Archives: Staff

Joe Milazzo

Jo Esente Director

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!

Which celebrity hair would you like to get your hands on and why?  I would love to do Kate Middleton’s hair. I would to shape it up and give her long hair the wow factor!

Who inspires you to create fabulous hair?  I love industry icons like the late amazing Vidal Sassoon or Trevor Sorbie – they have inspired some of my work. However, I was lucky to meet one of the industry’s greatest hair stylists Anthony Mascolo who, in the ’80s, led the early rise of Toni & Guy.  I was lucky to see one of his shows when I was 18 years old and he made me see that you could shape style and tease hair into amazing sexy looks.  We met and became friends later when I was 25 years old and he allowed me into his amazing world. I learnt so much – I am forever grateful to Anthony.

If you had to live on a desert island, which three hair products would you take with you?  Kevin Murphy Rough Rider Clay, Balance Shampoo and… hmmmmmm one of my Hair Massage Wash Basins if I could! 

What is your ultimate ambition? I feel I have already achieved so much in my career. I have a great salon with some very special people that work with and for me.  My ambition was to leave a legacy in our industry and that has become a reality in my Charity HAIR REBORN which I set up to help people suffering from hair loss as a result of cancer chemotherapy treatment.

We give free practical advice and up to 3 free hair appointments to help them get their confidence and lives back.

In just 6 years we have grown to over 30 salons and over 70 stylist volunteers across the UK helping people.  I have looked after over 150 amazing people myself and as a combined Charity we have helped over 850 people (figure up to Nov.2023).

I love what we are doing I’m so proud of everyone involved.

How would you describe yourself in three words?  Passionate, caring, sometimes crazy ideas! 

Tell us something about you that would surprise others.  I love sport and I have run 2 London marathons and cycled up a Volcano Mount Etna Sicily 9000ft in altitude in 3 hours.

Becky Jones

Becky Esente Consultant

Meet our Consultant Becky Jones, who started working in a salon at the age of 14 as a Saturday girl, beginning training in 2010 and qualifying in Hairdressing Levels 2 and 3 in 2012.  She has worked with two other salons as a stylist, each providing great training to allow Becky to progress, grow in confidence and finesse her skills.

Which styles or colours do you absolutely love doing?  I absolutely love colour – particularly balayage and highlights.  I love that fact that colour can be free hand and bespoke to a client’s needs. Balayage is something I’ve focused on a lot over the last few years as it’s always on trend.  It’s great to be able to create beautiful and soft blends.

What do you love about being a hairdresser?  What I love about hairdressing is seeing happy clients, to be able to create styles that work for them.  So seeing clients walk out of the salon feeling happy and confident with their look makes me proud I’m a hairdresser!

Which celebrity hair would you like to get your hands on and why?  I’d love to have Kate Middleton sitting in my chair, I’d love to introduce some soft pieces of balayage and contour around her face.

Who or what inspires you to create fabulous hair? What inspires me the most is hairdressers around the world on instagram, from pictures to step by step videos, I’m able to learn so many new colour formulations and new techniques.   Every morning with my coffee I watch mini videos of how to create certain styles and just want to know more about hairdressing!

If you had to live on a desert island, which three hair products would you take with you?

1. Paul Mitchell Neon Smooth Again
2. Kevin Murphy Young Again Oil
3. Moroccan Hydrate Shampoo

What is your ultimate ambition?  My ultimate ambition for me would be to one day have my very own salon, to manage a team and coach them on areas of hairdressing they feel they may need some confidence on.

How would you describe yourself in three words?  Happy, sociable, honest.

Tell us something about you that would surprise others!  Most people know me to be scared of heights!  A few years back I was on holiday in Tunisia and I went parasailing! That was the first and last time for me!

Rosie

Rosie Esente Hair Salon in Wimbledon, Apprentice

Rosie is our senior designer.
Rosie has been with Esente now for over 3 years & loves all aspects of hairdressing, in particular styling long hair & colouring with both highlighting & global colour techniques.

Heather Gogarty

Heather Esente Director

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!

Darren Read

Darren Esente Director

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.

Beth Ludlow

Beth Esente Assistant, Esente Hair Salon in Wimbledon

 

Beth is our front of house receptionist & salon Co-ordinator. She takes care of the salon as well as our social media platforms.