Seriously, is there any hairdresser in town who knows how to cut Asian hair? For seven years, I’ve been searching for one; from the most expensive place to Great Clips for Hair. I’ve paid $75 for a ‘simple trim’ -not an extreme change from the previous hair style- you would think it’s going to be a no-brainer for the high paid hairdresser. The result was a choppy hair and uneven. When I walked out from that place, it felt alright because they blow dry it; it hid the imperfection of the $75 hair cut. But after a couple of hours, my hair was a disaster.

A half year later, I decided to go extreme. If a simple hair trim could go wrong like it did, it’d probably won’t hurt to have a more extreme one. Went to see a different hairdresser at JC Penneys, it was about 30 bucks or so, I asked for a shorter hair cut. Wayyyy shorter. Bad decission. I looked like a little  Thai boy. And pregnant. It was not a good combination, believe me.

Then I grew my hair back. Or so I tried. When I went back to college after giving birth to our daughter, I found this hair cut place in Campustown and the hairdresser was Vietnamese. She did a nice job cutting my hair for 40 bucks but when I go back there (about a year later), she’s not there anymore. Bummer. A different hairdresser (white girl) took care of me. She did OK. So there I was again, roaming here and there looking for the right one. Hairdresser, that is.

Last year I got a haircut for $21 for a simple trim. My hair’s been outgrown for awhile and I just need somebody to ‘shape’ it. I walked out from that place, back to work, and not a single soul noticed a difference. Not to get any comments from your spouse is understandable, but your coworkers? My oh my, don’t they notice even the smallest changes in you. “Oooh, did you change the way you part your hair? It looks so… adorable” or “Are you wearing new pair of glasses? You look different.” I was bummed to realize that I spent money for nothing.

Two days ago, I decided it’s time for a trim. I didn’t want to go back to the last place, so like any practical women would do, I chose Great Clips. To be honest, I’ve never had any pleasant experience with them. They’re always in a hurry and short, to say the least. That’s why I was prepared when I entered their door. Two hairdressers glanced at me and the kids, then one walked away. Knowing that they’re closing in 20 minutes, I politely asked the hairdresser who’s standing by the cash register.

Me: “Excuse me, do you have a room for one more?” after no standard greeting ‘Hi welcome to Great Clips, how may I help you?’
Hairdresser #1: “What do you need?” (no eye contacts were made, she was busy typing)
Me (decided to be a smart ass): “Umm, a hair cut [duh].” *smirk*
Hairdresser #1 (looking at me like she’s going to kill me): “Uh huh.”
Me: “My phone number is *** **** and the name is [last name], Diny.”
Hairdresser #1 (more typing): “Have you ever been here before?” *emphazing the word ‘ever’*
Me (realizing a potential problem that I was there too long ago and probably was using an old phone number and not really in the mood for a discussion with Miss Sassy in front of me): “Nope.”
Hairdresser #1: “Hah. It’ll be 15 minutes or so.” *she then walked away*

Ten minutes later, a different hairdresser called my name: “Dai-nee?” I got up, thinking ‘whatever-just-get-this-over-with-don’t-even-correct-them’ and followed her. As she’s putting the cape on me, she asked what kind of hair cut I was looking for. I explained to her that I just want to have the layers evened out, while keeping the length of my hair as long as possible. As I was talking, she’s looking at me closely with her eyes wide opened, eyebrows raised, and her mouth was almost shaped like an ‘O’. She keeps on saying, “Uh huh…” every 4 or 5 words I said. Man… she makes me feel like I’m a retard trying to explain myself.

Hairdresser #2: “Oh, so you want shaggy?”
Me: “No… I’d like the trimming of my hair evened out. Especially the bottom layers.”
Hairdresser #2: “But you don’t have layers.”
Me: “Yes I do… or I did. See? The length of my hair is not even. Isn’t this called layers?”
Hairdresser #2: “Maybe a little at the back. But hon, you don’t have layers at the front.”
Me: “Yes, there is. It’s just not even between the left and right. Could you fix it?”
Hairdresser #2: “So you want layers?”
Me: “YES!!!!” *finally* “But not too short, please.”
Hairdresser #2: “How do you part your hair?”
Me: “This way.” *showing her the way I’d like my hair parted* “And could you do bangs for me too?”
Hairdresser #2: “You want bangs with layered haircut?”
Me: “Well, not the 80s-like bangs. You know, just this much and going sideways.” *showing her the way I’d like it to be with my hands*
Hairdresser #2: “Oooooooh… you want a sweepie. It’s called side sweeps, hon. Not bangs.”
Me (how the heck should I know?): “Gosh… sorry”

So I left Great Clips with my tail between my legs. Not only I was not welcomed properly, but also was wronged by not using the hair care terms correctly. The quality of the haircut? I’d give it a 4 out of 10; choppy and uneven and made my hair sticking out. Seriously, is there any decent haircut place left in this town?

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January 8, 2008

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