Salut!
As I write to you, I am in a very “zen” state of mind. I recently had an outing at the French hair salon, and it was really quite an experience.
Very generally speaking (emphasis on very and generally), the French seem to be stereotyped by Americans in two ways. First, the French are always in style- pretty clothes, nice smelling perfumes, and stylish hair. Second, the French look as though they just fell out of an 80’s music video- bold colored clothes, in need of deodorant, and bowl cuts. I apologize to all those French people that are reading my blog since I have no intention of being offensive. But if you think about it, these two stereotypes completely contradict each other so I’m not quite sure how they both exist simultaneously. Not to mention, other than the never-ending love for 80’s music, I’ve only ever seen the first stereotype alive and well. Especially today.
Laura and Mireille both got their hair cut this week, and so I thought I’d join in on the fun. So this Wednesday, I went to le coiffeur called “Profil”. And it was an awesome experience. Laura explained to me that some coiffeurs are run as a business (maybe explaining the bowl cut stereotype?), but others really cater to the customer. Profil is one of those catering boutiques.
When I first arrived, the patron took my coat and scarf and hung them up. I was then escorted to get my hair washed. My neck has never been so comfortable while washing my hair in a sink. During this process, the coiffeuse stopped the washing portion to massage my head. Like actually massaged my head. Oh. My. Gosh. Words cannot express how relaxing this was.
I was then escorted to plushy chair and the coiffeuse and I discussed my desired haircut. This was a smidge tricky for me since I don’t know the technical words for anything hair related in French. Technically, I hardly know any hair related terms in English. But with the help of a few pictures on my iPad, we gave it a shot! After the cut, my hair was then dried and styled.
Something I found that was interesting that I’ve never had in the U.S.- the coiffeuse would ask me throughout the haircut if I liked the length of my hair and if I wanted something different done. She was very catering throughout the entire haircut. I guess what I'm trying to say is that whereas in the U.S. you say what you want done and then all the power is in the hands of the person with the scissors, in France the client can dictate how they want their haircut. Since I have very little knowledge of what my hair does on a daily basis, I told her that so long as I could pull my hair back in a ponytail to go for runs then I would just trust her.
So, as I write this, I have a very relaxed head. Oh, and I have bangs for the first time since I was 7. Chouette!
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