REVIEW/CAMBODIA The longest shampoo I've ever had

The longest hair wash I've ever had - 1 hour

  

I was told about the hair shampoo and rinsing that one gets a hair salon in Phnom Penh just before I embarked on my trip to this foreign land - it will be shampooed and rinsed four times. Curious, I made a shampoo session one of my must-dos. And what better time than having a nice shampoo and blowout just before a dinner party?

Due to the short time frame we had, we ventured to a salon close to where we stayed. Before I was seated in front of a mirror, I was asked to pick my desired shampoo, just like how some Vietnamese hair salons do it at some hair salons in Ho Chi Minh. My choice was Pantene Anti-Fall. The other brands available included Sunsilk and L’Oreal Paris and most of them were for straight hair.

My hair was given a long shampoo and rinsed (four times) by a very junior shampoo girl who spoke only Khmer from 4.20pm-5.20pm. Amazingly loooong! The longest I could sit in a chair for a shampoo. After the long shampoo, the shampoo girl asked pointing to another client having her hair crimped straight, if I wanted to have my hair styled straight. Alarm bells sounded in my head when I heard her. I replied her “no, curly please,” and it seems like she didn’t understand me and we waited for a long while before a senior stylist came by to asked if I would like to style my hair straight…. I repeated what I said earlier to his junior staff and gestured with my hands how the stylists in Singapore would twirl and blow dry my hair. He then spoke to his colleagues in Khmer as he raised the roller brush he had found. The other junior stylists ran around looking for another similar brush as he started styling and blow-drying my hair. Midway through I thought I was beginning to have hair styled like the Ceilia Mae of Monster Inc. (pictured below) as tight curls hung at the ends of my hair :p

Celia Mae of Monster Inc

Soon, the styling was done with my massive long tresses. My wash and styling came up to USD 6.50 (S$8.20).

VERDICT:  Although the process was a little discomforting initially and with my back drenched from the shampoo and rinsing, I believe it’s an isolated case. The curls loosened by the next morning and was more natural.

Undaunted, perhaps I should check out a hair salon in town at my next visit. 

The salon I had a wash and blow along a quiet street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia