Maud Jannin at Free Nation of Beauty

Street cred Maud Jannin, of Free Nation of Beauty, credits her fab technique to the formative years she spent cutting hair in Paris, Dubai and Mexico City, as a stylist for the renowned European beauty brand Jacques Dessange. She’s been a fixture in Chicago for five and a half years and left her post at a posh Gold Coast salon to help start up Free Nation of Beauty in February, spending Tuesdays at the Lakeview venue and the rest of the week at the Gold Coast location.
Why I love her After living in Chicago for more than two years, I still hadn’t found my go-to salon, so I was floating in a sea of recommendations and mediocre haircuts—never disappointed but never totally psyched, either. Then I went to Maud. Thanks to a summer of constant exposure to sunshine and chlorine, my long hair was making me feel as drab as it looked. Maud confidently blunt cut it to shoulder-length, with the back slightly shorter than the front, giving it an effortless bounce and energy it’d lacked for years. It was a cool, easy-to-maintain cut that was perfect for my active lifestyle. When she moved to FNB, I didn’t get the message (technical difficulties). Slightly devastated, I begged Maud’s former venue for her new info (no such luck) and Googled her name (I was spelling it wrong). Sniff. But there’s a happy ending to this story. I found her again when I commented on my friend’s awesome new haircut at her wedding luncheon in May. “Who do you go to?” I asked. “Her name is Maud,” said my friend. “And I absolutely love her.” Cuts by Maud start at $60; color services start at $55. 45 E Oak St (312-944-3662, fnbsalon.com); 3255 N Broadway (773-857-3662).

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