NEW YORK—I’ve never been a person to complain about my hair.
I’m fortunate to have hair that more or less does what it is told even in bad-hair-day conditions. It is naturally straight with long layers, not too thick or thin.
If I want a wave, I‘ll let my hair air dry with it wrapped in my favorite 1988 scrunchie on the top of my head. If I want stick straight, I’ll blow-dry it with a flat brush for 10 minutes.
I abandoned any chemical styling in my teen years and haven’t had any coloring. So yeah, I guess you can say I’ve been blessed with great hair.
Haircuts have never been a big deal in my life. I realized early on that my hair doesn’t vary much whether I get a $25 haircut from the Supercuts chain of salons or a $250 haircut. So I usually run into Supercuts—no appointment necessary.
I figured that I'd have the same result when I walked into Arrojo and met my stylist, Amanda. I was meeting with her to have a haircut as well as a consultation for the American Wave (more on this later).
After a wonderful shampoo and glorious head massage with Claire, I sat in Amanda’s chair, oblivious to what she was doing, and played on my BlackBerry.
It wasn’t until I looked up, or rather down and saw how much hair was on the floor, that I began to panic. I looked in the mirror, and fortunately my hair was still the same length.
Where did all this hair on the floor come from? According to Amanda, she razored my hair in order to take away its heaviness and to give it some natural bounce and body.
My hair definitely felt lighter. If it weighed two pounds before the haircut, it weighed one pound afterward.
And boy did it make a difference! My hair moves now.
It is reminiscent of a Victoria’s Secret model’s hair without needing to style it for hours. In fact, it requires only about five minutes of styling with a round brush and blow dryer to achieve this look.
If I want to wake up every morning with perfectly tousled hair, I could get the American Wave.
This style is a technique invented by Arrojo proprietor Nick Arrojo at a trade show when he needed to give a model a perm but was unable to find any curling rods. After some trial and error, the American Wave was born.
The American Wave is a texture-enhancing service that creates soft, natural-looking wave and curl patterns, as well as volume and fullness.
One of the options includes the beach wave, which marries straight and wavy textures to create tousled beach waves.
There is also the expanded curl pattern option, which is great for clients who want resilient, full curl patterns as well as texture expansion.
Finally, there is the style support option that adds volume to limp hair and oomph into blow-dryer and hot-tool styling.
My consultation for the American Wave concluded that I am a good candidate but should wait until October, when I am surfing less and have given my hair a break from the constant sun and ocean.
I’m very much looking forward to it!
