The Rossano Ferretti salon is a new beauty destination in Monaco featuring a plethora of deluxe treatments and the signature “invisible haircut”, exclusively available at Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo at the Hôtel Hermitage.

After Paris, Bali, Southern California and New York came Monaco… And that’s just in the past 12 months.

The Principality has joined a prestigious list of 20 locations across the world to now boast a Rossano Ferretti salon.

It started among the commercial centres of the nearby Hôtel de Paris, also owned by SBM, but it is here at the wellness centre of the Thermes Marins in the Hôtel Hermitage where the Monaco resident of five years envisaged his salon.

“It is all about wellness at the end of the day,” Rossano reveals as we chat in one of the spa rooms, its emblematic half-moon window entrapping the expansive sea view beyond. It is the same view that impresses clients in the hair salon next door. “My hair cut, hair product line, the way we treat hair, the shampoo massage… Everything leans towards healthy. And the team I am working with here is really fantastic: Vanessa, Louis and all the stylists are great people. We have the same vision.”

Clients are unlikely to get an appointment with the world-renowned hair master himself. Nowadays, Rossano reserves his cutting time for VIP media events such as this, or for travelling the world to train stylists in his defining “method”, the internationally acclaimed invisible haircut, as well as his incredible shampoo massage, the all-natural hair product line, and general philosophy of hair design.

Rossano Ferretti may be hairdresser to the stars now – think Kate Middleton, Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga – but it all began in a tiny Italian village with its 400 inhabitants, and his grandfather, a barber, who passed on his passion to Rossano’s mother, and then to Rossano himself. The first time he held a pair of hairdressing scissors, a teacher remarked: “This is incredible, how can you use scissors like this the first time you cut hair in your life?”

It was a defining moment in Rossano Ferretti’s life: the moment he realised that he had a true talent. He was 14 years old.

With this newfound confidence, Rossano went on to travel the globe, funding his “education” of different cultures and their hair types through his work in the fashion industry.

“At that time, we didn’t have Google, so I had to travel to understand. I didn’t have access to Asian hair in my tiny town of Parma, or African American, Brazilian, or Swedish hair. So, I was using my talent in the fashion industry to make the money to go around the world and get in touch with the hair. That was the incubation period of my method, which made me famous. The method is the pillar of my life in terms of hair culture.”

Explaining “The Method”

The Method, or Il Metodo, is a revolutionary hair cutting technique, also known as the “invisible cut”, which focusses on the natural movement of the hair.

Ferretti describes a sophisticated vertical cut that is created using scissors with horizontal teeth, developed exclusively for the Rossano Ferretti brand.

“You see, my body is cutting the hair, not my scissors. Do you see the movement?” Rossano asks me as his upper body moves in fluid, dance-like motions around my head.

“These scissors have been created as a prolongation of my hands, something that interprets my needs onto the hair. And when we cut the hair with these scissors, we really give it a much healthier effect; it is shinier, lighter, and it has body.”

The scissors cut just 18% of the hair, where ordinary scissors cut up to 60%. The impact is clear and immediate. There is no “scissor effect”; no obvious layers that most hairdressers create almost automatically without any real thought or care in the process.

Rossano explains it is a personalised cut that concentrates on the individual beauty of each person; a cut that has been adapted to the type of hair, the facial structure and the personality, without damaging the cuticle, cortex or pigment of the hair.

A visit to a Rossano Ferretti salon most notably begins with a consultation. You are asked what your likes and dislikes are, about your lifestyle and how you move; what you eat.

At first, it seems a little intrusive, even for these therapists-in-disguise. But Rossano says it’s a necessary part of the process.

“Then we can find an answer to your questions because that is the way it should be,” he says passionately. “We become the interpreter to your personal beauty. It is not about trends or my haircut; I design my haircut for you. If you don’t feel like a hairdresser understands you, run out of that salon.”

Cruelty-free, high-performance, vegan hair products

Along with offering “The Method”, standout treatments at Rossano Ferretti Hairspa include premium hair services such as blow dry, Great Lengths hair extensions and colour services including highlights and colour correction, and other signature Rossano Ferretti treatments like the Moisturizing Hair Treatment.

All hair services are performed using Rossano Ferretti’s award-winning Italian collection of haircare products, which have been designed using the finest natural ingredients, formulated in Italy by a team of Italian hair artisans using expert skincare technology.

They are available to purchase exclusively at the hair salon and, encourages Rossano, should form part of anyone’s hair regime.

“People are used to their skin and make-up regimes, but not a hair regime. That is a fundamental mistake,” says the maestro. “If you are happy when you leave a hair salon, and you love how your hair feels, it doesn’t make any sense to go somewhere else to buy a product that doesn’t fit into your needs.”

So, was I impressed? I can confidently say that “The Method” is revolutionary, the head massage sublime, and the hair products incredible. It is clear why Rossano Ferretti is one of the most acclaimed names in the styling industry. Try it for yourself.

Photo above of Rossano Ferretti courtesy Monte-Carlo SBM