Makeover #2: Bye Bye Curls

I’ve known Philippine Star columnist Becca Rodriguez for a couple of years now and she is one of the few friends I have whose curly hair has become her trademark. I remember an incident from way back where it took a stylist nearly an hour to blow-dry Becca’s hair straight, which unfortunately lasted only for 2 hours before it curled back to its original form.

I was quite surprised (and pleased!) when Becca volunteered to be the model for my rebonding make-over story. Excitedly, I called up David’s Salon in Podium and immediately set an appointment for her. For all the girls out there who have wavy or curly hair, I hope this little rebonding story will encourage you to take the leap and go for that new look!

Becca’s been curly her whole life and this will be her first rebond ever!

Becca Rodriguez writes:

Curls are cool and I’ve been having fairytale-like locks since birth. When I was growing up, I was either called little orphan Annie or even Curly Sue. Best compliment for being different. But for years, I have struggled with my hair — hairdressers cutting my hair as if it were straight, thus making it poofy; those who blow dried my hair give up instantly and worse, people thought my hair was unnaturally curled.

After 30 years, a post-Saturn returns experience perhaps, I wanted a new look. To maintain Claudia-like curls from Interview with the Vampire, I had to shampoo, condition, use a hair treatment, shine serum and mousse, which painstaking took a lot of time and effort. Humidity awakes each and every frizz, which is a no-no for me.

So, when I got the opportunity to rebond my hair, a treatment where I was so scared to try for years, I took a great leap forward into changing my look. The thing is, it’s not that I don’t love my natural, curly locks, it’s more of wanting to have hair that’s easy to maintain and fuss free, of course.

It took me a few days to psych myself that I no longer will have that hippie, rocker or bohemian vibe. But I was looking forward to such a chic new hair do that’s going to change my crowning glory for months.

At David’s Salon in Podium, Sr. Stylist Ino asked me a few important questions about my hair: from when was it last colored to if I ever rebonded my hair. He explained that rebonding is perfect for coarse and unruly hair because it tames the frizz, de-volumizes and smoothes hair for up to 12 weeks making your hair more manageable, for effortless styling every day.

Feeling a little bit of anxiety and fear, but I’m confident it’ll turn out good

It was off to a brand new start. I was brought to the shampoo area for a light shampoo. Then, Ino guided the two hairstyle assistants in rebonding my hair. They applied L’Oréal Professionnel X-Tenso Moisturist cream to sections of my hair made it process for 20 minutes.

After rinsing it off, my hair had to be ironed flat section per section. Usually, rebonding takes four to six hours, depending on the thickness of the hair. Since my hair was pencil thin, it took just two and a half hours to get it straight.

After rebonding, Ino suggested that I color my hair since I had a lot of regrowth already and to give it a fresh new shade and coat of shine. He then proceeded to apply a mocha shade from L’Oréal’s Diacolor Richesse line. Around 30 minutes of that and it was off to the backwash again.

It’s straight! But yeah, the color regrowth is really showing

Perhaps my favorite bit was when it was treatment time. To strengthen my processed hair, Ino brought me to the Kérastase L’Espace and applied Vita-Ciment repairing treatment on me. After a relaxing massage, an assistant stylist further pampered my hair with the delicious Oléo-Relax masque to ensure my hair would come out nourished and smooth.

These massage pads had hot water in it! Feels great on my temples.

I didn’t realize that I was in the parlor for almost five and a half hours already. But I loved the new me with a sophisticated ‘do and my hair feels fantastic! A few friends love my look but the others miss my curls. It doesn’t matter because my rebonded hair will last up to six months. And with the right products and professional service, no look is off limits.

All done! It took a while but it was all worth it!

Rebonding Rules 101

• Do not wash hair for 48 hours.
• Do not tuck the hair behind the ears
• Do not ponytail hair especially with rubber band.
• Use home care products like Kérastase Oléo-Relax line from shampoo to treatment to keep your hair tame and smooth all the time.

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Photos by Pranz Kaeno-Billones

Services by David’s for Rever Salon at The Podium (633-7892)