April 20: Traumatized tresses

I get a haircut--a somewhat traumatic experience today. Let me explain...

My first visit to a real life salon was one of those indelible happy life experiences at age 5: the hair washing, the rollers, the ammonia filled air. I emerge with wavy tresses, just slightly shorter than my waist length braids. Not until age 10 did I have another professional stylist touch my head. I went from waist length to shoulder length--a dramatic change that led to a plethora of compliments. My hair got shorter with subsequent cuts and the experiences more traumatic. My tears flowed after most cuts until 17 years ago with my first visit to Vidal Sassoon. In time, I became a VS demo model. I’d get beautiful geometric cuts and colour (better than if I had paid!)--Ricardo’s ‘firefly’ and ‘orbit’ cuts and John Beeson’s yin yang and flare colouring sessions--all for free. In fact, my last paid haircut was in 2005 when my schedule did not coincide with demo model needs. Even when in England, Ricardo made arrangements with his colleagues in London. The only foray outside of VS salons since 1993 was the two cuts during my 9 month stint in Cambodia. A few years ago, Ricardo left--he moved to Spain, a bit too far to travel for a haircut (though I am tempted). Ricardo had been cutting my hair for about 7 years. Other stylists have been working on my hair. The results have been mixed since then. I call to book a session this week--nothing until end of May. My hair is starting to get unruly--it has been 13 weeks since my last cut. This is a great opportunity to try a new salon.

I step into Toni & Guy. I discover that Paul was partially trained by Ricardo. I start to relax. He likes my current cut and suggests the same style but just shorter.

I gulped, “Okay, let’s go for it.”

The verdict: the cut is quite nice but I end up with the pixie cut that I specifically said that I did not want. The cut may be a bit too short for someone with hair as fine as mine. This is not the worst cut. It should grow out quite nicely in a couple of weeks. I did not cry. Maybe because I am a big girl now.

(Note: no photo--I’m not quite ready to out my haircut.)