Hair Rebonding @ Essensuals

When I was in Jakarta, I kept complaining about my hair.. It looks super pong pong (puffy) and no matter how much hair treatment or conditioner I put in, it refuses to cooperate and become smooth and straight..

I wanted to go for rebonding at one of the more high-end salons in the shopping malls (instead of the roadside ones).. The prices are a bit cheaper than Singapore but Pipimon flat out refuse to let me do it cos he say I may regret it, the results may not be what I want, I cannot complain cos it's "Indonesia, not Singapore", blah blah blah...

He says he rather I pay more money to do it at a place I am comfortable with and I can trust than do it at an "unknown" salon and regret and cry for weeks afterwards....

So in the end I made an appointment on Facebook with Essensuals for an appointment today, the day after I return from Jakarta.

They are having a in-house promotion now! Even though it says "Valid for first-timers only", they also extend this promo to customers who came before.. so you can still use it if it's not your first time! :)

Why facebook and not call in? Cos honestly, the receptionist at Essensuals Bugis is super blur and toot-toot and I don't wanna use my phone and incur mad-high roaming call charges by wasting time explaining to her what I wanna do and asking her about prices and stuff. I think she is not Singaporean cos her command of English is super CMI (cannot make it). Hmm.

Anyway, I made the earliest appointment at 11am.. but I was 20mins late cos the the stupid IRIS app on my iPhone is not accurate! It says the bus is arriving in 5mins but when I was at the traffic light waiting for it to turn red, bus 133 zoomed pass and the next bus is 21mins!! T_T" Sian!

Bryan was very nice and never scold me when I was late. Haha! He explained the process to me and also told me that if I were to rebond, it will be very difficult to lighten the colour of my hair by more than 2 shades because the hair cuticles are rebonded to be straight and cannot "take in" colour easily since the pores of the hair is sealed shut by the heat of the iron... something like that lah..

Told him I wanna colour my hair darker because of my new job (more on that later) so that's not a problem at all... :)

I thought it will take 2 to 3 hours, but I left the salon only at 3.30pm, which means it took 4hr++! I think I am really old now.. I cannot sit for so long in the chair unlike last time! My butt was numb and my legs were cramped! Madness..

He had his assistant help him cos I have super thick hair.. =.=

The end effect! Woohoo!

Anyway since I requested for Bryan who is a director at the salon, there is a additional $40 director surcharge on top of the $30 length surcharge, excluding the price of the rebonding & treatment which is $184.

Bryan asked the toot-toot receptionist to give me 20% for both surcharges, but only the length surcharge was discounted and I paid $22.43 for that.. the director surcharge had a 20% discount underneath it but the price did not reflect the discounted amount.. So in a way, the toot-toot receptionist cheated me of $8! :(

But since I only realized the discrepancy when I reach home so it's my fault that I am so trusting and did not check the receipt properly.. don't wanna be a cheapo to go back and ask for my $8++ back, so I think I shall forget about it and treat it as charity.. But the next time she mess up the prices again I will scream at her.

All prices before 7% GST.

All in all, the total amount is $263.43 nett, almost double of what I pay normally.. so it better be good!

This is not the the most money I have paid for a rebonding session, the most being almost $400 but that was 11 years ago!! Now the prices have dropped everywhere and it's much more affordable now.. Some salons only charge like $48 for all length, but the products that they use is of inferior quality... The last time I went to JB and do was around S$130 including hair cut by Elaine the director of the salon and the effect was really good and long-lasting.. so paying this amount (double the price) is a bit heart-pain.. hope it's worth it.

Pipimon nearly had a heart attack when I told him how much it costs as the promotion price is only $219 for "Cut, Rebond, Treatment" but I paid $44 for "Rebond & Treatment" without the haircut.

Bryan said to cut next week when I go back for colouring so as to let my hair 'rest'. We shall see how much the damage is next week! T_T"

After the 4hrs ordeal, I went to buy myself breakfast/lunch at I love Taimei! Heard good reviews about the shop but never tried it before..

I ordered the Spicy Mexican fries (SUPER NICE!) and the Xiao S fried chicken (quite nice) set with a cup of bubble tea..

My winter melon tea with white pearls! ^^