We sent Agent Serene down to try the newly opened Matsui Hair Studio!
Read about her experience below!
Her original blog article can be found here: http://www.sereneheng.com/2014_07_01_archive.html
June 2014
こんにちわ！私は日本人でわありません。
The hairstyles of Singaporeans are heavily influenced by Japanese and Koreans. I am very, very skeptical when it comes to choosing a salon for my hairdo. A haircut can either make you look good in a jiffy or kills your image you wouldn’t even bear to leave your house. Fortunately for me, my hair grows at sonic speed and is relatively easy to manage. When it comes to parting my hair, I can have it left/center/right in an instant without much hassle. That said, I feel that my hair is pretty thin and flat at my crown (I am amazingly good at balancing a book on my head). As a result, the top of head always look flat.
Before going for hair cut
Having long hair can be quite a chore. I always bathe at night before I sleep and it takes me about at least 15 minutes to dry my hair. I make it a point to dry our hair at night for a few reasons. Firstly, my hair feels less greasy the next day. Secondly, my hair shape is usually nicer since I get to set them as I blowdry. Thirdly, I’ll get headache the next day if I don’t blowdry.
So when I received an invitation from Beauty Undercover to visit 松井 Matsui Hair Studio , for a sponsored hairdo, I screamed yes! Something needs to be done to my hair.
*Pronounced as Ma-Tsu-I
Step 1: Consultation with Matsui’s stylists
Matsui Hair Studio is a cosy place tucked at the corner of the level. Its beautiful wall paint of a lady with loud hair colours draws a stark contrast with the Japanese setting. The moment I stepped into the shop, I immediately felt as ease. It was as if I was at home.
After settling down on my seat, I was being served a cup of tea in a lovely teacup. My belongings were locked up safely in a locker before my treatment begins. I was never be bored during the session as there were too many Japanese manga to read. Hahaha.
Step 2: Haircut
After a thorough discussion with my pretty stylist, Chloe, we decided to go with a new digital hair perm to awaken the femininity side of me. Chloe started off by trimming away my split ends and giving my hair a more define shape. The adventurous side of me initially opted for short fringe, but Chloe, who has had 7 years of experience in her field, insisted against my idea and kept my long fringes at the side. Bravo. Sensibility over impulse. I know I’ll be complaining about my fringes now if she had cut them away. Hahaha.
As a matter of fact, I have a round face shape. This is something that most people won’t agree with because I take pride in concealing my round face up pretty decently. I have shed some baby fats along the way as I grow and braces did give me a sharper jawline. But these didn’t change the fact that my jawline resembles the shape of our Mother Earth. So in order to build the illusion of smaller face shape, I use my long side fringes to smooth the edges of my jawline and to create more dimensions to my face.
So here we go, Chloe skilfully applied perm lotion from the mid of my head down. The lotion breaks the bond of the hair and allows the hair to be reshaped.
Hiring technology to ease our lives. This machine rotates about its own orbit, emitting heat waves to stimulate the absorption of the perm lotion. The process took about 15 minutes.
Next, I was led to the hairwash station to remove the perm lotion. Chloe’s skills were so good I almost fell asleep after she gave me a head & neck massage.
Wires were then connected to the digital rolls and I felt like Medusa momentarily. Hahaha. Thick sponges were placed between my head and the rolls to prevent the heat from burning my scalp. This section took another 30 minutes.
Another stylist, Alvin, came along to apply a generous amount of neutralizer to my hair, making sure that all parts of my curled hair received the neutralizer. This chemical was used to set the curls in my hair and it determined whether or not my curls looked nice. Side note: He has a cool tattoo on his neck!
As you can imagine, regular dyeing of my hair and occasional perming/rebonding damaged my hair. So after Chloe washed off the neurtralizer, she started me on 3-step hair treatment. The first stage of treatment began with giving me an incredibly sweet shampoo wash. (The smell lingered on my hair for the next few days and I love it so much!)
Stage 2 and 3 of treatment involved applying more substances and steaming of my hair.
Time to apply styling lotion and blow dry! The cute bottle is imported from Japan and has a little heart at its side.
Thank you Matsui, Chloe and her team for making me look pretty! I am very happy and satisfied with my hair now. Thank you Gabrielle from Beauty Undercover for liaising and taking photos for me. Very blessed to know all of you.
Bugis+ (previously known as Iluma), #03-15 Singapore 188067