Salon: British Cool at the Neil George Salon in Beverly Hills

There’s this thing about salons in Beverly Hills that I hate. Snotty receptionists that look you up and down, determine that you are not a famous movie star or even a reality television idiot, and immediately treat you like a second-class citizen. Think Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman,” on her first shopping trip to Rodeo Drive, and you’ve got the idea.

Which is why I love the Neil George Salon. It’s Beverly Hills, all right, on Civic Center Drive behind the beautiful City Hall complex, but the attitude there is all British cool, instead of L. A. snot.

That attitude is obvious when you enter the bright, airy salon, and are greeted by a friendly gal who grins and send you off to change into a robe, to get you ready for your transformation. And transform people they do, at this hair haven owned by the British duo of Neil Weisberg and Amanda George.

Amanda George and Neil Weisberg of the Neil George Salon.

Amanda is the queen of color, with clients like Abbie Cornish and Brittany Murphy; Neil, whose easy, no bull attitude is so refreshing in a world rife with hair poseurs, is the cutter of your dreams. Especially if, like me, you dream of a cut that results in a look that is sophisticated and cutting edge, yet doesn’t take two hours and twenty products to achieve.

He set at my hair with a razor, chopping and shaping the too-long, shoulder-length straight locks I was sporting. As he cut, he regaled me with the tale of his journey from England to L. A. (we’re all the same, we leave the cold and damp for the sunny skies of SoCal and then never leave), his meeting with Amanda, and their joining forces to create the salon that does everything, from balyage color to Brazilian straightening to extensions, highlights, you name it, the duo and their crack team of stylists do it to hair.

The Neil George Salon in Beverly Hills.

Which is why so many famous faces flock to this unpretentious yet welcoming place. Think Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Ryan Reynolds, Debi Mazar, Kristin Cavalleri; they are all clients, and many are using the new line of products that Weisberg and George have recently launched, that features shampoos, conditioners, and Indian gooseberry treatment oil, that has made those with dry, frizzy hair (which would not be me) go nuts over it.

The Neil George Salon Beverly Hills hair product line.

As Neil explained as he gave me a cut that I literally have to run my hands through as I dry it, that’s it, with wonderful results and not a drop of product to gum up the works, “I cannot stand the bullshit that surrounds this business, the whole, ‘darling, you are so beautiful, so gorgeous,’ crap. Instead, we offer the best stylists and colorists in this town, in an easygoing setting. I think people like it.”

I know I did, partly because I just love the whole British sensibility and the lack of pretension that accompanies it, especially with the ex-pats from there that have infiltrated the L. A. scene. It seems that those in the know around Hollywood feel the same way.

Neil George Salon
9320 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-275-2808
http://www.neilgeorgesalon.com