One of the most difficult aspects of hairdressing is clear and concise communication between the stylist and the client. When the client says "shoulder length", the stylist hears "bob". When the client says "face frame", the stylist hears "layers"...and when the client says "trim off the dead ends", the stylist will happily cut off the last ten inches without blinking an eye...you did say the "dead ends" right? Let me offer up some tips on how to communicate effectively with your hairdresser...
1. Bring photoS. notice the "s"? Cut out Halle Berrys fringe, Jessica Albas texture and Bjorks color, the more photos you bring, the more ideas we have to work from and the more likely we can create a very unique look just for you.
2. Tell your stylist what you DON'T like about your color or haircut... we are not mind readers and it certainly won't hurt our feelings. Remember, we are there to make you happy. We want you to love your hair and we want you to come back to us, so without this information, we are not given the chance to fix the problem that we didn't know existed.
3. Hairdressers are by nature, creative thinkers. We love to take creative license. If you give your hairdresser the instructions to "do whatever you want", please remember that you did so...
4. After you have given your thoughts on what changes you are looking for in regards to your color and or cut, ask your stylist to reiterate the plan...it will close the miscommunication gap.
5.words to avoid: chunks, chop, one layer, bunchy, holes, tails, mullet, lop and rat.
6. words to use instead: shorter layers/longer layers, blending, wispy, fringe, bulk, sweeping, blunt, face framing, textured, warm, cool, light and rich.
I have a client that I can't communicate fully her needs...her color is either too light or too dark, her hair is either too dry or too soft, too long or too short, too layered or too blunt, too warm or too ashy. She can't book ahead because she is never sure of her schedule. She questions every move I make. She follows me into the dispensary asking me what color I'm planning on mixing up. Her phone rings constantly and she answers it every time. The water is too hot, the sink is too hard. She's hungry. She's tired. She has a sore throat. She's in a hurry. The color makes her head itch. She is having an allergic reaction to the neck strip.
Just for the fun of it, lets call her my Mom.
She keeps me on my toes. There is no room for error with her hair, as she is constantly advertising for me. She may not know exactly what she wants, but she definitely knows exactly what she doesn't want. She always looks amazing. She is a nurse, an artist, a crime fighter, a rebel, a rogue, a music lover, and an amazing grandma and mother. Yes, I said crime fighter. Why, just the other day some loser dirtball scumbag tried to break into her house. She is afraid of nothing and of nobody. She took his punkass down (with some yelling and a 911 call) and thanks to her, there is one less thief on the prowl. Go mom...just another reason I aspire to be just like you.
By the way, I know exactly why she gives me such a hard time while she is sitting in my chair...it is all due to those teenage years of mine. I can take it. I know I totally deserve it.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Jedy
It is high time to address the issue of home hair color. The Clairol out of the box, wandering aimlessly down the grocery store isle not knowing what the heck level tone and multidimensional means, kind of home hair color. The plastic cap crochet hook combo with mix it yourself bleach disaster waiting to happen kind of home hair color. The neon green, blazin' blue, hot red, Barney purple Hot Topic drip down your neck stain your pillow case piss your parents off color in a jar kind of home hair color. Unlike most hairdressers, I have no problem with home hair coloring, in fact, I love it. It is great for business. It opens up an incredible market for color corrective services but because color corrections are a PITA, I am going to offer some friendly advice on how to successfully color your hair at home.
1. Color does NOT lift color. In Laymans terms, you cannot make your dark brown colored hair lighter brown by putting light brown color on it. It only damages your hair and makes your dark hair darker.
2. Color that has an ash base means that the color contains a green base and in theory will neutralize red tones.
3. Haircolor levels are important. Level 10 is a pale blonde and level 1 is a darkest brown. Most people fall somewhere between a level 5 and a level 7. It is best to only veer at the most 2 levels from your natural level.
4. Do yourself a favor, leaving the lightening (bleaching) process to the pros.
5. If you are planning on coloring your virgin (never been colored) hair at home, listen closely...you must start applying your hair on the midstrand only, taking 1/2 in sections, avoiding the base and the ends. Once you have done this you may apply color to the base but first you will want to mix a new batch of color using a lower peroxide volume as to avoid what we call in the industry "hot roots". Once the color has processed for 20 minutes or so, you may apply the remaining color to the ends for the last ten to fifteen minutes of processing. Are you having fun yet? Now go rinse it in you sink...be sure to do your dishes first.
