Spa Scene in Raffles City korean Salon

[Cozycotboi]

Anyone tried this?

Most staff are korean

Compared to Jiwon or Jayun?

[barbiegirl]

Anyone tried their hair perm? Saw a video on the outcome of a hair perm and now im interested to try it too!

[superBum]

My hair is cut by Edward from Spa Scene. He's good. If I am not wrong, all of them are koreans. And yes, they've really good service too!

[VonL]

Hi, new to cozycot, was looking for good hair salons to try and felt that i must post about my experience after seeing this thread. I was at spa scene 2 months back coz i wanted to try volume rebonding - i've done rebonding before (my non-treated hair is fairly straight with slight wave when long) and main peeve was that your hair will be very flat after that, so volume rebonding looked like it would solve that problem (i googled for people's pictures after volume rebonding to make sure). Almost went to jiwon but was put off by the pricing (can be up to 5-600 if add treatment), then I saw the promo spa scene had, 300+ including cut and treatment, so i made an appointment for edward and went.

Firstly, as with non-native english speakers, they are not very fluent in english and at times it was hard to communicate what i wanted. Not all their stylists are korean by the way as mentioned above, there are 1 or 2 local stylists too, but Edward is korean so had to explain and gesture a lot more (no biggie i thought, i've had my hair cut by the jap stylists at shunji with no problem in the past). I told him i was interested in doing volume rebonding because normal rebonding makes the hair flat, and i want my hair to show volume (i had envisioned volume at the roots coz that's what i saw in people's pictures). We discussed and agreed on trying a chin-length bob with a fringe across the forehead. After the cut and applying of rebonding chemical and washing the chemical off, he proceeded to use curling irons to curl the ends of my hair. I got alarmed coz i looked like the shanghai ladies u see on those mooncake boxes with short permed hair and asked Edward why it looks like this. He then said the effect after washing again will be very subtle showing a gentle curving in of the hair at the ends, and this is what will provide volume. So he continued, and he even curled my fringe. And he forgot about my treatment, I had to ask about it after the rebonding process when they were going to wash and blowdry my hair. The lady washing my hair then went to check and confirm. They then did the treatment at the same time as washing my hair.

The end result was disturbing: 1) the hair length on both sides of my face was not the same, right was longer and it was obvious. I had to point it out to him repeatedly before he consented to trim the right side (any basic stylist should be able to see if one side is too long or not right? and i'm not doing a style that requires 1 side to be longer or anything funky like that). 2) my fringe was flat, and it had an obvious curl (it's like i permed my fringe and ironed it flat against my forehead). I voiced my concern and Edward proceeded to blow my hair more and curling the hair inwards. When i left the salon, i was not very satisfied but thought I would see how the hair looks after a day or so.

Woah, in a few hours the hair started to curl all funny. Imagine having some parts of your hair curling outwards (aka ducktails) or twisting left and right. And the fringe was back to flat and being more curly. Not the subtle volume effect, and definitely does not look like rebonding or the volume rebonding pictures. I looked like I permed the bottom half of my head so that I'll have a permanent head of ducktails. On the positive side, 1/4 of my head was nicely cut and curling inwards gently - this was the intended effect, just that it was not the case for 3/4 of the head. My husband and my friend also thought it was bad - I had to confirm it wasn't just me being a fussy customer. It was really bad. I didn't take a picture, but the effect was similar to the shanghai ladies in picture 2 and 4 here (except I don't have curls at the top part of my head) : Throughout 30 years of evolution makeup trends - znnw

So I called and went back the next day and spent 4 hours at the salon with Edward to rescue the hair. First 45 mins was explaining to Edward why it looks bad, and this includes drawing on paper. Actually just looking would be enough to see the problem, but I had to explain in detail part by part that my hair is not curling the right way. He finally understood/acknowledged the problem and spent some time fingering my hair and looking it over. Then he proceeded to explain to me that it was the nature of my hair that caused it to curl all over. He said my hair was stiff and thick and stubborn, and together with the direction my hair grows from my head, that's why it curls funny. I then told him that he should have noted that yesterday when he rebonded my hair and did the curling properly in the right direction. Surely not every customer comes with the same hair type/direction like those hair mannequins trainee stylists practice on - it's up to the stylist to be able to cut and treat the hair accordingly. I was not happy that his way of handling the problem was explain to me why it's my hair's fault and he just literally sat there without coming up with a solution!!

