Mobile hairdresser in St Ives. The Cambridgeshire one.
Cuts, colour, blow dries and men's perms at home in St Ives, the Hemingfords, Fenstanton and the villages along the Great Ouse. Twenty years behind the chair, Vidal Sassoon trained, around twenty minutes away in Yelling.
The St Ives with a bridge chapel, not a beach.
Search for a hairdresser in St Ives and half the results are hundreds of miles away by the sea. This page is about the other one: the market town on the Great Ouse, with the old bridge and its chapel, the Hemingfords strung along the river to the west, and Houghton and Wyton on the road towards Huntingdon.
My name is Biba. I have been doing hair for twenty years, I trained at Vidal Sassoon, and I worked at senior and director level in salons before setting up a home salon in Yelling and a mobile service that covers Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. St Ives is one of the regular towns on that round, and it is closer than people expect. I come up through Hilton and Fenstanton, cross the A14 and I am in town in around twenty minutes. Hemingford Grey is a little closer still.
For a lot of people in St Ives I will be somebody new, so I will be plain about how it works. I bring the salon to your house: the same Wella, Moroccanoil and Olaplex products, the same professional dryer and tongs, and a proper consultation before anybody touches your hair. If a photo you love is not going to work on your hair, I will tell you, and tell you what will get you closest. I would rather have you for ten years than for one impressive afternoon.
Four steps, and one of them is which St Ives.
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Book the home visit
On Fresha, choose the Home Visit version of the service. The salon version is listed separately and means you come to me in Yelling, which is lovely, but not what you are after here.
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Postcode in the notes
Your address and a PE27 postcode, or your village postcode, in the booking notes. It also settles any confusion about which St Ives you mean, which happens more than you would think.
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Cottage or new build
A chair near a plug socket, a sink I can rinse at and a little floor space. A small cottage kitchen in Hemingford Grey and a new build in Fenstanton work equally well.
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Done, tidied, gone
The same appointment you would have in a salon, with the same products. I sweep up after myself and you never had to look for parking near the bridge.
The homes round here vary more than in most places I go. Older cottages in the Hemingfords and Houghton, terraces close to the town centre, and newer estates on the edges of St Ives and in Fenstanton. None of that changes the appointment. It only changes what is useful to know in advance, like whether there is room on the drive or I should look for a space on the road.
St Ives, the river villages, and out towards the fens.
- St Ives town centre
- Hemingford Grey
- Hemingford Abbots
- Houghton
- Wyton
- Fenstanton
- Hilton
- Fen Drayton
- Swavesey
- Holywell
- Needingworth
- Bluntisham
- Somersham
Hilton and Fenstanton are on the road I come in on, so they are barely a journey, and Fen Drayton is just beside them. Hemingford Grey and Hemingford Abbots sit along the river to the west of town, and Houghton and Wyton are a little further on towards Huntingdon. East of St Ives, Holywell sits down by the river and the road runs out through Needingworth to Bluntisham, with Somersham further out to the north east. Swavesey, on the busway, is a short hop from Fenstanton.
Huntingdon and Godmanchester are on the Huntingdon page, and the villages closer to me are on the St Neots page. The rule everywhere is anywhere within roughly a 30 to 40 minute drive from Yelling. If you are out past Earith or towards Chatteris, ask before you assume the answer is no.
Including the appointments people assume will not.
The whole services list comes with me, and that includes the ones people are surprised by. Men’s perms, soft and loose rather than tight, cut and permed together in around two hours. Brazilian blow dries and keratin smoothing, which I have written about honestly in what permanent straightening can and cannot do. Full head foils and balayage. None of it needs a salon to be done properly.
Then the everyday list. Ladies', men's and children's cuts, blow dries, up-dos and special occasion hair, toners and colour refreshes, Olaplex and the Wella and Moroccanoil mask treatments. Brows, lashes, waxing and facials too, which a lot of clients add to the same visit so they only have to be in once. I have worked with every hair type, including Afro-Caribbean and Asian hair, and there is a page on Afro and textured hair if that is you.
The only thing that stays behind is a backwash. Your hair is washed at your kitchen sink or over the bath, which works perfectly well in the smallest cottage kitchen. I bring the towels, the gown and the dustpan, and I need a chair near a plug socket and a sink I can rinse at.
When you book, choose the Home Visit version of the service on Fresha rather than the salon one. There is a £10 call-out on top of the service price, already built into that listing, and it covers the travel anywhere inside the usual area. St Ives costs no more than the villages next to me.
Before your first colour or tint with me you will need a skin test at least 48 hours ahead. I can post it to you, it takes about a minute, and colour does not go ahead without it. On timings, expect about an hour for a wash, cut and blow dry and two to three hours for foils, and I will give you an honest figure when you book.
