Normally, when I do a service review (spas, nail bars, salons) I allocate a huge chunk of space for ambiance and hygiene. It's sets the tone for the review and reveals a lot about a business. There are even times I'm guilty of skimming across the service portion of the review, just because the places I visit have the same general level of service and I don't feel like repeating myself.
This time however, I do not even want to talk about the JuRo Salon Exclusif ambiance. Which isn't to say that I'm covering up for a nasty pigsty. It was neat, modern and clean, but that's the least remarkable thing about them. I have so many things to say about the service that I prefer to dive in straight ahead.
When I sat down, Jude and his wife Rose (the power tandem behind JuRo Salon), assessed my hair. Jude asks "What are we doing with your hair today?" with a smile.
"Whatever you want," I say confidently.
"Good choice."
And so it is. Because when you have a tandem as talented as these two, you better let them work their magic on you without letting your dumb opinions get in the way. Can you imagine telling Van Gogh to just paint the damn starry night without all those extra flecks of color?
The Couture Cut
I've had a lot stylists over the years, some of them with international awards, come up to me and say "Oh your hair is so thin. I wish you had a bit more so I could do something with it."
Jude Hipolito doesn't stop at wishing, he actually does something about it.
Sitting for Jude revealed so many things about my hair that no other stylist has divulged. I get "you have thin hair" a lot, I believe that's quite obvious even to non-hair people. But then he goes on to educate me about the shape of my face. Not in an annoying, snooty way that's meant to puff his chest, but in a very caring way that wants to help me put my bestfoot face forward.
He says I have a diamond-shaped face and it's going to be important for how and where he cuts his layers. There's a section of my hair just above the shoulders that has a lot of body, so he worked around that area to make my hair look fuller. See, I know that area. I call that the Asian Wave but no single stylist in my 24 years of existence has ever acknowledged the same. When I expressly pointed out to my former award-winning stylist that I get fly-aways in that area at a certain length, she still cut it at that length and simply said, "Just blow dry it."
Yet that's not the end of it. I apparently have a diamond-shaped face with a dent at the back. I always thought that's how a skull was shaped like but he pointed out to me that skulls are not supposed to have such sharp angles. And not to worry, because he'll just give me more body there to create a rounded appearance. No single stylist has ever noticed, much less bothered fixing it.
Jude proceeds to cut the hair standing up, because people are slouchy and your hip alignment affects your spine, which affects your scalp, which affects the evenness of his precision cuts. Off handedly, he tells me not to get the Victoria Beckham bob because that will give me chin for days. But if I so desperately wanted a bob, I could probably stick with something longer and more symmetrical.
He also tells me not to let anyone touch my hair with a razor, because my hair is not built to handle that. Cue to my rueful grin as I remember all those late 90s to 2000s razor cuts I got just because it was the in thing. Nevermind if it gave me rat's nest hair. This is easier, this is the only way I can layer your hair, another stylist would say.
I'm not even halfway done and already, I've been served. I thought I was particular but this tandem undoubtedly cares about my hair more than I do.
The Couture Color
Jude hands me over to Rose, who was actually first to greet me through the door. She assessed me before Jude and told me what color job we're going for, probably so I can see just how darn well she'd be able to pull it off afterwards. While Jude was still busy, Rose fusses about my hair some more to keep me company and ponders I'd look great with a shoulder-length cut. Five minutes later that that's exactly what Jude would be going for.
Let me just be a girl right this moment and squeal because oh my God are they not the cutest, most in-tune couple ever??? *melts*
ANYWAY.
Rose tells me that she must work after Jude has set the "foundation," because her colorwork depends greatly on how the scaffolding's like. Rose does not do a box color, one shade application; I must have had 4 bowls of the magical Majirel dye on my cart while she was working on me.
She took really small chunks of hair and spread different hues of red on adjacent chunks to create texture. She doesn't use a highlighting cap because she custom maps your scalp depending on the effect she wants to achieve. For my thin hair, she had to bury the brightest bits under the darker ones to create both body and volume. The dent at the back of my head was left with a darker color to make it appear thicker and rounder.
