First hair cut

Just got my first hair cut in Japan this afternoon.. :p and frankly, I like the result a lot.. :)

For those who knew, I am very particular about letting people touch my hair.. My mum was my hair stylist since I was born.. Until the time I went over to Singapore for my studies, the number of times I frequent a hair salon can be counted with 2 fingers.. Also, I tend to stick to my stylist for years.. in my 13+ years in Singapore, I had only 2 stylists.. I left the first one cos her fee went through the roof, imagine being charged SGD$45 for a haircut??!! Anyway, I think up to date, the number of stylists who cut my hair doesn't even reach the next prime number after 5.. that is how fastidious I am about my hair.. :p

But the weather is getting hotter by the day here in Tokyo, and my hair is getting longer and messier.. I couldn't stand having long hair in this weather.. I tried last year.. I don't want to "waste time" tending to my hair.. also, I tend to sweat a lot, meaning I need to wash my hair very often.. the cost of the shampoo, water and time is not worth it.. not to mention the fact that my scalp isn't strong enough to "hold" onto long hair, in the end I tend to drop a lot of hair when my hair is long..

Anyway, this afternoon I went to a salon next my dormitory.. one that I pass by everyday on my way to school.. There are 2 salons on that route, but I choose this one cos the other one specializes in men's cut.. Cos I know that these kind of neighborhood salons rely on repeated/regular customers and without making a reservation, I might need to wait for a long time.. Whenever I passed by the salon, there are always customers so I kept postponing.. Since I don't have seminar today, so I thought I would try and see if I could get a haircut today.. Luckily, when I got there, there was no customer at all.. so I was attended to immediately... :)

I was asked the usual questions - how short do I want my hair to be, do I prefer fringes, etc.. then she inquired when was the last time I had my hair cut and if I had a perm.. Told her that my last hair cut was in Feb and I have natural curly/wavy hair.. I asked her for suggestions, taking into consideration the shape of my head and my fine thin hair. She suggested a layered cut which will give my hair a more volumed look and showed me a picture of it.. I okayed it and then she began to do her stuff...

Whenever I visited my stylist in Singapore, I would just tell her that I want a hair cut.. I would not inquire more about what she plan to do.. Sometimes she would change my hair style, sometimes she won't. I would just allow her free rein to do whatever she thinks is good/suitable for me.. After all, she is a professional stylist.. I would just close my eyes or concentrate on reading my newspaper/magazine/book and let her do her magic.. I would not be scrutinizing her every snip because I trust her.. I would only look up when she is done..

So I did the same here.. I concentrate on my magazine while the stylist cut and snipped away.. I only glance up once or twice.. after she had finish cutting, it was shampooing time.. Before the shampooing start, she placed a towel over my head to prevent any suds from getting into my eyes, but I think another reason is the way she will be washing my hair. The shampooing style here is quite different.. usually, the person doing the shampooing would be standing behind the sink, but here, she was standing beside me, or rather beside my head. Whenever she need to wash the back of my head, she would lift and support my head. It was very unlike in Singapore, where you would need to use your stomach/abdominal muscles to lift your head up.. :p

After the shampooing, she did a 5-10 minute massage on my head, neck and shoulder.. :) I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this extra service as I did not expect it at all.. The blow-drying of my hair was done by an assistant, then the stylist came back and did a final inspection with a few minor touch-up... and Voila! a new hair style for me! :)

The whole haircut took about an hour and set me back by 3330yen.. but I think it was money well paid.. Now, my head feels lighter and less cumbersome.. Oh, did I mention that I like the end result? :p ;)