This reminded me of a night about 14 years ago. It started with a phone call.
We'll call her Jedy.
I had only been out of Cosmetology school for a couple of years and was living the good life, out on my own, living in Lansing, out every weekend. I loved doing color and cuts at home for my friends, we could drink beers and listen to music and have a good 'ol time in the process. Bad idea. One particular Friday night I got a call from Jedy. She said she was in Rite Aide and hair color was on sale!
"Get two boxes" I told her.
She showed up ten minutes later with two boxes of 6RV hair color, a pint of Crown Royal for her and a six pack of Guinness for me.
Stand By Me came on the TV.
I slapped that color on her level 3 virgin hair, wrapped her hair up in a towel and we proceeded to quote every other line of the movie and put back the drinks.
That hour and a half flew by.
"Should we wash this out?" She asked me with her bright red cheeks and gigantic toothy smile.
I looked at the clock. "HOLY CRAP, YEAHHHH! Like 45 minutes ago!"
Best you know that neither Jedy nor I is what anyone may have considered "petite". We headed into my tiny bathroom and she bent her head over into my claw foot tub. I got the water hot and decided the only way to rinse her hair was to straddle her, so there we were, she on her knees, me on her back with one foot on the toilet the other on the floor, both of us convulsing with laughter, hot pink water is splattering everywhere...as I am rinsing her hair I quickly realize that I did not follow one single rule of applying color to virgin hair.
Her once beautiful, dark brown, naturally curly, long hair was neon fuchsia.
She called me two days later.
"My hairs awesome" she said, "I kinda feel like a rock star...think I'm going to keep it for a while."
What I would do to go back to that night... laughin', drinkin', movie quotin', box colorin' night.
Although I haven't seen her in over ten years, I know I'll miss her forever.
1. Color does NOT lift color. In Laymans terms, you cannot make your dark brown colored hair lighter brown by putting light brown color on it. It only damages your hair and makes your dark hair darker.
2. Color that has an ash base means that the color contains a green base and in theory will neutralize red tones.
3. Haircolor levels are important. Level 10 is a pale blonde and level 1 is a darkest brown. Most people fall somewhere between a level 5 and a level 7. It is best to only veer at the most 2 levels from your natural level.
4. Do yourself a favor, leaving the lightening (bleaching) process to the pros.
5. If you are planning on coloring your virgin (never been colored) hair at home, listen closely...you must start applying your hair on the midstrand only, taking 1/2 in sections, avoiding the base and the ends. Once you have done this you may apply color to the base but first you will want to mix a new batch of color using a lower peroxide volume as to avoid what we call in the industry "hot roots". Once the color has processed for 20 minutes or so, you may apply the remaining color to the ends for the last ten to fifteen minutes of processing. Are you having fun yet? Now go rinse it in you sink...be sure to do your dishes first.
This reminded me of a night about 14 years ago. It started with a phone call.
We'll call her Jedy.
I had only been out of Cosmetology school for a couple of years and was living the good life, out on my own, living in Lansing, out every weekend. I loved doing color and cuts at home for my friends, we could drink beers and listen to music and have a good 'ol time in the process. Bad idea. One particular Friday night I got a call from Jedy. She said she was in Rite Aide and hair color was on sale!
"Get two boxes" I told her.
She showed up ten minutes later with two boxes of 6RV hair color, a pint of Crown Royal for her and a six pack of Guinness for me.
Stand By Me came on the TV.
I slapped that color on her level 3 virgin hair, wrapped her hair up in a towel and we proceeded to quote every other line of the movie and put back the drinks.
That hour and a half flew by.
"Should we wash this out?" She asked me with her bright red cheeks and gigantic toothy smile.
I looked at the clock. "HOLY CRAP, YEAHHHH! Like 45 minutes ago!"
