Hair Review: Vintage Salon

Picking a hair salon/hairstylist is like picking a boyfriend. It takes a lot of effort at the start in finding the right place, continuous communication and potentially a long term commitment. I haven't divorced my stylist though but well i'm exploring alternatives since i've been approached by several salons to manage my hair.

The first salon that i've checked out is Vintage Salon, which started in 2010 at Holland Village. They started out by providing professional hair styling, hair treatment, nails and makeup services but have since expanded to 5 outlets in total. The website sounded rather promising so i decided to drop by the Far East Plaza outlet (because it's near yoga) for a review.

Well, the interior of the FEP outlet is supposed to be inspired by the palaces in Rome. However, the ambience and decor was a little queer for me. Stark white lights, 'vintage-themed' furniture with strange ching chong music playing in the background is so not my scene. Luxurious privacy where art thou?
Nevertheless, i braced myself for the hair experience that was to come. I was actually scheduled to see my regular stylist for my usual color-cut-treatment combo. My hair is in a terrible shape literally and the ends are soooo gross. Anyway, due to some miscomm, they were only going to do 1 treatment so i could only color my hair. But with the effy vibe that i was getting, i didn't quite trust anyone to cut my hair as well.
VS using Nutrilux brand of hair coloring. I've not heard of this before though. Anyway it's ammonia-free and doesn't have any PPD. There is a high percentage of natural ingredients such as macadamia oil, Cyprus oil, rose mosqueta oil, vegetable glycerol and bisabolol. These natural oils help with nourishing the hair, leaving it soft and silky and also promotes brilliance in the color.

Vincent, the creative director of VS, spoke with me briefly and we decided on an ash brown that wouldn't fade to a yellowish tint. He's quite a cool dude and by cool i mean bordering on unfriendly and unapproachable.. Maybe he doesn't open up too quickly.
Gary, the friendly salon manager, then proceeded to color my hair. The dye had a light floral scent and did not hurt my scalp. He told me that this dye is suitable for white hair coverage as well and the color lasts longer too. Waited for a good 30-45 minutes and was rewarded with an amazing hair wash and shoulder massage (yes you heard me) by one of the trainees. ZOMG that shoulder massage was awesome.
I'm not used to not doing a hair treatment after coloring my hair. That is certainly a must after any color job. Even though the dye is supposed to be less harsh on the hair, i felt that my hair ends were really rough. That prompted me to purchase a ton of products for my hair immediately after (not at VS though).

I also couldn't tell if my hair was evenly colored at the salon because the lighting wasn't ideal but if you look closely enough you can already see that the roots are still darker than the middle section. I only noticed that the following day (OH THE HORROR). Absolutely wasted my time at the salon. Also, i didn't quite know what color my hair was gonna turn into but it was pretty boring imo. Meh.