Busway commuters, village families, and men after a perm.
A lot of St Ives works in Cambridge and gets there on the guided busway. By the time you are home the salons in town are shutting, and an evening appointment in your own kitchen is a far easier thing to keep than a Saturday morning. Evenings and Saturdays are part of my normal week rather than a favour.
In the villages it is often families. Parents who have worked out that an hour at home is achievable and a trip into town with small children is not, and children who are far calmer having their hair cut in their own front room. Older clients too, in the villages and the cottages round the Hemingfords and Houghton, who would rather not get in the car at all. There is a page on home visits for older and housebound clients if that is who you are booking for.
And men who have seen a soft perm and want one without hunting for a barber who does them. If you are deciding whether a home visit is for you at all, I have written about what happens on a first home visit and what a mobile hairdresser actually costs.
What people said after their first go.
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I love my hair cut! She was super friendly and really listened to what I wanted. Thank you so much!
Lucy M · Wash, cut, style and blow dry · Fresha, August 2026
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I absolutely love Biba! After years of avoiding getting my hair cut after so many experiences of leaving and just hating it, I found Biba! She's so wonderful to chat to as she works, and I always leave absolutely loving how my hair looks, so much so I'm now finally (at 36!) having regular hair cuts!
Nikki Feller · Cut & Style · Google, November 2025
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I would definitely recommend Biba. Today was my first appointment with her and I'll be back.
Abby Rudd · Cut & Style · Facebook, August 2022
These are about being listened to and trying somebody new, which is the question most people have before booking a hairdresser they have not met. They are not tagged by town, so I am not claiming they are from St Ives. Every review, from Google, Facebook and Fresha, is on the reviews page.
Twenty minutes the other way.
If you would rather come out for the salon experience, the home salon is at 10 High Street, Yelling, PE19 6SD. From St Ives it is back down through Fenstanton and Hilton and on to Yelling. There is free parking right outside, the kettle is always on, and you will be the only client in the room. You can read how I got here before you decide.
Both the salon and home visit versions of every service are on Fresha, listed separately so you can see what each costs before you commit.
The wider picture of the mobile service across both counties is on the mobile hairdressing page. If you have a question that is not answered here, send it over and I will answer it myself between clients.
What St Ives clients ask first.
Is this St Ives in Cambridgeshire?
Yes. The St Ives on the Great Ouse, near Huntingdon, not the one in Cornwall. If your postcode starts PE27, or you are in one of the villages around it, you are in the right place.
How far are you from St Ives?
Around twenty minutes on a normal day. I come up from Yelling through Hilton and Fenstanton, cross the A14 and come into St Ives from the south. Hemingford Grey is actually a little closer, at around fifteen minutes, and everything on this page is well inside roughly a 30 to 40 minute drive from Yelling.
Which villages around St Ives do you cover?
The town and the villages around it: Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, Houghton, Wyton, Fenstanton, Hilton, Fen Drayton, Swavesey, Holywell, Needingworth, Bluntisham and Somersham. Huntingdon and Godmanchester have their own page. If you are further out towards Earith or Chatteris, ask before you book and I will give you an honest answer.
Is there a call-out charge for St Ives?
Yes, £10 on top of the service price, the same as everywhere else inside the usual area. It is built into the Home Visit version of the service on Fresha, so there is nothing extra on the day.
I have never had a mobile hairdresser before. What actually happens?
I arrive with the kit, we sit down and talk about your hair before anything else happens, and then it is the same appointment you would have in a salon. Your hair is washed at the sink or over the bath, because I do not carry a portable backwash. When we are done I sweep up, and if you want to, we book the next one there and then.
Can you do a men's perm at home?
Yes. Soft, loose men's perms and flow cuts travel like everything else. Cut and perm together takes around two hours. If you are not sure your hair is long enough yet, send me a photo before you book.
Do you do keratin or Brazilian blow dries at home?
Yes. A Brazilian blow dry is a keratin smoothing treatment and the kit comes with me, so it can be done in your kitchen as well as in the home salon. It is worth reading about what these treatments can and cannot do before you book, because the honest answer depends on your hair.
Do you work with curly, Afro or textured hair?
Yes. I have worked with every hair type there is, including Afro-Caribbean and Asian hair, so you will not have to explain your hair to me twice. Tell me a little about it in the booking notes and I will plan the time properly.
How much do you charge?
Prices depend on hair length, thickness and how long the appointment takes, so they live on Fresha where they stay accurate. The Home Visit version of each service already has the call-out built in, so what you see when you book is what you pay.
Book a home visit in St Ives.
Choose the Home Visit version of the service on Fresha, then add your address and postcode in the notes. I will confirm the same day.