How much do you trust your hairdresser?

[ScottishStottie]

Im thinking pre and post lockdown, and how much i trust the advice my hairdresser gives me, and wanted a second opinion on what i should expect??

So i have dark brown hair. And want red/purple hair. Ill attatch a pic of what i want. Im aware that as i have such dark hair that it would need to be lightened or built up in some way to get the desired vibrancy to it.

So moved cities a year ago and found a new hairdresser that i liked. Went to her first and said i wanted red, she put red die on my dark hair, but not at the top so a subtle res. So got a dark red colour. Got the feeling she was too scared to make such a drastic change but it was nice so was ok for a couple of months. She mentioned at this point that the more often i got the colour the brighter it would become (?) But wouldnt give any indication about how often this is. (So no time scale, should it be every week, month, 2 months?)

Went back after 2 months and said i wanted it brighter so she did balayage bleach and then red on top of it so darker red at roots going inti brighter. Liked this but it faded after a couple of washes and got an orangy faded red colour instead.

When i go back and she sees how faded it is she said that balayage always fades like that and bleach wont get me ny desired colour. So ok i set that aside and just continue to get red/purple on my dark hair.

Then i show her the attached pic that i found and she told me that it wouldnt work because the colours would all merge after the first wash and it would be pointless. Confused as to how thats the case but trust her opinion and just get the red again.

Asked for a curve shaped trim on the bottom of my long hair, amd she tried to tell me it wouldnt suit my hair as it has a curl (or frizzy as she put it...) But i insisted as i knew id had this before and it gave nice shape to my hair without resorting to layers. But she did it so subtly you can barely tell its a curve. Again she seemed a bit unconfident about doing this.

I dont want to be second guessing her, i know very little about these things but im starting to think that she might not be giving the best advice? Not sure how a colour can ve so impossible for my hair. Im not expecting miracles in one sitting or anything but to be told a straight no is strange?

Any expert opinions as to why this wouldnt work in my hair or should i find a new hairdresser after lockdown?

[Wagamamas]

I have had a hairdresser reluctant to cut me a fringe. Years later i said fuck it and DIYed it myself after a youtube tutorial and it was amazing. I ahve no idea why she didn't want to cut me a fringe.

I think hairdressers project things onto you, they guess your life style, your likelihood of maintenance and then tone down your expectations to safe levels because they are worried they will mess it up due to their lack of experience or that you will have a go at them or bad mouth them.

It's more like going to a doctor than a customer client relation as i often find their attitude "I KNOW BEST".

My advice is to go to a different hairdresser who specialises in crazy colours.

And red does fade quickly and your hair would get brighter after each dye because the hair will be damaged so colours will show more on them.

[EmpressJewel]

I trust my current hairdresser, she gives great advice. She is a Mum at the children's school so I knew her before she started cutting my hair.

Before my current hairdresser, i have struggled with hairdressers for years. I have wanted advice on what styles and colours may suit me, but none have wanted to help.

[AvoidingRealHumans]

I find that hairdressers think they know best.
I had one who wouldn't cut my hair to the length I wanted (just above shoulder) because she "knew" I would hate it.
I think it's great that they give their professional advice but you should be allowed to say that you think you will risk it.
In your case the fading colour- you should be able to make the decision on whether you want to go ahead with a more high maintenance colour.

Maybe it was a bit too modern and high tech for her, sometimes you need to go to a (as my mum would say) 'trendy' salon and probably pay a bit more. Some hairdressers aren't fully up to date in the new styles and techniques.

[BabyDarlingDollfaceHoney]

That pic you posted looks photoshopped to me to be honest.

[Lndnmummy]

I trust mine more than I trust my mother.
To be fair it took me 12 years of trial and error to find her and I’m never ever letting her go. If she moves, I move.

[RedRed9]

I think hairdressers project things onto you
^ this.

I trust my hairdresser to have the expertise and training but I don’t trust that they know me.

[KellyHall]

My mum always cut my hair pre lockdown because I haven't trusted a hairdresser for years. My dh did it a few weeks ago for the first time and I just tweaked the front in the mirror afterwards.

[ScottishStottie]

Hmm maybe i need to find a new hairdresser and manage my expectations to what they can advise me.

Other thing i forgot to mention that doesnt seem right is after i get the red in my hair, for weeks and weeks after, everytime i wash my hair loads of red comes out in the water and stains towels when im drying. Hairdresser told me that thats normal, ans also said that if i was wearing a white jacket in the rain that it would stain that. Is that normal?? It doesnt seem right that hair dye would stain things for so long after getting the colour in?

