I will never have Asian hair

...but maybe my kids will.

My hair can be problematic. It's thick and partially curly. It doesn't like behaving in ringlets or soft curls like my mom and sister, but it doesn't fall completely straight either. Only true magicians have been able to tame this beast. I had a hair dresser back in Houston that I knew could handle my hair. He was the only one to cut my hair for 7 years. He did my hair for my high school prom, and I didn't go to anyone else after that. During my first year of grad school, I even waited to get my hair cut until I went back to Houston. This is one of the last haircuts he gave me. I loved it.


But then he made a fatal mistake. I wanted a bob haircut, which he did. But I have a nice square jaw which does not need accentuating. And he cut the bob to EXACTLY the wrong length. I absolutely LOATHED my hair for almost 2 whole months! It was terrible.

I tried a few salons in Atlanta, but wasn't impressed. Why spend $60 on a haircut when I could pay $20 and be exactly the same amount of satisfied with the results? So I did the grad student thing for awhile. I went to the Paul Mitchell school. Pretty cheap hair cuts, with decently talented folks. But they took FOREVER! The last person who cut my hair took 2.5hrs! For an angled bob!!! I swear he cut each hair individually. I had had enough.

Finally, after months of letting my hair grow out, I got so fed up that I needed to cut it immediately. It was crisis moment! There is a salon near our condo called Salon Red, who had advertised and sent fliers around before but I had just never paid much attention. So I decided, on recommendation from friends, to give them a try. I called to make an appointment, and the only one open was this guy named Tim. He was expensive, the receptionist told me, but well worth it.

I walked in, ready to chop off all my hair, and he talked me off the cliff. I told him I had been trying to grow it out (which I had), but had never gotten much further due to frustration with my hair's shape. No one seemed to be able to get it right. But Tim did. He told me he would just shape it for now, and if I really wanted him to, we could cut it next time. The cut was perfect.



I went back the next month to get my bangs trimmed - which was probably half the battle anyway. Most of the time, once my bangs had grown out, I got frustrated with the look of my hair. Trimming up the bangs really solved that. He shaped it again in December, just in time for one of the Christmas parties, and I felt fabulous! He has my business now until I leave for Boston, but I might try to export him to the Northeast!