Friday 22 May 10.22 p.m.
What's wrong with all the hairstylists in Singapore?
Very sad & tired. Did not get the hairstyle I wanted. Is it my "very fine" hair or is it my face? Salons have never been able to give me my heart's desire even after I explain or even with photos.
Been to so many hair salons. La Coco, Shunji Matsuo, Monso, Kim Robinson, Gataomo, MJ Tokyo, Reds, Jcut, Fox...
So expensive but never getting what I want. Just like never getting a perfect massage. Every hairstylist's haircut is depressing. When I walk out, I'm not happy.
It's the hairstyle that the hairstylist likes. Not the hairstyle I asked for.
Limited by their own mediocre skills & lacking the creativity & ability to cut what I want, they can only cut what they know or copy. Outside of it, they can't. Yet they want my money.
If a hairstylist is good, he/she can do any request because it is within the realm of Hair.
At Kim Robinson, when I showed the hairstylist 6 photos at different angles of a hairstyle, he said it's just hair styling products. He didn't say he wasn't able to create what I wanted. I even wore a punk outfit to match the hairstyle I wanted. Yet in the end, I paid more than $100 for a haircut that was wrong.
Now at 99percent, so-called "creative director" Jaron said it's just curlers & styling products when I described to him Japanese punk hairstyles (such as Gackt's). He didn't say he didn't know what I meant & didn't say he couldn't cut it. In the end, I paid $55 for a hairstyle that he copied off a woman & anyhow put on me. He "created" nothing.
When out of curiosity, I asked him about creating "tramlines" or track patterns on the scalp, he said I have to go to the "tattoo shop next door". He thinks everyone is a fool like himself. Even though I don't know about tramlines, I hardly think it's done in a tattoo shop. Just because it's called hair tattoo doesn't mean it's done in a tattoo shop. There are salons in SG that can do tramlines, and it's done with just a shaver.
And he didn't even brush the cut hair from my face after he was done. He was going to let me walk out of the shop with hair all over my face. When at the cashier, I asked him if there was hair on my face, he then looked up at me & said no. But then said there's tissue that I can use and went over to get a tissue box.
Next time, if a hairstylist tells me it's all about hairstyling products instead of a haircut that he cannot do, I am going to walk out.
Fed up of giving money to such inferior hairstylists.
Unable to cut the hairstyle I wanted, Jaron simply cut what he thought was a "funky" style. I already emphasized the word "punk", Japanese rock style such as Gackt's. I said, "punk, not funky.". I even described the look with my hands.
No. The salon cannot use "miscommunication" as an excuse.
The stylist don't have the ability & creativity to do it but still want the customer's money. So he proposes another hairstyle that turns out to be totally unsuitable & totally different from what the customer had in mind.
It's my fault. He had communicated to me how he wanted to do the style & while I didn't like aspects of it, I still allowed him to go ahead, hoping it might turn out well.
When I give chances & the result is bad & I ask the stylists to correct certain parts of it, they will give reasons why it shouldn't or cannot be done. Then I end up stuck with a hairstyle that I don't like.
Even before I disagreed with the finished haircut, Jaron didn't bother putting any heart in styling my hair. Just briefly used a hair straightener (yes, straightener) to give a bit of "wave" & applied a little clay. He himself pointed out the whole thing flopped even while he was talking about the hairstyle.
Kept telling me to create "volume" on my own with curling tongs. I said it's not "volume" that I want.
I said, "I know you like the flow in front. But I wanted something more boyish.".
He said this look is "unisex".
(How can it be unisex when it's obviously a woman's hairstyle?? And a bad-looking one?)
The soft heap to one side of the head & worse when it's tied sideways as he suggested. Women in the Elvis era with curly blond hair tied sideways with ribbon. So 1960s. So boring, old-fashioned & out-of-date!
If I follow his idea of using curlers & styling products, one side is going to look like "Ban Bing Shan" (hairdo in a Taiwanese drama):
I didn't know he copied the hairstyle from a Hong Kong singer GEM Tang until he mentioned that I could style up my hair like hers. When he smoothly said her Chinese name, I was thinking he must be Chinese educated.
Since I'm not into Chinese singers, I had no idea what she looked like. When I went home to check Google images, I was totally pissed.
Our hairstyles are the same. Shit. Who the heck is GEM Tang?? I don't want to wear another woman's hairstyle! I hate this hairstyle!! I hate Jaron!!! How am I going to get it off?!!
Why couldn't he have created a hairstyle specially for me, even if he couldn't do a punk haircut?? Why copy it off some woman?? Don't even suit my face & personality!!
If he could copy GEM Tang's hairstyle, he should've copied Gackt's!!
