The last time I attempted getting my hair done in Asia, was when I was living in Shanghai in October 2003. My hair was a mess, and I needed serious color and a cut. My roommates and I went to a very expensive salon, and expected, well, a fairly good outcome. My roommates did ok. I, however, ended up coming out looking like a banana- the skin of a banana. At first, they tried to give me highlights, but somehow they bleached me in such big chunks and so badly, that when they combed my hair out afterward, it literally looked STRIPED (horizontally, not vertically!). And the color was awful. The only answer was to simply bleach it all- which is what they did. But somehow it still ended up yellow, instead of, say, blond. It was AWFUL. I wish I had a picture... I just spent a few minutes scouring my files, but I don't have one. The next time I had my hair done was back in the States at Christmas 2003, and although they did their best, for some reason, after whatever they did, when I went back to China, my hair turned orange in parts! I did find a picture of that... you can notice the orange along the side of my forehead on the left of the picture, and at my ends on both sides of my hair. It was weird.
Eventually I got all that orange cut off, or colored out, and I spent a few more years very blond- until I had a baby. Well, actually, I went darker before that, but when Beni was 6 mos old, I decided I was done with coloring my hair for the meantime. It's just not maintenance I want to deal with!
So fast forward, because I'm getting lost in the point of my story... oh yes. So here I am, now, in Laos, and it had been about 6 mos since my last haircut. Now, I pretty much get a bob of some sort every time I cut my hair, so, letting it grow out for 6 mos doesn't necessarily look horrible. But my hair is very thin, and the longer it gets the more useless it is. So, I was dying for a haircut. It was just driving me crazy!
So I asked my SIL for a recommendation on where to go, and I booked an appointment, hoping for the best!
Now, when I was living in Shanghai, I remember people always saying that they would go get their hair washed and dried just for the massage. I don't recall getting any massage at that expensive salon in Shanghai, and since I never dared set foot in another salon while I lived there, I never experienced this.
Well, today, I had a 20 minute shampoo. I got to lay down on this almost fully reclined chair- like a leather office chair, except, it's reclined, and has a foot rest- and rest my head on a slightly slanted back headrest, while the shampooer soaped me up twice, massaged with the shampoo in my hair for a good 10-15 minutes, and then did a conditioner as well, and massaged a while longer. I love head massages, and she got my neck too, so it was WONDERFUL.
After that, I went and sat in the chair, and the stylist asked what I wanted. I said, about chin length, a bit longer in front than in back, and slightly layered, just to add some oomph. And this is what I got:
Chin length, slightly longer in front than back, a slightly layered around the bottom for oomph!
Of course, I didn't have any color done, and I am happy with that- I'm enjoying the ease of being natural in that sense these days, not having to worry about roots and whatnot. Skipping the color definitely took a lot of the fear out of this experience. But, I tend to be a weenie about my hair. It's very thin and not that impressive, so I like to keep things simple and easy. I'm NOT a do my hair every day kind of person, and I need a haircut that looks good without having to be "done". So, I'm always a little anxious going into a haircut, especially with a new stylist, and even more so when language might be an issue. But alas, it wasn't.
And the best part? It only cost me $15!
So I'm thinking, I won't be shy about going to get my hair cut anymore here! Between the head massage and how well she cut it... I'm in! :)
Have you ever had a haircut or color nightmare?
