircut €84.00. So thats about Aus$135.00.
Pretty reasonable we thought. (note: that means Aussie prices are generally too low - your work is worth more)

Find the salon:

via Vittoria 78/79
Roma



CarlK