In Manila, haircut options tend to be simple and clean, and for good reason. In an environment where it’s either hot, humid, wet—or all of the above, the main priority would be low-maintenance comfort. However, this doesn’t mean practical hairstyles can’t be stylish at the same time.
Playing with layers, textures, lengths, colors, and such, are among many of the ways that hair can be arranged to frame the face in a flattering way and serve as another platform to express individuality. There is an artistry to hairstyling that is built on creative sense and a vast skill set. Equipped with the techniques necessary, haircut designs, no matter how simple or complex, may be personally tailored and carefully executed without overlooking subtleties.
And if we’re talking about hairstyling artistry, Japanese hairstylists are known for their meticulous craft in fashioning hairstyles out of even the dullest hair situations. Having hassle-free hair that looks good on a daily basis starts with a good haircut. The better the haircut, the less time and effort you have to put into styling it before leaving the house each day.
Now, while getting a Japanese haircut is sure to give you a fabulous everyday look, it’s also no news that they come with a price.
My first Japanese haircut was a few years back, when I was an exchange student in Japan. I went to a salon in Kichijoji called EARTH Hair & Make. A cut alone costs ￥3,000, treatment was ￥5,200 (at the time, my hair was long), and color was ￥4,200. There was also an additional styling fee depending on the position of the stylist that handled the customer. In my case, it was the director, which cost the most. While I was very satisfied with the results, I wasn’t used to the range of salon prices in Japan. It already seemed to me that EARTH was one of the more trendy but practical options, and with ￥3,000 as the average cost for cuts (note that a few years ago, the yen wasn’t as low as it is now), it felt like something I would only treat myself to on special occasions, especially since I was living on scholarship allowance and I’d rather spend my extra money elsewhere.
It’s a delight to know that Japanese haircuts are also accessible in Manila, but they could be just as costly. The average of haircuts ranges from Php 2,000~3,000 here. So what do you do when you want a stylish Japanese haircut for much cheaper? I’ve been asking myself that question for the longest time, that is, until I met Higuchi of Higuchi Hair Salon!
Tucked away in the side streets one block away from the bustling Chino Roces Avenue in Makati, Higuchi Hair Salon is literally just a short walk across from Little Tokyo. If you feel like having a Japanese hair makeover while you’re out for authentic Japanese food, you simply have to cross the street, walk a few steps, and it would be in plain view.
Mitsuo Higuchi, the owner and style director of Higuchi Hair Salon, is a veteran hairstylist who has moved to the country after marrying a Filipina make-up artist, and has set out to share his skills through this humble beauty lounge that mostly caters to the Japanese nationals that frequent the Little Tokyo area. He has such a warm, friendly character, that it becomes easier to open up and ask for advice or express ideas pertaining to style preferences.
The salon itself is a cozy, quaint two-storey space, with most of the service usually done on the second floor. The second floor could seat three clients at the most.
This was convenient for when I visited, because I brought my brother and my mom with me, both of whom badly needed a hairstyle makeover. My brother was sporting this long hair that grew until his shoulders, reminiscent of Keanu Reeves’ past long hair look. My mom, on the other hand, had medium-length hair that fell past her shoulders, but lacked body and texture. I wish I took photos before the whole process, but alas, this is the closest I have.
One thing to note: Higuchi is the only hairstylist, and while he has attendants to help him, he personally handles and oversees most services.
For this reason, they only accommodate clients by reservation.
At the same time, this means that you can be assured of the consistency and expertise the salon has to offer in all aspects throughout your stay. Even as both the shampoo and blow dry are left to the trained hands of his attendants, it was easy to sense his guidance was behind all of it.
For quality services I usually won’t find without spending an arm and a leg, Higuchi Hair Salon has shot up to the top of my books and has continued to monopolize the “go-to for haircut” spot. Php 1,000 is quite more expensive than most local salons, but it’s definitely worth the assurance of a good haircut. You go to a salon for a certain hairstylist’s expertise. Instead of going for the cheaper options and facing the risk of so-so, or worse, in a terrible series of trial-and-error, it’s better to stick with a stylist whose skills you can trust.
(Edit: They offer student discount!)
When you get seated, they serve hot green tea in a fancy teacup such as this, which was utterly calming. It helped me relax and focus on just the matter at hand—deciding on what to do with my hair.
The salon has lots of style references, from Japanese magazines to more mainstream, local ones. It’s very useful to consult with these before the haircut itself starts, especially if you only have a vague idea of what you want in mind. As you will find out when you flip through these, there can be such differences in the overall look with just a few tweaks in detail.
Even after I’ve decided, I got so immersed looking through their hairstyle magazines that I didn’t even notice time passing by while waiting. They have such a nice collection!
And if you think hairstyles for men are limited, then you haven’t seen these men’s hair magazines yet. In a way, styling men’s hair could be so much more complicated, exactly because the range in length is shorter and there is less room for adjustments.
My brother has a round face and thin hair strands that causes his hair to fall flat, so the style that was arranged for him was meant to address that issue by adding volume around the top of his head and giving a more defined texture to the sides to lessen the weight there and lend him the look of a longer, more oval face shape.
This was during blow dry, after the cut and hair wash. The locks of hair had already become sharp and so well-defined in texture, which in turn, lightened up the overall weight of the hair.
