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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to ask your honest thoughts when someone tells you they're a hairdresser?

193 replies

westmommy · 08/04/2026 21:41

First thoughts, any assumptions? Fully transparent and honest answers please, no judgement whether good/bad!

Also any hairdressers out there, what are your honest experiences and thoughts about the job? Do you enjoy, would you recommend it etc?

OP posts:
TheSecretAgent1 · 08/04/2026 21:57

I think it's pretty cool, I wish I had any hairdressing talent whatsoever

youalright · 08/04/2026 21:56

OrcasRock · 08/04/2026 21:48

One of my best buddies is a hairdresser. What am I supposed to think? DD wanted to be a hairdresser for a while. Why is being a hairdresser different than any other career?

Its better then most other careers you won't be replaced by a computer and you can fit it around family life

Ultravox · 08/04/2026 21:54

I think “what an excellent job…flexible, always required, you can be your own boss and it & can be done from anywhere in the world!”

I’m an office worker and honestly I wish I’d thought about hairdressing when I was young.

ilovepixie · 08/04/2026 21:54

I wouldn’t think anything! Why would I.

Pebblesonthebleach · 08/04/2026 21:54

No specific thoughts.

TheCurious0range · 08/04/2026 21:54

Honestly I wonder about their wrists, my hairdresser has had carpal tunnel in both her wrists and my friend who was a hairdresser for some years developed carpal tunnel in her right wrist and retrained in a completely different desk based field

HotGazpacho · 08/04/2026 21:54

Idly wondering what they’d suggest for my next cut. I’m always impressed by hairdressers. I’m shit at doing my own hair.

ETA: Why do you ask, OP? Are you a hairdresser? Have a kid hoping to become one?

LassiKopiano24 · 08/04/2026 21:53

That they are a hairdresser.

RosieHosie · 08/04/2026 21:53

Hereforthecommentz · 08/04/2026 21:48

Good points about ai not taking their job! Not thought of that before. My job would definitely be taken over by ai (finance) maybe I should re-train. I'm not very arty though, probably end up dying someones hair green.

But who will their customers be if they've all lost their jobs to AI?

PottingBench · 08/04/2026 21:52

I've been seeing the same hairdresser now for 30 years. We were very young women when she started cutting my hair and we've been through all the ups and downs of life together. I love her. She's clever, funny, reliable, kind, a switched on business woman, brilliant mum and good friend.

If I meet someone who's a hairdresser I imagine they are capable, hardworking and a people person

WhatAMarvelousTune · 08/04/2026 21:52

There have been a few threads like this recently (“what do you think when someone tells you X”) and I think some people wildly overestimate the amount of thought other people put into them and any group they belong to.
If two people tell me they’re hairdressers, my thoughts will be different because it will depend on the conversation we’re having, the context, who they are etc. I have no single universal reaction to hairdressers.

ThatWaryLimePeer · 08/04/2026 21:51

I’m thinking what are they thinking about my hair.

hlskj · 08/04/2026 21:51

Interestingly I was always made to believe when younger it was something you done if you weren’t academically smart and looked down upon. In hindsight, the knowledge and expertise required appears to be monumental and every hairdresser I know is raking it in! Don’t have any opinions now other than they’re lucky they have the skills to do their own hair

YerMotherWasAHamster · 08/04/2026 21:50

Honestly, nothing at all. I dont really have a reaction to anyone telling me their job.
Well, if someone told me their job was artificially inseminating blue whales I might have a question or two, but other than that...

ThePoshUns · 08/04/2026 21:50

Great! I know a few hairdressers, tend to be stylish and sociable.

HappyToSmile · 08/04/2026 21:49

I'm always impressed/jealous of someone who has a trade/skill

eggandonion · 08/04/2026 21:48

Usually that my hair is probably a mess...also that the colour mixing is very scientific and owning a successful salon needs good business sense.

Hereforthecommentz · 08/04/2026 21:48

Good points about ai not taking their job! Not thought of that before. My job would definitely be taken over by ai (finance) maybe I should re-train. I'm not very arty though, probably end up dying someones hair green.

GloriaHeeler · 08/04/2026 21:48

I think they must be artistic and a visual sort of person which is something I admire as I’m not like that myself. I’d assume, perhaps incorrectly, that they could also do other practical things.

OrcasRock · 08/04/2026 21:48

One of my best buddies is a hairdresser. What am I supposed to think? DD wanted to be a hairdresser for a while. Why is being a hairdresser different than any other career?

Kingdomofsleep · 08/04/2026 21:48

It's not that unusual a job is it? I don't think I'd think anything in particular. Compared with say, being a submariner or something. It's not that interesting (and I have a very uninteresting job myself)

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 08/04/2026 21:48

Nothing. I must admit the ones I know aren’t degree educated but they still go to hairdressing school. And earn more than me. I’d do it if I could be arsed to train.

Ineedanewsofa · 08/04/2026 21:48

I couldn’t do your job

Dullducky · 08/04/2026 21:47

People person, creative and hopefully talented

GentleIron · 08/04/2026 21:46

That they're probably pondering my raven's nest of a crone-crown, and wondering whether I condition my hair in a brew of rusty nails and nettle vinegar.