Pink and Undecided: ash gold

Review : Ash Gold Faux Balayage at House of David (SPONSORED)

Hello everybody!

Most of you might already know that i have a new hair? Yasss - and it's FIERCE.

Let's all take the time to appreciate my most daring hair color that i have ever had in my entire life (i did have hot pink hair, bright red, ombred my hair pink, purple and blue before but still, i think so far this one's the craziest - in the most positive way possible - yet) :

Ash Gold Faux Balayage hair by House of David

Now if you are a Surabaya resident, chances are you've heard of House of David before. I personally would consider it one of the pioneers in hair salons in Surabaya (if not Indonesia). The name rang very familiar (if i am not mistaken, it used to be David Salon before upgrading into House of David) to my ear since i've heard of it since i was little. When i was growing up, there are only a bunch of prestigious hair salons in Surabaya and David is definitely one of them. No surprises that House of David's origin started in 1980, 40 years ago and a few years before i was even a concept in my parents' minds *LOL*.

Through Mr. David's magic hands, his meticulousness and passion in everything hair - House of David stood the test of time and 40 years later today, it is still standing strong, still very well known as one of the most luxurious and prestigious hair salon in this city. I was very honored when i was contacted back in November by their representation, and although there were many obstacles, misunderstandings and miscommunications (nothing that's got to do with Mr. David at all, he had been nothing but kind, professional and loveable. Nor it's got anything to do with their hairstylists. All problems came only from certain individuals that handled the project, so i would say that they need to work on their management especially the ones that's dealing with marketing and PR) - months later, the collaboration finally came to fruitation.

House of David Waterplace
Jl. Puncak Indah Lontar No. 3-5
Waterplace De Residence D1-D2
Surabaya - East JavaPhone :(031) 7393004

I went there with Olin (who also got her hair colored that day) to the Waterplace branch (they also have another salon that's actually a lot closer to our place in WR :(...)

First impression of the place : it's super spacious, bright, clean and cozy. Oh you can see Mr. David briefing his staffs at the back there. We get to spend a whole day with Mr. David that day and we immediately noticed how hands down he is with his staffs, and how he is really TRULY passionate in his field. I am super touched and impressed in witnessing this as you know that this is not the first time i am collaborating with hair salons (LOL, far from it) but this is the first time i actually meet the owner that shows that much passion and enthusiasm in his work. Mind you, he's pretty ehm, mature. Definitely old enough to be my dad :))

House of David Waterplace has an in house cafe so if you are an avid coffee drinker (i'm more than sure they have other kinds of drinks as well tho) and worried about getting your fix while having to spend many many hours getting your dream hair, fret not! You can get your cuppa right there in the salon itself

Plenty of seats and space

So even on a very busy day i don't think you need to worry about getting a seat

One of my fave spots in House of David : the washing station *LOL*. The seat's very comfortable and it reclines to a degree that you actually pretty much laying down. I'd be lying if i say i didn't almost fell asleep a few times when they washed my hair... Oh and they very thoughtfully would drape a large towel on your lap when you lay there so even if you're wearing shorts or short skirts, you don't have to worry about flashing/being cold. I love that attention to detail!

I noticed that they mainly use Kerastase, which is obviously one of the leading and most luxurious hair care brand in the market so you can already see how they only use the best products in their salon

They also have all kinds of promotions going

As if sensing that i wouldn't be able to functions without coffee, they immediately served us some :)).

My cup of life

Okay let's see how my hair looks before getting it done in House of David :

My hair was chest length (i recently chopped 10 cm off before Chinese New Year) with the lower half still stained with my old hair dye while the half top was my natural black (it's actually dark brown tho) with a scattering of gray hairs :)). And yes, the photo is blurry *LOL*, don't blame it, i didn't take that photo.

My hair was cut straight and blunt

So first i got a trim from Mr. David himself, what an honor!

He didn't reduce the length (per my request) but only shaping it so it has more volume and bounce, he also trimmed my side fringe to make it fluffier and less flat

FYI, when Mr. David's working, he is such a perfectionist that he is often get so engrossed and has to be timed so that i wouldn't spend forever in one client :))

After the cut, they started to work on my hair. As the process of a faux balayage (especially on a long hair like mine) is pretty long and ardous, there were actually 3 to 4 hair stylists working on my hair all at once. This helps making the long process a lot faster than it could be.

Another thing that i noticed is how they only had to do the bleaching process once and the added more bleach to reach this result :

All bleached out but still looking shiny and soft, eh?

This is pretty awesome and it made me believe that they used the best products with the best estimation on the amount of products used. I am used to other hair salon having to bleach numerous times to reach this degree of whiteness (although my bleach didn't go to the white stage because i was having an Ash Gold color, so it stopped one stage before white) or even give up halfway though saying that could only reach that certain degree and then proceed on with the next step - so another point for House of David.

Another point because none of the hair stylists that worked on my hair (they had to stay past their working hour to finalize our hair and also help with the photoshoot) complained or showed that they were tired or annoyed, they all stayed positive, bright and friendly throughout the process. They also were very attentive and caring without going overboard (i hate nothing more than chatty, smart mouthed hair stylists that make rude comments or start conversation that's too personal for my liking and i didn't encounter any of this type in House of David).

After the long long bleaching process (btw, i am also amazed on how it didn't hurttt! I am used to hair dyes making burning, itchy sensations on my scalp, but i felt pretty much nothing that day!), they finally can add the Ash Gold shade in :

Ash Gold Faux Bayalage by House of David Salon

It looked even better when curled!

You can see the combination of Ash and Gold on my hair

Btw, they applied hair mask twice on my hair when washing the bleach and dye out, no wonder my hair stayed healthy and tangle free after going through so much! Seriously, i don't remember any other hair salon bothered doing this step repeatedly!

You have to excuse my oily, messy face tho - it was 10 PM and 10 hours after we arrived so my makeup has melted a little bit and my spirit has pretty much left my body *LOL*

Oh yeah, sorry for the inconsistency of the photos' sizes, i got the photos from them and the file were a bit small so some of them pixelated if i enlarge them

I received soooo many compliments on my hair and i also like the way it looks that i think it's worth the 10 hours and all the unpleasantness i had to endure :)). Out of respect of House of David as a whole and especially to Mr. David himself, i won't go into details about the incidents (i have written all of my problems with them personally to their rep, i hope they take it seriously as it occured not only with me but with other influencers that worked with them. One of my close friends even cancelled her collaboration with them due some inconsistencies even before the collab start) and if you are a customer, don't worry you will not be dealing with the unpleasant individuals anyway, at least not in the same capacity. I'm sure they'd treat you with nothing but respect.

Like i stated before, the PR that's dealing with influencers need to be retrained entirely *LOL*. Brands need to be constantly reminded that we are collaborators, media and also influential people (why else would you ask to collaborate with us, may i ask?) that can make or break them so we all need to be treated with respect as how we also treat them with respect they deserve.

Anyway, it's been almost 2 weeks after, my hair has been washed 4 times (by myself, ofc) since and it's still looking pretty stunning (if i may say so myself :D).

So would i recommend House of David? Ofc. They are not cheap ofc, but their dedication, passion, quality and service is worth the price tag. Also, if you want to get something daring like this Faux Balayage style, you need to go to the professional to get the best result - don't cut corners unless you don't mind a botched job :)).

You can also follow House of David's Instagram @houseofdavidsalon for the latest news and promo from them ^^.