Yesterday I was all I don’t care about hair and there are so many reasons not to go to the salon.
Today I am all I wish I’d done that sooner and I can’t wait to go back.
I wasn’t naming names before I had been to my appointment because even if I had hated it, I wouldn’t have told anyone who it was. But since I actually LOVED IT, now I was to scream it from the rooftops!
My appointment was at Zoom Hair Studio here in New Westminster. When I’d tried to make an appointment this week, Angela was the stylist that was available both times I was and I took that as a sign.
Allow me to insert a little woo here because, well, that’s what I do. I strongly believe that we cross paths people when the timing is right. For whatever reason, Angela and I were meant to meet today and I am so happy that we did.
But I’m going to start from the beginning.
So, yesterday morning everything aligned that I felt motivated and mentally prepared enough to commit to getting my hair cut. I went online to the place I’d been thinking about going and was able to book an appointment for 5pm today. The online booking tool was easy to use, it was quick, told me who was available and when and allowed me to pick my time. I had booked it before the studio was even open, but I got an email and a text indicating that the request was confirmed a few hours later.
I told a few friends that I was going for a haircut today and all of them asked me what I was going to do. I didn’t have a clue. My whole plan ended when I got there. Beyond that, I had no preference.
I arrived at my appointment about ten minutes early this afternoon. There weren’t a lot of people in the salon at the time, but I was greeted by two of them almost immediately. One was another stylist, the other got me check in right away and let me know Angela would be with me in a few minutes. She also said walked me to the back where I could change out my cardigan for a robe. When she first said it, I though, “huh?” but once I saw the robes, they made perfect sense. They were black and silky and tied around the waist. Honestly, I would buy and wear one if I could find them in a store. They were comfortable and kind of flattering, too.
I got to look around a little on my way back to the front and I loved the feel of the place. It was really bright and airy with lots to look at. There were photos on the walls – all the way up to the very high ceilings, nice product displays and
Angela was running a few minutes behind because she was working on a complex colour that I got the spy on while I waited. It wasn’t long, but she still apologized and thanked me for my patience several times throughout the appointment. She introduced herself and shook my hand. Then she asked what we were doing. I told her I like my hair short and that I wasn’t super picky about it. I told her she was the one with the scissors so I was giving her complete control. We discussed a plan of action as well as my hair’s tendencies (a strong side part, a flip at the bottom of my neck.) It was something simple, about shoulder length, blah, blah, blah, although she humoured me and made it sound enticing.
Before we even got started, she just straight up hacked off a bunch of my hair. Why not, right? It was going to go anyway.
This is how much hair I left there in the end.
While I laid back and she washed my hair, I started to think about her cut and how much I liked it. She had a classic pixie cut with an undercut on the sides and in the back. When we got back to the chair, I asked, “so, what if we go shorter?” From there a new idea was born. Something similar to her hair, but without (most of) the shaving…for now. She alluded several times that we’ll be working up to that and a shorter length in the future. I liked it.
From here on, it was a pretty standard affair. She started in the back and then worked her way along the sides and around to the front. She took such great care and precision with every sweep of her scissors and I felt lighter and happier as a true and proper cut started to take shape.
As a person, Angela is sweet, articulate, looks you in the eye when she speaks to you and is a smart cookie. As a stylist, she is meticulous and visionary.
She spent a lot of time and attention on cleaning up the edges and adding texture to the lines. It was like watching an artist – you can’t tell exactly what they’re looking, but you can tell they’re seeing something!
Here’s my before photo.
And here is my after.
It’s kind of a weird angle, I know, but it’s hard to show off the lines of this cut in a way that does them justice. In the end, and after 75 attempts, I shared the selfie I rushed to send off before I even left the change room.
I feel great about it and I even started thinking about adding some colour. Next time…
Another thing I loved was that Angela used very little product in my hair. She gave it a spray with Kevin Murphy Bedroom Hair texturing hairspray only at the very end. I brought some of that home with me as well as two cute little barrettes since I’ll be able to wear them again now that I don’t have 40 pounds of hair weighing me down.
It feels so good to know I can’t cop out and put my hair in a ponytail anymore.
It feels so good that my hair can’t get caught underneath the strap of my bag anymore.
It feels so good to know I’ve done something to really take care of myself.
Overall, I love my new hair and I love Zoom and I will definitely be going back again!
