Starbucks, 350 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts
84° F and, yet again, MUGGY!
After being trimmed, chopped, wrapped in foil, cooked for 15 minutes in dry heat, washed, and dry heated again, I am content with my newly styled black hair with subtle crimson red streaks. I believe I have found my stylist.
10:30 AM, Saturday morning
I walked hurriedly on Commonwealth toward Kenmore Square. My left wrist rose instinctively every few minutes to provide me with updates on time and my mind constantly calculated rate of travel and the probability of being on time for the 11:00 AM appointment. I guess I'm a bit freakish when it comes to time... Transitive reasoning dictates, an appointment is a form of a promise with an element of time, and since, according to my father, an honorable man must keep ALL promises, an honorable man must be punctual at all times... As I passed under the bridge that joins Boylston street and Storrow Drive, I shifted my focus away from the thoughts on time and began scanning the area for Zen Hair. There it was... with the exterior as frightening as the picture I had found on the net. I hesitated for a moment with the door handle in my hand... 'Promise is a promise' I reminded myself. I shut my fear off and put my body into auto-pilot.
As I walked in, there were two other women waiting for Freddy aside from the one he's working on; once again, my wrist reminded me that I was 10 minutes early as always. I carefully observed the completed work and I felt a bit at ease. The first woman walked out of the salon with a complete satisfaction on her face. But when Freddy proceeded with another customer with a simple "we're running a little late," the auto-pilot switched off and the thoughts began wrestling with time, honor, exterior, fear, and I shifted uneasily in my seat. As I sit patiently with an issue of Newsweek in my hand, thinking the Coach bag is much too small to fit my usual reading material, I noticed the girl waiting next to me. She was giving me the fluttered I think-you-are-hot look. I never used to recognize these looks before, but since I have become quite comfortable in my own skin, I have accepted the possibility that some sane individuals actually do find me physically appealing. She offered to forfeit her turn for me, but I politely declined.
Almost an hour past my appointment, I was still sitting in the waiting area with my
half-way-to-Fabio hair... When it was finally my time, 70 minutes had passed since the promised 11:00 AM. I looked over my shoulder awaiting Freddy's return only notice the girl giving me a final fluttered look before leaving the salon. As I described the
after look, I was impressed with Freddy's ability in deciphering what I had failed to describe and verbalizing it for me. I immediately felt a wave of relief... the memories of agonizing months spent recovering from many bad haircuts subsided. As he began to cut my hair, I noticed that he chose not to use thinning scissors or razor blade. According to my observation, thinning scissors seem to result in plain/boring uniformity, and razor blade, in frizzy/unrefined look. As he trimmed away with scissors at acute angles, he constantly allowed the hair to fall naturally. As the sounds of scissors artfully carving away continued, Freddy apologized once again for the wait; the first appointment arrived 45 minutes late, but he couldn't turn her away because she drove all the way from New York for the appointment.
Rating: 9 (out of 10)
Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 being "horrid" and 10 being "orgasmic", here's my very subjective opinion on Freddy Luk of Zen Hair.
Haircut: 9.5
I would have given him 10, but I feel that the haircut I received feels a bit too refined. I would have loved a touch of perfectly imperfect edge -- a sort of 'it looks almost perfect even without trying' kind of look -- in the final result. But if you are into refined look, he is the perfect stylist for the job. Of the three women who walked out of the salon before me, all three of them were ecstatic with what Freddy had done for them.
Color/Highlight: 9
I must admit I shouldn't even be rating this category since I have no previous experience with color or highlights. But, judging from what I had described what I wanted and what I got, I must say it's very much on the money; I wanted subtle hints/streaks of crimson red in my hair without looking too contrived and that's exactly what I got. I had to take that 1 point from a perfect 10 just because I'm not happy with my own choice.
Styling: 10
I don't usually care too much about how the stylist styles my hair because that only lasts for few hours or at most a day. I judge haircuts only after I had washed and styled my own hair. Having said this, I must say he really does great work. I think one of the three women I observed actually came in just for wash and style. As I said number of times, they all left with big I-look-fabulous smile on their faces.
Scheduling: 7
It's 7 just because I waited 70 minutes. He did call the day before to confirm the appointment and did everything that was expected. However, he could have managed my expectations a little better by explaining at the time of my appointment by explaining what had happened and the approximate timeframe on when I can expect my haircut. I could have taken care of couple of chores instead of sitting inside reading Newsweek.
Service: 8
Freddy made everyone feel quite comfortable; there was no conceit or contempt while providing a Newbury Street level work. However, I think he can use an assistant to take calls, handle scheduling, and wash hairs. The whole time I was waiting, I kept thinking "where's my mocha?" Then I had to remind myself, that this wasn't a Newbury Street salon.
Location: 8
476 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 0221
I give it high marks for Zen Hair being near a T stop, but the location doesn't exactly scream "trendy." With boarded up dive below and graffiti sparsely spewed about, the location isn't entirely inviting. As I said, I had to fight my urges to walk away in order to find out the exterior isn't always a good indicator for level of quality produced inside.
Price: 10
Haircut: $27 (men), $40 (women)
Highlights: $62
For the quality of work Freddy produces, the price is quite down to earth. I should know. I've travelled up and down the trendy Newbury Street in search of the perfect stylist and I personally believe Freddy's work is actually better than most of Newbury Street stylists. With the price this low, I can't believe I got an appointment in a week. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to take advantage of it while I can.
Calculation
- Haircut: 9.5 x 3 = 28.5
- Color/Highlights: 9 x 2 = 18
- Styling: 10 x 2 = 20
- Scheduling: 7 x 1 = 7
- Service: 8 x 2 = 16
- Location: 8 x 1 = 8
- Price: 10 x 2 = 20
Total = 117.5
Overall Rating: 117.5 / 13 = 9
Information:
Photo: I'm posting this picture just because someone (Emily) wanted a picture of my new hairdo. Observe the exhasted blank stare. This is what happens after being awake 24 hours (of which approximately 16 hours were spent traveling). The crimson red highlights seem almost brown, but they show their true colors under bright daylight.
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