Along Mohammed Sultan road, HaLu Hair Design is located on the second floor of a shop house. The moment I walked in, it’s quiet and spacious space gave me a sense of reprieve. It was a small and cosy hair salon with a row of chairs (not back to back like many Korean chains) and the ceiling decorated with beautiful colourful dried flowers. Such a pleasure to see at first sight!
I’m not sure how many of you reading this article are like me. I haven’t been to a hair salon since Dec 2019 after Covid hit. It was the uneasy feeling about lack of safety that warded me off. The thought of a going into an environment where a patron might be diagnosed as Covid+ didn’t appeal.
From conversations I discovered many friends and neighbours either opted for hair dye treatment at home (DIY) or simply let their grey hair grow out. With the exception of a few who needed a haircut, the rest of us preferred to remain as is. After all we were not really socializing.
I for one hadn’t come to the stage where I needed to worry about grey hair so I just let my hair grow out during the pandemic. Many people I know have slowly returned to their routine hair appointments, especially after vaccination started to roll out mid this year.
I didn’t rush in as I got accustomed to having my hair tied up, until this opportunity to write a hair report for HaLu Hair Design came along. I was excited. Why not? It was after all time for a makeover!
My hair designer Keith, introduced himself briefly and asked me what picture I had in mind for the outcome? I originally booked for cut + digital perm + treatment as I thought it might be easier to manage my naturally wavy hair. I wanted to keep it long, especially after googling fancy mid-length digital perm photos!
I removed all my hair clips as he assessed my hair. His take was that my hair was not suitable for a digital perm. I wasn’t expecting to hear this. For my very thick, frizzy, voluminous and natural wave hair, he advised that even if I did do a digital perm I could find it difficult to manage at home.
All my memories of bad perming experiences surfaced! He was spot on as memories of my last digital perm in a Korean hair salon 4 years ago got me quite upset. After a $600 bill I decided to trim most of it soon after. A shame really! It was funny how women tend to forget their bad hair experiences and fall back into the same traps again and again.
A bit of similarity to how we managed our relationships with bad boys and could never seem to learn our lessons lol!! I guess in this case I never worried too much as hair did grow back so we tend to forget the trauma and move on. I was so grateful to Keith for being honest with me. I guess judging by my hair status he noticed my personality. Not a fancy Tai Tai who visits the hair salon three times a week so his very practical suggestion was tailored to my Mummy lifestyle.
He continued. Despite the fact that I don’t have much greys in my hair, my natural dark black colour did make me look very heavy. Instead of perming he suggested a darker tea colour base with some lighter highlights in between, to lighten up my face. I told him I had not dyed my hair for more than 10 years since being a mum as I’m also worried about chemicals on my scalp.
He said he would apply some scalp protection gel before applying the colour treatments. He would also do his best to avoid direct contact on my roots. So after a good 10-15 minutes discussion on the style and length I wanted to keep, I decided to put myself at ease and let his magic hands do the trick.
He started with a quick trim just to show me the length we were keeping. Then he did foils for a highlight treatment followed by the base colour treatment. All in all, he was very quick and I had my eyes closed, dozing off in between. Very relaxing Japanese music in the background took me back to high school memories of reading Japanese magazines and following cute Japanese fashion in Taiwan! Fantastic!
After he checked that the colour had settled in, I was led to the hair wash basin for a rinse. The hair treatment was to follow right after. At HaLu Hair Design a lovely warm towel is placed at the back of the head as hair treatment serum is applied. Interestingly it reminded me of the hot stone massage at a spa.
I must say Keith took his time with rinsing my hair properly while applying some good pressure as he massaged my scalp. Totally relaxing! This is a much better experience compared with some busy hair salons who rush through the rinse stage. As if they are eager to get you out so they can get the next customer in queue.
Coming back to my seat, Keith at HaLu Hair Design started his serious cut for style. With over 10 years’ experience in Japanese hair salons, he certainly has an eye for details. As he trimmed my hair we discussed the same Taiwanese show broadcasted on Singapore TV, which we both happen to enjoy.
The show invites celebrities - famous makeup artists and a hairdresser. Keith mentioned how much he loved watching the hairdresser cut celebrities‘ hair on the show. It inspired him with good ideas.
Finally blow dry and styling. While he made extra effort to put some fancy curls for a stunning final look he mentioned a good hairdryer (big brand) would do me justice, for easy maintenance at home. Hmm my next birthday gift perhaps? I was gaining ideas quick.
When he showed me the back of my hair through a mirror I was very very happy with the outcome. From the base colour, highlight, cut and final styling I was elated. I loved his magic final touch to make me look like a star in the end. To me that was the priceless bit. Check out the photos I posted and be your own judge! (Expat Choice contributor Sylvia Fernandes had also visited HaLu Hair Design and she too was over the moon).
After I got home, my kids were fascinated with my new look. Hubby included! I am definitely going back to maintain this posh look! I must say this kind of salon experience is hard to find as they work one-on-one by appointment only, taking their time to consult with their patrons and best of all, at a very reasonable price.
Another positive point which appealed to me was that they didn’t push sale of their products which is a big plus compared to my past experiences. Just when you think this is all too good to be true one more delight I have to share.
HaLu Hair Design announced there will be no surcharge for Christmas. Many of my friends and neighbours have already booked online after seeing my results. They are in and excited at how they will look and feel when it is their turn!
The salon has opened up in the midst of the pandemic and are running regular monthly promotions to make the trip to the salon much more affordable.
a. 11 Mohamed Sultan Road #02-01/02 River Valley, Singapore 239010
