Number76 Style: Red Highlights + Ultrasonic Treatment Review

Note: Not a sponsored review.

Yay finally got my highlights! I've wanted red hair forever, but I never got around to doing it. So when I had a chance to visit a professional hair salon, Number76 (which is apparently super famous among beauty/fashion pros in Malaysia), I decided to take on their offer of 50% for selected stylists and just go and yolo dye my hair.

Experience tells me that my hair, despite all its shortcomings like split ends and combination texture (it's dryer at the bottom part than the scalp), has exceptional retention of whatever you do to it. For example, a random colouring of a bit of hair with coloured chalk doesn't wash off for a few months. The average lasting period is a few days to a week. My friend's hair washed off the colour in two days.

And when I permed my hair digitally back in September last year, it lasted until now, 7 months later. The average lasting period is apparently 3 months max, providing you keep good care of your hair, apply cream blablabla. I didn't do anything extra apart from washing it (no time sorry) and it's still so nicely curled that my hairdresser (not number76) persuaded me not to straighten it.

So I am quite sure that I'm going to get my money's worth because if random chalk dye can last a few months, highlights at a professional salon will last until I get sick of it.

While waiting...

I arrived on time for my 3pm appointment at the Bangsar2 branch and was asked to wait a bit. It was awkward saying that this is my first time but oh well. Everyone has a first time. Filled in the form blabla and then my stylist, Yamamoto, directed me to a seat. He was quite shy and tried super hard to understand what I want. Cause I was a bit particular, as I need to hide the red in certain classes. At first he told me the colour I wanted (shown in picture below) requires bleaching. As my ends have gone through perming and are very much drier now, I didn't want to dry them further and risk getting worse hair. So he let me choose one of two reds that doesn't require bleaching.

This was the picture I showed.
Credit goes to the owner of the picture.
Took it off pinterest. 

I chose the darker red, closer to the colour above, for safety purposes. I thought it was okay in the pictures he showed me as I was initially going for a wine red colour. He chose six strands that he would colour and then started to dye them. I was held in aluminium foils for awhile before it was done and an assistant took the foils off. I didn't want to breathe then, the smell was so overpowering .___. why can't someone invent an odourless dye for once? I was also served tea so it was okay to sit there and wait haha.

I look funny. LOLZ. Stylist is colouring my hair.

Anyway then I had an ultrasonic iron treatment, apparently something number76 is most famous for. I was actually interested in finding out what it's all about really. It's supposed to be an enhancing treatment for chemical processes, and it protects, softens and treats hair so that it will be smooth and silky even after multiple chemical processes like dyeing and perming. I was a little skeptical as there is no way, NO WAY, that my frizzy, unmanageable hair could be tamed to a silky curtain.

The process took a while but not very long, in three steps. First of all they apply the treatment and conditioner and stuff which is imported from Japan (did I tell you it's a Japanese salon?). Then they use a special straightener kind of instrument which vibrates when in contact with water instead of using heat. So no heating involved, which is better for the hair. I thought it was interesting but couldn't see how it helps my hair. After that, they washed off the treatment and stuff, blow dry and brush my hair. Then I had it curled at the bottoms with a curling iron and my fringe trimmed at no extra charge, as the fringe was a bit too long in front.

Tadaa! The result!

Left is before, right is after.
Okay I wasn't over the moon about the fringe cause I look so much more dolly now LOL, I like the left better .__.

No the hair didn't become short, it was curled (but I kinda messed it up)








Everything cost me:
Highlights: RM220
Ultrasonic Treatment: RM250
Discount: 50%
Total: RM110 + RM168 (fixed promotional price) = RM278

Yes it was expensive even after the discount, but I thought it was worth it. Why? Well I did kinda regret the highlights as it turns out that a full head costs the same as six strands of highlights. So yeah in an economical perspective, that wasn't a wise decision. Well I guess I didn't ask for the price because my stylist can't speak English fluently so there was a bit of difficulty there.

But after a day (since I'm writing this a day after the visit), I kind of like it, as it's not as hard to cover up in school, it lets me know if the colour suits me (God knows what should I do if I dyed a horrible colour all over my head) and also it's fascinating, and I can always dye more strands if I want! I didn't really like the strands at the back as they were all hiding under the black hair, although I did ask him to hide it lololol. But I LOVE the strands in front, the colour is vivid but not bright, so it is really nice against natural dark brown/black. I LOVE the colour. I don't know the name, so I cut a bit of the red hair at the end to keep the colour so I can give them the sample next time. Hehe.

Ignore the expression. The red showed up best here.

As for the ultrasonic treatment, well they didn't really explain to me through the process, so to me at that point was only wash+iron+wash. LOL. I didn't think it was worth the money at that time, or maybe the assistant just isn't experienced enough. I went home and still wasn't very satisfied. Yes it was smoother, but I could have done that with a good conditioner that costs a third of the treatment price. Then I went to sleep...and this morning I was....

Impressed.

For my annoyingly untamed hair that tangles itself whenever it likes, I can run my fingers through it right after I got off the bed. No tangles. No nothing. I thought it was awesome at that point. It doesn't mess itself up, and when it gets a bit messy due to the wind, I just have to comb through with fingers. Hair commercial much. .___.
And yes, it's smooth. I think that the wow part is that it actually lasts like a perm or something, as we know that smoothing conditioner only lasts the day when it's applied. :x
I'm typing this at night and it still is soft and smooth. <3

Back of hair. I like the smooth effect. No edits, see!

But my hair is still a little frizzy though, which I don't think can be helped as it was really dry, so might need more frequent treatments and stuff. So if your hair is normal to slightly dry, this will really smoothen and soften it up until it shines like hair commercials. Mine doesn't shine or looks super nice, but it's definitely much nicer to touch. B says so. LOL. I especially think it's worth it cause B always touch my hair, all the time. At least it's not like nobody appreciates haha.

A bit of 2cents thoughts:
My appointment was 3pm and there were a LOT of people. On a Friday. And as the more experienced stylists are usually busy with lots of customers, the other stylists and assistants help out. So I thought that I didn't get much from my appointed stylist, just colour and fringe cut. Everything else done by assistants. A bit sad at that, so maybe I'll try to go early in the morning next time, first customer or something LOL. Then my stylist won't have to run about trying to cater to all his customers.

Pretty! Red! Colour!

So, do I think it's worth it? Well quality wise it's really good. Of course I don't speak hair so I don't know what products they use, but I can be sure that they are high quality as you can feel it through the hair. I adore the colour, and I'll go back to highlight more parts when I have the money. If you're super damn particular about what you want, try a local stylist so you can chitchat about what you need, as most of the time the Japanese stylists can't get very detailed requirements (and they'll just smile at you HAHA).

As for the treatment, apparently you're required to go back every two months. But I'll go back only in July for my free treatment (birthday month!) hahahaha. I'm hoping my hair will retain the softness for a very long time like all other processes on it rofl. Save money much :P. Also keep a lookout for their promotions, they regularly have treatment promotions at selected branches and the price can go down from RM250 to RM198. Same goes to other services. I think that's a better way to save money AND get great hair. :3

Reds reds reds

Good: You get the quality you pay for. Fast reply to enquiries on Facebook. Nice staff and service. Pretty hair colours (not only red! I've seen honey brown, reddish purple, pinkish brown, even bright purple. Their dip-dye/ombre is lovely! Pity I can't have that due to college regulations)

Not-so-good: Stylists super busy, so less service time, much of it was done by assistants :/ not to say they aren't good, but you know. ><

Verdict: 7/10. Go again? Yep! When I have the money, that is! Probably will try out the other branches to see if they suit me better!