If you're like me, you love to change your hair. Whether it's coloring, highlighting, or chopping it all off, most of us are always getting bored with our hair and changing it up. With the rising of Instagram and Pinterest over the years, hair trends are always changing, faster than we can keep up with. Therefore we are always wanting something new. I sat down with a professional cosmetologist and friend to tell me what hairstylists want their client to know.
1. Don't do it yourself
...because they will eventually be the one fixing it. Just because some beauty blogger posted an easy way to cut your hair at home, don't. Those baby bangs or botched layers are not always easy to fix. How many more stylists need to tell you to stop using boxed hair color? Especially now when it's all about pastel hair and natural looking highlights, please (please, please) make an appointment with a pro. Box products are not formulated for your hair, they are marketed as one size fits all which make the results totally unpredictable. Your stylist knows what to use on your hair to get the results you want. They were trained on exactly what colors to use, how to tone your highlights from brass to beautiful, and personalize it for you. It will be worth every penny and the integrity of your hair.
2. They can't always get you what you want in one day
If you have been coloring your hair dark for years and decide to go platinum, it will take some serious time and serious money. If you have dark hair and want to go rainbow, it will take some work. Going from dark to light takes a few sessions of lightening, trying to do it all it once can seriously damage your hair. Your stylist does not want to be responsible for frying your hair off. If they tell you it cannot be done in one day, trust them. They will make it pretty enough to live with in between sessions.
3. They are professional
My friend gets new clients/walk in's all the time who ask, "can you do layers? can you do a fade? can you do highlights?" If you ask if they are capable of something to find out if they are a good stylist or not, that's not going to work. A bad stylist doesn't know they are a bad stylist. It's degrading to ask a professional, who has experience and a twenty thousand dollar education if they know how to do a basic and common haircut. You wouldn't ask a dentist if they know how to fill a cavity.
4. Don't ask them how much to tip
I'm sure if they could, they would say, "one million dollars." Asking them puts them in a weird position to basically rate themselves and decide what they deserve. My friend says this in regard to tipping:
"For a simple haircut, if you like it $5 is great, if you didn't like it or had bad service, don't tip at all. As for color services, if it turned out great and had great service 20% is standard... If your service takes longer than two hours because you have difficult hair, compensate your stylist for that time."
5. Stylist's family and friends...
Your stylist loves you and appreciates you being a loyal client. They love that you have faith in them and trust them with your hair. However, they can't make you look just like the likely photo-shopped, picture you found on Pinterest. People that are close to their stylist tend to be the pickiest and have some of the most outlandish requests. Your stylist will do their best to make you happy, but the clients they are close to are the last people they want to let down.
6. Don't be the Negative Nancy client
Those clients that come in and say," No one can ever cut my hair right, every haircut I get is terrible." Then respond to what would you like with, "Well no one gets it right, so I don't even know what to tell you." If you are unhappy with your haircuts or like it a certain way, make it clear what you want; bring in pictures, explain how you style your hair everyday, how much effort you are willing to put into styling it. If you want your hair to look like a celebrity's, don't get mad when your stylist tells you what products you need to make it look that way.
7. Let them fix it
If you don't like your haircut– tell them why. Tell them if it's too choppy or needs blending or whatever and they will fix it! They will be able to rest easy knowing you are satisfied with your service. They want you to feel comfortable with them! That's a way to build a relationship with your stylist and find one who you want to go back to. On the flip side, they love hearing they did a great job, then they know what to do next time.
8. They don't recommend salon products for no reason
My friend said it best on this one, "I would never steer my clients wrong. I would never tell them to buy a $17 product just to have them buy a $17 product. I want you to have the best hair routine, your hair to look the best and be easiest for you to style. I'm the first person to go for a good deal, I get it. But buying a more concentrated product that lasts longer [because you use less] and is actually good for your hair is better than saving the money. Buying cheap product means getting a product full of fillers like wax which cause buildup. Drugstore products are watered down so you have to use more, therefore go through it faster. So you really aren't saving as much as you think."
9. Check your salon's return policy
If you're scared to spend money on a product you aren't sure about, you may be surprised to learn most salon's do have a return policy. At my friend's salon they give you seven days to try it, if you aren't satisfied bring it back and they will find you something else or give you store credit. Returning or exchanging the product is much better than sticking it in the product graveyard under your sink. Talk to your stylist or salon to see if they have a similar policy.
10. Despite the headaches and challenges...
They work long hours, weekends, and late nights. They are on their feet all day and go home picking hair off the bottoms of their shoes. They get stood up by clients. They have almost cut off their finger tip a time or two. Despite it all they love what they do. They get to meet new people and hear their stories. They make new friendships and bonds everyday. Every stylist strives for perfection, just as they are trained to do. They never want a client to leave dissatisfied with a service. Remember to be patient and kind, and you will always be happy with your stylist and your hair.