It was only after blowdry that we really got to see the haircut in all its glory. The first thing I noticed was the striking increase in volume around the top of his head. At this point, no styling products have been applied yet and it already looked like something from the men’s hair style magazine. The locks of hair around the top could hold their own with just ruffling and scrunching motions.
After adding a bit of styling cream and finishing off the look, the hair looked much more well groomed, with the locks coming together more distinctly. I didn’t think my brother could look so refreshingly different!
Up next was my mom, who wanted a fresh new look that would be trendy but at the same time, easy and comfortable. She’s a very busy woman with a full schedule everyday and no time to mess with blow dry or iron or curlers and the like. She’s often out the door in minutes and needed a hairstyle that could match her pace.
Aside from my mom stating her interest in perming the lower half of her hair, we left the overall styling decisions to Higuchi’s hands. My mom’s hair used to lay flat from off the top of her head and grow in volume until its ends that fall past her shoulders. It was far from befitting for her and would seem to drag her overall features down as the weight was mostly focused on the lower half of the hair without the ends framing her face.
What Higuchi did was cut the hair short, around above-shoulder length, while adding texture to the ends so the locks softly cling together to lend a natural frame to the face.
Afterwards, he proceeded to thin out the volume so that it becomes less dense and in its stead, smaller locks of hair would be more defined, add vibrance to the whole form and stand out. A fascinating act of setting some sort of order to an otherwise mass of chaotic unpredictability, and at the same time paving the path for a controlled, more appealing growth of the hair.
Following the haircut, they started on the perming process, which, quite surprisingly, did not take as long as I thought it would. While they were waiting it out, he handed the rest of my mom’s rinsing and blow dry to his assistants, then walked over to start on my haircut.
Now, I came in with this short, shoulder-length curly hair, so I guess I had no real need to get a cut too. However, because of the unsatisfactory quality of my last haircut, even when there seemed to be no issue with how my curls looked, I was left worrying about how my hair would grow—what with its uneven, edgy ends. Often, I feel cheated with the way my hair is cut, as stylists tend to rely on the curls to hide their lack of precision, and just snip away without paying attention to the texture of the ends, leading to unwanted chunky edges.
There are times when you want to get a haircut with a certain look in mind, but other times, you just want to be surprised and leave it to be styled by a professional. That latter part could make any girl nervous, but the worse thing is when you already have an idea for a cut and yet it doesn’t exactly turn out like how you wanted. In light of this, my hair had to be saved before it grew out and the bad cut became that much more apparent.
Higuchi fixed the ends of my hair, thinned out the weight in some areas and arranged them so they would still frame my face and work well with the whole curly factor. Forgive my not having photos of the haircutting process with my hair, it got really busy. I would’ve asked someone but all our hands were tied. By the time I was done (yes, I was sipping my green tea), I had more volume around the top of my head, and the curls ended up with pretty much a bob shape that felt much lighter and easier to style.
My massive fringe that used to hide all of my forehead (and cause breakouts) was also trimmed down to a more practical proportion. It was about time I tried parted hair and not have those wispy bangs poking my eyes every now and then. Oh and excuse the very conspicuous black roots of hair showing through. I have a couple months to go before I can bleach it again, and to be honest, I’m getting tired of this cycle so I might just do it one more time then dye my hair a nice brown. I don’t know, we’ll see.
Anyway, we only took proper pictures of the haircut results a few hours after walking out the salon, and by then they weren’t not as freshly styled, but ultimately remained fabulous.
The Results
The Rundown
Holy Grail status!
For its price range, I find that the haircut and styling services at Higuchi Hair Salon are a steal. Even in Japan, haircuts don’t come by cheap, and finding a more affordable alternative to the Japanese salons here in Manila is heaven-sent for trendsetters on a budget.
I have tried many local salons in my life, and never have I liked the way they handled my curly hair. They often suggest straightening or rebonding, and when they don’t, they blow dry or iron it out straight, or end up making it even less manageable than it once was. The hair only looks fine after walking out the salon, but seems like an everyday morning disaster that needs so much fuss to control and work with after. I know my haircut is good when I only need a curl enhancing cream or hair moisturizer to scrunch my hair with and keep the curls together—and nothing else. If you have the same curly-hair dilemma, I advise finding a hairstylist whose skills could make your curls stand out.
My mom and my brother have never been so happy with their haircuts, and seeing as he’s done such a good job with all of us despite the varying ages and gender, I think it’s safe to say Higuchi can handle just about anyone and personalize hairstyles apt for the wearer’s features and character.
I can’t imagine having my hair cut anywhere else at this point in time or in the near future, so this probably means I have found the first thing I can add to my Holy Grail Compendium! Such positive feelings are coming in strong on this one.
Store Details
Address:
Unit 103 7441 M. Santillan St. corner Fernando St.
Brgy. Pio Del Pilar, Makati City, 1223 Philippines
Opening Hours:
9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Higuchi Hair Salon is closed on Tuesdays.
For reservations, contact:
Tel: (02) 836-1297
Mobile: 0929 601 0502
Email: higuchi_hairsalon@yahoo.co.jp
Check out their Facebook and Twitter for more details!
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