My Restless Heart -- I Mean Hair

Going to a salon you or your friends have never tried (however known) can be quite scary. Yeah, I learned that yesterday.

To avoid the waiting lines at Bench Fix, I impulsively ventured to go to Regine's, having no idea what to expect from there.

But it was still with mild alarm that I realize that the woman shampooing me was not the usual my-age-shampoo-girl. She was older, like 40's. Okaaay so I started bracing myself for whoever was gonna cut my hair.

Seated on the chair, I looked in horror when another "nanay" type was pushing a cubby going to where I was seated. What even puzzled me was the big bag in the cubby. I was used to parlor cubbies to have trays for the scissors and stuff, not an overnight bag. And her first question made me panic a little,"Anong hairstyle mo? Bob cut?" which is something I've been having as a little kid. Which I absolutely did NOT want to have right now. So I tried to explain.

"Gusto ko po ung hindi mashdo maikli pero hndi conventional, ung hindi pantay pantay.... Ung parang korean." I was avoiding the use of the word "Layered" because I've been having that for a couple of years now. And so she said,

"Ah, so i-le-layered ko lng ung hair mo, pra mgka-body."

I was thinking, oh no. Layered nnmn ba style ko? So I said," Opo, pro hndi pantay." Then she proceeded to chop off my hair. I seriously doubted if she got what I meant, and I was honestly starting to think how much it would cost me to have another haircut in another salon, when I noticed that despite the seemingly haphazard way of chopping my hair off, it was actually turning out different from my usual layered looks. So I told her to leave one side long. I did this with Ystilo and the stylist said it won't look good. This time, nanay simply asked," San side mo gusto?" then I started to smile.

After the blow-dry and the finishing touches, the manangs and nanays there were staring at me like I was some crazy girl, but they did say it was nice. In the end, my nanay stylist actually GOT what I wanted probably because she simply DID what I wanted. Thanks, nanay. Other stylists have a mind of their own and would not heed to your request. And ironically, this is my most asymmetric hairstyle so far, done in the most unlikely type of salon by the most motherly stylist I have ever had. EPIC WIN.

Oh. And the best part:
Receptionist to my nanay stylist: "Ate, si mam kasunod ha." (points to the client after me)
My nanay stylist: "Cge. Ano, gusto ba nya ganituhin ko din cya?" (gesturing to my hurrdo)
Receptionist: (Surprised) "Naku hindi hindi. Conventional lang knya, hindi cya creation."

CREATION?! Haha!