I love my hairdresser. I really do. We’ve been ‘together’ for a good four years or so now (we met at a small salon not far from my home and I’ve followed him wherever he’s gone ever since!) and for the most part it’s been nothing short of great. He was with my when I went from black to blonde, when I got my first blunt fringe cut (and when I grew it out a few weeks later) and helped me to recover from my straightening iron addiction…
But I haven’t always been so lucky. Too many times I’ve walked into a hairdressing salon, asked for a trim and watched in horror as inches and inches of hair fall to the floor in front of me. Then there was the time a hairdresser washed my hair and then handed me a comb and asked me to comb all the knots out myself. Needless to say I felt like an absolute fool sitting there with dripping wet hair pulling away at all the knots.
A good hairdresser is hard to come by. They not only have to be half decent with a pair of scissors and a bottle of bleach, they also need to understand your hair, understand you and, most importantly, not charge the earth. When I find a hairdresser I love (which has happened only twice), I grab on with both hands and don’t let go until they a) move to the middle of nowhere, b) start charging double or c) completely destroy my hair.
But if you’re still on that quest to find “the one”, here’s a few tips that might help you to walk out of your next hair appointment happy not horrified.
• Know what you want – if you don’t know what it is you want done, neither will your hairdresser. Before you get to the salon decide whether you want to go for that fringe and if so, exactly how you want it to look.
• Be specific – vaguely mentioning you might like to go a bit lighter doesn’t tell your hairdresser your dreaming of platinum blonde. And don’t be shy to say what doesn’t work for your hair, especially if it’s your first visit and they don’t know your hair type.
• Bring photos – I know it sounds kind of embarrassing but if you’re not sure how to explain what you want (hairdressing terms can be tricky and you don’t want to accidently ask for the wrong thing), pics can say it all in a flash. It also gives your hairdresser the chance to tell you if it will work for your hair type and whether what you are actually asking for is a hair style as opposed to a type of cut.
• Speak up – if your hairdresser suddenly starts going wild with the scissors, say something. Even if they have cut a bit more off than you’d like, by saying something they might be able to fix the cut so it will grow out how you want it to.
If all else fails remember this – it’s only hair and it’ll grow back before you know it.
