Paradox Blog

Finding the right hairdresser, or stylist, can be a pain in the neck. You have to maintain a good rapport with him or her. You have to like her or his ideas and trust his or her level of skills. And his or her shop will have to stay in business for you.

At first, I had a hairdresser, Tony, whom I like. He is from Hong Kong, competent and knows how to manage my hair. I have a head of hard-to-manage hair. But he went out of business. Tony's business started slowing down when two Salons opened about two miles from his shop so Tony started day trading on the side of running his shop. It became fairly annoying to have him checking his laptop monitor in the middle of cutting your hair. That's when I started "cheating" on him. Don't you feel guilty when you have to go to someone else for a haircut? I did. And your hairdresser knows if you have gone to someone else's place. They would flip your hair and criticize "who cut your hair for you?" I have to admit I went to one of those Salons that competed with Tony's since they are located in a shopping center that I visited often. I went to this shop owned by a sophisticated madam leading four young women hairdressers. The madam tries very hard to even out the work among her four employees so she discourages customers to pick their favorite hairdresser; which was fine with me at first as the waiting time was always short at her shop, until one day one of the hairdresser gave me a really bad cut. Besides, the madam always tries to sell you something you don't need.

When I started looking for another place to cut my hair, Tony's shop has a new sign, another salon. The three male stylists dressed sharp and wore sleek dyed hairstyles. But I saw them smoking outside their shop when I passed by and the shop was empty which was not a boost to my confidence.

In the meanwhile, my hair grew longer and became unmanageable. One day I cut some bangs myself and it turned out uneven. Well I just brushed them back. Another day I cut the sides to cheek length, leaving two sharp angles on the sides. I was sick and tired of my hair but did not have a hairdresser to go to. Finally, I decided to give the new shop at Tony's old site a try. At least there would not be a long wait. I went in and just as I was afraid of the one available stylist who helped me smelled like an ashtray and kept persuading me to dye my hair. But it turned out he has good hands and I like his cut.

I think I will go back again provided they stay in business long enough.