Despite the complicated scalp mapping going on, I was not super impressed. Rose was a little less talky and I didn't know how my kaleidoscope hair would turn out. As soon as I was toweled and washed off, I felt my heart sink. It was a nondescript dark shade all-around.
I didn't realize my hair was wet (duh) and the color would come up once it dried. And oh once it did I finally felt a little more understanding for Narcissus.
Literally can not stop staring at how the red kicked out all the paleness in my face. And I've been wearing red / auburn for around 8 years. She actually got to that veeery specific, perfect hue to make me look super fair but not pale.
Why Go Couture?
It's been an information overload but I guess that's the point of Couture Hairstyling. You get the perfect combination of science and art to give you your best hair.
I think a huge part of why people don't look as good as they could is because they have this "Wig Mentality." They see hair in a magazine, see how it perfectly suits the model's skin tone, face shape and hair texture, and they want to achieve the same effect. People don't realize that copying a look but working with different materials (skin tone, face shape, hair texture) will yield strange results.
This is the best cut and color of my life, precisely because each layer, each chunk of highlight was designed for my specific coloring and face shape. Regardless if I'm freshly blow-dried (left above) or wash 'n wear (right above) I think it looks great on me because it's custom-designed for me alone.
Let me put it this way: all my life, all I've ever had are RTW (ready-to-wear) hairstyles. Cuts picked out of a magazine, colors pointed out from a book. JuRo doesn't give dinky RTWs; you'll see no hairstyle menu here.
Just as Vera Wang chooses the best cloth and pattern and beads to make her bride look like a goddess version of herself, JuRo chooses the best cut and color to make you look like the Hollywood version of yourself.
You may visit JuRo Salon Exclusif at JuroSalon.com.
Located at Unit 2D, Kensington Place
1st Ave., corner 29th St
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Operating Hours at 10AM - 8PM daily, by appointment only
Contact: 02 - 822 5673 ; 0999 - 767 9073
Follow them on their SNS for examples of their work.
Facebook Page, JURO Salon Exclusif
Twitter, @JuroSalon
Instagram, @JuroSalonExclusif
*I received a complimentary Couture Hairstyling from JuRo Salon Exclusif. I was not paid nor otherwise compensated to present this feature. I was not given other gifts or press information, using only what was told to me by Jude and Rose.
Thank you, Jude and Rose, for the great hair and great conversation!
 |
| Before the magic |
This time however, I do not even want to talk about the JuRo Salon Exclusif ambiance. Which isn't to say that I'm covering up for a nasty pigsty. It was neat, modern and clean, but that's the least remarkable thing about them. I have so many things to say about the service that I prefer to dive in straight ahead.
When I sat down, Jude and his wife Rose (the power tandem behind JuRo Salon), assessed my hair. Jude asks "What are we doing with your hair today?" with a smile.
"Whatever you want," I say confidently.
"Good choice."
And so it is. Because when you have a tandem as talented as these two, you better let them work their magic on you without letting your dumb opinions get in the way. Can you imagine telling Van Gogh to just paint the damn starry night without all those extra flecks of color?
The Couture Cut
I've had a lot stylists over the years, some of them with international awards, come up to me and say "Oh your hair is so thin. I wish you had a bit more so I could do something with it."
Jude Hipolito doesn't stop at wishing, he actually does something about it.
Sitting for Jude revealed so many things about my hair that no other stylist has divulged. I get "you have thin hair" a lot, I believe that's quite obvious even to non-hair people. But then he goes on to educate me about the shape of my face. Not in an annoying, snooty way that's meant to puff his chest, but in a very caring way that wants to help me put my best
He says I have a diamond-shaped face and it's going to be important for how and where he cuts his layers. There's a section of my hair just above the shoulders that has a lot of body, so he worked around that area to make my hair look fuller. See, I know that area. I call that the Asian Wave but no single stylist in my 24 years of existence has ever acknowledged the same. When I expressly pointed out to my former award-winning stylist that I get fly-aways in that area at a certain length, she still cut it at that length and simply said, "Just blow dry it."
Yet that's not the end of it. I apparently have a diamond-shaped face with a dent at the back. I always thought that's how a skull was shaped like but he pointed out to me that skulls are not supposed to have such sharp angles. And not to worry, because he'll just give me more body there to create a rounded appearance. No single stylist has ever noticed, much less bothered fixing it.
