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A Hairy Disaster

I've never had a regular hairstylist in my entire 23 going 24 years. Unless you count the few times i went back to this hairdresser a friend recommended for haircuts at Jean Yip IMM. She went on maternity leave and disappeared for a few months. So i went back to being a hairdresser-hopper. I would have stayed on with her otherwise, cos she didn't try to experiment with fanciful cutting styles on my head and understood i just want something low maintanence and don't 'kiu'. She also wasn't pushy in selling products. The only thing she pushed was to add 3 bucks to 'upgrade' the shampoo you used, so her haircuts always cost $30 + $3 = $33 bucks. Nice number hor...

Off-hand, I can recall going to a few salons at Far East Plaza, various branches of Jean Yip, Jantzen, Kimage, Hair Movement, ProTrim, Reds, Storm and some neighbourhood 'auntie' salons.

Most of the time, I'm neutral to the work done, sometimes I'm disappointed, and occassionally upset.

I absolutely hate it when the hairdresser layer my hair too thin and worse still when the layering is done on the 'outside' cos it must be done on the 'inside' so that the hair don't stick out. Reason being my hair has a bit of natural curl and is very prone to 'kiu' out. Its condition is also naturally dry. So the quality is sub-standard to begin with.

My number one hair disaster (counting from the time i started to give tuition or do part time jobs after JC and started doing 'chemical stuff') was a dye job gone wrong. I went to Jantzen asking for highlights. I even showed the stupid hairdresser a picture from a magazine. Like light brown on dark brown. The light brown looked more like blond and was super chunky. Looked like some chao ah lian. It was damn ugly. Esp the fringe!! I couldn't stand it and went to dye my hair again a few days later. Needless to say my hair was totally damaged from all the chemicals. My pocket was also seriously damaged of cos. Think i stopped dying my hair after that time, not quite sure.

When i was little, my ma used to cut my hair and she insisted on doing it all the way to Pri 6, giving me disaster after disaster. (She had serious parallax error and always cut it too short cos its always 'oops left side a bit longer than the right', then she trim a bit on the left, then trim too much on the left, so go and trim the right somemore. Its okie for the back cos there's hair to play around with, but the fringe.. man the fringe was usually too freakin short)

I still remember the first time i cut hair at a auntie salon proper. It came after i finally rebelled and whined and pleaded and finally screeched for her to stop embarrassing me and take me to a salon instead. I simply refused to let her touch my head.

So she took me to an auntie salon in Jurong West to get a haircut. I still remember the auntie was kinda distracted by this Qiong Yao show - Xin Yue Ge Ge - playing on TV while cutting my hair. But hor, schoolger cut is quite simple, so still looked fine.

Then my mum had to spoil it by asking the auntie to cut shorter to save money. Her rationale is cut more so no need to come so often. I said don't want, the length just nice already. The auntie hairdresser, eager to watch Xin Yue Ge Ge in peace also quickly added. 'Zhe Yang Gang Gang Hao, Tai Duan Bu Mei' - 'Like this just nice, too short no nice.'

But my ma insisted. And so the auntie cut reluctantly. The price to pay for using up her TV time was a hair disaster. It was so short the ends only reached the middle of my ear lobe. When she finished, she still said in a buay song manner, gou duan le ma? (short enuf not?) (the tone says 'U cheapskate!')

And so i went home teary eyed once again after a disastrous haircut and went to school with dread the next day.

Come to think of it my mei mei got her first rebonding in Pri 6. Talk about double standards. Perhaps she's just smarter. It took me till Pri 6 to scream at my ma to embarrassing me. I should have been more fierce younger.

I digress. Anyway this hairy curse continued all the way till today. Yes TODAY. Like 12 hours ago.

Actually i should say the disaster today is a continuation of my pre-CNY disaster. Or rather it is directly linked to my Pre-CNY disaster.

