Have you ever had a hairdresser nightmare? You know the kind of thing we’re talking about: some scissor-wielding maniac decides to experiment on your lovely locks, turns you into something resembling the mum from the Addams Family, and you have to pay for the privilege?!

If you read our featured London Review last week, you’ll remember that Qype user BushGirl had her very own hairmare at the Toni and Guy Academy on Oxford Street:

The bits of my hair that tumbled over my face and slumped forlornly on my lap were longer than the bits left stuck in my head. They collected around me like beautiful autumn leaves, except they looked up at me with big sad curls asking me ‘why? why? We did so much for you! Remember when you put those ribbons in us? You’ll never be able to do that with what you’ve decided to keep!’…

…It is the ugliest haircut I have ever been the sorry recipient of. And it is so short I can only wait for it to grow out. I left the hairdresser’s and stepped out onto New Oxford Street and bawled. I tried to tie it back but it’s too short to do so and I bawled again. I went home weeping and sobbing each time I caught my hideous reflection.

The lovely Qype community comforted poor BushGirl, but there was nothing we could do to put right what those scissors had put so very very wrong… or was there?

A few days ago we got a phone call from Rick Stonell at the Rose and Crown hairdressing salon (no, it’s not a boozer, they’re on Rose Street in Covent Garden, geddit?). Rick had read BushGirl’s tale of woe and was offering his considerable expertise to try and sort out her locks for free!

This makes us very very happy indeed. Not only does BushGirl get the hair she deserves in time for the Christmas party season, but we feel great because Qype was able to make a little bit of a difference in the real word. And, even better, it was a local, independent outfit that came to our user’s aid!

So we’d just like to say thank you Rose and Crown Hairdressing. We’re going to write a lovely 5 star Qype review for your salon right now!

From the 20th of December the South Bank in London will be hosting the city’s first ever slow food market.

Organised by Slow Food UK to promote clean, sustainable and fabulous tasting food (which is how we like our food here at Qype), the market will contain 25 stalls including Mark Gilchrist of Game for Everything, a special Christmas range from Patchwork Pâtés, specially prepared rare-bree pork and Somerset Cider Brandy stuffing and sausages courtesy of Sillfield Farm, the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, and Montgomery Cheddar and Stitchelton Blue Cheese from the famous Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Hungry yet?

Well if you fancy getting your taste buds on this fantastic selection of festive foodstuffs then we might be able to help.

The lovely people at the South Bank Employers Group have invited Qype to the opening day of the market and have very kindly extended the invitation to the Qype community.

Welll be visiting the market on the afternoon of Thursday 20th December (we haven’t confirmed a time yet but it will probably around 4ish) where we’ll take a tour of the stalls before retiring to a nearby bar for a bit of VIP Qype treatment.

Unfortunately there’s a limited number of places available for the trip so if you’d like to come along then please send us an email and we’ll put your name down on the list.

And if you can’t make it on the 20th or you’re not in London, then don’t worry because we’ll be holding a lot more events in 2008. Watch this space!