Jean Pierre Hair Salon @ Orchard Central

First time Iv been there I asked to do a hair cut for my long hair ( guy) I have a curly long hair and I wanted to make a change ... the Korean guy was really good in cuting my hair I was really happy from the results , so far so good till... A

days after I decided that I wanna go back and have a rebonding treatment I ( since my hair is much shorter now it become a bit more puffy ) Anyway I came with a pic to show the guy how I want my hair to look like and ask if it possible , of curse he said yes, and so we start , my main concern was the volume of my hair , my hair is very puffy so I request for reducing the volume, I did mention that I don't want my hair to be very very straight ... when we finished I had a feeling that nothing didn't really changed its just feels more softer , so my wife said it's ok let's just go , around an hour after I left the shop disaster strike, my hair start to get more puffy and puffy till its become so bad and worst then before ... I immediately called to the salon and asked if I can wash it off and he replied me that I can , I also asked if I can come the next day to he will try to fix my hair , I don't really have nothing bad to say about the salon it just that I think that they don't really familiar with different hair types and they just anyhow say that they know , I really hope that tomorrow when I'll b there he will b able to fix my hair , I have long hair for 26 years and it's the second time that I'm doing a treatment, my hair is very important for me .

Review not yet verified

Went to Lacoco at around november'13? When i first step in they ask if i was a student so i said yes since i just finished my o's. Those ladies came to attend until a guy hairstylist, later till i found out he was joel park after finish the haircut. At first i thought he was cutting for me as i was a guy, thought it would be a guy to guy way of handling. After everything i was told to pay $53.50/$58.50 and i was SHOCKED! They didn't even told me that it was the creative director who cut it for me. A student price which ended up $53.50/58.50 is just too horrible! The haircut turn out decent after 2 weeks so i wouldn't mind going back if only they charge me $25 for student price!

 

Review not yet verified

Terrible experience! Not professional & very bad service. Was at LaCoCo Orchard Central yesterday.

Bad: hair wash with ears covered in shampoo and fingers with long nails poking ini my ear even after I told her so, she snapped at me in mandarin 'how am I suppose to wash?' -

Worst: I told person cutting my hair not to cut short and I show him several angles of photos taken at all angles of my finished hair cut from previous saloon. He used clippers and shave my hair very short. I have not had hair so short for over 10years. The hair stylist Joel was cutting 2 girls hair and came in to cut my hair in abt 10mins. He did not say much and push his namecard to me after. Saw the advert website for haircut $40, but end up paying $53.50. So dishonest and unprofessional to cut my hair like a barber. The result is bad, he shaped my hair parting. The other way against the natural flow of my hair shape. And the place is dirty. I will not waste my money or time with such a place and people like that in future. They have no regard for people and hair. Bad Business. Bad place.

 

Review not yet verified

Freshest report as of now. Unique review of these 2 hair salons. This post is best viewed with a computer/laptop, not mobile phone.

The same printout of a haircut (6 color photos on 1 sheet) of Lee Min Ho’s best hairstyle during his Beijing concert “My Everything” was shown to these 2 hair salons.

Kim Robinson Versus La Coco

Date of haircut: 7 Feb 2013 4 Apr 2013
Time: 5.30 pm 4.30 pm

Price: $138 Price: $53.50

Stylist: Eric Lim Stylist: Soo Bin
Haircutting Skill: Definitely knows hair Haircutting Skill: Not so good

Wet Cut Dry Cut

Hairwasher (Male smoker): Bad (+reeked of smoke) Hairwasher (Female): Weak
Massage service: Super Bad Massage service: None

Service on haircutting floor: Flawless Service on haircutting floor: Good

Front desk service: Newbie-ish. Front desk Korean man: Unfriendly, proud

Drinks offered: Yes Drinks offered: No
Snacks offered: No Snacks offered: No

Waiting time: Immediate 1st time, walk-in
2nd time free touch up 15~20 mins waiting, with appt Immediate, walk-in

Number of visits: Twice (2nd time free touch-up) Number of visits: 1

Stylists were randomly assigned to me.

————
Results:

First of all, it’s only common sense that all salons should do dry cuts. In the past, I used to wonder why salons cut hair when wet. As a child, my mom used to cut my hair dry and she said wet hair clumps and is difficult to cut properly.

