One of the city vices I haven’t been able to give up are my blond highlights. Maybe that’s because I don’t have to — and because getting my hair done is as enjoyable as sitting on the beach, literally! I even wear my bathing suit.
The talented stylist I trust with my really thick, long (difficult) hair is Jen Palocsay, who moved to the Coco area from California at the same time I did. She and her boyfriend, Brian Farley, moved down here to start http://www.costaricasurfcharters.com, but word soon spread that we had a hair stylist in our midst. Her future clients 
begged and begged until her mom finally brought down her colors and supplies (I put in a special request!) And a tropical home salon was born. Location? Jen and Brian’s beautiful beachfront porch; clients sit in wicker chairs facing the ocean. (I recommend making a sunset appointment.) Unless a too enthusiastic salty breeze requires a few minutes inside for careful color application, the entire hair appointment is spent outside on the porch, taking in the gorgeous Hermosa beach, chatting, maybe drinking a beer or two.
The only trick comes when it’s time to rinse, done in the outside shower sunbathers use when coming in from the beach. Let me tell you — it is freezing! And this time, two crazy gringas in bikinis washing each other’s hair caused quite a stir. (I guess it’s because we had Brian taking our picture.) Shivering and begging Jen to hurry, I didn’t notice until we were done that an entire construction crew had stopped their work to watch the show. (Really?) The lengths us ladies will go to for our hair!
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Yay! Thanks for this post Abby! I’m so excited to get there and know that I can still have highlights. I’ll definitely be booking an appointment!
Kelly! You and I can go together — and have cocktails while the color sets!
i want to live in coco. the construction workers probably thought they stumbled upon a porn shoot…
I think it was Cindy Crawford who said that when your hair looks good, you feel better about yourself. I’ve also held that to be the case so I’m happy to read that Jen is taking care of your tresses. Her salon sounds fabulous — minus the construction crew
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Abby, you’re my kind of girl. Cocktails while the color sets sounds too perfect! I can’t tell you how excited I am for September to roll around. I feel like I already have a friend there.
Great post!
This makes me smile. I got my hair highlighted a few days ago, and set aside the whole rest of the afternoon to walk around town just feeling cute and big-city-like for a moment. (Because I knew that as soon as I returned back to my house in back woods, rural Argentina, no one would notice, nor care!) So happy that you have the time in life to indulge and enjoy moments like those now. You are gorgeous as always, with or without the highlights. Much love.
I’ve always been really jealous of hair stylists, I think it’s probably the most versatile job in the world and at hostels everyone loves you.
Speaking of hair, going to get mine cut this afternoon in Leon Nicaragua and will be praying that my Spanish is good enough to communicate “just a trim”.
Guess where I’m going for my next highlight appointment??? What, are you kidding me, that’s so freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the pics.
whenever we move, I start stopping people on the street with good highlights to find a hairdresser… when we first moved here to MB, they made me so blond, I might as well have dumped the whole bottle on my head myself! your hair sounds similar to mine >long, thick, difficult (I just got a keratin treatment and wow, it’s helping so much in Carolina humidity
I’m late to the party, but love this post. As women, we have an inherent right to get our Girl on any time, any where!
Haha Julie, I couldn’t agree more! I’ve heard so much about you from Cathy. So good to meet you! I love your blog — I’ve always wanted to spend more time in Mexico.
This is my kind of hair appointment Abby. Love it. The photos are great. I’ve most definitely never had such a view, or that much fun, getting my hair done. Where do I sign up?
pura vida….thanks for sharing the pictures…
Too funny! So is Jen making a pretty penny from her newfound status as hair stylist in Coco?!
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[...] color and Jackie’s cut. I cannot recommend them enough. I love my hair! To think that the last time I got blond highlights I’d been sitting on a friend’s porch in Costa Rica and rinsed in a shower on the [...]