La Coco Hair Salon

I thought I’d take a break from writing about all the K pop and write about something else that I’ve been wanting to talk about since last year. Although it’s not about K Pop, it still has some connection to it.

La Coco Hair Salon was one of the sponsor for the Sundown Festival last year. It also sponsored Brown Eyed Girls’ autograph signing session at absolutely no cost to the fans. That is to say, the fans didn’t have buy or pay anything to get their autograph. The only thing they had to do was to queue up. At that time, I mentioned that it was rare for a sponsor not to ask for something in return. And I will say it again, especially in light of Shinee’s autograph session that is going to happen this coming Sunday. Now I’m not saying that it is wrong for the sponsor to ask for something in return. In fact it is very normal. But what La Coco did was very unusual and for BEG’s fans…they were very lucky.

Anyway, that got me interested in the salon. There are many F&B outlets here, from the expensive restaurants to the family types to the mass market stalls in all the foodcourts. But hair salon was rare. So I paid a visit to the salon and had a little chat with the very friendly owner, Mrs Kim.

The decor was designed by Mrs Kim’s daughter, who studied interior design. I was glad to note that they didn’t cramp every available space with a seat. It was nice and airy with just that little touch of ‘glam’. Maybe it was due to the sparkling cascade.

La Coco has 2 Korean hairstylists (I believe they are adding more this year). These Korean hairstylists were personally talent scouted in Korea. Of course, there are also local hair stylists there. By the way, the Korean hairstylists speak pretty good English.

The salon uses Korean technics and skills. One of them is Speed Perm using these:

Apparently, they greatly shorten the time to do a perm. As many Korean women go for beauty treatment during lunch hour, I guess this is pretty useful. I’m not quite sure how long it takes to do a perm using these, so if you want to find out more, please do call and check with them.

Actually, what really made an impression on me was more of the little touches. Now I haven’t been to any of those top-end salons like Passion, Le Salon and Monsoon, so I can’t do a comparison. But I think these little touches are not that common amongst the majority of the salons here.

Instead of using white, sponsored plastic cover, La Coco uses these robes. They also indicate what kind of treatment you are having, ie, hair cut, perm etc. Nice.

You are also given a nice, comfy, plump cushion, where you can place your hands on underneath those robe. I know I always end up twiddling my thumbs as I didn’t know where to place them…especially during a hair cut.

But what I really, really liked and won me over was the towel that was placed over me as I had a hair wash. You think ‘what’s so great about that?’ That’s the thing. It’s just a little gesture but often it’s the little thing that makes a difference, isn’t it? I almost always go to the salon in pants or jeans because it can be very awkward and difficult lying there and trying to look dignified and decent in skirts. I would be crossing my legs and pulling my skirt down at the same time. : (

La Coco will also be offering a manicure/ pedicure service whilst you have your hair done. Now this kind service is already offered by some salons, so it’s not unique. Still, I think it’s a brilliant idea. Remember what I said earlier about twiddling my thumbs underneath those white plastic cover?

Whilst getting my hair done, I had a little chat with Rina. She commented that most Singaporeans are quite conservative and traditional about hair styles as compared to Koreans, who tend to be more adventurous..even the men. And having been to Korea so many times and after watching so many dramas, I would tend to agree that the Koreans are more experimental. Maybe that’s why we enjoy watching the fashion and style as much as the drama. Strangely, I actually blogged about hair sometime ago. Read my post about ‘Bad Hair Day’ here.

But what intrigued me the most was Mrs Kim. Most hair salon owners are hair stylists themselves. But Mrs Kim is not. So why did she open a hair salon?

Mrs Kim told me that mother was a hair stylist. Apparetly at that time, there were 3 vocations offered to people after the war- nursing, hair cutting and ….. (I forgot what was the 3rd one). So Mrs Kim grew up watching her mother cutting, perming and styling hair for people. And she found it totally fascinating. So although she doesn’t actually dot he actual work, she is very enthusiastic about it.

Is it expensive? Let’s just say it’s comparable to Orchard Road price. So if you don’t mind pampering yourself or want something different, then do try it out.

La Coco’s address:

181 Orchard Road
Orchard Central, #04-13
Singapore 238896
Tel: 6884 4544/ 6884 4644

One last note- Brown Eyed Girls had paid a visit to the salon before going to the autograph signing session. Here’s a photo taken in the salon.

Brown Eyed Girls Live Concert:
Brown Eyed Girls will be back for a live concert on the 27th February. Organized by Red Spade, the people who brought you Sundown Festival last year. The pre-sale tickets will only be available after 8th February. You can check out more information on their Facebook here. Or check out Boom Korea’s site here.