Lucy's Buzz : Loyalty Counts!

I am fiercely loyal.

Especially to my hairdresser!

I went to the same hairdresser in the US for decades and I’ve been going to the same woman for the whole 12 years I’ve been here in Sri Lanka

Okay, so I might have dabbled with 2 other hairdressers, just for a change, but I’ve gone running back to Asoka Tillakaratne at 7^th Avenue Salon like my feet were on fire!

I can’t remember how I found her, situated in an old house (now demolished) on Galle Road, back in 2002. Living down south in Weligama, there wasn’t anyone to choose from except the local barbers who thought mullets were the ‘in’ thing, so I headed north every 4-6weeks. A 5-hour drive.

I was such a bumpkin back then. My typical garb in Weligama was a colorful T-shirt and sarong, which was fine in Weligama, but Colombo was a bit more sophisticated. Not being one for too much sophistication when it’s 32C (90F) out, I didn’t care that people in Colombo wore saris and fashionable sun dresses. I have always been one for comfort and there’s nothing more comfortable than a sarong!

Asoka has always been on the cutting edge, but when I told her I wanted my hair tri-colored (white blonde, yellow blonde and brown) in wide swatches, she whined, ‘I can’t do that!’

‘Oh, sure you can,’ I said. ‘Just try it and see how it turns out.’ We had a good laugh over the possible crazy outcomes, but I was sure she could do it. After all she’d been giving me a good haircut for several months and had earned my trust.

When Asoka stripped the foils from my hair, washed and combed it, I looked like a tri-color zebra. Exactly what I wanted! She had done it! Each color was the perfect shade.

When she moved to a larger place in the Galle Face Hotel, I followed her. And now that she’s moved to her new 4,000 sq. foot salon – fancy, fancy! – on Greenlands Lane, off Isipathana Mawatha, I followed her there.

I’ve since let my hair grow to its natural silver so there’s no more sitting for hours making it blonde and her haircuts are still great after all these fashion changes in my life (from sarongs to jeans).

Asoka even did a full make-up job on me for a fancy party, and ever better - a total makeover for my Halloween birthday! Scared us both when she was done!

I’ve always said that I’d change husbands before I’d change my hairdresser! - Lucy

(Thank goodness I'm a better photographer now

than I was with these photos of the below

photos of Asoka and me!