Text: Kit Chua
Let me start by saying this – haircare isn’t in my vocabulary. Massively thick, naturally frizzy and (I admit) fairly damaged by an impulsive bleaching session, my hair requires taming, not care. Hair-managing, maybe, is what I do on a daily basis.
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Today, my hair meets Ken Hong, Salon Director at EvolveSalon, and recently inaugural member of the John Frieda Singapore House of Experts. Alongside Next Salon’s Dexter Ng, Ken joins an international stable of star stylists that includes Harry Josh, Kerry Warn and Nicola Clarke. Which is to say that Ken, the man currently manhandling my locks and inspecting my scalp, knows his stuff. A trim, he decrees – to get rid of my nasty, unhealthy ends – and a session at the sink with the John Frieda Flawlessly Straight Shampoo and Conditioner. It all proceeds as per normal – my hair is washed, Ken performs his wizardry with the scissors, my hair is blown semi-dry…
Then Ken reappears, brandishing the new Frizz Ease Serum (the one with the pink column in the middle). He shows me how to separate my hair into four sections and apply the serum evenly throughout the ends. The trick, he says, is not to just run the fingers through the hair a handful of times, but to really work the product carefully through the hair, repeating as often as necessary. And then my hair is blown out.
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Truthfully, I am seriously taken aback. Though Ken has cut a good two inches off my ends, not all of the hair that was subjected to bleach is gone. And yet, my hair is miraculously straight, shiny and healthy. Wait, what? At home, I’d normally use a shampoo, treatment mask, and no less than three haircareproducts to achieve less glossy results. What sorcery is this?
Salon sorcery, my skeptical side tells me. So home I go to put the goods to a proper test. Given the damaged status of my hair, I am recommended the restorative John Frieda Full Repair series. After shampooing and conditioning, I rub the Full Repair serum into my hair, as per Ken's instructions. A quick blow dry later and my hair is glossy, soft and voluminous. Too voluminous, in fact - my naturally thick hair definitely tends towards fluffy, and needs a little bit of taming to look properly sleek. Too late, I realise that the Full Repair series promises to return "structure and volume" while it "weightlessly repairs". Well, no false advertising here; I can vouch that it does do both. It works, just maybe not for my hair type. Luckily I happen to have an old bottle of the Frizz-Ease serum lying around. I slap it on and, ah! Not salon perfect, definitely, but not too shabby, especially since the whole exercise has required minimal effort on my part.
The final test: I submit my hair to the scrutiny of its harshest critic - my mother. Her verdict: she has no bad things to say about my hair cut (which means it is the equivalent of perfection - thank you, Ken), and as she runs her fingers through the ends - "Mmm, nice." Well, knock me over with a feather - this may be the first time in history my locks have ever met my mother's exacting standards. o_O
![]()
Let me start by saying this – haircare isn’t in my vocabulary. Massively thick, naturally frizzy and (I admit) fairly damaged by an impulsive bleaching session, my hair requires taming, not care. Hair-managing, maybe, is what I do on a daily basis.
Today, my hair meets Ken Hong, Salon Director at EvolveSalon, and recently inaugural member of the John Frieda Singapore House of Experts. Alongside Next Salon’s Dexter Ng, Ken joins an international stable of star stylists that includes Harry Josh, Kerry Warn and Nicola Clarke. Which is to say that Ken, the man currently manhandling my locks and inspecting my scalp, knows his stuff. A trim, he decrees – to get rid of my nasty, unhealthy ends – and a session at the sink with the John Frieda Flawlessly Straight Shampoo and Conditioner. It all proceeds as per normal – my hair is washed, Ken performs his wizardry with the scissors, my hair is blown semi-dry…
Then Ken reappears, brandishing the new Frizz Ease Serum (the one with the pink column in the middle). He shows me how to separate my hair into four sections and apply the serum evenly throughout the ends. The trick, he says, is not to just run the fingers through the hair a handful of times, but to really work the product carefully through the hair, repeating as often as necessary. And then my hair is blown out.
Truthfully, I am seriously taken aback. Though Ken has cut a good two inches off my ends, not all of the hair that was subjected to bleach is gone. And yet, my hair is miraculously straight, shiny and healthy. Wait, what? At home, I’d normally use a shampoo, treatment mask, and no less than three haircareproducts to achieve less glossy results. What sorcery is this?
Salon sorcery, my skeptical side tells me. So home I go to put the goods to a proper test. Given the damaged status of my hair, I am recommended the restorative John Frieda Full Repair series. After shampooing and conditioning, I rub the Full Repair serum into my hair, as per Ken's instructions. A quick blow dry later and my hair is glossy, soft and voluminous. Too voluminous, in fact - my naturally thick hair definitely tends towards fluffy, and needs a little bit of taming to look properly sleek. Too late, I realise that the Full Repair series promises to return "structure and volume" while it "weightlessly repairs". Well, no false advertising here; I can vouch that it does do both. It works, just maybe not for my hair type. Luckily I happen to have an old bottle of the Frizz-Ease serum lying around. I slap it on and, ah! Not salon perfect, definitely, but not too shabby, especially since the whole exercise has required minimal effort on my part.
The final test: I submit my hair to the scrutiny of its harshest critic - my mother. Her verdict: she has no bad things to say about my hair cut (which means it is the equivalent of perfection - thank you, Ken), and as she runs her fingers through the ends - "Mmm, nice." Well, knock me over with a feather - this may be the first time in history my locks have ever met my mother's exacting standards. o_O
