is that you, arnel pineda?

i've seen the sign often enough -- they were offering volume straight for an amount that wouldn't make me flinch.

now, while i want desire straight hair, i've always hated stick straight hair. i want blow-dried goddess locks. i want my hair to bounce. i want my hair to have body. i want my hair to be pretty and to my mind, stick striaght hair isn't exactly pretty. so when i saw the streamer gaily proclaiming promising volume straight, i knew that one day, i was going to have to plunk my ass in that salon.

so after much saving of money + sidelining + contemplating, one day, i decided to pass by the salon again and get the details. apparently volume straight is one thing, but they'll offer me volume rebond + treatment + permanent cellophane for a reasonable price. since my hair was giving me major woes, i said okay and set a date.

bright and early holy wednesday, i was there. the gay who was supposed to do my hair, however, wasn't.

another gay was there though, and he said he could do it for me. but since my other friend was going to come in a bit to have hers done as well, and since she has to be at work by 3 p.m., i said, let her go first.

eventually it was my turn. (my gay arrived at 11ish)

most of us know how the process goes: wash hair, dry hair, add chemicals, wash hair, dry hair, iron hair, put more chemicals.

it was a loooong time before we got to the "put more chemicals part"

by this time, i was bored. and stiff from sitting. plus i wasn't so sure they were doing the right thing. after all, most volume rebond treatments i saw (i am a huge fan of googling stuff for additional information) involves rollers at this part of the treatment ... to ensure that the ends would flip inside. so far, the rebonding process has been exactly the same process i'd been through in the past.

let's say i wasn't too happy with the outcome that i didn't exactly take an after pic. i offer you, however, a pic of whose hair my stylist might have wanted to emulate:

now, i don't really have anything against arnel pineda, i just wasn't a fan of his hair. translation: i wasn't a fan of my hair either. (and if you're like unsure whether i'm kidding or not, just show up at my house when i haven't bothered with the "solution")

being the resourceful girl that i am, i came up with a solution:

old school rollers.

while i love the results (see here for one of the few times i got it right), it's mostly hit or miss. sometimes i end up with super big hair, and sometime the ends (for some reason) get really kinky (which they aren't on other days). sometimes the ends refuse to curl in, and sometimes, it's perfect on one side, and totally weird on the other side. plus, and this is the hateful part, i now have to add an additional hour or so to my morning routine to dry my hair then allow it to set for the day.

on a good day, people compliment me on my hair. on a bad day, they look at me from the corner of their eye and they're like, what happened to her hair. me, i'm just growing it and praying that one day, it'll be normal again. does this mean i'll give up on the quest for straight her -- hell no. ☺☺☺

and all i wanted was a haircut

there i was, at my aunt's house, lounging with the entire family at the basement cause it was too hot to be anywhere else. i had made the declaration that i was going to go to work, finish up on stuff, and wow the universe with my dedication.

then sloth stepped in and that was that.

still, not the one to allow the weekend to pass just like that, i had the *brilliant* (ha!ha!) idea to get a haircut. you see, one of my new friends had mentioned how her stylist at piandre somewhere in qc had fixed her curly hair in such a way that she never has any problem with it anymore. me, the rebonding addict who wants to finally get off the bandwagon and just be fine with my buhaghag hair, was curious. can HE fix my hair too.

then was one problem though - i didn't have the girl's number. and so i couldn't request the fabulous stylist to do my hair. boo-ness.

then tita mayu said that one of her good friends was seeing marlon at headzone salon in trinoma. and that she now has easy-to-manage fabulous hair.

so i went.

but instead of getting a haircut, i ended up getting the kerestase vita-ciment treatment instead with, well, a free haircut.

now, if there is one thing about me, i never, ever get expensive hair treatments in salons. i am kuripot that way. the most expensive thing i've ever done in a salon was rebonding, and that was in cheap out-of-the-way salons recommended by friends. once in while, i also get coloring done professionally, but once i've discovered my cheap parlor in bf resort, i've pretty much stuck to my single process, root retouch every three weeks or so. but when marlon was looking at my hair, and i was looking at him looking at it, i felt intense distress that when he said P1,400, and he'll throw in a free haircut with it, i couldn't help but say yes.

after all, i was sunburned (still!), had tired skin (i blame the hormones from the medication), and was fat bloated. the least i could do for myself was to treat me to something.

at first i didn't feel any changes. marlon asked me to touch the hair afterwards, to see how soft it was compared to when i first arrived. i pretended to have felt it, but in all honesty, i didn't. then i shampooed my hair this morning and there it was, a distinct softness, not as much as i would've wanted to (that, IMHO, would've been a miracle), but still, something.

marlon told me i'd need another treatment in a month's time, and i think i might just go for it. there's a number of these products being sold online and i'm thinking of just getting it there and doing the treatment myself (then again, i did love the chair massage they gave me. i think THAT was worth P400 out of the P1,400 i shelled out).

and, oh, re the haircut, it was okay. i told him that i'm growing out the rebonded portions and would like to stick to my normal hair once it all grows out, and asked him if he could recommend a cut when it's back to its normal state. his answer: i have to get it rebonded again. boo. i hate answers like that. so if you have a recommendation for a stylist who can fix buhaghag hair with scissor-magic, then i'd want that please.

in the meantime, i shall search for more kerestase love online.

*image from i-offer.com