I was soooo frustrated, in the end I had to come up with solutions myself. At first I was asking him about increasing volume at the roots instead of curling in at the ends (since it's the ends that he has problems with), and then rebonding the ends straight (i don't care about volume effect at the hair ends, straight is better than curling outwards). He then explained to me that that technique is roots rebonding and it requires a top up of $100 more). I wasn't going to sink more money into this place. So in the end I asked him to rebond again to curl the hair in properly, some trimming at the back to help control the curls, and rebonding my fringe straight. I was wondering why I had to come up with ways to remedy the hairstyle myself when I've a professional and I paid $300+. In the end he did as I asked and did some root rebonding at one problem area to "fix the hair direction". This 2nd round of rebonding was not like the previous day's, they did not wash my hair first and just applied the chemical straightaway. Also, it was only targeted at certain areas, and left on for a few minutes without the heating apparatus before washing off. And of coz no treatment (doesn't matter if your hair gets damaged by rebonding twice in 2 days because they weren't good enough to get it right the 1st time). The end result was much much better after everything, but with 8+ hours and $300+ spent, having your hair overly treated with chemicals, and a good deal of grief, it just wasn't worth it. And to maintain the style, I've to blowdry and curl the ends in everyday otherwise they would start curling all over again - not really the point of rebonding is it?

I wouldn't go spa scene again, nor would i recommend friends. And if i ever try a new hairstyling technique, I'm going to ask the stylist to show me pictures of what it's supposed to look like so I can refer to it if i ever need them to remedy my hair (no funny excuses or long drawn out communications).

[barbiegirl]

Is it so bad? I was so tempted to go try their volume rebonding after watching the video on youtube.

Korean Hairstylist Edward Kim's Volume Magic Rebonding. - YouTube

[sls_53]

i did mine a year ago by edward and loved the effect. i was particularly looking for a salon that does rebonding but leave the ends curled like the typical korean effect and found spa scene. the only bad thing is the cost and how long it lasts! it's 340 including cut and treatment which is like more than double a normal rebonding. and because the special effect is made to the ends of the hair, i was very very reluctant to trim my hair cos then all the curls at the end will be gone!

but i really loved it while it lasted. anyone knows where else that is good at this technique - rebonding but leaving the ends curled????

i don't understand...it's the same straightener really just that instead of pulling it straight all the way to the ends of the hair, the hairstylist curls the hair at the end. but i just can't seem to find any alternative

Is it so bad? I was so tempted to go try their volume rebonding after watching the video on youtube.

Korean Hairstylist Edward Kim's Volume Magic Rebonding. - YouTube

[dolce]

I went to Spa Scene more than a month ago for a hair trim also did a root perm (wanted to try the volume magic rebonding but my hair is already quite straight to begin with).

The trim was so-so, i prefered Jayun or the renamed Purity salon cut by Debbie. As for the root perm, it didn't provide the volume or lift frm the roots as much as i would have liked. And the results only lasted a mth max. Cant recall how much i paid for the root perm but i don't think its worth it.

If anyone knows of a good place to do the root perm, pls share

[VonL]

I think the problem with the various "volume"/"root" rebonding is that the results don't last long, compared to conventional straightening type of rebonding. Plus you must spend some effort to blow dry hair and curl the curls in the right direction, so it's not as fuss-free (u cannot just wake up, comb hair and go out). [In response to a cozycotter's question above, yah, it was that bad for me. Plus my friend and husband also think so, so not just my own skewed perception. Possibly also becoz my cut was short, at chin level. If my hair was longer, the curls could be managed better. Another friend did hers at Jiwon, past shoulder length, didn't have my problem.]

For volume, I think no choice, must put in some effort to style no matter what. There are volumnising sprays/serums in the market (e.g. Aveda, which just opened in a shop at Taka) that you can apply to hair after showering, but still must blow dry and comb properly to style. The effect is quite good, but I didn't buy since I might not put in that effort every time I wash my hair. But it's still cheaper than paying for a perm that doesn't last (and still must style everytime).

If you want curls at the end, just style using curling irons at home. Not permanent also, but probably save $$ in the long run. $340 for a 1-month perm is too expensive......

I went to Spa Scene more than a month ago for a hair trim also did a root perm (wanted to try the volume magic rebonding but my hair is already quite straight to begin with).

The trim was so-so, i prefered Jayun or the renamed Purity salon cut by Debbie. As for the root perm, it didn't provide the volume or lift frm the roots as much as i would have liked. And the results only lasted a mth max. Cant recall how much i paid for the root perm but i don't think its worth it.

If anyone knows of a good place to do the root perm, pls share