I just did the most unmumsnetty thing..

[RunningFromInsanity]

I went back to the hairdresser and told them I didn’t like the hairstyle they spent 4hours doing yesterday! It cost me £200 and I woke up this morning nearly in tears when I looked in the mirror.

What was suppose to be a natural blonde balayage with my natural darker roots is basically a full head of light blonde highlights with 2 bright blonde streaks down the front (think Rogue from Xmen). Apparently that’s the current trend.

Everyone in the salon kept going on about how great it looked.
She then curled my hair, which I usually wear naturally straight.

Took me several walk pasts before I plucked up the courage and went in.

Spoke to a lovely lady and she helped shape and layer the hair so it blended in more, and gave me a blue shampoo which will apparently help tone it down.

I still hate the front but less than before and hopefully after a few washes it will be less noticeable.

Now sitting at home admiring my new backbone (but not my hair )

Well done - I’ve never really had the courage to stop a hairdresser when they are doing something I don’t want, but luckily nothing major.

Well done OP!

Also in my experience whenever the hairdresser has made a mistake they’ll offer to curl or do something different with your hair. (Interested to know if this is common amongst hairdressers?)

As a child the hairdresser cut a wonky chunk in my waist length hair and offered to french braid it. DM only noticed the missing hair that night!

Hope the shampoo helps.

You can get a toner to put over the blonde if you wanted it darker not noticeable

Damn right you should. I sat in a hairdressers for a full day and the lights in the salon skewed what it looked like. When I got home I actually had patches of grey hair!
My mum was absolutely raging and made me go back the next day.
The hairdresser was all like "oh but this colour is in fashion" and I'm like I don't care about fashion hair I want NICE hair.
She got her sister who worked there in for a second opinion. They did something to reverse the toner which she said she had never used this particular type of before and was a lot stronger and so when they did that it helped it alot.
But yeh she was so slow to do the actual colour, then Ballsed it up and then needed her sisters advice on how to sort it.

Never again.

Well done.

Just two hairdressing points: The lighter fronts ‘money piece’ is/was the trend but they should have explained what they were doing. (Also, balayage always looks better curled so you might want to ask about ombré instead next time if you always wear it straight.)

And she always curled it too. I would say no thanks and she'd like persevere until I said ok... Yeh i think getting it curled is a red flag!

Thanks guys.
This was suppose to be my ‘new hair new me’ moment so I’m very deflated.

@BrilliantBulb Just had a read and yes it seems that Ombré is more ‘horizontal’ which I guess is what I wanted with darker roots and lighter ends.

I did show her several photos of darker hair with lighter parts towards the end and beautiful layered through, but that’s not what I got unfortunately.

I can’t understand the blonde chunks at the front though, especially because they start an inch down so don’t even blend in.

Live and learn I guess.

Well done OP. Your hair will eventually tone down and grow out, but now you've found it that backbone it is there for ever.

Gosh I thought you were going to say you roasted a chicken and it only lasted one meal

Money pieces are meant to start from the root so I'm unsure as to why they are half way down your hair unless this is how others have it and they should have asked if you wanted that as it's not a standard part of ombre/ballyage and it can look a bit full on with an ombre aswell.
Secondly I'd say a purple shampoo would have been better which will take brassiness out and tone it down if that's what you wanted.
I had my hair ombre a few years ago and they did similar to me and curled it made a big song and dance of how amazing it was. I got home and had a good look and my front was lighter than the rest of the blonde, the roots were orange and ends silver so I rang them and they did fix what they could and this time I asked them to straighten it so I could see it better because even though ombre looks gorgeous curled it also blends everything in so it's harder to see if anything doenst look right.

@riotlady

Gosh I thought you were going to say you roasted a chicken and it only lasted one meal

Well done OP. It can be incredibly difficult to be assertive in the moment, in some circumstances. I admire those who are.

Secondly I'd say a purple shampoo would have been better which will take brassiness out and tone it down if that's what you wanted.
It depends on the current tone and what the OP wants to achieve. Blue helps brassy orange or red tones but won’t help yellow. Purple helps yellow.

I had to do this recently.
I'm light brunette.

Hair turned out redder than I wanted - it was bright red when I asked for some copper highlights through it. So the hairdresser toned it down - it went dark almost black..
it took hours and I went home (had to leave to be back for the school run)
thinking at least it's not bright red.
Washed it twice that eve and next morning and ended up going back in the next evening to get it striped and back to my natural colour. It took several hours but I'm so glad I went back. It was too dark for me otherwise. It drained the colour from my face.
I had photos with me of what I wanted but I think sometimes two people look at a photo and see two very different colours!
They were lovely when I went back. So apologetic and understanding.
I've been back since for hair and make up and wouldn't go anywhere else for my hair now. If you're not happy say it! It takes guts but it's your hair - you are entitled to feel happy with it.

If I post a photo could you suggest whether I need blue or purple shampoo please. Basically don’t want the bright blonde bit at the front to be that bright

Photos

Ooh that's nice...sorry no advice though.

Definitely say purple. I used to apply it as normal shampoo leave for 2 minutes to begin with and see how it looks of you feel it needs more toning leave on longer. I also used to put mine on dry hair but mine was alot more brassy than yours.
It does look more like highlights than balyage op I think more of a root shadow was needed to the root and more blonde towards the end if that makes sense but it does look nice!

Not the point of the post - and I get it about the front bit...although it isn't nearly as noticeable as you think......but your hair looks lovely.

Also your money pieces look quite light in the photo and if they are don't put the purple shampoo on those pieces for too long as they may turn lilac colour.

Backbone will outlast the hair by miles, well done. Still sorry you didn’t get what you wanted though.

Delighted for you. 200 is too much money to waste. I would not have the courage to go back but reading this is making me rethink.

@riotlady

Gosh I thought you were going to say you roasted a chicken and it only lasted one meal

Love it.

No seriously at 200 quid?
You have a right to complain about it

Ha OP, I had a similar experience at the hairdresser recently, except the result you’ve got is pretty much what I wanted and didn’t get!! Mine is not blonde enough…

I don’t know why she’s started the colour from so close to the root, it does look more like highlights than balayage. But the silver lining is you can go for ages before you need to get it done again as it should grow out well. (So you got your moneys worth of lightning anyway!) And it does look nice, not brassy.

It can take a few visits to get the ‘lighter ends’ look as your hair will be damaged if you do too much at once. Balayage does look a bit like highlights for the very first time unless you bleach the shit out of it (but she’s still started from too high up imo which accentuates that look).

Personally I wouldn’t put purple on the money pieces as they’re likely to go silver/lilac.

I would try the blue and if that doesn’t work I’d go back to the hairdressers and request a different toner put on those pieces to blend them in. You could skip the blue step and go straight to toner but as you have it could be worth a shot. Just don’t leave it in too long or you’ll have blue hair.

(Side note: I actually like the money pieces on you!)