Beauty in Jakarta: Salon Rudy, Jl Kemang Raya

It's time to say goodbye to Frumpy Mummy and say hello to Yummy Mummy!

I hadn't had my hair done/cut in months because:

• my doctor advised me to stay away from chemical treatments while I was pregnant with Connor. Since I usually had my difficult-to-manage wavy hair rebonded each time it started to go awry, his advice was pretty hard to swallow. But swallow it I did for the sake of my baby and did I ever end up looking frumpy by the time Connor was born!
• I tried this new hair salon in Aug and they gave me a wrong cut! It was one of those cuts that needed some work to look good and I could never replicate it at home. So I had no choice but to grow out the cut before I could get it done again. Lagi le Frumpy Mummy....

I tried Salon Rudy along Jl Kemang Raya. They are located along the same row as JPC Photo shop. It was a branch of a well-known chain of salons in Jakarta so I felt that I could rely on their standard of service. Since I don't read Indon fashion and lifestyle mags much, I had no idea until I was in the seat and reading mags they provided that this salon chain was known more for... er... as the mag put it... "mature woman". Alamak. Makes me even more aware that I'm approaching the middle-aged category soon. Too late to get up and run.

Anyway.... I'd turned up bright and early to avoid the crowds. The salon opens at 9am, not sure when they shut though. I was the first customer and only customer. The stylist who attended to me was a middle-aged woman. ACK. Can you say "mature"???

I told her what my lifestyle is now ("I don't have an army of nannies and only one maid, so I have no time to sit and blowdry!") and explained what I wanted. She suggested a smoothing procedure instead of rebonding as rebonding tended to leave my hair too flat. I said okay to that and off we went. (If you're worried about chemical treatment on your hair while breastfeeding, please read this article from the American Pregnancy Association)

If you were wondering where the baby was... he was left at home in the care of Daddy for some quality boy-boy bonding time. And Daddy did a good job because the baby was still alive and well by the time I got home with my new hairdo.

After three hours of sitting in the chair, I was rewarded with a lovely do. She'd cut it to frame my face and soften my cheekbones. I can't vouch for all the other stylists but this one did a good job with my hair. It was met with whole-hearted approval from Dear Hubby who couldn't resist running his fingers through my hair over and over again... just like a Sunsilk ad or something!

The cost? Rp800,000++ for smoothing + hair cut + blow-dry. I think I would have paid that much for smoothing alone in KL. I even got a free hair mask treatment thrown in!

The salon also offers a variety of Relax Packages combining hair treatments with pedicures, manicures and massages so you can take your pick. I didn't ask about those though because I doubt if I'll have enough time to sit down for the whole package.

I'd definitely go back. After weeks of feeling lumpy in all the wrong places and frumpy and loved only for my milk, I now feel like I've gotten some of my old self back. I'm still lumpy! - but the self-pampering has really helped to relax and rejuvenate this new mum. That night as Dear Hubby ran his fingers delightedly through my hair for the zillionth time, I grinned, "I'm looking more like I did the first night we met instead of like a new exhausted mum, right?" Yes indeed.