Cherry {Red} Waves
"Today is a good day to go red-haired," I thought, as I plopped myself down on a comfy chair at Azta Urban Salon at the basement of Alabang Town Center.
Pre-shampoo, bye root/ombre hair!
I had just come home from an extended weekend spent at the quiet boons of the South and I needed to cover my embarrassing roots. Prior to coming inside the salon, I had no color choices in my head but I just had one thought --- that was to not go back to black.
"There is a new hair color in town and it's formulated for Asian hair," my stylist said. "Is this Korean?" I asked, seeing the Chinese-looking characters on the catalog of hair colors. As it turns out, it was a Taiwanese brand called Chihtsai - MLV
Tech that had been making its way to Filipina strands. Was there harm in trying? Of course there wasn't.
Truth be told, I had no qualms on trying any color. I'd go for pink hair if I didn't work at a corporate setting but I do and it would be a waste of time explaining why I have pink hair every time. I'd probably try ombre hair, too but in my opinion that only looks nice if you have blonde hair, otherwise you just look like you're growing your hair out.
And so I chose red. Fire red, 7.66, as it was called. In my head, I have always chosen red from catalogs from L'oreal but somehow, they never really show up as red as we know it so I should be fine.
Boy, was I wrong.
The usual hair coloring process ensued and I resumed to an old routine I knew so well --- the shampooing, the constant turn of the head, removal of earrings. I used the time to catch up on Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart, my read for the moment {which first line blew me away immensely, BTW}. After two and a half hours, my stylist trimmed my hair as I still did not pay attention and when finally, I turned to the mirror, it was like a scene from
The Princess Diaries' when Anne Hathaway didn't recognize herself. I had red hair. Like really red hair. At first, I wasn't sure what to feel about it --- I after all, did not intend to look like April Kepner of Grey's Anatomy though I certainly did like the redheadedness of Addison Montgomery-Shepherd {Kate Walsh}. It popped in my eyes so much I thought it looked like alarm signs every time I looked at my face. But then, barely 24 hours later, and after receiving affirmations that I looked okay, great even, with red hair, I loved it!
Photo by: Nesty Ocampo | Taken at the Sun Life Football Cup
As for what's good and bad ...
The Good:
- It's true when they said that the color would adhere better to black hair --- as any devoted colorist would know, to get a vibrant color on black hair is not the easiest thing to do. This has been the reddest my hair has ever been, thanks to Chihtsai MLV 7.66!
- Didn't hurt the scalp despite the ammonia.
- No weird Pagoda Cold Wave-ish smell which is common to hair color.
- Azta's staff had great hair coloring techniques because my hair looks natural {if you don't know me ha ha} and no imbalanced coloring or unintentional streaks.
- They serve milk tea which is a WIN for me! xx
- Nice interiors and friendly staff.
- If you're going for light hair like I did, ask your colorist to color your eyebrows, too. They usually do it for free :)
Photo credit: Aimee Diego, whom I met last week at a shoot in Fully Booked. Finally! =)
The Bad:
- MLV dried my hair out though this is a problem that occurs to many a colored hair. I'll tell you about what I did in another post =P
- My hair had been bleeding {color is washing off} for about four days after --- but only because I have such brittle hair from all the perming and coloring. At the moment, it has settled to a dark brown which I like perfectly.
- Having red hair means getting questions in the elevator like, "What possessed you to have red hair?" "You think you're like an anime kaya you had your hair colored red?" and other silly questions. I just smile in response.
- You can shock yourself in the mornings, sometimes.
Overall comment: I'd gladly go back to Azta if only to try out the brighter reds of MLV. It's a first for me to really get the desired color in the catalog and glad to know a salon offers just that.
* Azta Urban Salon is located in the basement of Alabang Town Center.
*Cherry Waves is a title of a Deftones song.
*Special thanks to Chloe Lopez - Tan for organizing my day of pampering at Azta Urban Salon.To book your appointment, call the Azta branch nearest you:
Katipunan Avenue 4346733
Robinsons Metroeast 6822107
Eastwood City 6876527
Alabang Town Center 6592249
Robinson’s Pioneer 6873289
SM San Lazaro 3531344