Hair Repair!

What is the first thing a girl must scout for when she's moved to a new place?

A GOOD HAIR SALON!

another thing to love in sydney is the abundance of hair salons. in every street there are probably at least 10! which means the prices are very competitive. and these are mid to high range salons (not franchise fast hair cut services like just cuts or john brennan).

and because i am living in the cbd area, most of these are asian salons. im kind of happy with this because in my personal experience ( i repeat, i am not generalizing, this is just my own personal experience), my thick and heavy asian hair has always been styled and cut best by one who knows what its like.

a couple of weeks ago i decided its high time for a cut. well , just a trim, but needed some styling as well. i mean...look

this was my hair just before the move. it was heavy, almost wild, and thick as ropes! i needed it that way though, because God knows how cold its been in Canberra! you definitely need all insulation you can get --even if its in the form of a split end-ridden head of hair.

yeah, talking about ends--the ends of my hair were sharp enough to poke your eyes out. it's not dry though--its just really thick and heavy.

so anyway. i knew i was going to get my haircut here. It might be just my luck but I have never had a highly satisfactory haircut in Canberra. The last one I had been to, was highly referred by someone at work--and it was a sort of high end one in the city. I was extremely disappointed with the lack of skill and styling. And lack of advice too. For the price Im shelling out I expect at least good hair care and styling advice.

So. Back to the now. With hundreds of salons around me-- I just randomly picked one. I didn't need to venture out very much. After picking up stuff from the post office, I just walked right in the doors of the next salon--which was just a few steps away.

I figure, its just hair. and i have the next how many or so years to try and test all of these parlors. So let it be a trial and error.

The salon had screaming signages that they are a "HAIR STRAIGHTENING SPECIALIST"

I am the number one NON-FAN of straight hair! I still walked in anyway and asked how much a haircut was. The price was very reasonable--AU 45!!

For a shampoo, cut (trim) and blow dry.

The price alone got me hooked. Took my chances, and the next thing I knew, my hair was being shampooed.

The service was very professional. The receptionist took my coat and bag and put it in a locker--giving me the key of course.

And then this nice Korean lady started working on my hair. I told her what I wanted (a trim). She asked me what I like in a hairstyle and I told her VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME!

and she suggested cutting short to mid length layers around so as not to weigh my hair down. I told her I didn't like it wispy or airy I just want it volumized. She said doing that will really volumize my hair.

Anyway--she was very adept at it, and worked her magic through my hair. She also noted that my hair has been given very blunt layers by my last cut (that "posh" one in Canberra) and she fixed it all around. She also analyzed my hair and head--where the crown is, how I should brush/part and style my hair , etc. In short she gave me sound styling advice.

Snippety Snippety Snip. You just know when your hair is being cut and styled by a pro. You feel it. You hear it in the snips.

After the cut, I was horrified when she next brought out..... a hair STRAIGHTENER! Yes, those FLAT IRONS! I cringed away and told her, please, no straight styles! But she just patiently told yes she knew.

I didn't have any appointment that day anyway so i let her be.

When I looked up next--my hair was Exactly how I wanted it to be. LUSH and volumized (not curled)--all from a hair iron!

I was kind of bracing myself for the bill--I definitely got more than I wanted. It was definitely waay more than a trim. But I was still charged AU 45!

I loved it! Loved the service, loved the place and most of all loved my hair. Here is my 45 dollar hair style

HALF the price of what I used to get in Canberra, but 100X better. I highly highly recommend this place:

HAIR MANIA (yes the name scared me off too but who cares . They are G-O-O-D)

449 Pitt Street Sydney

Open 7 days 930AM-730PM

The lady who did my hair is Sylvia. She is the Senior hairstylist and Manager of the place.

Now this makes my plan of trying out and testing the other places abit hard. Why risk and venture out more when my FIRST run-in was a stroke of luck!