Yelp is not a thing in HK. At all. Try to use Yelp here and you're stuck with a handful of touristy…read morerestaurants that are few and far apart. So when I first stepped out of the elevator to the 10th floor of this hidden little building off a hidden little road off Queen's Road Central, and I saw that familiar red circle emblazoned with "People Love Us On Yelp", I knew I belonged.
So I've always been loyal to one hairdresser back in Canada but I decided to shake things up and go to a salon in HK that 1) Wouldn't give me an 80's hairstyle 2) Wouldn't charge me insane amounts of money. A quick Google search turned up an SCMP article going into exquisite detail about The Attic, with a cut costing about HKD $400. Perfect.
Calling in to reserve, they let me know that there are tiers of hairstylists. Junior stylists are about HKD $350, with master stylists over HKD $1000. Colouring started at HKD $800 with highlights and bleaching costing extra. All colouring has a HKD $50 consultation fee. Sounds good. They booked me in for a mid-tier $480 cut. So far, so good. The woman on the other end of the phone was informative and polite.
The good service continues! I'm seated right at my appointment time in a bright, large, spacious area and offered a beverage right away. My stylist, Winky, comes over and discusses everything with me. I show her a picture, she clarifies a couple things and then I'm getting half my hair chopped off. A lot of people were surprised at how much I was taking off but I was never loyal to any particular hairstyle anyway.
Winky was clearly a great stylist, but also great at customer service. She explained why she cut a certain part a certain way, how to keep my hair from flipping out, and what products to use. Maintenance is almost as important as the initial cut. During the cut, she gave advice on things like getting more layers, and I was happy to give her the go-ahead. The cut turned out fantastic, exactly what I wanted. I also wanted to re-highlight my hair, but that was way over my budget so Winky suggested I just colour my roots and not to touch my existing highlights. Didn't know that was an option!
A hair technician took care of the colouring part. She worked quickly and efficiently, and the colour turned out great, blending seamlessly into my original colour. Also, because I had to get colouring done, I got my hair washed twice, which is always my favourite part. If I ever win the lottery, I'd indulge in 3rd party hair washing all the time. At the Attic, it was like a mini spa treatment.The room was dark, quiet, and fragrant with light flowery aromas. The girl even gave me a head massage.
This is a premium salon so service matches expectations. Everyone is extremely polite and continuously offer beverages, biscuits, and tons of magazines. I gotta say, having a hot pot of earl grey keep me company makes the time pass by much faster. Even though tipping isn't a part of HK culture, hair salons are a bit of an exception. They might not expect any, but make sure you tip the people here! They work hard to make you happy.
(44/100) - 2017
