Out of Africa 

From the moment you enter Nyumba on Mount Street in Mayfair, you know you’ve walked into a very different kind of hair and beauty salon. Owner and head stylist Michael Charalambous walks excitedly to the entrance to greet every client as if welcoming an old friend into his home. His warm, playful energy infects every corner of Nyumba, and it’s no wonder – he personally designed and decorated it himself, inspired by his childhood in Tanzania.

As he moves around the salon chatting with clients and stylists, he stops to straighten an African mask or adjust a porcupine quill, making sure the Kenyan coffee beans on the cafe counter are arranged just right. Nyumba means ‘home’ in Swahili, and on a wall facing the entrance is a metal plaque that says ‘karibu’ – Swahili for ‘welcome’.

“Everything in the salon makes me think of home,” says Michael, “which makes me more myself and makes it a very relaxing place to be.”

Nyumba is a little piece of East Africa in the heart of Mayfair – a festival of rich colours and zebra prints. African art and pottery nestle between bunches of flowers and jungle-like plants. Hanging above the reception desk is a chandelier made of ostrich eggs and shells that Michael created. In one salon room, a flock of brightly coloured parrots made of wire and feathers hang over the mirrors. The overall effect is exotic and inviting. Unlike other salons that have all the clients at the front of the shop, clients who prefer privacy can choose to be attended to in any of the softly lit rooms tucked away from the main salon, “to spread the energy and the warmth”.

“I personally take care of high-profile clientele from all over the world, from rock stars to royalty to the fashion elite, so having a private place to relax is very important,” he says. “Nobody has to see them and they can get everything they need here. If a client needs dry cleaning picking up, or if there’s something they need from a shop, we have people who can go and get it for them.

“The fantastic thing about Mount Street is there are so many beautiful designers, so I can personally recommend them to all my clients,” he says, adding that Nicholas Kirkwood, Stephen Webster and Roland Mouret are all Nyumba clients, and he recommends them regularly. He even takes clients into the shops to help them pick shoes or dresses.

“The new Mount Street has become like the gem of west London and very much fits with the brand of Nyumba and everything I want to inspire,” says Michael. “I love the whole feel of the street because it is a place of pure elegance, but it also feels homely and village-like. People are looked after and given the personal treatment. I go to Morton’s club on Berkeley Square to have meetings because it’s calm and relaxing. I go to Mount Street Printers because they have the best papers. I go to the restaurant at the Connaught because it has the best service and Helene Darroze, the chef, is also my client. We all trust and recommend each other by word of mouth, so it’s a community thing.”

Michael goes to the Church of the Immaculate Conception just off Mount Street Gardens, and has even given haircuts in a raffle. “I’m involved with everything I can be,” he says, “which is not always easy when I work six days a week. But maybe that’s because it’s relaxing here. I don’t want to ever leave!”

Nyumba, 6-7 Mount Street, London W1K 3EH
020 7408 1489
www.nyumbasalon.com