Fire burns no matter what goes into it. But when Cinto Joy burns a man's hair, nothing, not even a cucumber, feels as cool.
Cinto Joy, the owner and chief beautician at Kannur's famous D Poise gents' beauty parlor is popular among his customers for his fire-play. Cinto sets fire to his customers' heads, and enjoys running his scissors through the mini forest fire raging upon the head. When his first-time customers yell at the mirror, Cinto smiles calmly and, like a Hollywood action star, deadpans: 'What's the point in playing with fire, if it doesn't burn a little?'
Weird, isn't it? Well, here's a new rage among the freak fashion-mongers of Kerala. 'Fire-cut', as they call it, is literally setting fire to a person's hair and combing through the locks to heal split-ends. Cinto, a Kannur-based hair and beauty stylist, specializes in this fiery practice with the help of his overseas friends.
“I started practicing fire-cut almost one-and-a-half years ago. No one has yet been burned or injured during a fire-cut. Fire-cut is a popular hair-treatment in the middle east. It heals split-ends and rejuvenates damaged hair,” Cinto says.
Cinto uses a special inflammable liquid imported from the Middle-East for this treatment. The liquid is sprayed on the customer's hair and it is set on fire with the help of a lighter. Fire burns the end of the hair-locks and smoothens the hair. Customers seem bowled over by Cinto's play with fire. “I feel super-cool on my scalp! I thought fire-cut would be hot and sweaty, but it felt like my head was kept in a freezer,” one of them said. Cinto said the coolness was the result of the endothermic reaction that sucks the heat from the surface of the scalp while the inflammable liquid burns.
Cinto's exotic fire-cut has set a new trend among the fashionistas of Malabar. Inquisitive people throng D Poise gents beauty parlor from far-off places seeking fire-cut. The parlor charges less than Rs 1000 for this fascinating experience.
Cinto, a native of Idukki, started his Kannur Salon in the year 2013. He is a certificate holder in beautician course.