After spending $55, I don't have money to give to another salon to fix it. $55 is a lot of money. More than half a hundred dollars. This haircut is not worth $55. Should be $35.
I endured the hot weather for more than 1 year for my short hair to grow till past shoulder-length. I had intended to cut Takizawa Hideaki's hairstyle & bring his photobook to show hairstylists. But by the time it grew long enough, I changed my mind. I drew the new punk hairstyle that I wanted but lost the paper.
If showing 6 color screenshots of a hairstyle couldn't even enable Kim Robinson's stylist to cut it for me, showing a pen drawing of the hairstyle I wanted would be even more useless. So I didn't bring it to 99percent & instead described it in words to Jaron.
If a hairstylist is good, he'll know what I mean & what I want. Unfortunately, 99percent's hairstylist is as bad as Kim Robinson's. Paying more or less makes no difference. Poorly skilled hairstylists are everywhere.
It's true that my hairstyle is now lighter & less warm, reasons why I wanted a haircut. But it's not a hairstyle I wanted. Not a hairstyle I like. And now I have to hide it with a cap.
I sigh to think of the time it's going to take one side of it to grow back to original length. That side has been shaved close to the scalp. I have to hide it with a cap. $55 & I have to hide it with a cap.
Why can't hairstylists cut hair according to people's desire just like the handsome stylists in the Taiwanese drama?
(The only thing good about this haircut is that Jaron cut it such that it's easy to comb through the hair without entanglement. I had noticed the cutting technique & asked him about it. ).
99percent hair salon/studio @ Haji Lane:
1) Previous night, made appointment with excellent receptionist. Best receptionist on & off phone I've ever met.
2) When I arrived in the morning, Jaron took a few minutes before attending to me.
Staff were gathered near the entrance discussing something. But such meetings should have been done before shop opening. According to their opening hours, they were open for more than half hour already. So, there should be no excuse for having a meeting when a customer has entered the shop.
Friday morning. No customers except me. I was prepared for a crowd according to the reviews I read. Shampoo guy couldn't be sure if there would be a crowd later. And the phone booking had been easy. I wondered if it was really true the salon is so popular that bookings have to be made days in advance.
3) Shampoo didn't smell nice.
4) Polite shampoo guy. But too gentle. No technique, no massage, very weak shampooing hands, too fast ended, no-feel washing. One of the worst hair washes I've experienced.
5) Seems that those working in salons don't know about the internet. In this instance, shampoo guy asked how I found the salon & why I was familiar with the hairstylists' names at Haji Lane & Katong when it's my first time to the salon.
6) Jaron the hairstylist neglected to sweep away cut hair from my face at the end. For $55, I didn't expect this neglect. He even said there isn't any hair on my face when I asked just before walking out.
7) He communicated very well with me regarding what his style would look like. There were aspects of it that I didn't like. It was completely different from my style that I described to him. But I accepted his design to give it a chance.
Already been telling him I wanted a cool-looking, punk style that's different.
Although I said I wanted low maintenance & don't like messing with curling tongs although I have one, he insisted that using curling tongs & some effort was necessary for "funky" hairstyle.
I emphasized it's not funky that I wanted, but "punk" (like Japanese rock musician Gackt) which he seemed unable to grasp. He began "designing" his idea for me. Unknown to me, it's actually a Hong Kong singer's hairstyle.
When I tried to salvage the final product with a bit of suggestion, it was impossible. He gave reasons why it shouldn't be done. But if I wanted to, he said he could "chop off" that part & it won't be nice, even though I didn't say anything about chopping off anything.
Since he intentionally used the words "chop off" to put me off, then of course, it's better to just leave it as it is, isn't it? That's how they make the customer accept the hairstyle & pay for it.
8) While considering whether to go to Jaron (Haji Lane) or Danson (Katong), I wondered if Danson might be able to do what I wanted (since he did a hairstyle for a male blogger that I really liked). But Haji Lane is closer to me & I felt Jaron just might be able to do it. That's why I went there.
Before narrowing down on 99percent's hairstylists, I was considering between 99percent & Plan B @ Far East Plaza. But I've seen Plan B's hairstylist Ricky & his creations online. He himself don't look creative & his haircuts are boring. He's too straight & not creative enough. I noticed he cut the same design for 2 different women. Certainly, I'm not going to walk around with the same hairstyle as another woman. Using the same design for different women reveals a lack of creativity (even if he conscientiously replies to beautyundercover reviews).
I chose 99ppercent. But won't be going back.
9) Luckily, I made sure to tell Jaron not to cut all short. I knew the likelihood of mistake is high. If there's a mistake, at least it's salvageable.
10) The hairstyle he cut is actually quite ugly. The side that he cut short to the scalp is not suitable for my face & head shape.
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