Jude proceeds to cut the hair standing up, because people are slouchy and your hip alignment affects your spine, which affects your scalp, which affects the evenness of his precision cuts. Off handedly, he tells me not to get the Victoria Beckham bob because that will give me chin for days. But if I so desperately wanted a bob, I could probably stick with something longer and more symmetrical.
He also tells me not to let anyone touch my hair with a razor, because my hair is not built to handle that. Cue to my rueful grin as I remember all those late 90s to 2000s razor cuts I got just because it was the in thing. Nevermind if it gave me rat's nest hair. This is easier, this is the only way I can layer your hair, another stylist would say.
I'm not even halfway done and already, I've been served. I thought I was particular but this tandem undoubtedly cares about my hair more than I do.
The Couture Color
Jude hands me over to Rose, who was actually first to greet me through the door. She assessed me before Jude and told me what color job we're going for, probably so I can see just how darn well she'd be able to pull it off afterwards. While Jude was still busy, Rose fusses about my hair some more to keep me company and ponders I'd look great with a shoulder-length cut. Five minutes later that that's exactly what Jude would be going for.
Let me just be a girl right this moment and squeal because oh my God are they not the cutest, most in-tune couple ever??? *melts*
ANYWAY.
Rose tells me that she must work after Jude has set the "foundation," because her colorwork depends greatly on how the scaffolding's like. Rose does not do a box color, one shade application; I must have had 4 bowls of the magical Majirel dye on my cart while she was working on me.
 |
| Textured Deep Red care of Majirel, Not 1 Dimensional |
She took really small chunks of hair and spread different hues of red on adjacent chunks to create texture. She doesn't use a highlighting cap because she custom maps your scalp depending on the effect she wants to achieve. For my thin hair, she had to bury the brightest bits under the darker ones to create both body and volume. The dent at the back of my head was left with a darker color to make it appear thicker and rounder.
Despite the complicated scalp mapping going on, I was not super impressed. Rose was a little less talky and I didn't know how my kaleidoscope hair would turn out. As soon as I was toweled and washed off, I felt my heart sink. It was a nondescript dark shade all-around.
I didn't realize my hair was wet (duh) and the color would come up once it dried. And oh once it did I finally felt a little more understanding for Narcissus.
Why Go Couture?
 |
| My hair, a week after, no styling |
It's been an information overload but I guess that's the point of Couture Hairstyling. You get the perfect combination of science and art to give you your best hair.
I think a huge part of why people don't look as good as they could is because they have this "Wig Mentality." They see hair in a magazine, see how it perfectly suits the model's skin tone, face shape and hair texture, and they want to achieve the same effect. People don't realize that copying a look but working with different materials (skin tone, face shape, hair texture) will yield strange results.
This is the best cut and color of my life, precisely because each layer, each chunk of highlight was designed for my specific coloring and face shape. Regardless if I'm freshly blow-dried (left above) or wash 'n wear (right above) I think it looks great on me because it's custom-designed for me alone.
Let me put it this way: all my life, all I've ever had are RTW (ready-to-wear) hairstyles. Cuts picked out of a magazine, colors pointed out from a book. JuRo doesn't give dinky RTWs; you'll see no hairstyle menu here.
Just as Vera Wang chooses the best cloth and pattern and beads to make her bride look like a goddess version of herself, JuRo chooses the best cut and color to make you look like the Hollywood version of yourself.
You may visit JuRo Salon Exclusif at JuroSalon.com.
Located at Unit 2D, Kensington Place
1st Ave., corner 29th St
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Operating Hours at 10AM - 8PM daily, by appointment only
Contact: 02 - 822 5673 ; 0999 - 767 9073
Follow them on their SNS for examples of their work.
Facebook Page, JURO Salon Exclusif
Twitter, @JuroSalon
Instagram, @JuroSalonExclusif
*I received a complimentary Couture Hairstyling from JuRo Salon Exclusif. I was not paid nor otherwise compensated to present this feature. I was not given other gifts or press information, using only what was told to me by Jude and Rose.
Thank you, Jude and Rose, for the great hair and great conversation!
