Da Curious

i got a haircut today and getting a haircut probably ranks in one of my top five favorite things to do and im not really sure why because more often than not i come home disappointed thinking ive spent too much for not enough results. even after so many years of getting my hair cut, each and every time i have my hopes up that somehow i will come home with a drastic new do that will make my hair look full and luscious even though its always been thin and flat without fail for my entire life.

back in college my mom used to tell me that getting a good haircut was one of the most important things and makes all the difference in the world even if the rest of you looks like crap so she started taking me to her hairdresser where haircuts were fifty bucks and i would recoil in horror at the thought of spending so much. but go i did, a couple of times in fact but that is mainly just because i didnt know where else to go and my mom usually paid for me. and while i never disliked the haircuts i received, i never really loved any of them.

then when i moved to san jose, i was introduced to a hairstylist that all my roomates swore by so i went as well and this is what i call my period with short hair. or my hair nirvana i like to call it. i have never been as in love with my hair as i did then....my hair was short, it looked great, it had body and bounce, it was low maintenance, required very little upkeep and the best part was that it looked as if i had spent hours styling my hair. now i finally knew what my mom was talking about...i swore by my hairdresser and ended up going to her for a good four years until i moved to the city.

that was about the same time that my urge to be able to tie my hair up in ponytails grew too strong that i decided to start growing out my hair and while i still did trek down to san jose in the beginning to get my hair done, i decided that i would find someone in the city that i loved just as much. i mean this is the city after all, full of salons on every block that it couldnt possibly be too hard to find someone right? how wrong i was.

i started my task by asking around for recommendations, the first rule of thumb when trying to find a new hairstylist. my co worker was the first to suggest someone who she claimed cut great asian hair so i made an appt and what a disaster that turned out to be. somehow he was able to convince me that my hair was "wavy" and finished off my haircut using a diffuser...something that no asian with stick straight hair should ever be using and while it looked great when i left, as soon as i washed my hair the next day, it became one limp mess even after i applied all of the "curl enhancing" products i was convinced to purchase.

my next try was also another recommendation by a friend and while he was great in dying my hair back to its natural color, the haircut didnt do much...all he was really able to do was cut off all the shaggy layers i had gotten in my last hairdresser's attempt to make my hair wavy and i ended up hating how lifeless my hair was and always has been. why oh why have i been blessed with unmanageable hair? contrary to what most guys believe, not everyone can have jennifer aniston-esque hair.

and then theres today. i spent a good three figures on my haircut including tip and while my hair is shorter and cleaner i get the sinking feeling that once i wash it tomorrow, i will feel a big wave of disappointment wash over me yet again. and i already know it definitely was not worth the price tag. to think that a couple of years ago i couldnt fathom spending fifty bucks for a haircut and now im spending double that with the same results. sure i know you partly pay for the atmosphere where this place, quite trendy might i add, offered mini cupcakes and wine and even a latte if you like, id much rather save my money and forget all the pomp and circumstance.

so ive made a pledge from this day forward, im going to stop my search for the perfect hairdresser in the city because after at least five or six different attempts, ive decided that no one is better than the one i already had in san jose and that i should just stop looking and the lesson to be learned here is that when it comes to hair, the grass isnt always greener on the other side and if youre lucky enough to find one hairstylist that you adore, then stick with it and stop looking and wasting your money.

a lesson i learned the hard way but from now on i will be driving my ass down every couple months to get my fine, limp, asian hair groomed once and for all. and who knows maybe ill even go short again even if it does make me look like a damn boy.