A Hairy Situation

Nei ho!

This week the weather was (for the most part) absolutely and horrifically awful. Wednesday and Thursday was when the weather finally started to warm up, but it was also quite humid and muggy. My curly hair, which goes completely insane in humidity, was a total frizzy mess.

Although the weather finally cleared up on Friday and Saturday, and the sun was even shining, I know that there are plenty more hot, muggy summer days coming my way soon. Which means more bad hair days as well.

I complained to my Chinese roommate, Cindy, about my yucky hair. She told me that many Chinese girls, like herself, go to the hair salon for a permanent straighten treatment on their hair. I thought that Asian hair was naturally silky smooth, but Cindy denied it and let me in on their secret.

Personally, I have never wanted to permanently straighten my hair. For one, it can be very damaging and will dry your hair out quickly. Also, I’m a curly-haired person, and I think straight hair looks a little silly on me.

But after talking with Cindy about it, as well as my mom, I finally decided to go ahead and try it. I can’t possibly live with two more months of this crappy hair, so I thought I’d give the straightening treatment a shot. As my mom said, the worst thing that can happen is that you don’t like it, which is my attitude toward my frizzy hair, so what did I have to lose?

I made a call to Toni & Guy, where I went the last time I needed a trim in Macau in March. They speak English very well there, and it is a Western brand that I feel comfortable with. However, they quoted me 600-1400 MOP ($75-175 USD) for the treatment, depending on how long my hair is.

It was a very tough decision, but at last I decided to take my chances and cross the border to Zhuhai, where I could find a cheaper hair salon. Cindy had her hair done in the mall a few weeks ago and was satisfied, and so did my friend Catherine. Iris and I decided to both go in for a permanent straightening treatment on Saturday to the same location.

Before leaving, we had Cindy write down in Cantonese exactly what we wanted done to our hair on a piece of paper. For me, I wanted to permanently straighten it as well as trim my bangs.

When we finally got to the barber, Iris and I stood outside for a moment, very apprehensive. Our stylists would most likely not speak any English, and communication is essential whenever you go in for a hair cut!

One of the receptionists came out to greet us, and she spoke English alright. We sat down and went over prices first. She kept trying to sell us treatment packages, but we were adamant about what we came here to do, nothing more. At last we settled on a price of 300 Yuan ($45 USD), which included our permanent straighten treatment, a moisturizing treatment, and a bang trim.

Iris and I were seated at stations next to each other, which made us feel a little better. As our stylists grabbed their supplies, the other hairdressers kept coming by to touch our hair and discuss it with each other. At one point I had four hairdressers standing around me, discussing my hair. I began to wonder if they had seen hair like mine before. I mean, I don’t have fine, straight hair like Asians, but curly and thicker hair.

The entire process took nearly 3 ½ hours! They kept putting in chemicals, then washing it out, straightening it, and then doing it again! I’ve never had my hair straightened permanently before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I panicked a little when I saw that they were doing different things to Iris’s hair, and even more when they mixed up our papers that Cindy had written out for us.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust their skill. I’m sure they were all very fine hairdressers. But I was afraid that what I wanted done to my hair wouldn’t be communicated and something bad would happen!

They moved me to a different chair at one point, and they moved Iris twice. Whenever we would go get our hair shampooed and washed, we would come back out to see that a new customer was in our chair, so we would be seated in a new one. It was very strange. We also switched out hairdressers, and I counted four different guys working on my hair throughout the process. Two even worked on me at one time, drying my hair in different sections. Good thing you don’t tip in China, since I’d be handing out tips to half the hairdressers in the salon!

In the end it actually worked out, and Iris and I both left happy. I’m still getting used to the straight hair, but it should start to look more natural in about a week, according to Cindy. She also said the permanent straighten could last up to two years, depending on how curly your hair is. For me, it will probably last a little less than one year.

I look forward to returning to MY hairdresser in the US. That will be my first stop when I get home. : )

To new adventures,
Kati