I don't like changing people.
I don't like changing coffee shops (see Mercury), I don't like changing jeans guys (see James at Jean Machine) I don't like changing friends and I especially don't like changing hair stylists. Unfortunately, the time had clearly come for me to stop driving to Burlington to get my hair cut from my regular person (it was a good 8 years together Trish).
I have weird hair and associated hair habits. I have a lot of thick, wavy/curly hair and I do not maintain it. I do not blow dry, I do not use products and I do not regularly return for haircuts. My new hair stylist needed to work with these constraints: I will wash and condition but that's it. In addition to my routine lack of maintenance, my head is disproportionately small compared to my body so I need a short hair cut, but not too short. I don't want to look like one of those shrunken apple head dolls.
Now you know more background than you cared to, but the point is that I am fussy and it takes a special person to deal with me. Since I moved to Ontario in 1998, only 2 people before Charlotte have cut my hair.
The good:
- Charlotte was amazing. Specifically:
(a) We chatted for a minute about my tiny-head problem, and what kind of hair cut I like, and she filled in the rest from there. I don't like to make too many haircut related decisions, and she did a great job taking my variables into the equation and then just doing it.
(b) She cut most of my hair with a razor, which I loved and was impressed by. I am used to the thinning shears coming out for a solid 10 minutes post hair-cut and she thinned it with the razor as she went.
(c) She was on time. My appointment was at 2 and we started at 2.
(d) My hair grows fast so it only takes me 4 or 5 days to determine if this is going to be a good or a bad haircut. Today marks day 5 and it is a good haircut. Versatile use of bangs, good integration of gray and excellent application of texture to ensure avoidance of tiny-head syndrome.
(e) She went to school with my little sister & has a Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard bust next to her station.
- The business itself is pleasant. Specifically:
(a) Good music at a reasonable volume
(b) Online booking (it's like openTable but for haircuts!!!)
(c) Green P Parking lot close by
(d) Debit, Credit and Cash payments
(e) Great price! $60 well spent
The Bad:
- It's far from my house
- It's kind of hipster-y and I felt un-cool (I always do on Ossington)
- There are no decorations other than Captain Picard and everything is white and it reminds me of J-Lo's tour rider (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/lopezrider/lopezrider1.html)
Will I be coming here again?
I will definitely be coming here again; Charlotte is my new person, and I hope to have a long and fulfilling relationship with her and her razor. I feel like I am being unfaithful to Trish from Burlington, but Charlotte has really won over the heart of my hair.