“What kind of a cut are you looking for ma’am?” In a mood to experiment, I look at the magazines on my lap. Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Sonam Kapoor stare back at me. Jagdish, the hair stylist at Page 3 Salon, is no doubt suppressing a snort of laughter. What about Meryl Streep, I wonder, in The Devil Wears Prada ? She has grey hair and a really cool haircut. But then, she has Prada and I don’t. A hair cut like hers demands a designer wardrobe.
Just as I resign myself to the usual, two-inch trim, and ‘no bangs please’, hairstylist Jagdish whips out a tablet. The next half hour is pure entertainment. Page 3 uses an app called Midas Touch that allows clients to digitally experiment with different hair styles.
The transformation
This is how it works. I tie back my hair and Jagdish photographs me. He explains how an oval is the ideal shape for a face and makes an outline on my image.
Now he knows how the hair around my face should fall so that it gives it an oval appearance. Jagdish sits me down and digitally superimposes various hairstyles on my image.
We try out short, medium and long hair options. It is astounding to see what a difference a haircut makes to my appearance. I now know how I would look in a blunt, with layers, with curls, without, in a page-boy cut, an asymmetrical style and with side parting, centre parting and no parting…the combinations are unending. It doesn’t stop there. You love a style you see, but wish it did not have the long fringes, you can get rid of them. You want a longer fringe? Jagdish swipes a finger and voila, there is just a hint of your eyes peeping from behind the curtain of hair…you can even borrow from several different styles and customise your style.
The app also lets you decide on the colour you want to choose for your hair. You want your hair all black? Well here is how you will look. You want a streak of red in front? Okay here goes…You want purple in every other swathe of hair? There you go.
The app is a boon. Instead of going underground because of an unwise colouring decision or an inappropriate haircut, you can see what suits you best.
Once you have satisfied yourself with your choice, thrash out the pros and cons with your stylist. He will be able to advise you on whether the colour is suitable for your hair texture and style. Once that is confirmed and reconfirmed, go ahead and have that cut.
“I have not dared to have a short haircut since school. Because I never knew how I would look. But this app helped me make up my mind and I dared,” says Ashwini who also ventured to use burgundy tones for her new haircut.
“I am still undecided and scared, but I think I am a little closer to changing my hairstyle after I saw how a couple of hairstyles looked pretty good on my face,” says Nirmala who pored over the app for a long time before she decided that she would ‘go for it’ next month.
Be sure
Jagdish who has trained under Jawed Habib and worked with him for many years says: “If you are unsure, take your time. Sometimes, it is difficult to move away from a style you have been comfortable with for so long. Sometimes, my clients want a celebrity hair style. I tell them I could copy the style. But it should go with the texture of their hair, the shape of their face and their lifestyle. If you are comfortable and convinced, go ahead. Otherwise, stay as you are.”
Call Page 3 Salon at 0422-4393333/4223331.
