My L'oreal INOA Experience at Straight and Smooth Salon

Can you believe that at age 7, I already wanted to color my hair? Yes, at 7! For my big celebration, my mom had this brilliant idea of having my hair permed with telephone curls (now I know where I got the kikay mojo so she can't blame me!), and although it turned out okay, my black hair made it look stiff and lifeless, much like the hair of the giant walking doll I got as a gift. I bugged my mom and our local parlorista to dye my hair lighter, just like my older cousins and they naturally said no.

In highschool, one of the biggest things I waited for during summer vacations, were the chance to finally dye my hair and flaunt it during family beach escapades and baguio road trips. On my third year, I cut my hair super short and had it colored too. Much like Posh's do in this photo albeit less gorgeous. ;-P

But alas, I got a call from our school director that I was one of the honor students and need to attend the commencement excercise scheduled the following month. There's no way I'll go back to black, I had my dye for merely 2 weeks and it's not cheap. I even saved my allowances for it! To cut the story short, redhead me attended the ceremony and gathered so much attention and disappointment from our conservative priests that I was reprimanded not to attend anymore school activities in that do. HAHA.

College is no different, I attended a State University that's almost on Martial Law. No peep toes, no tattered pants on wash days and most importantly, no dyed hair. I was denied from entering the campus a couple of times. And so I promised myself to dye my hair to death when I finish school, and that's exactly what I did. *Big Grin*

Going back, I've been a loyal L'oreal Hair Care user but this is the first time I'm trying the revolutionary L'oreal Professional INOA Hair Color. Shout out to my friend, Jheng for letting me try this! (Hugs, Jhengky!) I'm very happy that L'oreal came out with ammonia free products that save us the itchy, burned scalp and irritated nose which I truly truly hate.

I headed to Straight & Smooth Salon in Amorsolo St., Makati. They opened last June and I'm lucky to be one of their first customers. Double lucky also that Andrea Zulueta, the owner, is there and graciously attended to me personally. Andrea, together with Honey their senior stylist trained by INOA, assessed my hair and asked me what hair colors and treatments I've used before, and other stuff like that which can help them determine the best for me.

Andrea told me that I need to undergo two steps, first is to strip down residues of my previous colors before going to second which is the actual INOA application. It took longer than my usual hair coloring in the past but if that means I'll get rid of the residues and make my hair more ready to absorb INOA, then I'm fine with it. After all, they have wi-fi and magazines to keep me company anyway. =)

BEFORE INOA. A good four inches of regrowth. Eek!

Straight & Smooth Salon Lounge

A good, comfy area for friends and boyfies to wait for you

Crisp, Clean and Relaxing. No noisy showbiz oriented show on TV and chatters!!!

Yummy cookies, iced tea and coffee for free! I'm a spoiled customer! =)

Fast wi-fi, loaned netbook and magazines. I finished reading Charice's story from OK!

My chosen one: 6.46, this according to Andrea will make me a redhead then will eventually

fade into a beautiful red brown.

Camwhoring before the INOA magic begins! =)

It feels good that the owner, Andrea, is hands on. She personally attended to me, not to mention that I came in very late already. Thanks, Andrea! You're very sweet! =)

A few more hours...

Finally, my new, fiery hair! I love it!

With their friendly staff and stylist, Honey.

Andrea & Me

Forgive the haggard look ha?

The morning after.

I woke up with SUPER BRILLIANT HAIR! I feel like a redhead goddess! Hihi.

Here are my thoughts on Straight & Smooth Salon and L'oreal INOA Hair Color:

Straight & Smooth Salon

- Crisp, clean ambiance. The white and blue colors are inviting and refreshing to the eye.

- Friendly, but not overly friendly staff. They will talk to you, answer your questions but are not annoying, and most importantly, no hard selling. Yey!

- The personal touch of the owner is a major plus!

- Located in Makati, where many of girls I know work at. Unfortunate for me because I'm form Alabang, and as of now, they have no branch nearer my place.

- I love it that they have wi-fi and will even loan you the netbook if you don't have your gadget with you. The cookies and coffee are also yum!

- Tip boxes make it less awkward to leave our appreciation tokens

L'oreal INOA Hair Color

- Contrary to popular belief, there's still sting on the scalp during the process, but it's milder compared to traditional dyes. My scalp is very sensitive, so I kinda expected this already.

- No strong ammonia smell! I came out of the salon with sweet smelling hair! Super like! =)

- Non-drying. My hair looked healthier and shinier compared to previous coloring systems I've used.

- VERY BRILLIANT COLORS. Hands down, this really delivered. The color is bright, intense, and with superb coverage. I received several queries from my collegues and friends where I had my hair done. Galing!

- Hairfall is minimal. My hairfall usually severes after every hair coloring, but it's not that bad with INOA.

- Price is a bit steep compared to regular hair color, for my super long hair, INOA will cost around Php 2,500. But IMO, it's a quality product that won't damage your hair so it's well worth it. =)

Whew. That's quite a long post, comment your queries away if I missed anything. I'll be happy to do a revisit. Have a great Monday!

Much Love,

Dang