PeterJames was built from a genuine love of hairdressing — the creativity, the transformations, the relationships, and that feeling when someone looks in the mirror and sees themselves differently.
But the longer we’ve worked with hair, the more passionate we’ve become about something bigger. What’s happening underneath it?
The condition beneath the colour. The health of the scalp. The products being used every day. The changes we can prevent rather than repair. And the knowledge we can give someone to understand their own hair better.
For us, exceptional hairdressing isn’t simply about creating beautiful hair today. It’s about protecting the hair you’ll have tomorrow.
That’s the PJ Philosophy.
We don’t compromise hair for colour
We love colour. It’s part of our DNA. But no shade of blonde, transformation or photograph is worth sacrificing the integrity of someone’s hair for.
If your hair can take it, we’ll push our creativity and expertise to create something incredible. If it can’t, we’ll tell you. We’ll strengthen it. Treat it. Create a plan. And work towards the result together.
That’s why we’ve deliberately invested in some of the most advanced professional technologies available to us, and why we refuse to offer cheaper alternatives where we believe they compromise our standard. It’s also why our approach to blonde is built on three separate technologies rather than one.
Protecting your hair isn’t an upgrade. It’s our responsibility.
We don’t cut corners. We cut healthy hair.
We’re obsessed with the scalp
Because how did we spend so long talking about healthy hair without talking about where it actually grows?
Your scalp is the foundation of your hair, and we believe it deserves the same attention you give the hair you can see.
Hair loss shouldn’t only become a conversation when you’ve lost a significant amount of hair. Shedding shouldn’t automatically be dismissed. Hormonal changes don’t always mean accepting “this is just my hair now.” And an irritated or uncomfortable scalp shouldn’t simply become something you learn to live with.
We want people to become curious about their scalp. To look at it. Understand it. Care for it. And where possible, protect what they have before they lose it.
That’s why trichology, digital scalp microscopy and continual scalp education have become such an important part of PeterJames, and why the Scalp Clinic is an appointment in its own right rather than something squeezed in before a blow dry.
Prevention changes everything
Some of the most valuable things we do may never be visible in a finished-hair photograph.
Protecting bonds before unnecessary breakage occurs. Recognising changes in density early. Helping someone understand increased shedding before it progresses. Noticing something unusual on an area of their scalp they can’t see themselves.
Our entire team is MASCED accredited, because the scalp isn’t just where hair grows. It’s skin.
We’re not doctors and we don’t diagnose. But if being inches away from someone’s scalp means we notice something that should be looked at by a medical professional, we believe saying something matters.
For us, prevention isn’t a service. It’s a mindset.
We believe in looking at the whole person
Great hair doesn’t exist in isolation. What’s happening on the outside matters, but sometimes what’s happening on the inside matters too.
That’s why our Scalp Clinic follows the PJ Inside-Out Method. We look at how we can support the scalp and hair topically while also considering nutrition, lifestyle and the wider factors that can influence healthy hair.
It’s why Nioxin and Glowwa have become our Scalp Clinic power partnerships. Outside care. Inside support. The whole picture.
We don’t believe in conveyor-belt hairdressing
There is one person in your chair. You.
We want to know your hair. Your history. What you’ve loved. What you’ve hated. What you do with it at 7am on a Monday morning when nobody from PeterJames is there to style it for you.
We want to understand your scalp, your lifestyle, your expectations and how much maintenance you actually want. Because the best result isn’t necessarily the most technically impressive one. It’s the one that works for you.
That’s why our philosophy is simple: one client, one plan.
We prescribe because we care what happens when you go home
You spend a few hours with us. You spend every other day with your hair. So what happens between appointments matters enormously.
We don’t believe professional homecare should be about selling you the latest bottle on the shelf. It should be prescribed with the same thought we put into your colour or treatment.
What does your hair need? What does your scalp need? Why are we recommending it? What will it do? How do you use it?
We’ll give you the knowledge and our professional recommendation. What you choose to take home is always your decision.
We will never stop learning
This might be the part of PeterJames we’re most passionate about.
Education is at the heart of our profession. Hairdressing changes. Colour science changes. Technology changes. Our understanding of hair loss and the scalp continues to evolve. So standing still has never been an option for us.
Peter and James continue to invest in advanced colour, trichology, scalp and hair-loss education, while education runs through the entire PeterJames team. Our team is CAREOLOGIST, NIOLOGIST and MASCED accredited, and Peter and James are undertaking the Wella Master Colour Expert programme.
But qualifications aren’t trophies for the wall. They’re knowledge we bring back to the chair. The more we learn, the better questions we ask, the better decisions we make, and the better we can look after the people who trust us with their hair.
We choose better
We’re particular about what earns a place at PeterJames. The colour we use. The treatments we trust. The products we prescribe. The brands we partner with.
We choose professional products with performance, science, ingredients and responsibility in mind, prioritising cruelty-free choices and continually looking for ways to make the salon more sustainable.
We’d rather have a carefully curated collection of exceptional products than shelves filled simply for the sake of choice. More isn’t the goal. Better is.
This is PeterJames
We’re hairdressers first, and incredibly proud to be. But we believe modern hairdressing has a much bigger role to play.
To create. To protect. To notice. To educate. To prevent where we can. To know when to say not yet. To keep learning. And to care about the hair and the person underneath it.
We want you to leave PeterJames with beautiful hair. But we also want you to leave knowing more about it than when you walked in.
Beautiful hair today. Better hair for tomorrow. That’s the PJ Philosophy.
The team
Peter and James are the salon’s directors, and between them run the clinic side and the colour and cutting side of the business.
Zowie is Senior Stylist and Oli is Graduate Stylist.
On Dalry Road
The salon is at 119-121 Dalry Road, two minutes from Haymarket station and the Haymarket tram stop. See how to find us for directions.
