hair in Phnom Penh | cait +tiff

A hair chair thanks to the fine folks at London’s Town Hall Hotel

Getting your hair dyed when all you’ve known is monochromatic black for your entire life is…daunting. I’ve seen enough horrible dye jobs on my dark-haired fellows over these three decades, so you can’t blame a girl for being a little scared about taking the leap. The thought of multiple bleach jobs, then colour, sitting for hours in a chair, and just waiting waiting waiting.

But I can understand the need to be unique. And sometimes a cut isn’t enough. Besides, it felt like everyone was getting a beauty job done this week.

So not only were the fabulous peeps at Kate Korpi Salon getting a top notch rep in colouring and doing good work in supporting young Cambodian talent (more about their work soon!), but our pal Vesna posted this beautiful photo of her gorgeous sis, and I knew I wanted something more.

The best part was that Timea, lead stylist at Kate Korpi, knew exactly what I wanted: a warm and subtle ombré for these virgin strands. She had fun walking me through every step of the process (it’s not every day you get a first-timer). And the best part is that we didn’t even need to bleach my hair! From the colour selection, to the foiling, the super futuristic heating lamp that made me feel like I was here. And the final product and cut.

The change from black to a warm brown are really subtle and and the photo doesn’t really do the job justice. But I can tell you is that I had a huge smile on my face when Timea started drying and the warm brown started to shine through.

I’m already thinking of going lighter next time, so it’s likely that I am not going back to black.

Looking for a great way to spend a Sunday morning? Take five friends to your favorite salon, drink sparkling wine, get your hair did, your nails and waxing done, then eat chocolate and pastries for three hours. How do we have this insider knowledge, you ask? Because that is exactly what we did on Sunday.

Around 10am, Alissa, Kiira, Caroline, and the two of us took a field trip to Bearhanded Salon, located in The Willow Hotel. Vaughan, the owner and resident hair yoda, has just opened a new, expanded salon. The space has areas for hair, waxing, and nails, along with a sweet little lounge outside and comfy couch in the waiting area. Most of the furniture was done by our friends at Alchemy Design, who you may remember from our post a few months ago. All of the work was custom, and it looks fantastic.

Vaughan has reigned in some of the best talent in Phnom Penh to work alongside him, including Kim Leang, every woman’s favorite waxer.

Vaughan is from South Africa, and has been doing hair for 13 years. The experience shows. He has a solid grasp on all types of hair, and it’s really nice to go into a place, sit down in the chair and say “make me Taylor Swift” or “do what you do” and like what happens. Also, don’t get us started on the head massage. It’s worth going for that part alone.

Thank you, Vaughan, for letting us take over your salon and for inspiring us to name our haircuts. From left to right Alissa: The Sexy Swiftie, Kiira: La Sophia Rubia, Vaughan: This is My Hat, Cait: Bang Bang, Tiff: Uptown Tiff.