The Team

Say hello to Salon Director Joe Milazzo who owns Esente Hairdressing.  A stylist for more than 30 years, Joe started in a salon in Woking, Surrey, before moving to what is now a large chain of salons where he was able to develop a love for fashion hair and photo shoots. Joe bought his first salon in Battersea, London, when he was just 25 years old.  

Which styles or colours do you absolutely love doing?  I love all aspects of designing hairstyles but I particularly love long tousled volume curls with shape giving a sexy look that turns heads. 

What do you love about being a hairdresser?  Making someone walk out from my salon with a smile on their face feeling great about themselves!

My name is Heather Gogarty and I am Team Director / Senior Colour Technician & Manager of Esente Hair Salon.

How long have you been a stylist?  I have been a stylist for Esente for almost 15 years.

Please tell us about your previous jobs in the hairdressing industry. Before qualifying I worked in 2 other salons learning on the job throughout my apprenticeship before moving to Esente when qualified.

Which styles or colours do you absolutely love doing?  I am renowned for foil & freehand techniques & also have a passion for short styles & hair up.

What do you love about being a hairdresser?  I love seeing new people all the time, getting to know them & making them feel amazing!

Which celebrity hair would you like to get your hands?  I would love to get my hands on Victoria Beckham’s hair! I did many “pob” haircuts when she first went for that style & this time I’d create a short pixie cut to emphasise her gorgeous features!

Who or what inspires you to create fabulous hair? My clients! I love being able to create bespoke styles to suit an individual & it’s truly rewarding to be able to help people feel good about themselves.

If you had to live on a desert island, which three hair products would you take with you? Kevin Murphy Young Again Oil to revive my hair from the sand and sea! Kevin Murphy Dry Shampoo as I may not get a hot shower there!  Sea Salt Spray to funk up beachy waves!

What is your ultimate ambition?  When Joe is finally ready for retirement, my ambition is to solely run the salon, coaching the team to be the best we can be! We’re working on it!!

How would you describe yourself in three words? Happy. Good listener!

Tell us something about you that would surprise others. In my, ahem, spare time, I am a mum of 2 lovely boys, Jack & Theo, who keep me busy outside of the salon!

Our Director Darren Read has been a stylist for nearly 30 years, training at the London College of Fashion, working at Peter Jones in Sloane Square, John Freida in Mayfair, John Carne and Sean Hanna. He has worked on London Fashion Week and on numerous photo shoots for magazines such as Vogue, Elle and She.

Darren has also worked with L'Oréal as a ID artist, launching their colour collections in London, and going on to complete a L'Oréal Colour Specialist Degree, making him one of only 900 colour specialists in the UK.

Which hairstyles or colours do you love creating?  I love doing colour correction and I love working with curly hair which is my passion. I find a lot of clients with curly hair have never been told about graduation cutting when dealing with curly hair.

What do you love about being a hairdresser?  I love making people feel great about themselves and exceeding their expectation of a hairdresser. I also love teaching clients how to style and care for their hair when they're at home.

Have you won any hairdressing awards? I have been a regional finalist in the prestigious L'Oréal Colour Trophy seven times and was a finalist in the Fame Team for the Fellowship of British Hairdressing.

Which celebrity hair would you love to get your hands on?  I would love to get my hands on Margot Robbie's hair. I think she is stunning and could do with a colour change from blonde to something a bit more natural to suit her skin tone and make her eye colour 'pop'.

What inspires you to create fabulous hair?  Things that inspire me are fashion shows - I'm always looking at all the shows and seeing what the trends are. Vogue is my bible and I'm always watching people showcasing their talents on YouTube, Insta and Twitter. People I follow are the Sassoon artistic team, Andrew Heasman who is a friend of mine and has just become London Hairdresser of the Year at the British Hairdressing Awards.

If you had to live on a desert island, which three products could you not live without?  The 3 products I would take with me on a desert island would be Kevin Murphy Restore which evens out the porosity and moisturises and deep cleanses the hair of any build-up instantly. I would take Maxi Wash Shampoo to give my hair a great cleanse after swimming in the sea and Night Rider Paste to keep it looking fresh.

What is your ultimate ambition?  My ultimate ambition is to get everyone on the planet combing their conditioner through with a Denman carbon cutting Combe DC04. The benefits are life changing.

How would you describe yourself in three words?  Passionate, professional and perfectionist.

Tell us something surprising about yourself... Something that would surprise others is I am really in to space and how the cosmos works and am obsessed with rockets.