Hello I’m Agent C!
Having worked for about 5-6 years, I look every bit a working professional with my long boring brown coloured hair. :(
As much as I am OK with my hair, my inner rebel questions… Is it possible for me to spice up my hair and STILL look professional?
With this question in mind, I began a Rebellion to find a hairstyle that suits the “real me”… and I ended up in Artica Hair Studio at Far East Plaza. (close to my favourite nail salon!)
The Mission: A Funky and Professional Hair Colour
When I first enter Artica, I was assigned Terry who is super duper nice! During the consultation, Terry asked if I had any style in mind.
“Surprise me… as long as I look professional and cool, I’m good!”
Terry passed me a tablet filled with gorgeous pictures of creative hair colours they had previously done. You can check out some of their photos on Instagram @articastudio or their review page here.
Flipping through the pictures made me feel like a kid in a candy store… I wanted to try everything!
Thankfully Terry was there to be my anchor. He asked me a series of questions to ascertain what is the style I’m most suitable for. Within minutes, he recommended Red Block Hair Colour for me.
This was his rationale:
1) As my hair was quite damaged, bleaching was not recommended. As Artica could do red colours well without bleaching, it was definitely a top choice.
2) Red (and brown) suited my relatively fair skin tone
3) Block colours allow me to look both professional and cool at the same time with darker colours at the top and vibrant colours within!
The Transformation
My hair at the top was to be coloured dark brown and the bottom red for a perfect contrast of colours.
The first thing Terry did was therefore to separate my hair into two sections.
After the bottom half was coloured with what looked like sambal belachan, a plastic sheet was layered on top. This acted as a barrier to prevent the colours from mixing.
You may have noticed that my roots were left untouched. This is because the roots would be the fastest to absorb the color. Thus it will be only be dyed at the very last moment to ensure a consistent colour throughout.
When the top layer was done, a plastic hood was placed over my head to keep the heat in, and the “baking” process started to accelerate colour absorption.
It was in no way hot so don’t worry about it!
In the meantime, I was cracking jokes about how I must have looked like the wicked witch. HA!
Being naturally curious, I bombarded Terry with tons of questions about the colouring procedure and his thought process. Being super nice, Terry patiently answered all my questions! I was really impressed with his in depth knowledge about hair colour! Clearly, Artica Hair Studio puts a lot of thought into the selection and mix of products that they use. No wonder it is SO popular among bloggers and customers alike for hair colouring!
At a point in time, Juno (Director and Founder of Artica) even came over to share with us about the existence of Artica’s Secret Ingredient… a Colour Booster that helps achieve colours so vibrant that few other salons can replicate!
The Finishing Touch
Even though their coloring packages came with a basic protein hair treatment, Terry added an additional scalp treatment to deal with my sensitive scalp issues. Plus points to Terry for being so attentive!
The head massage was really comfortable as I began to zone out 
Look at the wide selection of hair colours! This is just one of the two (or more) books they have!
As my hair hasn’t been cut for a good 365 days, my hair was starting to resemble the uglier cousin of Rapunzel. Thankfully, Terry was happy to help me refresh my hair style with a trim!
No transformation is complete without hair blowing. Here you can see Terry meticulously curling my hair section my section. I lovee the contrast between two colours, especially the shade of brown he chose for the top layer.
The Unveiling
So… what do you think?
Personally, I LOVE my new look! It is professional with just a slight tinge of rebellion. Extremely flexible, a simple braid can transform the professional me into a chic partygoer. It is almost like how we can switch between day and night makeup in Beauty Magazines!
Here is a close up shot of my beautifully styled and coloured hair. You can see the red just peeking out from the bottom. Such a tease and absolutely perfect for the rebellious working professional! 
Although I walked into Artica Hair Salon with no style in mind and a challenging mission, Terry and Artica just exceeded all my expectations!
Thank you sooooooo much Terry!
I’m so happy with them that I’m already thinking about what are the other hair services I can try next
The only thing? The salon is often very very crowded. Hence, do make appointment in advance and be prepared to wait a little!
As somebody once told me:
If it is Good and Cheap, it will not be Fast
If it is Good and Fast, it will not be Cheap
If it is Cheap and Fast, it will not be Good
Artica Hair Studio is fantastic, affordable, and well worth the wait in my opinion. Just treat it as a perfect time to catch up on your reading. This is definitely THE place to go to if you want to spice up your look!
Hope you enjoyed reading about my experience!
Agent C signing off.