Stories from the Salon - Ticro

I have not had my hair cut since I left Melbs THIRTEEN months ago! This is due to a number of reasons, primarily to having not much time, wondering where I was going to find an Asian hairdresser in a city without Asian districts, and also being told that I wouldn't be able to find a hairdresser who could speak English. Apparently, it's not a very highly educated profession *shrug*. It wasn't much of a problem because I came here with shoulder-grazing hair but 13 months later, it was a significant distance down my back...well, a friend had described Medusa as having more manageable locks than myself. Vacuuming it was also a bitch.

Despite many people telling me they liked how I looked with my uber-feminine long hair, I had therefore decided to cut my hair back to my shoulders. The question was then where and how it was going to be cut. Knowing I was going to London, I took a page out of Pooey's book again and decided to get Lydia to book me an appointment at Poo's salon, Ticro in Covent Garden/Soho on Saturday afternoon - after lunch but before CNY!!!

Then I had to decide how I was going to cut my hair. Again, I did was Poo did and looked at www.beauty-box.jp and checked out medium length hair. After picking a few that I liked, I showed the photos to my colleagues (and boss) and we agreed - this one would suit me!

Shoulder length, long layers, seems alright! So I saved the URL on my phone and showed it to the hairdresser who agreed. 

Being two days before the big day, the shop was pretty busy and I saw them turn away people. That was expected and the reason why I made a booking. Because they were so busy, I was also not surprised that someone other than a hairdresser washed my hair. What I wasn't expecting was that the person cutting my hair left to go cut someone else's hair while I sat there for a while with drying hair. Another person came along and dried it to curl the ends (such as in the photo) before the cutter came back and did more drying. When I asked if he was going to do more cutting, he said yes and did some but not much. Following putting a bit of serum in my hair, he brushed the ends forward pulled out the mirror to show me the rear and said he was done. I asked him to adjust the mirror and sure enough, there was some layering at the sides that was emphasised since he'd brushed the hair over my shoulders but I said, "No, do it again. You have not put layers into my hair." He seemed confused by my instructions (not great English) so I demonstrated that I wanted layers in the rear as well which he promptly cut until I said stop. 

Needless to say, I walked out not feeling particularly impressed and not liking my haircut. This feeling continued when I met up with Smee for dinner and said I didn't like it. He said it looked alright to him. The real test of course occurs after the first wash, which I did the next day after a swim in a pool. I then went off to Oxford where I told the Devil Childe that I wasn't sure if I liked it but he said it looked alright to him. Now back in Munich, I have decided that I like it after all, so here's what it looks like:

I suppose the moral of the story is that, while I didn't feel particularly pleased with my experience there, I ultimately did get a pretty good haircut. In fact, Asia has been saying that after the shock of seeing me with short hair, she was liking it more and more while watching me give a lab meeting lecture. I'm willing to cut them some slack for the time of year and day that I got served, perhaps it's not like that when they're not run off their feet. Great hair, questionable service - your call.