How to Help Yourself Get a Haircut You Like
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| Before my most recent donation. |
It's hair cuttin' season and it puts me in mind of a post that I've wanted to include on this blog from it's inception. Let's face it, we've all had bad haircuts, and negligent stylists are partly to blame for sure, but there are steps that you the client can take to ensure walking out feeling beautimus and not searching for another stylist to "fix" the first cut.
1. Be both a good talker AND listener. A good stylist is trained to be a reflective listener. To hear your description and repeat it back to you, to discuss what you've just said and make sure they've understood what it is you want. Listen to what they throw back to you. Never assume that they "just get it" because they work in a salon. They may have mistaken one of your directions to mean something else. If they say something that sounds not quite right, go through it again with them.
If you run into a situation where you're not getting any feedback try to prompt your stylist by saying something like- "what do you think?" or "Does that sound doable/ make sense?" And if they're really taciturn "How do you think we can do that?" or joke with them "what does that translate into in hairdresser-ease?" If they still aren't responding, I say use the old "OMG I'm so sorry, I just realized I'm supposed to be...picking my aunt up at the airport/ having a phone conference/ going to my friends show" The possibilities are endless but get out of that chair and out of that salon ASAP. That stylist may be a nice person but never just assume you know what a client wants. It can only end in tears. For every success there are numerous failures when it comes to "just winging" hair.
2. Have a real idea of what you want. This is so important in so many ways. Unless you are truly one of those people who looks good with any cut and you honestly 100% don't care what a stylist does NEVER go in and just say "oh do anything. I don't care." Because you do care. Don't lie to yourself or the stylist. At my Redken training they told us if a client says this, offer them an inverse mohawk, buzzed right down the center and then watch their face. If you can't think exactly of what you want start thinking about generalities you DON'T want. Start with the loose stuff, long, short, layers, one length, bangs, no bangs. You'll start to build up an idea of what you want and you'll also be giving your stylist some parameters to work within.
2. a. The inverse of the above situation. If you know you are VERY picky, that's ok, but have a concrete visual of what you want. If you feel strongly about things you want/don't want but can't completely visualize or describe what those things are, chances are, your stylist won't be able to either. They're really only going off of what you're saying after all. Bring a pic, or a couple pics if you like different aspects of different cuts. If you can't find anything at all that remotely fits what you want and you can't visualize it to describe it properly, if it's stuck in your imagination as a theoretical style rather than a practical one... well, it may stay there, because your hair is practical. It must obey the law of gravity, and live in this crude physical plane of existence we call reality... :( I know. So limiting.
3. Pictures are great! In the world of haircuts a picture really is worth 1000 words. Here are some tips when selecting. Observe the hair texture of the individual. Is it similar to yours? If it's vastly different, it's a safe bet that even with the exact same cut by the exact same stylist it's not going to look the same. How about face shape? If the person in the picture has a very long rectangular face but you have a very short circular face, the cut may not flatter you as much. Is it real? Seems like a strange question but if you know for sure the person in the picture has extensions or is wearing a wig, or is a animated character (yes that situation has sat in my chair...) know that your hair will not behave the same way.
4. Be willing to look like you went to a new stylist. It's so common to hear, but sadly insulting to say "well the person I used to go to did it like .... and I really liked it. Do it that way." Every stylist is in the service industry and it is their job to attempt to serve you as best they can, but they are also artists and their cuts and styles are as unique as a signature. They are of course capable of recreating a previous cut, however it may not look IDENTICAL to what you had before. But just as two painters can both elegantly capture the same image on canvas with vastly different styles, so can two different stylists create the same cut that is unique to their hands and creativity. Keep in mind you chose to go somewhere else for a change, so be open to it.
5. Try to use words during your description or when they're cutting, that only have one interpretation. Don't use words like "more" or "less" instead say "shorter" or "longer." Avoid being ambiguous by saying things like "mid-length" or "over there" or "that part". Show them with your hands exactly where and what you mean. And most importantly if you don't like what they're doing, communicate that, but be able to take a moment and verbalize what you don't like. Your stylist will most likely try to figure out what it is as well by discussing with you, so work with them. A problem is rarely solved by merely stating that it exists.
6. A handy lexicon. One of the most irritating facets of salon culture is that in it's continuing mission to seem ever more like a science, they have created a number of terms that stylists are instructed to use at all times but customers have no clue what the hay-hay they're referring to. Talk about creating problems. So here a few you may hear and what they mean.
Cosmetologist = Hair Stylist
Fringe = Bangs
Texturizing = Using the Thinning Scissors
Shears = Scissors
Graduation = Layers
Inversion = Longer in front than in the back
Asymmetrical = Longer on one side than the other
Point cutting = Using Scissors to cut into the hair with a very slight diagonal angle. Deep point cutting thins out the hair and helps it to be flatter/smoother. Point cutting a whole cut can be done in place of a razor to create a softer/shaggier cut. The cuts are much smaller than with the deep point cutting.
Bulk = Unruly volume.
Lay/ Lie = how a stylist wants the finished hair to behave.
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| After my most recent donation. |
(Here are a few for hair coloring too:
Decolorant/Lightener = Bleach
Retouch = Applying color to the hair closest to the scalp or "regrowth"
Refresh = Applying semi/demi permanent color to the mid-shaft and ends of hair that have already been colored once, but may have since faded.
No stylist will ever refer to color as dye. Dye is for Easter eggs, color is for hair. There's also a very good chance your stylist will NOT have a working knowledge of the "best" supermarket brands of color. Salon color is vastly different-- far superior-- from box color and every color line is a little like it's own language. A Wella artist may not speak Matrix and vise versa.)
Next time you visit a new stylist or want to try a new cut think about this list. I feel confident it will create a more positive experience for both you and your stylist :)
BKBTY
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