Wet hair will become a shorter length when dried. Stylists have to take note and make allowance for the length differences and design deviation when doing wet cuts, otherwise the result during wet cut will become inaccurate.

Kim Robinson: The back end was the smoothest cut I have ever had. Eric really knows how to cut following the natural lay of the hair in that area. The hair lies down smoothly at the back end.

He also knows when to stop cutting.

However. I had wanted the back end to be shaped towards a V at the center, and he was not able to achieve that. Instead, the back end looked undecided, but he said it would “grow” into a V. It didn’t.

He was also unable to create the “waves” along the hair at the front like in the printout photos. He said it was a styling effect, even though it looked not merely a styling effect but a method of cutting.

He was unable to produce the different lengths of hair at the front. Neither could he create cuts that would enhance volume.

At the start, he had suggested I perm my hair, but didn’t give me a reason. I declined since I know from reviews that perms take much more cash than imagined and I don’t want my already fine hair to be ruined.

The return visit was 10 days later. This was a free touch-up. Reason was the back end looked very undecided and the front part looked too long without any bounce or different lengths.

There was about 20 mins waiting time as Eric was attending to a long-haired woman.

The result = the touch-up made the front part a little too short and still without the different lengths that would give it some definition and volume. The back was untouched as he didn’t see any problem there, even though that’s the part I came to get fixed because it didn’t look like what I wanted. Overall, it looked a little unbalanced.

Will I be going back? $138 that lasts just 2~3 weeks, and not perfectly satisfied. No.
If it were less steep, I might consider trying their other stylists.

———————–

Results:

La Coco: Soo Bin provided attentive service. But she started to panic and hurry when another customer waiting for her showed up a few minutes into my haircut.

Before this, at the start, when she saw the printout I showed her, she suggested that I perm my hair to create the volume and waves. The perm would cost $120 on top of $50 for the haircut. A hair treatment would be added in if I took the perm because the perm is “chemicals” that would damage the hair.

At first I said I only brought $60, because that’s what the front desk man said when I called to ask. But she didn’t understand and waited for me to consider getting a perm. So I said “next time” after she mentioned chemicals and needing treatment.

She looked disappointed and said without a perm, creating volume would be difficult.

I was thinking, if she’s good, she would be able to create volume without resorting to perm. I know this because I have watched Celia at Reds salon do this for me (amazing just watching her).

I told Soo Bin to try creating the look without perm, prepared that if it was bad, I would just go to QB to get it fixed.

At first, she tried making conversation but was inadequate in expressing herself in English. Neither could I speak Korean.

My recommendation for customers who don’t know Korean = learn a few words essential to conveying what you want done.

Despite her care in trying to understand what I wanted, she still misunderstood.

I had wanted different lengths to the front part, and gestured with scissoring my fingers but she still lifted my hair in her fingers and cut straight across.

At QB, the stylists know this style of cutting different lengths. So, I am surprised Soo Bin and Eric don’t know this technique. I think stylists should pick up techniques from one another across different salons, rather than just study at a school or work at a few salons.

Certain stylists have their own special technique and it would be good if other stylists also know it, although it would not be beneficial to the stylist who came up with it (no longer unique or his/her trademark).

For the sides, I said “thinner” and gestured the pointed sharp look. But Soo Bin must have thought it’s “shorter” and cut the sides too short.

The back end, she understood that cutting too short would produce a stick-up effect on my hair. An observation also made by Eric. But even then, she cut the back end rather too short. It sticks up now.

For the back upper portion, she succeeded Eric in creating volume, simply by cutting the bottom end flatter and layering upwards in shorter lengths so that the upper part now has a fuller form. This is what I have been trying to get Eric to do, but he didn’t get what I mean.

While I am pleased with the back volume, the front and sides and back end are too short. Although I had requested shorter hair and supervised it, the outcome was an expected disappointment.

Will I be going back? No. Not satisfied.

There was a reviewer who said he switched to other salons because of communication problems with La Coco’s stylists.

———————————

At first, I actually wanted to try the $20 salon at Basement of Marine Square. It’s something like QB but they do washing and styling. Can’t recall the name.

Then I was considering Kenaris and Jiwon.

With the negative reviews for Kenaris, I haven’t been able to bring myself to try, although I stood outside their salon recently. I remember the reviewer who said the result was very bad compared to a previous time even though it was the same stylist.

