THE MAGPIE:ALL THE depressing talk about banks, Nama and haircuts is enough to make one want to escape for a low-cost weekend jolly in London . . . where you can have a short back and sides for just £20,000.
Celebrity stylist Stuart Phillips’s salon in Covent Garden has Swarovski crystal chandeliers and Japanese shampoo beds.
Regular clients doubtless think his prices are a snip. They are not only offered a treat for their hair but they can have champagne on tap and order anything from the menu at the five-star Covent Garden Hotel, across the road.
Some fly in from Moscow or New York will be put up for two nights in the hotel. Bodyguards, interpreters or personal chefs can be provided. “You get treated like a king or queen, it’s glamour and luxury all the way – and you will leave looking a million dollars,” says Stu. Doesn’t it remind you of the Celtic Tiger years?
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MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE on matters trichological (that’s your teaser for the day . . .), it has become clear just why the Sultan of Brunei is one of the world’s richest chaps, if not the richest.
He spends a mere £15,000 on a haircut. This is what he reportedly paid to fly his favourite barber, Ken Modestou, from London, to Brunei this month.
The Sultan, or Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, was so worried about catching swine flu that he paid £11,000 for a private luxury cabin for the hairdresser – so he didn't mix with other passengers on the aircraft. Modestou runs a barber's at the Dorchester hotel in Mayfair and usually charges £30 for a trim, according to The Sun. The 63-year-old ruler of the tiny, oil-rich enclave pays Modestou thousands every time he makes the trip to Brunei.
“Ken has been cutting the hair of the sultan for 16 years,” a colleague said. “He goes regularly, sometimes every three or four weeks. The sultan flies him first-class at a cost of about £9,000. Everything is paid for, hotel, luxury food.” The Sultan, estimated to be worth £12 billion, pays Modestou with a “thick envelope”. Thick indeed . . .
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AND SHOULD the Sultan be looking for a little eau de toilette,what better than a new range, the ultimate in geek chic – Star Trek aftershaves and perfumes.
Shoppers have a choice of three "stunning" scents: Tiberius (the middle name of James T Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise) which creates a "casual yet commanding" aroma, according to creators Genki Wear (www.genkiwear.com).
“Tiberius Cologne for men is difficult to define and impossible to refuse – in any universe,” gushes Genki.
Also available is Red Shirt Cologne, which is inspired by the phaser fodder – unknown crew members who accompany the away team on Star Trek missions. It’s marketed under the slogan: “Smell like the future, because tomorrow may never come.”
Purlease . . .
Lady trekkies are also catered for with Ponn Farr scent, which apparently takes its name from the Vulcan mating cycle. One gift website says: “Set to stun, these fully licensed fragrances boldly go where no scents have gone before. But they’re not just for Trekkies, they’ve been formulated to smell gorgeous on normal, non anorak wearers too.”
Each will set you back €34.
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ENOUGH! A major museum in England has appointed a boy aged six as director of fun.
Sam Pointon wrote a letter to the National Railway Museum in York saying he wanted to be the new chief when he heard the boss, Andrew Scott, was to retire.
“I am only six, but I think I can do this job,” Master Pointon wrote. He was perfect, he explained, as he had been on lots of trains, had visited the museum, and owned an electric train track.
Museum executives were so impressed they appointed him director of fun. His job will be to tell bosses how they can ensure the museum is the most fun place for children to spend a day out.
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FINALLY, A man who is jobless for six months has offered himself for work on eBay. Richard Lloyd from Golcar, Huddersfield, claims he would be an “outstanding employee”. The former pub boss says he will consider any role.
Barbers seems to be doing OK these days . . .