Editor’s Note: The owner of this salon has since left Okinawa. We are leaving this post in our archives for those of you who may be looking for it.
Salon Erwani
CONTRIBUTED BY MELISSA JOHNSON
With each move in the last 17 years, there are the immediate priorities — new doctors, dentists, food stores, schools, etc. But then comes the second line essentials — mechanics, restaurants, and HAIR SALON!!! I have found this most challenging on Okinawa. We have been here for 3 months and I have learned a lot in that time. It appears that being blonde is a bit of a challenge here. At one of the American salons, my hair color came out pink. Next, I ventured out to a highly recommended “local spa”. They asked me for the formula to do my hair and cancelled my appointment, as they did not feel comfortable doing my color. Yikes! Was I destined to be completely grey for the next two years!
No, a kind friend suggested Jenny Erway of Salon Erwani. Jenny is a Marine Spouse who has opened her own in home salon on Foster. She is fairly new to Okinawa (like me!) but not new to the field. She studied and is licensed in her home state. Please check out her website for far more detailed info. I made my appointment online through her website, with her prices and services clearly listed.
I went today for my appointment. She and I talked through my desired effect for color and the cut. She suggested low-lights and color versus an all over-color to give more depth to my hair. She made me feel very comfortable to say no to her suggestions. But in fact, I was ready for a change, so I told her to do her best. And her best she did!
Salon Erwani Supplies
For the low-lights, she used over 50 foils, most places barely put in 10-20. She was very precise. Then she applied the color throughout my hair. The result was a beautiful blends of colors-blonds and brunette. Though she had only scheduled two hours, the entire process took 4 hours. She never rushed me or her work. She made it clear that she felt strongly about customer satisfaction. If I had to leave within a certain time, I would not have chosen to do the low-lights and would have let her know. She did let me know how long the process would take.
While there, we spoke about her experience. She has cut many types of hair-including ethnic hair (my son is in desperate need of a good cut-and he has had two terrible cuts at American salons here). She allows children to join parents, as long as they are able to self-entertain-with a movie or toys. Though she has just “set up” here, she is ready to bring beautiful hair to Okinawa!
Check out her website and support a military spouse business!
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 9am – 5pm (Other arrangements may be made for special occasion styles, weddings, military ball, ect. Feel free to email Jenny with questions)
Website: salonerwani.com
Directions: Salon Erwani is located in the Sada Housing area of Camp Foster. Building 1670, room 201.
I do not think any of these ladies are being rude. They are being truthful! Jenny was very unprofessional and I felt completely uncomfortable as soon as I walked in. She never greeted me warmly, instead she stayed seated and finished eating her Popeyes. First red flag. Then she was very condescending and rude, telling me how bad my hair looked. The whole time I wanted to get up and run. Then she had a consultation for extensions with another lady in the middle of my appt. needless to say my hair looked just as crappy as it did when I walked out. I will never return and I have found a new girl who is phenomenonal. Go to bombshell beauty bar…she worked in ny and la and is so well educated as well as professional!
I personally think that Jenny is an awesome hairstylist. She has cut my hair numerous times and has done a great job. I refuse to have my hair cut by anybody else on this island. Jenny isn’t rude. There’s a difference in being rude and being straight forward and honest. As far as the rude comments towards her education, she still went to a school and did something for herself and therefore deserves the respect from those who couldn’t or didn’t even go to beauty school. And for the sandwich comment, clearly you can tell that she was pregnant at that time. So if any of you have ever been pregnant, I’m sure you have eaten a sandwich. And at least she was working while she was pregnant to support her family. So learn some respect for those who are certified professionals.
