What do hairstylists wish customers knew about them or their profession?
We want customers to know, we love being a hairstylist. Doing hair everyday is what we live for. Unfortunately like every job, there can also be a down side as well. Sometimes these negative things are just related to a bad day, but sometimes they are client involved. We also have a lot of positive we see, that no other profession could give us.
The first thing we wish clients knew about our job, is that it’s not all makeup, and hairspray. After a 12-hour day, our feet hurt too. Those fashionable flats everyone is wearing, aren’t the most comfortable thing to stand in all day, especially while we listen to how your boyfriend cheated on you again … not saying we won’t be there every step of the way to get you through it, but beauty is painful.
The second thing we would love clients to know, is that we run on a very tight schedule. Running just a few minutes behind, can throw your whole day off track. It can be frustrating trying to get back on schedule. That is if we manage to get back on schedule. Sound selfish? It’s not. If every appointment is 5 -10 minutes late, we have to explain to our last valued customer of the day that they won’t make it home in time for the family dinner etc. We don’t want to rush what we consider our artwork. It is what we consider our Monet; it takes time to make a masterpiece. What we are also saying is if you are fifteen minutes late, and you are holding a venti chocolate café mocha latte, you better have one for us, with a double shot of espresso in it.
The biggest factor that every stylist stresses, and wishes you knew or understood to some extent is that, our knowledge of how color works is typically more than what you may know or believe. We understand that you are trying to tell us in some way shape or form, that you box colored your hair, or cut your own bangs, without telling us directly. The problem with this is, we need you too. We won’t get upset or scold you like mom, but we don’t want you angry when we were misinformed, and something doesn’t turn out right.
Also please understand that we tell you no, it’s because we love you. We can’t take you from black to blonde in one day, because we are afraid for the integrity of your hair. When we tell you it will take 2-3 sessions, its because we want your hair to stay as healthy as possible, not because we are being lazy, or don’t want to do it.
Now we don’t want you thinking that everything we want you to know is negative, or all the pet peeves we hate. We also want you to know some positive things too, like we want our clients to be happy. That is the basis of our whole career. If the client isn’t satisfied then we didn’t succeed. This is why we ask you, what seems like a billion questions when it comes to hair care, maintenance, and styling. We need your input to achieve, what you envisioned in your head.
The Hair Industry is an ever-growing spectrum of style. One week everyone is coloring their hair red, and the next everyone wants that one famous celebrities haircut. For most hairstylists though, there are a few reasons why this profession will always keep them. We like being around people! We may be having one strange day, but we wouldn’t want to not hear the crazy adventure, that you had that weekend. We love being social, and being alone to long may just kill us. We love the social aspect of communication, and the salon environment. For a hairstylist, making someone feel good about him or her self is a reward. Having our clients so excited to go show off their new color or cut is just as exciting for us. Getting a thank you hug is usually a day maker for a hairstylist. Even seeing that we were tagged in a post on facebook or instagram later on is exciting. We feel like we made someone’s day. We love reviews too!
Some clients don’t realize or know how are schedules work. We usually for the most part, make our own hours, based around the hours of the salon, who doesn’t want to make their own schedule? As a hairstylist we have the ability to make our own schedule as needed. We would like everyone to remember we have families too though. We are willing sometimes to work strange hours, so don’t be afraid to ask either.
As hairstylist, we stink at math. Somewhere along the way, in our journey to achieve our skills, most of us who had math skills lost them along the way. When we pull a calculator out to add simple numbers, just let us. We may know the answer, but we are human too. We second-guess ourselves. All in all we love what we do. We couldn’t pick a profession that better suited us. That’s why we do what we do.
Summer hair, don’t care…or do you? Summer is the time for effortless (or seemingly effortless) beauty- minimal makeup, beachy waves and tousled hair. But you still want to look great and to keep your hair looking healthy and shiny while enjoying the sun and lounging by the pool, beach, lake, or tubing in the river. Adopt these 5 habits, or even 2 of 3 habits, with your hair this summer and you will head into fall looking fab.