| 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.
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