Like so many things labeled "fusion" out there, Fusion Salon tends to do American much better than…read morethey do ethnic. Recalling the fondness my most fashionable (White) friend from college had for this place, I came to this place in August 2010. I had just received an iffy haircut from a cheap Asian hairdresser in Swillberg with rudimentary texturizing and fading skills and I wanted something a step above the standard 15-minute haircut.
I figured if anyone could cut my difficult hair well, it would be these guys.
At first glance, Fusion was all I had ever dreamed of in a salon. They had comfortable chairs and an extensive magazine collection in the waiting area, Vampire Weekend and other cool indie tunes pumping from the speakers, local art on the walls, and Harney & Sons tea in the pantry. The massive leather barber's chair in which I sat to get my haircut was even more comfortable than the chairs in the waiting room and a peppermint facial massage and hot towel treatment came with every haircut. At $30 plus tip, the price was a little steep, but I loved everything about this place.
Except my haircuts.
While Jes gave me decent, fashion-forward haircuts when I first started going there, it was never exactly what I asked for and I found more and more wrong with the end results as time went on. After about 5 months, I began noticing unevenness (I'm talking 1/2 inch difference from left to right sides) and my fade soon began to resemble a bowl cut. Admittedly, I have two large protrusions of bone on both sides of my head and my Asian hair is ultra straight, but over the years, I have discovered that these things could be compensated for by cutting my hair to a certain shape, rather than cutting it based on how it might look in a couple of weeks or how you believe my hair might eventually fall.
Asian hair doesn't fall.
Like a bad relationship, I continued going to Fusion probably much longer than I should have because I was comfortable. I liked the people who worked there, I liked the atmosphere, and the haircuts were satisfactory, at times. I knew how difficult it was for me to find someone who could actually cut my hair and I had tremendous anxiety when thinking about searching for a new salon.
But I had to break it off.
I'm not saying that Fusion Salon isn't a good place to get your haircut. I'm sure if I were a White woman looking to update her look or a White man asking for something easy, I'd probably still go here every three to four weeks.
Unfortunately, I don't fall into either of these categories.
