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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Was I unreasonable not to tip hairdresser but ask him back and stop straightening me?

81 replies

SodaStreamy · 25/04/2013 16:31

I had a mobile hairdresser to my house.

I have thick wavy hair and asked for it to be thinned out (as well as tidied up) so my waves were more defined.

Him 'your parting seems to be on the right hand side'
Me 'no it falls in the middle, I dont want one of those long side fringes, they don't suit me'

Ended up with a stupid side fringe blow dried straight...arrragh....why does every hairdresser in the world want to straighten my hair.

It's wavy, I like it wavy, I don't suit straight hair. I didn't tip but didn't tell him why and I feel a bit mean now as I will probably use him again because it doesn't look at all bad when rewashed and styled to my preference.

Was it mean not to tip? Will it put him off me trying to book him again?

OP posts:

Beamur · 25/04/2013 22:25

My hairdresser doesn't like drying hair or cutting it wet! So, as she comes to my house, she colours it, I wash and dry it, then she cuts it - job done. She prefers to cut hair dry so she can see how it falls and behaves - as my hair is slightly wavy this works very well for me.

Whatsthatnoise · 25/04/2013 22:27

I usually tip hairdressers but i don't get my very thick, long hair cut very often I do the mumsnet haircut too

However i think hairdressers have got obsessed with straighteners. DP took DD to get her hair cut last week and the stylist straightened her hair with GHD's. She is 4 for fuck sake not 14 and her hair is perfectly straight anyway.

IsabelleRinging · 25/04/2013 22:34

I don't tip my hairdresser, she clearly has a lot more money than me so must be charging plenty for the haircut already!

LaTrucha · 25/04/2013 22:36

I have finally worked out why hairdressers always did this to me. I have wavy hair too. It's because I asked for a cut and blow dry. My hairdresser explained to me that if you're paying for a blow dry they like to make you feel they've done something special.

Saves me £10 every time I go now as I no longer pay fpr a blow dry, although I do have to walk about with damp hair afterwards which is not glamorous.

Original poster

SodaStreamy · 25/04/2013 22:55

@ LaTucha if done that saying no don't blowdry me and gone home damp

You can't just ask for a cut though can you?

OP posts:

PoppyWearer · 25/04/2013 23:04

I've got thick wavy hair too! I straighten it very very occasionally but am happy with the waves otherwise.

Of course, hairdresser wants to blow dry it straight every time.

I usually just say I have to run to pick up the DCs and can she just rough-dry it or say I'm not doing anything special that day, so not to bother.

I let her dry it straight about one time in four, just to see how it looks really.

Oh, and I do tip, always. I know my hairdresser struggles a bit money-wise through no fault of her own and she does a fab job of my cut.

GreenEggsAndNichts · 25/04/2013 23:31

I don't usually tip if the person doing the service is the business owner. Especially a mobile hairdresser, as he isn't having to pay to maintain a shop or anything. He's pocketing what you're giving him already, minus petrol and insurance etc.

If he did an amazing job, that would be a different story!

ouryve · 25/04/2013 23:34

I have that hair. YANBU (because it's bloody hard finding a decent hairdresser with hair like ours) but if they mess up again, you don't persist.

ouryve · 25/04/2013 23:35

And yes, ask for a wet cut when you book. If they then do anything with a hairdryer, it's up to them.

ouryve · 25/04/2013 23:38

I've recently found my best stylist ever, btw, and he has thick, slightly wavy hair like mine. I like mine cut short and he does it with knobs on - no worries about leaving the whispy "feminine" bits that just stick out. He cuts it all off, textures what's left and it looks fab!

breatheslowly · 26/04/2013 00:27

My hair is wavy on the top, but straight underneath and this seems to be very confusing for my hairdresser. I know that cutting wavy/curly hair one length will result in a triangle head, but if the underneath is straight then it needs to be cut to about the same length. The way it is cut now leaves a very defined "under layer " poking out of the bottom.

My hair falls into waves best if I don't brush it, so one of the reasons that hairdressers dry wavy hair straight is that they have combed the hair so much while cutting that it won't wave well.

