Running and cutting with scissors.

Welcome back to our normal blogging schedule. I don't honestly know where the last few months have gone, but the fact I haven't had time for reflection can either mean I've had way too much going on personally OR that I've been living in a cocoon like state waiting for a reason to live. The answer is actually a little bit of both, but you'll see a follow up post about that. For now I'm back and ready to blog!

Now a life well lived is a life full of firsts. Whilst there have been a number of titillating firsts which I've been meaning to blog about, I'll pick one in particular for today.

So I went to get my hair cut today. Yes this sounds very dull doesn't it? But today instead of going to my regular barber, I went to a hair salon! Okay this still sounds boring, but I did have a number of requests to explain why I would be mad enough to pay so much for a haircut that (to guys) looks roughly the same as before.

I went to the Luc Espace hair salon in Chatswood Chase. My friend Dan has a brother (Nathan) who works there (which has no real benefit outside of the fact it adds that extra personal touch to the entire story).

So unlike an normal hair dresser, the minute I walked into this place, I was treated very well. I was guided into my chair and greeted by Nathan as he was finishing up his previous client. In order to make the time go past faster, they politely offered herbal tea and men's magazines to read over. Being poorly prepared as usual, I hastily scoured the magazines looking for a style that would look good on me. Unfortunately it appeared 50% of the haircuts were for pretty/nancy boys and the other 50% were for distinguished gentlemen. There didn't seem to be something that screamed, "I'm a sexy software engineer, look, my great hair proves it!". I briefly looked at Patrick Dempsey's hair, but frankly, I think it only works on McDreamy and just looks ridiculous on anyone else.

Not long after I gave up looking in frustration, Nathan dropped by to talk about what I wanted to do with my hair. I described my previous hair cuts and how I didn't want anything like those, then gave a basic guideline to avoid cutting the hair in a style that would leave me showing a huge forehead by the end and then gave him free rein to do whatever you like after that! He showed me some designs to which I agreed (more out of ignorance than any real preference) and then we got ball rolling.

Nathan delegated the 'preparation of the client' to an apprentice called Susan. The first part involved Susan putting scented oil on her hands and wafting it up and down in front of my face before giving a gentle neck rub. This actually did relax me somewhat, perhaps not as effectively as chloroform, but close. After that I was led to the comfy reclining leather chairs and tilted back into the basin in order to get my hair washed. Normally I'm quiet around my hairdresser, but I've been working on my talking to (women) strangers skills so I actually managed to have a nice conversation with her. Working in IT gives you so few opportunities to practice so I welcomed this chance with open arms.

After this came the real work of actually getting a hair CUT. This entire process is always a blur to me, mostly because I have no glasses on and all I see is shapes moving around. If someone was going to stab me with scissors there would be no chance of me seeing that in time. The actual trimming and styling process took a significant amount of time, but I didn't really notice since I was having a lively chat with Nathan. I've met Nathan before and plus I've never really had any problems maintaining a good conversation with other guys.

After the hair cut, it was off to the hair wash basins again for another hair wash. In order to clean the hair on the face I received a mild facial with oils and a massage followed by a gentle towelling off. This is probably the finest treatment my face has ever received! This was followed up by the styling which in my case was as simple as some 'grooming cream' in my hair to style it forwards. Can't say I was blown away, but it didn't look too bad either. In the process of playing with it, he did spike up the hair, which I think might be an interesting look. I should try it in my own time!

In total the process took an hour. At $75, it was worth it for the experience, but certainly not a great idea for regular hair cuts for someone on a budget.