Best you know that neither Jedy nor I is what anyone may have considered "petite". We headed into my tiny bathroom and she bent her head over into my claw foot tub. I got the water hot and decided the only way to rinse her hair was to straddle her, so there we were, she on her knees, me on her back with one foot on the toilet the other on the floor, both of us convulsing with laughter, hot pink water is splattering everywhere...as I am rinsing her hair I quickly realize that I did not follow one single rule of applying color to virgin hair.
Her once beautiful, dark brown, naturally curly, long hair was neon fuchsia.
She called me two days later.
"My hairs awesome" she said, "I kinda feel like a rock star...think I'm going to keep it for a while."
What I would do to go back to that night... laughin', drinkin', movie quotin', box colorin' night.
Although I haven't seen her in over ten years, I know I'll miss her forever.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Brenda's bangs
There are all types of clients. There are male, female, old, middle aged and teenaged. There are lawyers and doctors and teachers and construction workers. There are pessimists and optimists, narcissists and egotists, loners and geeks, country folk and freaks.
Let me not forget children.
little ones.
kids.
Ok. it's time for some truth here folks. The cold hard truth about cutting little kids hair....
1. Generally your hairdresser has booked the same amount of time for your child as he/she would for an adult haircut, not because we want to, but because our books run on half hour increments. We do not charge the same amount not because the haircut isn't as technical, but because we understand the costs involved with raising children and we do it as a favor to the parent who is hopefully also our client.
2. Your child is a darling right up until he/she proves otherwise. Then and only then are they are viewed as demon spawn sent to ruin an otherwise joyful day.
3. If your child is screaming, running in circles, spilling water, grabbing scissors, spinning chairs, whining, nagging or any other annoying behavior while you are getting your hair done, you can bet my mood will not be conductive to creating art...rather it will be conductive to plotting revenge, which does not equate to beautiful hair. Do yourself a favor, if your kids are bratty, get a babysitter.
4. Tootsie Roll Suckers are a privilege, not a right.
5. I have a pg13 rating. I have ruined the Santa myth. I have used undesirable language in the presence of small children. I laugh at bad behavior. I will tell them ghost stories about yellow ribbons around necks and men with hooks for hands.I will teach them to sing Henry the VIII and 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
6. Rest assured that no matter how your kids act, I most likely adore them anyways. Certainly they behave better in the salon than my own do.
My absolute favorite thing in the world is when children give themselves their own haircut. I suppose it was about three years ago.....
Lets call her Brenda.
Brenda decided it would be a good idea to trim her bangs before kindergarten picture day. She accidentally added an extra inch to her forehead. She cut that hair so short it looked as if she went at it with sheep shears. Her mother called, asking if I could fix them. Those bangs were a sight to behold! I suppose she thought I'd even them up. Now, it's important that you know that Brenda's mother and I are good friends and when they walked in the door it was absolutely impossible not to laugh and laugh we did. The more we laughed, the madder Brenda became. In my meager attempt to ease poor Brenda's mind, I informed her that lots of women cut their hair that short...there is a name for such women, I told her.
And so the story goes. Do I regret the lesbian comment? Not really. Looking back on it, I realize that the statement can be construed as harsh or insensitive or inappropriate. Do I care? No. Are we are still great friends? yes. Brenda even spends the night at my house every now and then. The statement was completely inconsequential. Laughable really. Not as laughable as those bangs were...good thing they still have the picture.
Consider this a warning folks.
Let me not forget children.
little ones.
kids.
Ok. it's time for some truth here folks. The cold hard truth about cutting little kids hair....
1. Generally your hairdresser has booked the same amount of time for your child as he/she would for an adult haircut, not because we want to, but because our books run on half hour increments. We do not charge the same amount not because the haircut isn't as technical, but because we understand the costs involved with raising children and we do it as a favor to the parent who is hopefully also our client.
2. Your child is a darling right up until he/she proves otherwise. Then and only then are they are viewed as demon spawn sent to ruin an otherwise joyful day.
3. If your child is screaming, running in circles, spilling water, grabbing scissors, spinning chairs, whining, nagging or any other annoying behavior while you are getting your hair done, you can bet my mood will not be conductive to creating art...rather it will be conductive to plotting revenge, which does not equate to beautiful hair. Do yourself a favor, if your kids are bratty, get a babysitter.
