Meet the dads learning how to style their daughters' hair
BBC"I just want to bond with my daughter more," says Paul Jessop, who I met an hour earlier after he borrowed a hairband from me.
I nod in agreement, as I reach over my mannequin head to find my beer, which is surrounded by brushes, pins and leave-in conditioner. I am at a Pints and Ponytails event, with 35 other dads also being taught how to do their daughters' hair.
Event co-founder, Matthew Carter, said: "It's dads turning up who struggle with basic hairstyles.
"Mums, generally speaking, are the default parents, but if we can take these skills back home maybe it can take a little pressure off of mum in the morning."
Father-of-two, Jessop, seems to be mastering the pigtails.
"I've never been in a room like this before, but I'm happy to be here. My daughter is only one but we are really close.
"I see other people playing with their daughters' hair, I just want to be able to do that."
Carter and fellow co-founder Lawrence Price launched Pints and Ponytails in February, working alongside hair specialists Braid Maidens, but far from just being about plaiting and chatting, it provides a place where men can be vulnerable.
"Matt and I had our own struggles in our first year or two of fatherhood," said Price.
"Matt struggled with postnatal depression, although he didn't know it was that until he researched it.
"I suffered my first anxiety attack, we realised there wasn't enough information to guide dads into such a different chapter of their life."
'Andrew Tate criticises us'
The pair also host The Secret Life of Dads podcast which champions fatherhood, but it is their latest venture which seems to have unknowingly contributed to the current conversation around masculinity.
This event, at the Lucky Saint pub on Devonshire Street, Marylebone, is just the third time it has been held, and yet tickets sold out within 10 minutes, thanks in part to a viral video watched by more than 25 million people.
The viral video was also shared by self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, who strongly questioned the masculinity of the men taking part.
Carter said: "Tate making that comment has now placed us as the complete antithesis to his views.
"Boys are coming out into the world and being labelled toxic before they've even done anything, I'd like to think this event has been a positive light for dads."
Price added: "If Andrew Tate is criticising what we're doing we must be on to a good thing."
Another of the attendees, father-of-two, Shaun, agrees.
"It's important to have conversations with other guys about what they're going through.
"We don't normally go to the pub to talk about brushing our daughters' hair, we normally talk about football not plaits."
Nick Perry is a dad to an 18-month-old girl, with another daughter on the way.
"There is such a huge appetite for these events, for men to get together and talk about their mental health, and just be unashamedly proud to look after out daughters, it's so special."
Was my daughter impressed?
I won't lie, up until now my attempts at doing my own daughter's hair have resulted in tears, and not just from her, but after a night of beer and braids, I felt ready to revisit my biggest critic.
With Matt and Lawrence's teachings still running through my head I prepared my own home salon with the free combs, brushes and conditioner I was given at the event.
The customer was a discerning two-and-a-half-year-old who opted for plaited pigtails.
Whether it was my new found confidence, or the fact she was mesmerised by the detangler spray, I actually got something that resembled my mannequin heads from just 12 hours earlier.
The connection was undeniable, for about five minutes, my daughter trusted me with an experience we'd never shared and with that she left, to have her own special moment... watching Peppa Pig.
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