I have not had a hair cut since March. I feel shabby. Need to find a stylist. Now.
I’ve seen many salons around town in my wanderings. My first instinct was to look up only Aveda salons because that’s what I stuck with back in Ohio. I use their “Confixor” and “Curl Enhancer” for hold and extra conditioning, and it keeps my hair bouncin’ and behavin’!
I refuse to just call and make an appointment. I need to do visits. Went into one salon that had really cool pale green frosted glass doors. It had a super hip, active vibe. Almost too super-hip for me, but hey! I WANT to be super hip! I had walked past several times and seen a couple of stylists stepping out to the cafe next door to grab coffees and snacks. They looked cool and had trendy neat short cuts. I walked in, took one long look, and walked right out. Multiple stylists, multiple customers in chairs, and a few on deck. Not one curl, and not one head with hair longer than their ear lobes.
Next I walked into another a couple blocks up, and immediately fell in love. Nice cozy spa-like decor. Acqua and chocolate brown with dark, carved wood panelling and counters. Lovely. A suave, older gentleman with silver hair and a 1980’s Euro mustache glided out to greet me. (It totally suited him by the way…not making fun) His eyes were making love to my hair. So I asked my standard question. “Do you have anyone who specializes in long, curly hair?”
He immediately stepped back, folded his arms, and circled me dramatically. “You are right to ask…long curly hair is a completely different cut. You must carefully cut your layers to preserve the curl pattern…giving the top lift, but not defining the breaks.” He stopped…looked at me with pity and a finger to his lips. “Your hair is beautiful. But you do have a shelf.” For a split second, I imagined my eyes welling up…deep breath…then heaving sobs as I crumble to the floor, Mr. Mustachio catching me before I land, holding me, petting my hair…”we can fix it…we can fix it…there, there…”
But that’s not what happend. I just asked for their menu of services and a business card and was on my way thinking I had found my salon.
For one last safety check, I Googled for reviews. Only a few reviews, one of which was a description of how the male stylist (don’t know if it was Mr. Mustachio or not) got his junk a wee bit too close for comfort during the hair washing, which was only the beginning of a tacky and desperately uncomfortable super-sexy-time-flirtation session and a mediocre haircut for the reviewer. Of course the other post was someone saying “Nuh uh! That’s offensive! I love this place!” Next!
The salon with the highest reviews was actually just down the street. Not Aveda, but honestly, the Aveda salons really didn’t have convincing reviews. So I wandered up the block, stepped in…no waiting area, tiny, and frankly, it felt dirty. And no one wanted to talk to me. The only person not cutting hair walked past kind of awkwardly, and spoke to me as if it was an afterthought. “Oh hello…can I help you with something? I asked some of my standard questions…”Do you have a menu of services? Do you have anyone who specializes in long curly hair?” She seemed a little confused and one of the stylists, seemingly a little annoyed at having to speak, gave me kind of blow-off answers. Turns out he was the stylist and owner that the reviewers were raving about.
He was a dismissive jerk, really, and had a really bad dye job. He gave me some wishy washy answers about them being independent stylists…yadda yadda…”Well, if you want a cut,” impatiently looks at his watch) “I have some time in a couple hours.” Busy, I get it, but shouldn’t your receptionist be able to answer these questions? Shouldn’t she, or any of you, be trying to SELL me a haircut? Trying to make me feel like I’d be in the best hands in the world? Like I deserve to be there?
One other place up the block had pretty good reviews as well. Would be my last stop of the day because I had errands to run and dinner to cook. Kind of trendy looking, but in a good way. Outside, it is part of an early 1900’s style shopping strip…dark brick, big windows, pretty architectural features. But inside is cotton-soft-glowey white. Minimalist, but comfortable. I didn’t see customers, but I had seen it pretty packed on previous passings.
(This message brought to you by the letter P)
A gentleman likely in his late 40’s early 50’s set aside his broom and walked over to greet me. In short, he answered all of my questions well. Very professional, knew the stylists and their specialties, knew what I was talking about with long curly hair, and frankly gave me a really good vibe. He was friendly without gushing, authoritative without being intimidating, and represented the salon quite well. He recommended a stylist he thought would be a good match. And after some idle chit chat where I discovered he’s originally from Youngstown, OH, I also found out he’s the owner.
Well, fingers crossed. Appointment at 1:30 Wednesday. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes!
xo
en