Right b4 chinese new year, i had this incredible urge to trim my hair (cos everyone's suddenly sporting haircuts and in a moment of weakness, seeing the state of my messy and dry ends, decided to cut a little bit) However, all the salons had already hiked up their price substantially. So in a bid to save money, i parted with a 'mere' 22 bucks for a trim downstairs. I had gone to the same shop for wash and blow dry b4 and hence assumed its safe) And that was it... The hairdresser did the number 1 error despite my reminders - Layer outside. So my stupid genetically defective hair started sticking out all over the place. SIanz. Every morning i fought a losing battle to tame it.

Just a sidetrack - think marrying a hairdresser won't be too bad. Haha. At least i'll have pretty hair all day every day, no worries of a bad hair day (sounds like an advert for pads...) If he's nice enuf he'll even wash my hair for me everyday.. ooh lala... The chances of landing one is like 0.0001. Take away half who like their own kind, then the rest are surrounded by pretty female hairdressers with gorgeous hair. Sign...

In the future if i go sign up at Lunch Actually or whatever dating agency, i'll put down 'know how to blow dry hair nicely' as a criteria. (I totally suck at blow drying hair. Can only do the right side nicely. Can hold brush with right hand and hold hairdryer with left. but cannot do properly for the left side. ) Come to think of it its a really 'good' criteria cos a guy whose willing to blow dry hair for ya should be really nice and sweet, no?

Back on track.. to my hair disaster. Yes i was saying that everyday i had to fight 'kiuing' hair. so i thot -- hey since i have a bit of 'not here nor there' type of 'curl' maybe i ought to just curl my hair!

So i found myself looking at women with curly/wavy hair on the mrt, in the office, etc..
And i became more and more tempted each time i yanked at my unruly strands in frustration.
went to read up on forums too. so many types! jap perm, ceramic perm, digital perm. plus 'interviewed' a colleague who had jap curls.

And made up my mind. brought a couple of pics to the hairdresser to explain the kind of curls i want. bearing in mind the limitations - not enough hair and not v.long hair. and made it a point to emphasize that i want sth low maintanence. asked if i can get the type of curls i want or if he can recommend.

And guess wat.. it still turned out to be an utter disaster.. The curls are not the type i wanted, and one side seems more curled than the other. and the back is like so uncurled.. Ugh.. The stylist had to 'jaga' a few customers and i was sitting there waiting after every step for so so long. went in at 12 and got out at almost 430.

To make matters worse the payment was a very ugly scene. When i made the appointment, i was quoted 140 for a digital perm and cut plus 50 for treatment - altogether 190. I was also coaxed into buying a product for 36 bucks.

Then when the bill came, it was 266 instead of 226. The components were 180 + 50 + 36.
The perm had appreciated by 40 bucks!

I pointed it out and said i was quoted a different price on Thur night. He then asked who quoted the price. The woman was in the shop and i pointed at her. I also said she had jotted down the quoted price and service requried on the appointment bk. He can check and see

Then he said what she quoted me was for digital perm, and what they gave me was a digital spa perm. WTF.. wat spa? Reason being the chemical used was better. And he ASKED me why i didn't ask him? Therefore he automatically gave me the better one.

I was super pissed by then. Piangz i'm already super distressed by the disastrous hair and 4.5 hours of rotting on my ass and you have the cheek to charge me 40 bucks more and ask me why i didn't ask you?

KNN! ( i didn't say that to him) How am i supposed to know you have digital and digital spa? Its not on your 'menu' of services!
And i told him your assistant said have jap perm and digital perm. She wrote down nicely the price and service in appointment book then i take it as that already, u also never asked me.

And he offered a 20 buck 'concession' insisting that its a spa perm. Hell hath a woman's fury i tell you. If looks could kill, he wld have dropped dead. I was so so freaking angry.
I'm not going to be bullied into paying that extra 20 bucks. When did it turn into a concession? And in the end i didn't have to.

SO freaking suay. What to do now? Reperm? Rebond? Really not much hair left le.. Plus the damage of another harsh chemical treatment.. Was intending to highlight it after 3-4 weeks. Now how? Heartpain. Pay money to torture myself... haiz..so sad

posted by 33 @ 3:35 AM