my comment is to those who are being very rude she is a good hair stylist obviously cant take criticism very well if you are asking for her professional opinion she is not gonna lie to you unless you like that then your to sensitive and for the lady who said about her eating a sand which she was pregnant k and i was there with here and she had to eat between work and whats wrong with that having people there to talk to and i am pretty sure when you go to other beauty places your professional hair stylist i am sure they talk to other people beside there client you people just like to be so so so negative about every little thing and the lady about the picture obviously your hair wont look like the pic every one hair is different unless you wanted your hair to be styled beside the cut maybe you should of told her that
When I first read Kay’s comments I thought she was being a bit harsh. My first stylist here was phenomenal but also informed me of how awful my hair really was. I was grateful for that and she told me with confidence that she WOULD fix it…and she did. Her criticism along with her confidence led me to believe that I would receive a great color and I walked away feeling like a star. Criticism isn’t a bad thing. In Jenny’s case, it is. I had a consult with her to touch up my roots (I am a platinum bleached blonde) and I too felt insulted but I also had to hold back my laughter at what she was telling me. First she gave me a book on colors and pointed out what she believed to be my natural color, which was in fact at least three shades darker than my natural color. I am not a hair stylist but I know enough to know that when a blonde is growing out, her roots will appear to be much darker than they truly are. Jenny did not take that into consideration. Next, she told me that she reused to bleach my hair and basically all we could HOPE for was a match in colors so my roots blended well. She used key word such as ”hope” and ”try”. Red flag ladies!! I had my roots bleached by a real professional who went to an accredited school and was a healthy blonde until three months without a hairdresser left me with split ends. Jenny also told me that I have thin hair (in between bites of her sandwich and conversation with a friend who was there) which was not insulting to me but laughable. I have thick hair that always takes an extra hour in the salon…trust me. I am not trying to be proud or say that I was insulted. This woman graduated from a beauty school. That is, unfortunately for many of us, not hard to do. I had serious doubts in her skill just from our meeting and any professionalism on her part was lacking. If anything she was condescending. Sadly there are few Americans here to style hair and if you get yours bleached like I do, there are even fewer options. I ended up seeing autumn of autumn leaves salon and although her prices are through the roof, I was satisfied. One thing I have learned as a blonde: do not trust your hair to just anyone.
I agree with the others about a bad experience. She insulted my color and then I asked her to put some layers in and fix an aggressive thinning I had done (not on purpose) just bf I left the states. My hair had no shape or style before I went to her and I left with no shape or style. I had one layer cut around my head! It was awful. I had to go to another stylist a week later and finally get some sort of shape put back in. I do not recommend Salon Erwani to anyone.
I have to agree with the other 3 people here I had my hair done by her in June thinking she is a professional, she cut my hair in a bob told her I needed it to be short but still be able to pin it back nettles to say this was so not what I got, I was not happy with it now September and still growing it out cause it was that short, to top it off she had cut my little girls hair first i asked to just make to make it shorter but still even length wise, she did what she wanted and added layers to her hair just because she felt like it not what I asked for, thank god my child’s hair grows fast. she was also coloring my hair to black with low lites not hard to do you would think not hard to mess up,but she did the low lites were their but went home after a long day had to shower because i had a hair cut and had hair all over bothering me, then the supposed lites she put in were gone completely. I have had my hair done like this before and never had a problem with the color something I told her as well when I contacted her that same night she told me your not so post to wash your hair for 48hrs. this is so not because i been doing my hair from lite to dark for a long time and never ever had it happened she had an attitude, i also told her about the bad job she did with the cut all she had to say was well it will grow out. also maybe its me but when I’m getting my hair done I don’t want to my hair dresser complaining about money problems how she must make so much money that week to pay for a new car she wanted to get for her husband or about having nothing for the baby she is about to have and not able to afford it, basically I felt like she was trying to make me feel sorry for her. when you get your hair done in a salon the Price told is for product and labor needed and not pop up with extra charge for product ones your half way done with the color. She dose make you uncomfortable with her comments their is a way to tell some one about their hair and you don’t bitch to you clients regarding how much you spent to set up shop or how expensive product is when you decided to do it not forced to. THIS IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL SALON OR STYLIST I will never go back or recommend this person.