For Jiwon… maybe next time.

 

Credits: This is a review reproduced with permission from a blog.

Read the original blog article here.

I was there after reading much review here. Im a male with shoulder length hair. At first i only decide to just havea hair cut and colouring but the style that i very much desire wasnt suitable for my hair texture. Elin is very professional and offer me a few advice. She recommended a body perm and a slight trim.

At first i was skeptical because locally i have never been happy with the handiwork of saloon here. I remembrr the last time i was really happy with a perm was when i was working in Sydney 7 yrs ago and the one saloon at Chinatown run by HongKee stylist did a superd job. But with the good review here i decided to give it a try.

I was not disappointed. I wanted to colour my hair the same day but was told not to do so as it will stress my hair too much and boy im very surprise because i bet some saloon will be more happy to do all for you in a day to get all your money.

Anyway i am totally satisfied and its money well spend.

 

Review Approved by Beauty Undercover

Came upon this website by chance and decided to give La Coco a shot.

No regrets at all.

Have been to several salon’s for men’s haircut seeking a hair salon that will provide a good hair cut due to the ‘difficult’ hair that I was born with.

Went to Kizuki+Lim, Kobayashi and a few other salons around SG but none came close to the proper hair attention that was given by Sandra.

All in all, the haircut was very well done complete with advice on how to style my hair and to overcome the flaws inherent. Sandra was meticulous in cutting my hair and she was friendly as well!

However, the one drawback to this place was the horrible hair wash. The lady washing my hair was splashing water all around and even got shampoo into my ears and it was not a fun experience at all and something which I would find in a cheap salon and not one like this.

Overall, it can be a little pricier than the normal haircut but its definitely worth it, I will be returning regularly to La Coco for Sandra’s skills. Great Job!

 

Review not yet verified by Beauty Undercover. Please read with caution.

I went to Lacoco last monday after I called to make reservation and told to come after 5 because that was when the stylist that I thought I like, wont disclose her name (went and had hair cut and perm with her last year twice) had time. So I came at 5.15 and thought it was gonna be a fast root colour touch up and hair cut and will be done by two hours.

But that wasnt what happened, I was told my bottom part of my hair was very dry and the colour was very light compare with the top so she suggested hair treatment (without telling me how much and I for stupid reason didnt ask and thought well wont be more than 150$ rite?
So I did all she told me to do, while she did another 3 head of her clients and I ended up the last one sitting there with just her and an assistant whom did all my hair from beginning. she did a brief 10 mins on hair treatment and no hair massage as I ever had last time, just a quick and simple rinse and wash, then finally dry my hair halfway so stylist can cut my hair. At 7.50, she came to me. This stylist whom last time listened thoughtfully to what I said, was nice but impatient. She refused to cut my fringe as I asked her to do, eventhou I kept mentioning to her to please cut short because I dont want the fringe to bother my eyes at all. She gave me excuses such, oh I will do that 3 months after when you come for ur perm again, I was left speechless as she trimmed my bottom part for around 1 cm and no styling or whatsoever, she said ok done ya…bye bye bye bye. She walked me out and I went toilet and that was the time I touch my hair and felt the left part where she use dryer for merely 2 mins was still wet ! She didnt do anything different to my hair except the colouring part make my hair darker, the treatment was just okay.

Oh on top of that, the cashier handed me the bill at 7.30 and said that cashier is closing so I need to pay now. Damage? 240$ for treatment (shocking), 140$ for hair colouring (ok la amoniac free she said) and 80$ for hair cut. HAIR CUT not hair trimmed.
I knew she was tired but if she was she should tell me that I cant come monday because she was full rather than squeezed me in (I didnt even ask to be squeezed in) and made me all those things while waiting for her did other head. But I was done at 8 pm only. I was hungry and wanted to just go.

She cuts really well last time…and I called her today (wednesday) to actually let her know I think she overcharged me for hair cutting. She wasnt there so I left a message at 10.45 am. She called at 3.30 while I was driving and when I called her back she is out for lunch. She messaged me, ” hi this is me from lacoco, what do you want? Can you tell me!”
Replied her back but so far no response..

Grand TOTAL was $513.80 incl GST…insane…

 

Review Approved by Beauty Undercover.

