Pinoy in Singapore

Lately, (well more like for a couple of years now) I’ve been concerned about my excessive hair shedding.   People always tell me it’s normal to shed lots of hair but anyone who lives with me will attest that I shed too much hair.  I knew it was serious when hubby suggested I go see a trichologist about my hair.

A few weekends ago, I got intercepted at the mall and was convinced into buying a S$28 voucher for a  hair treatment at the newly opened Beijing 101 in Sengkang.  I figured why not, I might as well give it a try.  But deep inside, I kinda knew I was up against major hard selling when I redeem that voucher.  After all, I’ve been in the same situation before and if anything, I should have learned my lesson.

So yesterday, I went to Beijing 101 to redeem my voucher.  A hair consultant greeted me and  asked me to fill up an information sheet then proceeded to check out my scalp with a magnifying camera that’s connected to the computer.  She then told me I was losing hair and that my pores are clogged with oil.   The consultant then explained to me that they had herbs and shampoos to repair my follicles.

Then it’s basically a template for hard selling from there – they first tug at your insecurities, pick at it, scare you, give you an expensive solution, then offer you discounts.

In theory it should be easy to avoid being hard sold into something but in reality, only the tough will survive with their wallets intact.  This is not the first time I’ve been pressured to buy something.  I’ve experienced this with Senses Renaza before.  All I wanted was to use up my first investment – over S$2k.  But everytime I go there, they keep selling me products and more and more packages.  And even though the facials are great,  I get exhausted by being pressured to buy stuff.  They un/knowingly exploit the fact that you’re drunk with relaxation and would probably agree to anything.  I tried everything from repeatedly reminding myself not to buy anything to leaving my credit card  at home.  Eventually, I just stopped going there even if I still have unused sessions with them.  I realized it’s just too expensive and traumatic to go back there.

Well the good thing that came out of it was, now, with Beijing 101, I can see through the marketing and make a better decision of whether the service is really worth it or not.

They also made it easy for me because when I walked in, there was no relaxing spa scent to mess with my brain.  I found the shampoo and the tonic they applied on my scalp nauseating.  And they didn’t have that expensive, relaxing spa ambiance that would make me consider a S$3.8K package worth it.  Whether it works or not, I do not know.  I do realize that 1 shampoo session will not stop my hair from falling.

Maybe if I get desperate…