Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Bad hair - Thailand style

My hair's been getting quite long. I'm not sure how long it's been since I got it cut, but I swear it's grown a ton since I got here. I kinda like having longer hair, and the curl was looking really cute. But it was just too too much and I knew I needed to go in for a trim. I also knew better than to go in alone.



I asked one of the girls from the front office to go with me and she did. I said I just wanted to have my hair re-layered and just cut a little bit off - 'nit noy'. The other gals in the office kept saying "no no no- your hair is very beautiful." Thai women love their long straight hair. But I'm not a Thai woman, and I needed a trim. They tried to tell me to get my hair rebonded (I think it's like a perm only to make it straight not curly), but I wanted none of that. All I wanted was a trim & a relayering.



Ugh... I got that and more. I heard my friend say "nit-noy" (a little bit) and I showed the woman on my friend's head where I wanted her to start the layering. She started by blow-drying my hair, which I thought was odd because in the States they cut my hair wet. Whatever, she blew it dry... then she started slicing & dicing. It's always hard to know how much is coming off until it's too late to do anything about it. But about half-way through I knew it was going to be bad. Yes, she started about where I had asked her to, and she left it fairly long in the back... but she just took soooooo much hair out when she layered it.... it was unholy the amount of curls left littering the floor. And, to add insult to injury she flat-ironed my hair on top of all the blow drying.


It's just unnatural. I spent 20+ years coming to terms with the fact that I had curly hair, only to have it flattened down practically to my skull. I know it doesn't look so bad now, but as soon as I wash it and the curls come back, it's going to be horrid. Already, just with the humidity the shorter parts in front are curled up to my eyebrows, and I can't even pull it all back into a pony tail.


Just add water



So, a word to the wise, don't get your hair cut in a foreign country.... just don't.
TAG: Code Bananas

11 comments:

Bezzie said...

I dunno--that kind of looks like my hair now! Ha ha! 'cept instead of curls, the humidity gives me a nice halo of fuzz.

IamSusie said...

I think it looks just fine! It is much better curly than straight. It also sounds like you are getting along better with the California girls.

Anonymous said...

Ouch. On the plus side, you really look great though. Very tan and healthy looking.

Unknown said...

I think it looks good! Both ways, although curly the layers are totally lost, but curly hair hides a multitude of sins. ;)

I always have to give long explanations when getting my hair cut - it goes from semi-curly to wavy to straight depending on it's "mood" so I always attempt to get a cut that will look good either way... sometimes it works.

Bridget said...

Ah, yes - hair. Farang hair. It really confuses the locals . . . I had my hair cut in Thailand, too. Alone. With no language skills. I think the lady cutting it was as scared as I was. And I hated it, but to be fair, I didn't hate it any more than I usually hate it when the stylist and I speak the same language. I considered that something of a victory! And, really, your hair looks fine - we're always way harder on ourselves than anyone else!

gl. said...

i actually think it looks cute! really! but i dread all hair cuts. i never know what to ask for: something that worked once seems to get interpreted differently by each hairdresser. :P

Karin said...

Rebel, I think you're crazy, because in my opinion, you look fantastic. Your hair looks good both straight and curly with that cut. You're losing weight and have a great tan. All you need now is a smile.

Rebel said...

Thanks everyone... I know I'm my own worst critic but I'm really upset about this. It's not really about the hair (is it ever) I think it's that I went in and asked for something very specific (and had a Thai woman there to explain it) but got something I didn't want at all. We said "Just a little bit" and fully a third of my hair was left on the floor. In what country is that "a little bit"????

I can handle not getting what I wanted in a store, or a restaurant, or even ending up at the wrong beach... but this is going to take months and months to undo. =(

Rebel said...

Thanks everyone... I know I'm my own worst critic but I'm really upset about this. It's not really about the hair (is it ever) I think it's that I went in and asked for something very specific (and had a Thai woman there to explain it) but got something I didn't want at all. We said "Just a little bit" and fully a third of my hair was left on the floor. In what country is that "a little bit"????

I can handle not getting what I wanted in a store, or a restaurant, or even ending up at the wrong beach... but this is going to take months and months to undo. =(

jovaliquilts said...

It looks really cute all curly! I like it. But I know the terrifying feeling of having someone do something you don't want to your hair. A friend of mine had her hair cut in France. It was extremely long, and she decided to get it short, but she envisioned all one layer. Didn't make that clear, though, and ended up with the cut the stylist had been hoping to cut, the "coupe sauvage" -- which is just what it sounds like. :(

Unknown said...

I have the same problem right now however i let my friend in beauty school do my hair. She left me with "bangs" that were long in the front like yours and then dropped right down into my hair with no angled transition. It looks awful. However yours looks really cute! hope all goes well and if all else fails hair grows of you can have it fixed by angling it and lots of bobby pins!