My last U.S. haircut was in March. I’ve trimmed my own bangs along the way, but four months is a long time to go in between haircuts. I thought I would have it done in China since I had read that the hairwash before the cut there is a pretty wonderful experience, but we were moving around so fast that I didn’t really want to take the time to do it. That combined with nervousness about communicating with a stylist via a translation app convinced me to put it off.
I watched some video tutorials online, published during the pandemic, that instructed women on how to cut their own hair at home. They made it seem possible! I told myself that once we settled in Fethiye, I would take the time to either cut it myself, or go find a stylist to do it. I almost chose the first option out of pure shyness, but remembered that we haven’t posted anything on our blog from Turkey, and decided a salon visit should be my first post. Maybe a self haircut will make the cut (ha!) in a few more months!
I searched for hair salons on Google Maps and there were several within a kilometer of our apartment. I ended up choosing one called “Saloon My Beauty.” Yes, saloon. (shrug) They had listed hours of operation and had a website with a price list and a WhatsApp number, allowing me to text them, rather than try to call them on the phone and hope that whoever answered could speak English. I think that I could have just walked in and gotten a haircut, possibly with a short wait, but I made an appointment for the next day.
When I showed up, the gentleman I had been texting with greeted me outside the door and invited me to have a seat. Would you like coffee or tea? Tea, please. While the tea was brewing, I was shown to the shampoo area where a woman washed my hair. Everything in the salon was exactly as you would find in a U.S. salon, including the chairs and sinks.
The woman then took me to a chair by the mirrors and I managed a quick sip of my tea before she draped a hair cape over me and got to work. She knew a few English words (straight, cut, little bit, etc.) and between that and gestures, I felt confident that she knew what I wanted. My Turkish vocabulary is limited to words for hello, thanks, yes, and no. (And ever-so-useful words like turtle, spider, lawyer. Thanks, Duo…)
I was cut and blow-dryed in just over a half-hour, and I’m happy with the results. The total was 600TLD, which is approximately 15USD. Quite a lot less than what I was paying in St. Louis. The only thing missing was chatting with the stylist – I’ll have to work on my conversational Turkish if we come back for another extended stay.
