Cedar Salon: My Adventurous Holiday Hair + Linkage Meu, the Japanese Art Of Smoothing Hair

I was very pleased with my first Cedar Salon experience, which was hair color, as my hair color faded nicely (you will see photos below); it didn't turn brassy, but rather a lighter version of it; it wasn't too embarrassing to sport at all even if it looked faded already, that's why I did not hesitate to return for another session. 

This time around, I wanted to be more adventurous; I've always sported a single color (usually dark or medium) so I thought of going for a Balayage. It was a scary thought: me getting light- colored streaks on my locks for the first time, but it's a nice way to overcome fear and to challenge myself. Who knows? Maybe a totally new hair color, a hair color that's out of my comfort zone will inspire me to do greater, better things; Sometimes, it all starts with a completely new look!

I really had no idea what to ask for my Balayage treatment because heck, it was my first time, so I consulted with Mr. Jake, one of the head stylists at the salon. He was talking with me about hair color jargon and I could barely grasp what he was saying so I just uttered "Jake, I trust your skills. Just give me a Balayage with colors that are totally not my usual, but will still look good to my eyes and won't shock me in a negative way." He responded "Leave it to me; I'll give you a really nice Balayage."

And then Mr. Jake proceeded with the treatment.

First, Mr. Jake gave me a light honey brown base. Mr. Jake said that I'm always attracted to dark colors so he gave me something light for a change. I must admit, I was surprised at how it turned out just because it was the lightest I've ever gone with my hair, but I adjusted to it fairly quickly because it still went well with my skin tone.

Second, the Balayage streaks were applied to my hair. I went for this style instead of Ombre because it gives volume to the hair, something that my fine hair strands need. Balayage means "to sweep" in French and its meaning directly inspired the actual process of this style of hair coloring: the hair is spread and sectioned on a board, and the colorist uses a freehand technique and paints the highlights all over the hair in a sweeping motion. At Cedar Salon, instead of the board, the application is similar to applying highlights.

The difference between Balayage and traditional hair highlights are: the former is applied over and under the hair, applied using freehand technique, has no specific pattern, and coverage can be thick or thin in terms of width. The latter has a structured pattern, usually applied over the hair (can be applied under as well, but is usually applied on one side only), and the streaks come in uniform coverage and width.

My Balayage streaks are Golden Yellow blonde in color; I felt various emotions when those foils revealed the super light streaks!

Lastly, Jake gave me a metallic color coating from Schwarzkopf's Metallic Collection, Cedar Salon's primary offering for the holidays. The metallic colors come in Black, Brown, Violet, Steel Gray, and Ash, and they're meant to give your hair luster, add more dimension and body, and color your hair too. Here are the colors available:

If I'm not mistaken, Jake gave me the 2nd or 3rd color to right.

Left- Old color; Right- New color

The result is out and I'm very happy with it! The colors are very new to my eyes and they're the "something new" that I was looking for; I would not go for them if Jake made me choose and would have ended up going for my usual so I'm very glad I left everything to him! Jake, you're awesome! Also, I didn't know that Balayage would look great on me; glad I took the leap! I think Balayage would be my other default color from now on (unless it goes out of style)!

Since I've undergone three color treatments (base, highlights, metallic color), I went for a treatment afterwards to combat dryness. Cedar Salon just launched a new hair treatment called Linkage Meu by professional salon Japanese brand, Milbon, that time so I tried it.

Linkage Meu is a 4- step smoothing hair treatment and is ideal as a post- color treatment, hair maintenance, and to revive very dry and damaged hair; its all- natural formula utilizes Sodium Hyaluronate, Collagen, and various plant extracts, infusing hair with intense moisture and hydration that can last for up to one month; Linkage Meu is present in hundreds of salons in Japan and has recently arrived in the Philippines with Cedar Salon as one of its first distributors.

The whole treatment lasts for 20- 30 minutes only and is capped off by Elujuda Hair Oil. The products smell really nice and they didn't make my scalp feel itchy, plus the products don't feel heavy at all and wash off easily from my hair; customers will also take home these Linkage Meu treatment vials that will be used weekly to extend its smoothing effect up to one month.

Left- before Linkage Meu; Right- After Linkage Meu

Wowza! Look how smooth my hair is after the treatment! They're really right when they said that the Japanese are the experts at hair smoothing! Not only did my hair feel smooth, it felt super soft as well; no kidding, it had this otherworldly softness that I could not stop touching it the whole day!

So here's my final look! It took me 3 hours to get this new look and it's so worth it that I had to party afterwards!

Three days after the treatment, here's what my hair looked like. My hair was still feeling super soft and smooth by that time until one week. I still had to condition my hair in the shower even after having Linkage Meu, but I noticed that the treatment has somewhat made my hair more cooperative with conditioners and the comb.

Again, I'm one satisfied Cedar Salon customer! For my next hair color, I'm thinking of doing Ombre. What do you think? :D

Balayage starts at P2,000.00 and Linkage Meu at P1,500.00 Visit CEDAR SALON on Facebook for more information about these treatments.