4. Tootsie Roll Suckers are a privilege, not a right.
5. I have a pg13 rating. I have ruined the Santa myth. I have used undesirable language in the presence of small children. I laugh at bad behavior. I will tell them ghost stories about yellow ribbons around necks and men with hooks for hands.I will teach them to sing Henry the VIII and 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
6. Rest assured that no matter how your kids act, I most likely adore them anyways. Certainly they behave better in the salon than my own do.
My absolute favorite thing in the world is when children give themselves their own haircut. I suppose it was about three years ago.....
Lets call her Brenda.
Brenda decided it would be a good idea to trim her bangs before kindergarten picture day. She accidentally added an extra inch to her forehead. She cut that hair so short it looked as if she went at it with sheep shears. Her mother called, asking if I could fix them. Those bangs were a sight to behold! I suppose she thought I'd even them up. Now, it's important that you know that Brenda's mother and I are good friends and when they walked in the door it was absolutely impossible not to laugh and laugh we did. The more we laughed, the madder Brenda became. In my meager attempt to ease poor Brenda's mind, I informed her that lots of women cut their hair that short...there is a name for such women, I told her.
And so the story goes. Do I regret the lesbian comment? Not really. Looking back on it, I realize that the statement can be construed as harsh or insensitive or inappropriate. Do I care? No. Are we are still great friends? yes. Brenda even spends the night at my house every now and then. The statement was completely inconsequential. Laughable really. Not as laughable as those bangs were...good thing they still have the picture.
Consider this a warning folks.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
MaryJane
Every night, after working behind the chair all day, I must admit, it is very difficult to remember all of the details within all of the conversations of the day. There are so many...from the woman who lost her father to the heartbroken mother who fears an empty nest. The estranged wife and mother of three. Somebody filed bankruptcy. Somebodys daughter had a baby. They got a new dog. She put down her cat. His wife spends too much money. His grandmother has Alzheimer's. Laughter. Tears.
Why anyone would ask me for advice is beyond me. I give some of the worst advice out there. I'm starting to think that I only get asked advice to confirm to themselves that they are not as crazy as they once thought they were. For instance: After going through our consultation, a woman, lets call her MaryJane, posed this question to me...
"I found a bag of marijuana in my sons coat pocket! Can you believe that?"
me: "yes"
MaryJane: "What am I suppose to do?"
At this point I ponder my options. Option #1: Give her some bologna answer about how she should get in touch with a counselor, get his blood tested, call the police, read all his text messages...whatever. Option #2: Pose the question back, "OMG, what ARE you going to do?" Or Option #3.
"Smoke it."
They say you attract your own kind in this business, I respectfully disagree. I would like to believe that most people hold much higher moral standards than I do. Of course, my clients know I am kidding. I believe they also know that I give terrible advice. MaryJane laughs, tells me she loves her hair, prebooks her next appointment, pays, and tips me well. She leaves with the assurance that no matter what route she chooses, it's a hell of a lot better than what some people would do. She has left the building a better mom. She will be back.
Why anyone would ask me for advice is beyond me. I give some of the worst advice out there. I'm starting to think that I only get asked advice to confirm to themselves that they are not as crazy as they once thought they were. For instance: After going through our consultation, a woman, lets call her MaryJane, posed this question to me...
"I found a bag of marijuana in my sons coat pocket! Can you believe that?"
me: "yes"
MaryJane: "What am I suppose to do?"
At this point I ponder my options. Option #1: Give her some bologna answer about how she should get in touch with a counselor, get his blood tested, call the police, read all his text messages...whatever. Option #2: Pose the question back, "OMG, what ARE you going to do?" Or Option #3.
"Smoke it."
They say you attract your own kind in this business, I respectfully disagree. I would like to believe that most people hold much higher moral standards than I do. Of course, my clients know I am kidding. I believe they also know that I give terrible advice. MaryJane laughs, tells me she loves her hair, prebooks her next appointment, pays, and tips me well. She leaves with the assurance that no matter what route she chooses, it's a hell of a lot better than what some people would do. She has left the building a better mom. She will be back.
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