ToomuchWaternotWine · 26/04/2013 13:36

I also have the thick, wavy, hair mentioned, with "extra dry condition tending to frizziness" added complication. I have been done like the electrocuted hedgehog / startled lampshade / transsexual gone vair wrong looks too many times to mention. Finally found a great girl in local hairdressers who understood my hair, stuck with her for ages and now she has set up her own mobile business and comes to the house for half the price of the fancy salon. Bonus. She is getting married this year and talking about having kids, I keep telling her ghastly tales of childbirth and sleepless nights to put her off cos I really don't want to lose her, even if only for a while how very dare she

Beamur · 26/04/2013 18:26

ToomuchWaternotWine my lovely mobile hairdresser now brings her little baby with her so I get a hair cut and baby snuggles for free - it's great.

Areyoumadorisitme · 26/04/2013 18:35

Another one with poker straight hair here, yes I've had hairdressers try to straighten it too. Looks exactly the same but we've all wasted 20 minutes

The years I spent trying to get my hair to do anything BUT just hang there straight tells me it really isn't worth the bother!

Areyoumadorisitme · 26/04/2013 18:36

Oh and I do tip in a salon but not the lady I go to who works at home because she's the business owner and gets all the money anyway. In a salon they often only get a small wage.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 26/04/2013 19:02

I have to ask again - why don't people just say 'No' when the stylist whips the straighteners out?

Doinmummy · 26/04/2013 19:20

Oh dear, I'm all worried now. Just about to start hairdressing again after a few years off. It's my main stumbling block that clients won't like what I've done . I won't be straightening hair though ( only if I'm asked) as I think it is quite a harsh look .

Unami · 26/04/2013 19:38

I used to not tip hairdressers before I learned that most hairdressers in salons don't actually get paid a standard wage, are technically self-employed and actually have to rent a chair at the salon (and risk losing money if they don't have enough clients) and also have to provide their own equipment and insurance as well as covering the cost of products. But they have to charge what the salon scale says they're supposed to charge. You might find that not much of that "costs quite enough, thank you!" hair cut goes to your stylist - so yes, I certainly do tip now!

It's a bit different when it comes to self-employed stylists who are mobile or run their own salons, but to be honest I think that if you can't afford to tip then you can't afford the haircut. Same for eating out. If you're budget is so tight that a tip is make or break, then you probably shouldn't be eating out in the first place. And the idea of being indignant about paying a gratuity to someone who "probably earns more" then you baffles me. It's a gratuity, it's not charity.

LaTrucha · 26/04/2013 19:47

I've never had my hair straightened with straighteners in the hairdresser. They always do it with a brush.

MrsRambo · 26/04/2013 21:28

I too have this thick wiry wavy hair many of you speak of. If it's straightened without adequate weight removal I end up looking like Holly from Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom. It's a curse I tell you. Most hairdressers become slightly irritated and perplexed by it all to be honest. I try to explain that they need to remove loads more weight for any kind of styling to really work but more often than not I don't have the energy to do battle and just walk out the salon with my triangular hairstyle after a hefty straightening session.

It's funny how many of you speak fondly of that one hairdresser that really got your hair. I too experienced this, it seems, once in a lifetime meeting of minds. During my uni years in Sheffield in the mid 90s. Sam was her name. An angel sent from above to help all those with little Holly's triangular hair. I miss you Sam .

JackieTheFart · 26/04/2013 21:36

I have curly hair too, and have been trying to get this for over a year now, my usual hairdresser just wouldn't cut it angled enough so it just looked like a bog-standard bob.

It took me going to a local salon and having a junior do my hair for me to get what I want - she charged me £15 so I tipped her. She washed me as well. I don't tip if I pay for the top stylist, but the juniors I do.

breatheslowly · 26/04/2013 21:50

That is gorgeous Jackie - I completely understand why you persevered to get it.

IsabelleRinging · 26/04/2013 23:01

Sorry, I don't agree unami. If I want to tip my hairdresser or waitress I will, but a tip is optional and if I can't afford the extra, I don't feel obliged to leave one and it is tough on them. If the price they charge isn't enough for them then they should make that clear from the outset and change their prices. As far as I am concerned, if i can afford the price they charge then I am entitled to eat or have my haircut there and they are lucky if I can afford a tip or want to leave one.

BackforGood · 26/04/2013 23:40

I agree with you IsabelleR

Latara · 27/04/2013 09:31

I tip my hairdresser but only a small amount - it's a gesture of appreciation IMO.

She DOES listen to me and blow dry my hair in bouncy waves, it always looks good after she's dried it; the other stylists there are just as good at listening to their customers so i'm lucky.

It's a Toni & Guy salon.

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