[SaladSauce]

I'm a hairdresser that would 100% merge into one.
We can't get things right sometimes

If she / he did it and it looked horrible after 1 wash it would be our fault too

Have a look at 'not another salon' Sophia Hilton world famous hairdresser explains on a post why she doesn't do colours like this

[SaladSauce]

And actually those colours would look a poo brown too not just a nice brown

[MaryLennoxsScowl]

It looks to me as if you need highlights in different colours. I don’t see why that’s impossible. I like my hairdresser and trust him but I’ve found you need to dress in the style you want your hair to be in when you first go to a salon or they make assumptions about how ‘safe’ you are with your style, and to show no doubts or wavering. So go somewhere new as she’s obviously got you pegged as timid about your hair.

[ScottishStottie]

I did wonder whether highlights would be more what i was looking for, but as the hairdresser never suggested when i asked for advice on how to get the desired look i just figured i was wrong.

Interesting about dressing for the hairdresser, i normally go in pretty scruffy, no makeup etc so maybe she just thinks im a scruff that wont want a bright colour... Hadnt though about that!

[Frequency]

Also a hairdresser and in agreement that the pic is photoshopped or at the very least taken in perfect lighting and will look much, much different in real life. I use a similar shade in an effort to get the same result (Igora 6/99) but it only looks purple in direct sunlight. In all other lighting it shows as a dark red.

I've done a similar look to what you want but I only bleached the red bits. The colour didn't run but in any light other than direct sunlight it appeared as varying shades of dark red rather than purple/red and it needed weekly maintenance to keep the bleached bits vibrant. Bleached hair doesn't hold colour well. It was my sister I did it for so the maintenance wasn't an issue.

[Frequency]

The purple needs a lot of maintenance too. All brands, not just Igora, trust me I've tried them all in my hunt for the perfect purple. At one point I almost resorted to using Live colour [shudder]. They all fade to a mucky browny-red colour after a few washes. I top mine up weekly with a purple direct dye or one of Wella's toners.

[ScottishStottie]

What sort of weekly maintanance would that be? More colour or just a conditioning treatment or something? This is the sort of advice ive been struggling to get from my hairdresser. The most i got was once she asked if i use a colour shampoo and i said yes. And that was the end of that convo.

Ive attached another couple of pics that i showed to try and explain what i wanted. These both have more tones to the colour than one all over red or purple. But i have no idea how to achieve this or if its even possible.

[Frequency]

Well, on my sister she had slices of red on a purple base colour, rather than red highlights. It was easy to pick out the slices and foil them with a bit of red direct dye once a week or so. However, with finer slices/highlights like you want I'm not sure how you'd maintain them. You could put a red direct dye or coloured conditioner over the whole head once a week but the purple would slowly turn redder or you could put a purple over and have varying shades of purple rather than red/purple or cope with the reddish/orange until you get regrowth and get it re-done as picking out each strand of red highlight to re-tone it separately would be expensive, tedious and close to impossible.

And yes, I used to colour hers weekly to maintain it but with a direct-dye or a coloured conditioner. I did a demi-permenant on her once every 8 weeks and maintained with conditioners and direct dyes.

[Frequency]

That last pic you posted is what mine looks like. That's just Igora 6/99 or similar. The different tones come from the different tones of the model's hair or previous highlights. It would be much easier to maintain than a red/purple combo. As i said, I keep mine looking purple with coloured conditioners and/or purple toners.

[BabyDarlingDollfaceHoney]

All of the pics you've posted have been shopped to some extent imho. The saturation has been cranked up. I think this is a bit of unrealistic expectations based on social media BS!

[XingMing]

Photoshop aside (but it's the elephant in the room here because only the photographer knows the detail) the original objective is probably outwith the competence of most hair stylists, on most High Streets, in most towns. In a very large city, and at a very high price, you will find a colourist to achieve that look. It's not something most "ordinary" hairdressers in a country town would be asked for often, so it's outside their comfort zone. It's beautiful.

[Mnthrowaway20202]

I think if you have this much trouble with someone, just go to a different salon? No one’s forcing you to keep going back.

I’ve never experienced this. I live in London and go to a premium salon with an experienced colourist who would be able to deliver that. It would be expensive mind.

I don’t think the colour is impossible to achieve but I think it’s more difficult than you think. As you have dark hair, your natural pigment is orange. So unless your hair is bleached to blonde, any colour that goes on top will have an orange tone to it. This isn’t that bad for red, but purple tones will look muddy or brown, you won’t get that vibrancy unless you’re blonde. Hence why it has looked subtle so far.

The hair in the photos are obviously fashion colours for modelling or promotional shots so I agree that it wouldn’t be practical in real life. It would wash out quickly and won’t look as vibrant irl

[ScottishStottie]

This has definitely given me a better idea of expectations and maintenance. Ive found a hairdresser that specialises in creative colour, so after lockdown will go there and ask for a purple base with red highlights, which i can then maintain with a purple toner/colour conditioner? So this will make the red go more purple but will still have the different tones through it. Does that sound reasonable & correct management to get something like what im looking for?

I do need to balance maintaining it as im fairly low maintenance with stuff like that, and if its going to be a massive faff then i might just leave it.