I’ve just got back from Tokyo, and there’s a very specific kind of polish you notice almost immediately. Glossy, controlled, softly swishing hair in that effortless way that suggests very little has been done. It’s quite stark compared to my own troublesome hair with its frazzled ends, halo of frizz and quite often, a dose of rain-addled limpness.
Everyone seems to just have smooth, soft, perfectly behaved hair in Japan. I put that down to genetics and possibly having a more predictable weather pattern. But then I saw something that made me curious. On the train to Shibuya, the woman next to me reached into her bag to find her phone and knocked a palm-sized, red heart-shaped gadget onto the floor. She picked it up hastily, and I saw that it was a hairbrush. So, I did the unthinkable in a society where people generally don’t speak to each other on the train, and asked when it was. She showed me with a few quick strokes through her lengths and fringe, and I watched as, instantly, her hair snapped back into place and smoothed out.
I didn’t get many details about it because we had a clear language barrier. But I became slightly obsessed with tracking down this magic brush. It turned out to be from ReFa – a brand that, once you notice it, is everywhere in Japan. I ended up going to their flagship store in Ginza, which felt like a glimpse into the future of haircare. Chrome finishes, sculptural tools, hairdryers that look like design objects. The technology was quiet, travel-friendly, ultra-cool looking – and unlike anything I’d see back home.