I have to agree with the above comments in regards to the cuts/layers. Mine was terrible as well. I had nice, long hair which was chopped so short in the back that the only thing I can do is wait for them to grow out…which will probably be at least a year to get it close to what I did have before I went. I ended up having to go to another stylist to try and fix the cut, plus highlights I had done here. The cut was so bad the stylist tried to fix it, but it was so short in the back that she couldn’t do anything unless I cut all my hair really short. The highlights she was able to fix, but that was the least of my worries. I never write reviews, but after reading the above comments I wish I would have done it sooner. I know how horrible it feels to go in for a trim and some highlights, and come out with a disaster. I don’t recommend this salon/Jenny. I also agree with the unprofessionalism, but I think a lot has to do with age and immaturity. My main concern was the inability to do hair.
I went to Jenny about a month ago. While she was nice and the setting was pleasant enough, I absolutely HATE my hair. I showed her a picture of what I wanted and she said “Oh, I do that cut all the time!”, so I was pretty confident it would come out good. She did partial highlight on me and they’re good, but I came out too blonde. I probably didn’t communicate well enough to let her know that I only wanted some subtle highlights, so that’s on me. The cut though…that’s on HER. I showed her a picture and she said she could do it. My hair looks NOTHING like the picture. The back is so short and the layers are awful. I actually had a whole 2 inch chunk of hair that wasn’t layered at all. I came home crying and even a month later, I’m still mad about it (obviously, right?). When I contacted her to see if she’d fix the section that wasn’t layered, I felt like she had an attitude about it and I decided to go to someone else to fix it. I took a picture of my hair and sent it to the girl who used to do my hair in California and all she said was “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.” Jenny is nice, her setup is good, but I do not have confidence in her abilities. Maybe she’s just not good with shorter hairstyles. Maybe she was just having a bad or off day. But, man…my hair looks like crap and it’s going to take MONTHS to grow this out. I will never go back to her or recommend her to anyone.
I ha a few inches cut off when I went to go see Jenny. I thought she was great and will be going back to her for all my hair needs. I have only been in the island for 4 months and my hair is already badly damaged by the weather and water here. Jenny educated me about the iron buildup my hair can have due to the water here and I’ll be coming back for her Malibu treatment. Unlike Kay’s experience, I thought Jenny was super polite and very nice. It’s been a month since my haircut and I’m still satisfied with my cut and layers. Thank you Jenny!
Excuse me? The truth from a professional? I have worked in high end salons and spas for years. She is unprofessional. And clearly you take after her in tact. There is a polite professional way to educate your clients on ways to care of their hair. Saying things like ” I would never let my clients walk around with hair like this” and “your hair is terrible” is insulting. I wasn’t asking for her personal opinion; rather her professional.
Its been about a month since I had my hair done by Jenny and I can’t say enough about what a wonderful experience it was! I began with a free consult (who offers anything for free now days?) to discuss what I wanted and what Jenny had in mind for me. While Kay might not have wanted to hear the truth from a professional, I was very impressed with Jenny’s honesty regarding how poorly cut and badly damaged my hair was and what she had in mind for me. I made a 2nd appointment for a Malibu conditioning treatment (my hair felt fabulous and still does) and 2 days later went in for my cut, color and highlights. Never before have I had so many compliments on my hair, the cut is great and the highlights look so good! Will also be returning to see Jenny!
Just got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed and all I can say is WOW. Awesome job and a wonderful environment. It felt as if one of my girlfriends was doing my hair. Will be going back for sure!! Thanks
I love my cut and dye. in fact, I am going back tomorrow. With my dye she threw in a free cut because I needed it… desperately. my hair is beautiful and so much easier to handle now!
This woman cut my hair recently. I was basically insulted the entire time. Told my hair was damaged, fried, terribly colored ect… I understand as I am in a similar industry that you want to make your clients believe in your skill. However, to repeatedly tell a client how awful their hair is really does nothing for you. My cut is awful. Honestly. She cut more off than we discussed and my layers are terrible. I will not be back.