.: asylum for the sane :.

I’ve been wanting to have bangs for the longest time. In fact, the last time I sported bangs was 7 years back, as seen in the photo below. This has always been one of FP’s favourite photos of me. It is certainly one of mine. I look like a Japanese doll, and some said it looks like a poster of a Japanese horror movie, lol.

So today, I recreated this look. It was hours and hours of pure boredom at the hair stylist’s. I went back to Artica Hair Studios, mainly because I still remember their brilliant and thorough service the last time round. This time, I wasn’t dissappointed. Just that when the girl finally cut my bangs for me, I looked very stunned (because for a whole 5 minutes, I was crying out loud inside: what the hell did I just do?! I LOOK LIKE A COCK!). – sorry “looking like a cock” is a Singaporean term for looking ridiculous. I didn’t mean.. nevermind.

I had that reaction because when she cut it my bangs looked very flat and very fake. And I was almost hyperventilated; because my hair is my crowning jewel. I asked her if she could layer my bangs because it looked too flat, but she says there’s nothing she can do about it and that it will take a few weeks for it to look “natural”. I was still fretting about it as I paid and made my way to the cabstand. I was like.. shit shit shit!

And then in the cab, I caught myself in the rearview mirror and I played with my reflection as I often do and realized that the girl didn’t do a shoddy job after all. I don’t look like a cock. In fact, I look a lot like my younger self – 7 years back! And I look good!

Plus, with this hairstyle, you’d feel playful and cutesy automatically. I think I easily look 10 years younger with this look, hahaha.

So I’m glad I made the decision to have bangs this time round, and I’m glad I went back to Artica for it. The poor girl looks so disappointed as I left (because she spent hours and hours on me, and I had a panicked look as I left, tsk). I feel bad now, because I’m totally loving the look – well till the next time I get sick of my hair of course.

I am very particular when it comes to doing anything to my hair, so I am forever on the lookout for good hair dressers. It does not help that every time I found a good and versatile hairdresser, the shop will relocate in the next few months and become impossible to trace.

So, in recent times, I’ve been pretty sick of my hair. It’s gotten too long, too thick and too messy. But I didn’t have a hairdresser to go to because my previous one disappeared into thin air. But I couldn’t take the mess anymore. So I googled, and read forums and found out about this salon called Artica.

I still had my doubts about if of course despite reading good stuff about it but I went ahead with it anyway. And I have no regrets whatsoever.

When I first went into the salon, they told me they are full and to leave my number and they’ll call me as soon as they can slot me in. So I went shopping

Close to an hour and a half later, still no phone call but I went back to the salon and indeed they are just about done and more than welcome to do up my hair.

Here are the reasons why I was giving so much praise for Artica on twitter:

1) they keep restocking magazines in front of me, even the newspaper. and when a guy came in, they provided him male magazines even though he told them it’s okay. This is called catering to the needs of different clients.

2) they had a menu for complimentary drinks. i was shocked when a guy showed me a piece of laminated paper, and got even more surprised when it was a menu for drinks, on the house. They offered things like coffee and others (didn’t really look at it, was just in awe of the menu). I didn’t want a drink because as it was, I already brought a cup of bubble tea to the salon.

3) Still on the topic of drinks, it was getting cold because it was raining. They asked me again if I wanted coffee. Loves, right?

4) They didn’t “recommend” me any shampoo (like other salons do). This is a very welcomed change.

5) Their price was really reasonable, doesn’t matter if it’s because they were having some promotions (later on, I found out that they always have discounts and promotions). This is the cheapest I’ve paid for a professionally done hair cut

6) They gave me my fringe, without telling me they “can’t because [my] hair has a natural curl”. They gave me my fringe, by overcoming the problem, without even mentioning the problem. This is the second time in 7 years a hair stylist is able to do that. So that explains how awesome this salon is

I’ve learned to measure the skill of a hairstylist by the answer I get when I say I want a fringe. For the past 3 visits to other salons, I’ve gotten a flat no. And how they suck.

7) They called me soon after I left their salon, to let me know I’ve left behind my shopping bags (shoes!!) Bliss!

For those of you who want to check out this place, here is the name card.

The address and contact number reads:

Far East Plaza
#04-82 Singapore 228213

Phone: 6836 2891