HAO hair days Rising Stylist Interview | Under the Southern California Sun, Stylist Kathy Turns the Salon Experience into an Easy Conversation Through Careful Communication and Guidance

For many Asians living abroad, crossing language and culture to find the right hairstylist often feels like a gamble decided purely by luck. Adjusting to a new city’s hard water and dry, cold climate is challenge enough; add a communication gap and a difference in aesthetic sensibility, and every trip to the salon chair becomes another round of anxious trial and error.

HAO hair days believes: “Understand your hair, and find someone who truly understands it too.” We don’t want the hair experience of Asians abroad to rest on luck, so through our “Rising Stylist” series we visit Asian professionals who have put down roots in cities around the world.

This time we step into the HAO-JIAN-CAI (好剪才) salon in the Greater Los Angeles and Orange County area to talk with Kathy, a stylist who came to the United States from Taiwan, about how she uses step-by-step guidance and warm, approachable communication to help Asians abroad stop guessing and find the cut and color that truly fits their life.

Carrying On the Original Passion for Hair, Between the Familiar and the Fortunate

With ten years of hairdressing experience in Taiwan, Kathy built her career at a salon in Taipei’s Zhongshan District. Watching many friends head overseas on working holidays and experience different cultures, she — born in the United States — began to think about “testing the waters in a new environment.” In April 2025 she carried her mature craft across the Pacific to Southern California, earned her local license, and joined the HAO-JIAN-CAI (好剪才) team in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Talking about serving Asian clients in Southern California, Kathy laughs and says it has all been very fortunate. Because most of the people in her chair are still from Taiwan or elsewhere in Asia, the shared language and culture make her feel right at home.

“Honestly, the whole service flow is much the same as in Taiwan — everyone is very warm, so it feels as natural as going to work back home.” For her, what changed is the environment and the climate; what hasn’t changed is the focus on getting a client’s hair right.

A Step-by-Step Philosophy of Communication, So Bangs and Everyday Color Are No Longer a Problem

In terms of services, Kathy specializes in women’s cuts and everyday business color (understated, quality tones). Facing many clients who have just arrived abroad and feel uneasy about a new look, Kathy tends to guide them “step by step”: first building a picture from the photos the client likes, then focusing on the common thread at the core, and finally proposing something that works with their complexion and daily habits.

“Let the reference photo open the conversation, and let the stylist finish it.” Through this warm way of asking and guiding, Kathy helps clients shed the anxiety of having to articulate everything on the spot, building real trust before she ever picks up the scissors.

Care Advice for Asians Living in Southern California

On the environmental shift in Southern California, Kathy says the weather here is far drier than in Taiwan. For people with natural curl or coarse, wiry hair, the upside is that hair no longer frizzes and puffs up the way it does in Taiwan’s humidity — you can even go longer between washes. The trade-off is that the hair, and especially the ends, gets drier.

On the complaint she hears often — “I’ve been losing more hair since moving to the U.S.” — Kathy shares that beyond adjusting to the environment and the water, clients in California generally take regular scalp and hair care seriously. She suggests regular scalp exfoliation and hydrating treatments, plus adding a leave-in hair product to your daily routine.

If you’re in Orange County or Greater Los Angeles and looking for a gentle, detail-oriented stylist who is good at everyday cuts, color and refined styling, you can DM Kathy directly on Instagram, or book with her through the official HAO-JIAN-CAI (好剪才) website!

💡 Stylist Kathy’s Personal Hair Product Picks

For Southern California’s dry air, Kathy recommends these two hero products for keeping hair soft and glossy:

Hair oil (Guru hair oil): the essential weapon against California’s dry climate and coarse, wiry hair — top up the strands’ oil and shine any time, and keep the ends from going dry and brittle.

HAO-JIAN-CAI (好剪才) scalp/hair serum: designed for dry environments and scalp hydration, it helps maintain a healthy scalp environment and springy, resilient hair.