Ah Good Hair Days can be so elusive!
Whether you are Indian, Malay or Chinese, all of us struggle with hair issues of our own.
With Deepavali just round the corner, we had Agent C share with us some of her hair issues and try out Koinonia Hair Salon to help prepare her hair for this upcoming festive occasion!
October 2015
Hi, I’m Agent C!
The woes of curly hair are a never-ending struggle. Add in the texture of Indian hair and that equals double the struggle! Sure, we have people admiring our natural curls and constantly telling us how lucky we are that we don’t have to spend a fortune at salons for voluminous curls.
While we love the compliments, maintaining our curls to look effortlessly sane is not as easy as most think and the bad hair days of non-curly-haired ladies are nothing compared to ours!
This is what others think our hair usually looks like or more accurately what we wish it did look like daily…
Our struggle is real! Running our fingers through our hair are nowhere as similar as seen in shampoo commercials, and don’t bother asking us to brush our tangles …
If you are like me, your only desire when it comes to your unruly and curly tresses is for a look that is easy to style and most essentially frizz-free!
Too much to ask for? We’ll see …
PS. There is no photoshop, no intentional actions done here to make it look worse than it is… This is just what I have to live with every morning!
Quite the hair horror, isn’t it?
There’s no saying how frizzy and dry my hair can get with the hot weather. To simply put it, my mane has a mind of its own and the back view of my hair has always been a concern of mine as I usually only shape the curls that fall to the front.
Since I have been lusting over good hair days since forever, I head to Koinonia Salon at Pacific Plaza to get the trusted experts to revitalize my curls.
Why Koinonia, you may ask?
Other than being a Korean salon that’s really good with volume rebonding, I’ve heard that Cynthia from Koinonia Salon is really popular among Indian expatriates for being able to tame their unruly manes!
I’m therefore really hopeful that Cynthia can do something about my long and frizzy hair!
The Consultation
As soon as I step into the salon, Cynthia greets me with a smile and wastes no time in asking what look I would like to achieve and then assesses the current condition of my hair.
I request for sun kissed highlights but fear the colour might make my hair look even drier than it actually is. However, Cynthia’s willingness to listen before giving recommendations puts me at ease.
Knowing that almost half of her clients face the same type of problems I do, I feel reassured that my hair is left in capable hands.
Cynthia then suggests keeping my existing colour while adding in lighter highlights to the ends. However, she advises that it would be best to not go too light, as this will result in my already dry and frizzy hair looking even more dry and frizzy.
Pre-Treatment
Salons would normally ask you to put on an unflattering hair cutting cape but the one at Koinonia is a little different … I’m handed a Korean Kimono to wear.
Now I’m all set for colour and curls!
A pre-treatment serum is applied to my hair before applying the hair dye to prevent my hair from drying out even further.
Cynthia makes sure to nourish my ends especially, which is the most dry.
The Pre-Treatment that Cynthia used was the Kinessences oil and mask, which has won several beauty awards this year!
This is however just the pre-treatment… more details about Kinessences later on when she uses it post-treatment!
Highlights
It’s time for the highlights!
Instead of starting all over, Cynthia mentioned that it will probably look more natural if she added highlights on top of the existing hair colour that I already have.
Highlights will also be less damaging to the hair as compared to full head colouring… since my hair is already very frizzy!
Cynthia and her assistant Gino begin parting sections of my hair and dyeing it with a golden colour… don’t expect it to be too bright though since no bleach was involved!
Maybe it’s just me but when two stylists work on my hair at the same time, it makes me feel like a celebrity with my very own beauty entourage!
Although we did not use bleach, they tried to lift the colour further with a lightening agent!
Hair Wash
The hair wash has always been my most favourite part of a salon experience as this is when the true pampering session kicks in!
I love the massage that comes along with the hair wash and it can either make or break ratings when it comes to salons offering the full experience.
Gino’s scalp message is like a slice of heaven. He is skilled at focusing extra pressure at the right points with a soft touch. The massage lasted longer than I had expected, but no complaints there … it was bliss!
Kinessences Post Treatment
To repair the my already dry and frizzy hair, I was recommended the Kinessences Treatment – a fusion of 5 pure ancient oils that each has its own unique benefits to revitalize hair from the first use. Sounds lavishly nourishing, doesn’t it!
Though certain natural oils can have an unpleasant scent, the soothing aroma of Kinessences Treatment is a treat for both your hair and sense of smell.
Can’t wait to see the end result!
Unlike typical hair treatments which may require steamers or some level of heat to boost penetration and seal the treatment into the hair, Kinessences opted for a very different approach.
Instead of using heat, Gino used a freezing cold flat iron to encourage absorption of the hair treatment into the hair.
Yes, that’s right! The tool you see in the image above is not a heated straightening flat iron… but a Freezing Cold Flat Iron!
This is the FIRST time I’ve heard of such a distinctive method of treatment… definitely interesting and reassuring to know that even the slightest damage is minimized!
I sit and (literally) chill for about 10-20 minutes for the treatment to penetrate my hair and work its magic.
Thankfully, the wait is not a dull one with the latest magazines to read and hot green tea to sip on.
The music that has been playing since the time I entered the salon has been pretty awesome, so I ask Gino about the music playlist and before I know it, he trails off and returns back with the band’s name written down on a piece of paper.
(Bonus points for customer service!)
Blow-Dry and After-Care
The final step before the big reveal!
To ensure I can re-create similar curls at home, Cynthia teaches me the simple blow-drying technique of twisting sections of my hair with my fingers to help enhance the shape of my natural curls while slightly tugging the top to keep it straight.
My curls are already looking curl-tastic!
Cynthia goes on to explain that I can loosen the curls with my fingers and the curls will bounce back without loosing its natural shape.
Yay to sane curls!
I know it looks like permed hair but trust me… this is just the result of a very effective Kinessences Treatment!
My hair is nourished and most definitely frizz-free!
The End Result
From frizzy mane to silky smooth sun kissed curls.
Just to give you a reminder of how it looked before:
Before
After
What a transformation!
For the first time in months, I feel that I’m actually having a good hair day… and that I’m that much closer to Deepika Padukone’s gorgeous hair than before.
THANK YOU Koinonia Hair Salon!
I’m exceptionally happy with the results of Kinessences Treatment as the curls look and smell GREAT!
(If only you could smell them from your mobile or laptop screen, you would know I wasn’t exaggerating.)
On the other hand, the highlights were however not as bright as I wished it could be. This may be because no bleach was used since my damaged frizzy thin hair can’t take it anyway!
Still, I’m glad that my hair looks and feels great after the hair service… compared with having fried and damaged hair, I would choose more muted highlights anytime!
Ultimately, it all boils down to one crucial question: Would I go back?
Koinonia Salon did a great job recommending the best treatment for my hair and choosing the right colour to ensure my hair wouldn’t look frizzier.
A day later and my hair still smells wonderful, and my curls still look as pretty as they did when I left the salon. Koinonia’s customer experience from start to end was a delight and did I mention there’s no hard selling at all, which is usually not the case whenever I step into a salon since my hair is dry and frizzy.
The staff at Koinonia are also very open and honest in sharing their knowledge about various hair products and what is truly suitable and value-for-money for you, whether it is about hair services or hair products.
Best of all, the stylists are patient and very willing to listen to your preferences and needs, making the entire experience a wonderful one.
While this may not be the salon I would unequivocally recommend for vibrant hair colours that require bleaching, it is a definite YES if you are looking for a salon with trustworthy hairstylists that prioritises your hair health to help you revitalize your curls!