In defense of my fellow hairdressers and some advice

Okay so I spent most of my adult life as a hairstylist and a beauty school instructor. I have been the manager of several salons and I think it is fair to say without offending anyone that hairdressers are a different breed of people. I mean they are great, but they have their own language, mannerisms and they have a code that they live by; in which they support others that work with them at all cost. This really is a good thing about hairdressers and why I love them so much because the ones that I have worked with are loyal to their clients as long as they are loyal to them. There is a little known slogan that they live by, almost a mantra if you will and it is "fake it til you make it", in laymen's terms that means if they are right out of beauty school and they don't know what they are doing,  they act like they know what they are doing, as a manager I took several of these little birdies under my wing and fixed a lot of hair No No's but when some one's hair turned green, blue or an ugly metallic color, I would always take these little hairdresser birdies to the back room and we would pray to the hair god's together and usually that would do it. There was nothing we couldn't fix...after a few tries that is.

I loved being a hairdresser but had to excuse myself from the profession because I developed a bad back problem from all those years wearing stilletos and trying to look sexy for my clients. I try to tell my hairdresser that her shoes are going to be the death of her but she won't listen, anyway this hub is just about some experiences and some little tips on hair and how to handle your hairdresser.

I say this because most of them have been on their feet all day and have to put up with some people who do not know what they want but want them to work a miracle and turn them into Angelina Jolie. Some people have two hairs on their head but they pick out the hair cuts that have all this hair and it just doesn't work. Don't get me wrong I have seen some miracles accomplished throughout the years, but from very seasoned hairdressers who have sweat falling off their foreheads and after the client leaves have to go in the back and take a quick nip of something strong,usually it meant strong coffee. So please try to know what you want before going into the salon.

I had an experience once where a man came into the salon where I worked and said he wanted a number 2 clipper cut all over. This meant that he would have approximately about 1/4 inch of hair left on his head. He had pretty long hair and I asked him if he was sure because it would be pretty short. He said that is what he wanted because that is the way that Brad Pitt had his hair at the time. I was hesitant to do it because he had so much hair to start with so I asked him again and even showed him a picture of what it would look like. He looked at me and said just do what I want, so I did. I took those clippers to his head and it came out just like I said it would. I gave him the mirror so he could look at his hair from every angle and then he looked at me and said ah noooo that is gonna be way too short he he......like I could put it back or something. He refused to pay for the hair cut and being the manager and all I let it slide. I had the satisfaction of knowing that he looked like a q-tip when he left. And by no means did he look like Brad Pitt. Sigh.

• Please don't get on your cell phone the minute that you sit down in your stylists chair they are usually very busy and it puts them behind.
• Please try not to be late to your appointments
• Please call way ahead of time if you need to reschedule. An open space cannot be filled most of the time and if you are a no show so is a hair dresser's money.
• Please tip your hairdresser well. Most of the time they are leasing their spots and rely heavily on tips.

I know I know you probably have had some bad hairdresser experiences, most of us have; but most hairdressers really want to do a good job and satisfy you so show them some love.

Sometimes women that are wanting to hide grey hair think that they need to go really darker in order to hide their grey but this isn't so. If you want to hide your grey and are a woman of a certain age, then you should actually go a couple shades lighter than your natural color. Just a couple of shades makes all the difference in the world and will actually make you look younger because darker hair on older women shows every line and wrinkle on their face.

Some people think that they can fix split ends with shampoo and conditioner. This is false. You will have to get a trim in order to get rid of those split ends or they just keep on splitting higher and higher on your head. I am sure everyone has seen this and its not pretty. So do get a trim at least every 6-8 weeks.

Often people think that they have to wash their hair everyday and this is not true. I only wash my hair a couple of days a week and in between shampoos I will just run a little conditioner through my hair while I shower. If you have extremely oily hair then try every other day and try a shampoo that is a dehydrating shampoo. Some people also do not realize that sometimes it is just the cheaper shampoos that are doing damage to their hair. Some inexpensive brands have a lot of detergents that are unnecessary for your hair and it drys it out.

If you are a blonde like myself and you retouch your hair at home yourself,please only do the new growth and do not run the color all the way through your hair. The ends of your hair are already light enough so you just need to cover the dark hair that is regrowing and wait until the last five minutes of the process then run the color all the way to the ends. You will get better results and wont damage your hair as much. BLONDES ARE HIGH MAINTENANCE FOR SURE!

 I see many people out there who have huge foreheads and part their hair in the middle... hello?? 1970 called and wants its hairstyle back or worse Ozzie Osbourne called as well. You don't want to look like Ozzie do ya? A much nice softer look is some long sweepy bangs that covers most of your forehead. I don't mean the Madonna bangs of the 80's either, ya I see those people too, I mean long sweepy bangs that you can even tuck behind your ear if you want but covers your forehead, it's a much sexier look. Like the girl in the photo above. Nice huh?

In conclusion I cannot say enough about products. The reason your hair looks so good coming out of a salon is mostly because of hair products. Now I do not buy a lot of products but I do rely on a couple of things that get me by. I am blonde so I have to use something after styling to calm the frizzies and give it a shine. As far as shampoo goes I love Biolage and I love Afterparty by Bedhead. A tiny little bit goes a long way. After styling just put a dime size Afterparty through your hair, concentrate on the ends and you will have that out of the salon finished look.

Well hope my advice helped someone out there.

Photos courtesy of photobucket