squirrel
10-25-2007, 03:15 PM
After three hairdressers in five months, I have found the perfect one. I worked up enough nerve to go to a Japanese hair salon. I researched but could not find anything on why they were any different than other salons. I have Chinese hair and figured they should be able to at least deal with that adequately. I was just worried that they might not be able to speak enough English for me to understand but the stylist they picked for me did well enough though sometimes I couldnt understand her. When I got there, I filled out a form asking me if I liked my hair and what styles I liked. Interesting.
My stylist was waiting by with an armful of hair magazines which I thought was a good touch. I showed her my magazine of what I wanted and she said that would be too much work and required my hair to be longer and work with a flat iron to give it a bit of flip to the texture. This is after I told her I was too lazy to style my hair. I did see a photo of something I liked in one of her magazines so we agreed on that.
Then over to the most amazing hair wash ever. This fella laid me down on a massaging recliner and put a cozy on my eyes and a fluffy towel on me. He washed my hair twice with prescion and a method-one side to another. Then to a fabulous head massage that was not some nails scratching at my scalp or kneading my hair so hard it hurt. Even the way he dried my hair and wrapped the towel around my head was precise and deliberate as to absorb the water and not let it drip onto my eyes. Nice touch.
My stylist then cut my hair and kept checking each side to make sure it was even. About 20 minutes in she put mousse in my hair and blew dry it and my hair looked like the photo. But then she started to cut my hair again but this time with small slices, mixed with big pieces and sometimes just a snip. I think the goal was to let all the undercutting be a foundation for the rest so I didnt need so much product. The best thing was that she combined the two haircuts I liked into one better one.
She then told me how to style my hair (use product underneath the ends) and to blow dry in one direction on each side of the head. When the bill was presented it was on an itemized sheet with the services ticked off. I cant believe it was only $40 as she could have easily charged $75 for a high end salon here for the amount of work she did.
It was so different than any other salon I have been to-no air of pretention or snobbery just a desire to please and be precise. I dont know how well they would do with non-Asian hair but she said they take classes to upgrade all the time. I told someone about my experience and she said the one she went to did the same thing too. I wonder what a Magic cuts in Japan would be like?!
My stylist was waiting by with an armful of hair magazines which I thought was a good touch. I showed her my magazine of what I wanted and she said that would be too much work and required my hair to be longer and work with a flat iron to give it a bit of flip to the texture. This is after I told her I was too lazy to style my hair. I did see a photo of something I liked in one of her magazines so we agreed on that.
Then over to the most amazing hair wash ever. This fella laid me down on a massaging recliner and put a cozy on my eyes and a fluffy towel on me. He washed my hair twice with prescion and a method-one side to another. Then to a fabulous head massage that was not some nails scratching at my scalp or kneading my hair so hard it hurt. Even the way he dried my hair and wrapped the towel around my head was precise and deliberate as to absorb the water and not let it drip onto my eyes. Nice touch.
My stylist then cut my hair and kept checking each side to make sure it was even. About 20 minutes in she put mousse in my hair and blew dry it and my hair looked like the photo. But then she started to cut my hair again but this time with small slices, mixed with big pieces and sometimes just a snip. I think the goal was to let all the undercutting be a foundation for the rest so I didnt need so much product. The best thing was that she combined the two haircuts I liked into one better one.
She then told me how to style my hair (use product underneath the ends) and to blow dry in one direction on each side of the head. When the bill was presented it was on an itemized sheet with the services ticked off. I cant believe it was only $40 as she could have easily charged $75 for a high end salon here for the amount of work she did.
It was so different than any other salon I have been to-no air of pretention or snobbery just a desire to please and be precise. I dont know how well they would do with non-Asian hair but she said they take classes to upgrade all the time. I told someone about my experience and she said the one she went to did the same thing too. I wonder what a Magic cuts in Japan would be like?!