The Scary Hair Zone
Do you know what you want when you sit down in the hair stylist's chair?
"Why can't they do what I WANT?"
Picture if you will…An average person goes into a salon…to get a haircut. He/she sits in the waiting area and looks at a magazine. Suddenly the receptionist says “Next!” And panic explodes into that person’s system because….they’re about to enter…. THE SCARY HAIR ZONE!!
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Trying a new style or trying out a new stylist shouldn’t be an exercise in terror. Yet I’ve heard horror stories galore from clients about the perm from hell, or the haircut that wouldn’t die (or grow out) Relax, I’m here to help. There is a word I want you to remember if you take nothing else from this little ditty. The word is “consultation”.
I don’t care if you are going into the little beauty shop on the corner or the most expensive salon in town. Any stylist worth his (or her) gonads owes you a consultation. A consultation is a discussion of your needs and desires when it comes to your hair. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes if the stylist knows your hair to a half hour if they don’t. Many salons will automatically allot extra time with a new client, but just to be on the safe side, explain that you want a consultation when you make an appointment. Or ask if you can come in for a consult “ before” you make the appointment. It’s important not to feel rushed or intimidated while you talk with your stylist If your talking and they’re ordering takeout, find someone else. If he/she is telling you what YOU want without asking you first, then you have a hairstylist that has memorized his press clippings. Tap dance right out of there kids! Hairstylists are like men, there are plenty more fish in the sea and you don’t need one that isn’t paying attention to you, no matter how good you’ve heard they are. (Boy this is REALLY true of men!) Consultations should be free of charge. If that salon wants your business they will be.
Okay, so you got your consultation right? Great, then I’d like to interject a word here on behalf of all the stylists of the world! We..are ..not..mind …readers. You have to tell us what you want. You don’t know? Then tell us what you DON’T want. You don’t know that either? Don’t panic, can you say Visual Aids? Get some magazines and just use your finger to point. I personally love clients to have pictures of what they want or don’t want. I once had a woman who just couldn’t explain what she wanted. I asked her to give me one word that described what she wanted her hair to be. She said clean and I ran for the pictures. I asked her to show me what “clean" looked like to her. Within 5 minutes we had a collection of looks and a starting place. Another good thing about visual aids is that you avoid the language barrier. There are words that stylists use for the different ways they cut hair. Words like “feather and layer and slithered and notched “. If you use one of these words and aren’t sure of their meaning, you could train wreck your communication, and end up with all your hair on the floor with a possible homicide in progress. There is one thing you must remember about pictures however. They are not the gospel. A stylist is not going to be able to exactly duplicate that picture on your head. We weren’t there when it was done. We don’t know what they used to get it that way. Hell it could be a wig for all we know. You also need to understand that if the model in the picture has thick, wavy hair and you have fine straight hair then a reality check is in order. We also cannot give you the cheekbones on the model folks. Plastic surgery doesn't come with the cut. If you keep those things in mind when picking your style, you won’t be disappointed and contemplating dismemberment when it's done.
Now you’ve consulted with your stylist and been able to communicate your needs. You're in the chair and the cut is in progress. This is the scariest part of the show huh? There is a person with very sharp objects in hand cutting your hair. Once they start, you have no more control. WRONG!! Listen up, this is YOUR hair, your paying THEM, they work for YOU. If you see something happening with your hair that you didn’t plan, stop them and make sure you understand what they’re doing. If it’s not what you want, let them know. We as hairstylist want you to like what we do for you. We want you to come back. If there is a problem, we want to take care of it. There’ s nothing wrong with a client stopping a cut to ask a question. This should be done calmly. Try to avoid slamming the hand mirror over said stylist's head. If after that, your stylist gets an attitude, get out of the chair and ask for a manager. The only thing I do not recommend is raising your hands to protect your precious locks of hair from the shears. This could accidentally result in a loss of blood and fingers.