Checked out and did abit of research before i dropped by today . Booked my appt for 6.30 and went in. (Male customer)

Was brought to a seat within 5 minutes where the director, Elin greeted me. Very nice and sweet korean lady. A “granny” was sweeping around the place and i thought she would be just doing all these “chores” over there but DAMNNN, she brought me a drink, ushered me to the basin area to shampoo my hair and she does one of the best head massages you’ll ever get, thoroughly rubbing of the temples of your head and scrubbing your hair. This lasted a good 10~15minutes. (I’m a guy it took 10minutes ++)

Was brought back to my seat where i went through different types of hairstyle as i had not much in mind…her vocabulary was limited in a very general term( hard for casual communication) but when hair in involved she’s very knowledgable. She’s also very daring and bold into trying different kind of hairstyles, very knowledgable into Kpop fashion and hair trends(G-dragon, sandara etc) . My hair was very straight and she suggested a perm on my next visit and showed me some pictures. She was not pushy or anything with any sort of products or something. she would recommend hairdos using pictures and will leave the decision to you.

She begin to cut my hair and she was very careful (Sometimes she even re-clipped my hair more than 3 times and everytime she will make sure its exactly how she wanted it to be. )
I opt for an undercut for my sides…in the middle of the cutting process, she told me i had roots that were pointing outwards which resulted in uneveness (i told her i had that problem at the start but wasnt sure what caused it) She then told her assistant to bring the rebonding cream and the “steamer”. In my head i was like “Woah woah woah rebonding and stuff? How much is that gonna cost” . So yeah i just went ahead with it since it was my first visit there i might as well try it.

She left me with the steamer for approx 15~20min while she went to attend another customer who was expecting her. After the time was up , the granny brought me to the head basin area where she applied some “hardening cream” sorta gunk on the sides of my head where Elin applied the rebonding cream earlier. She’s a really kind local granny and conversed with me in mandarin. After the thing hardened on my head (after 5 mins) she shampooed and rinsed my hair again.

I was then brought back to the seat where i waited for a good 10 more minutes (Elin was finishing off with her customer and was explaining to him on how to maintain and style the hair, she was in no hurry to just wrap it up but instead came over and told me to wait for another 5 more minutes or so, i feel this was very good as she doesn’t rush her work all over just because she’s busy) Granny then helped me blow dry my hair again haha she’s really gooood.

After which Elin carefully did the rest of my hair, holding short conversations inbetween. Instead of the usual salons where conversations go like ” Do you want to get a package…..do you want to buy this buy that” , Elin was very cheerful and not pushy with all these at all, she never once asked me to spend more but instead ask me on how i get to know this place…where am i going afterwards…and stuff. She then explained to me the way she did my hair and how to maintain and style it .

After settling the payment, i realised Elin charged me absolutely free for the rebonding of my sides and stuff… I only had to pay the haircut price for – shampoo and blow (<–the shampooing by granny was insanely good ) , haircut, rebonding of sides.

Try it out guys its really good…worth the money i would say for haircut…but i believe their treatments and other stuff would be slightly more on the pricey side

Note that email for this writer is unverified. Hence, do read this review with caution.

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 lah. Btw, the Korean hairstylists speak pretty good English.

예쁜 Rina, Joel & his wife

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 hor.

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 liao). 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.

 

Credits: This is a review obtained from a blog.

Read the original blog article here.

I went to lacoco the first time was to have a haircut. I am very satisfied with my stylist-SHUA.
She is very professional patience& caring towards my anxiety as my hair is very long & I am pretty worried if she cut out something which Is not to my liking. As I had been to many famous salon so far not more than 2 person can handle my hair. To my surprise SHUA made it!!! She actually spent a very long time to study my hair!!! Since the first confident SHUA had given me I actually went back to perm my hair…again SHUA made my day as finally I got the kind of curls I always wanted.

 

Credits: This is a comment obtained from a blog.

Read the original blog comment here.

The price is terribly high and before they did they don’t tell you the price. I don’t think that is professional. I felt is a trap.

I did rebonding including haircut,Spent $310 and is not that I desire. I don’t believe they are worth it.I mean the service that they gave us is bad.

I will never visit them in the future.

 

Credits: This is a comment obtained from a blog.

Read the original blog comment here.

I did a digital perm and it was terribly done!
Spent $260 and is not the curl that I desire.
I will never visit them in the future.

 

Credits: This is a comment obtained from a blog.

Read the original blog comment here.