To save money on hair cuts (yes I’m a tight ass)
I bought one of those $20 hair trimming kits and insisted Jelly learn how to cut hair, by practising on me. She did well and is improving all the time. Recently we were in Sydney and my good friend Aui also had a go at giving me a trim. She also did a very good job and prefers the scissors – but has to put bandages on her hands to stop from cutting herself!
So we headed off to Istanbul recently and I thought I was all set on the hair front but the high humidity created an instant bouffant look that didn’t enhance my features at all. On the 2nd day it was all too much for Jelly and she was practically pushing me towards the nearest hairdresser. ‘Kuafor’ is the Turkish word for hairdressing and we found one near the kebab house where we stopped for a late lunch.
He quoted me 50 Lire to ‘do the lot’, which is hairdresser lingo for eyebrows and ears included. Gross as it sounds you start needing more attention in these places as you get older. I did the quick conversion in my head and decided that it was about $AU25, which I figured was too expensive so I was heading for the door when Jelly said that sounded good (She pays a lot more than I do for hair cuts!).
Not speaking any Turkish I had pointed at his own head when he asked me what style. He had short back and sides with a little bit more on top and a slight bump at the front.
He was fast and efficient and started with the buzz cut around the back and sides. He paid plenty of attention to the sideburns and around the ears then used a ‘cut throat’ razor to tidy up those spots too. I wished he had changed the blade first but he was took quick for me to stop him and I’m lucky he didn’t cut me. But there wasn’t much fear, because the previous customer had received a full shave with the same item. Still it’s not the same level of hygiene as we have in Australia.
He then moved to the scissors and was snipping around my head with gusto. He shaped it nicely at the front. Then asked me to lean forward over the sink while he doused me in cold water and gave me a quick shampoo. Not at all unpleasant in this weather but a little bit shocking because I expected warm water. I think it was his attention to my ears that surprised me the most. He grabbed a cigarette lighter and singed the fine hairs growing from my ears. He had me ducking my head and saying all manner of swear words. It was unpleasant to say the least and the smell of burning hair was disconcerting. But it was quickly over and before I could say ‘stone the flamin crows’ he was applying some product to create a new more refined bouffant.
All in all it was 50 Lire well spent. Jelly says it took 10 years off me – which made me want to duck straight back in and get another one!
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