Smooth as Silk

Yesterday I went to the salon to get my hair straightened and cut. Getting a even a simple hair cut in Japan is an expensive ordeal. Most place charge about 2500~3000 yen for simple cut. Straightening generally starts from about 10,000 yen. So to get my hair done I was looking at around about $125. Luckily, I found a place just across the street that is about 1/2 price for everything compared to most other salons. Walking in the door I was asked if I had a members card. It still kinda throws me off, but pretty well every kind of service industry business here has a member system set up. It doesn't cost anything to become a member usually and sometimes there's no special perks to it at all it's just more a way of getting a bit of customer information. In this case though I got a coupon for 500 yen off my next visit as well as a coupon to give to a friend for 1000 yen off. If the person goes there and uses it then I get another 1000 yen off my next visit. Not bad at all for a free membership.

I was then shown to my spot, where they had already laid out several male interest magazines on the counter for my viewing pleasure. One of them was this pretty good street style magazine that my buddy Kitai does modeling for sometimes. I couldn't find him in the newest issue though.

The straightening process was very similar to what I get done in Toronto. The major difference though was for most of the time there were two people working on my hair, one on each side. It was as if I had my own personal team. Chemicals, wash, chemicals again, wash, blow dry, straight iron and then cut.

When they wash your hair they but a small cloth on your face so it doesn't get wet. I was chuckling to myself the first time they put it on, but on the plus side it's kinda cool cause you can doze off and the person washing your hair can't tell. Also another hair washing related thing. After you finish they always say "Otsukaresama desu" which is kinda like "thanks for the hard work". Kind of a weird thing to say to someone who just got their hair washed. Especially since when one person says it all the other employees do as well.

After the second batch of chemicals and the blowdrying I was a bit skeptical as my hair did not look very straight at all actually, maybe even less straight then when I came in, but the straight iron was the key. The guy explained to me that it cements the style. He also told me not to wash my hair, wear a hat, tuck my hair behind my ears or do anything to change the shape for a couple of days as it sets fully. When I got to bed I have to try as best as I can to keep it in the shape it is now as well.

In toll it took about 3 hours and the grand total was 8500 yen. Definitely 3 hours well spent though as my hair has never looked better. Dead straight and smooth as silk.