{Review} COVO Japanese Hair Salon

My "manic" hair colour!

OMG!! Yes! I just had my hair ends "dipped dyed" in "turquoise" at Salon COVO. Thanks to stylist Marco!

If you haven't noticed, manic hair colours are the latest trend. I see many people on the streets these days sporting streaks of manic hair colour, especially my favourite "turquoise". Totally reminds me of a mermaid's beautiful tresses! Seeing all these colours, it struck me that I should do something crazy too, or in this case "manic", to my boring hair colour.

It is almost impossible for us Asians with naturally dark brown or black hair to achieve such crazy colours without bleaching... but well, we all know bleaching damages our hair. Then again, what would you do if you have only one day to live? Live with regrets? So come on, throw caution to the wind, as long as you can count on the professional stylists at COVO helping you.

I was glad to visit COVO again, this time to try something BOLDER which is to have my hair coloured "turquoise". As recommended by my dearest cousin Angie, the secret to this beautiful manic colour is the Manic Panic brand semi hair colour, plus the creative skills of stylist Marco at COVO.

Manic Panic hair dye

So WHO & WHERE is COVO? COVO is a Japanese hair salon located at 43 Keong Saik Road in Chinatown. COVO means “a hiding place.” in Italian. When you are at COVO, you will enjoy a private and relaxing personal space as well as VIP treatment. 

I'll let the photos do the talking!

COVO shopfront

Salon interior at a glance

Your very own private space

This private seating caught my attention when I first stepped into the salon. Unlike other usual salons where you just share a row of seats with other people, at COVO you get your own private space and that immediately makes you feel like a VIP. Japanese salons always have clean, neat and simple interiors that make customers feel like they are right at home. 

My Stylist for the Day - Marco San

Marco was my appointed stylist. He was very polite and friendly, I was surprised that he could communicate quite well in English and I found out later that he had worked as a stylist in Vancouver before coming to Singapore. I showed him some pictures of the hair colour I wanted, but he did not promise me immediately that he could do it as the condition of my hair was not very good - most probably due to too many chemical treatments done previously. He suggested to test-bleach a few strands of my hair to see the outcome before deciding whether to proceed.

Test-bleaching on some of my hair strands

Marco asked me to feel the texture of my test-bleached hair and whether I was fine with it before deciding to bleach the other parts of my hair, as that was the max I could bleach. Any further bleaching would cause my hair to become severely damaged. I gladly accepted his advice and proceeded.

Bleaching the inner back part of my hair

Marco also advised me that bleaching should not be done up till the hair roots as it would damage the scalp, so there needed to be a margin of about 2 to 3 inches from the roots.

My personal little desk with hair magazines, drinks & sweet treat from Marco :)

Hair wash time! 

Most of the hair salons in Singapore use normal tap water to wash and shampoo our hair. Do you know that at Covo, they use "Tansan" water - aka "carbonated spring water" - to wash our hair?  So what's the difference? Covo's Tansan water helps to remove the extra oil or sebum that accumulates on the scalp, thus making your hair healthier. I agreed that the water in Singapore also contains more alkaline and fluoride as compared with Japan. 

Japanese people are very health-conscious when it comes to the products they use, plus they have an abundance of natural resources like spring water, unlike Singapore! :)

After rinsing!

My successfully bleached hair

After blow drying!

We are ready to add colours now!

(Left) For my base hair colour; (Right) Manic Panic blue hair dye

For colouring, perming and rebonding, Covo uses products developed by the “chemical master” and owner-stylist of COVO Japan, Mr Manabu. They use Hoyu for normal colouring, which is also from Japan, apart from Manic Panic hair colour.

Marco preparing to apply base colour to my hair

Wrapped with foil after applying colour

While waiting ..Time for a selfie? =P

Marco is very attentive and polite, always returning to check if I'm comfortable as I was not allowed to fidget while waiting for my hair colour to set. In other salons, the stylists normally come back to check on you only when it's time. 

After 2nd rinse

Finally, 45 mins later and after rinsing, I was thrilled to see my newly coloured hair before it dried out! At that time, I was still afraid my hair would not be able to absorb the dye. Luckily, everything turned out as expected! 

Marco trimming my hair before drying!

Cutting hair when it is wet means less friction, says Marco. 

After blow drying

Back view of my hair

Now you can have a clearer view of the area that is coloured turquoise!

Styling of my hair in progress!

After drying my hair, Marco suggested using the curly irons to curl my hair ends.

Finally, it's done!

The Handsome Magician - Marco San & Me!

Can't resist taking a few more photos with Marco San =P

Side view                                                Back view

If your hair length is longer than mine, you should consider COVO because it does not charge extra for long hair like other salons do. You can also opt for your preferred stylist without additional charges! Find out more about the price menu  here.

If you are convinced after reading my whole experience at COVO, give it a shot! I made the right choice by going to COVO salon for my hair colour treatment and I will certainly visit it again. 

Covo's price for Cut & Colour:  U.P @ $210* and you can top up an additional  $40 for hair treatment (highly recommended as U.P is $50).

 Great news now! Instead of $250* ($210 +$40) , You  pay only $200*!