We're always game for checking out a new and affordable blow-dry bar – so when Duck & Dry opened recently a new salon at Oxford Circus (there's also one in Chelsea), we waddled in there pronto. Up a staircase tucked away behind Oxford Street, it's got a cool, hip, laid-back vibe. (And you've got to love a salon which has a bar offering tea, coffee and Prosecco – and indeed offers 'Umlimited Prosecco Thursdays'! Oh, and a swing.)

There are around 14 chairs (and more at the manicure station) – they clearly expect this salon to get very, very busy – in an industrial-chic setting. (Above is the chill-out/waiting area.) But while great décor is fine for setting the scene, it's the treatment itself which always interests us. Jo had a fantastic, bouncy blow-dry which left her hair super-shiny but not super-slippery (it's a fine balance) – and her stylist was super-fast, getting Jo out of the door in less than 45 minutes.

This is also great place for updos – a real speciality, with a menu of signature styles to choose from.

Duck & Dry – which is the vision of Yulia Rostrum – use their own products. The only slight challenge being that there isn't a mousse in the range, so if that's your style of styling product, best to take your ownl the Blow Dry in a Bottle Mega Volume Spray did work well, but results were perhaps not quite so long-lasting as Jo gets from mousse.

But overall, a great addition to our Little Black Book.

Prices are reasonable for central London/stylists with this sort of talent – a Duck & Dry Signature Blow-dry is £32 with a wash – and you can add a choice of mask/gloss for £12. There's also a pre-pay option which offers a seventh blow-dry free when you book six. Got a wriggly kid who needs a haircut? Just £20 – and they'll love it here.

Walk-ins welcome, they say. Or maybe waddle-ins?

Duck & Dry 28 Market Place, London W1W 8AW/020-8127 1121

duckanddry.com