Got a call this morning for an urgent app, this mum said she had done a bad DIY haircut on her 12 year old daughter and her daughter was now hysterical over it. No problem dealt with this before, so I book her in.
15 minutes before the appointment time a lady and a girl walk in. They come over to the desk and the lady introduces herself as the woman on the phone. I glance over at the daughter and notice her hair isn't how I pictured it, infact there was nothing wrong with it. What I did notice was horrendous massive patches of an brassy blonde patches dotted around this girls hair. I think I know exactly where this is going.
Giving them the benefit of the doubt still, I lead the daughter to the salon chair and ask her what she doesn't like about her cut and how can I help.
The daughter looks confused and looks at her mum and says "I thought she was colouring it?" The mum let's out a theatrical laugh and says
"Kung I forgot too tell you, it wasn't a bad haircut I gave her, it was a bad streaking job. Now we was thinking a really light blonde, light enough so over time she can put vibrant colours in it"
I explain how
- I don't colour hair of under 16s
- Before I'd even colour anybody's hair I would require they do a patch test.
The mum informs me that a patch test isn't necessary, I have her consent which trumps a patch test. The daughter just wants rid of her horrible natural ginger hair.
I look at the daughters reflection in the mirror, and get the feeling the daughter doesn't want rid the mum does. I begin touching and looking at the daughters and tell her how I have a lot of clients who pay good money to have her natural colour and how it's beautiful hair she has. You should have seen the girls smile, but the mum chimed in
"But it's ginger and she doesn't want it? Now can you just start bleaching it"
I tell her that her daughter is under 16 so I won't be colouring it let alone bleaching it. She kindly tells me it won't take me long as she's done half of her hair anyway, she won't tell anybody that her daughter got it done at this salon and she'll sign something waiving the patch test.
I explain how just because she's put massive chunks in already doesn't mean I'd only have to do the bits she didn't, I'd have to correct it all so it was all one colour and even throughout. I once again tell her I won't be doing it regardless of her consent.
At this point she's getting really pissy and asks me am I really going to leave her daughter half blonde and half ginger. I tell her there's nothing I can do colour wise to help, but I'd be more than happy doing a conditioning treatment on her hair so it takes some of the orange tinge out - which the daughter looked happy about. The mum offered me quite an absurd amount of money and said I can come round her house and do it, if I was worried about doing it in the salon. I once again refused and suggested maybe teaching her daughter to embrace her hair colour and how it's beautiful instead of speaking negatively about being ginger and this wouldn't have happened in the first place if she would just accept it.
The mum didn't like this one bit and, told her daughter too stand up. She said I can shove the conditioning up my arse, I can thank myself if the daughter gets the piss taken out of her in school because she does anyways for being ginger. She'll be messaging my manager (I am the manager) and she'll be reviewing the salon on Facebook so expect a loss of customers. Basically thanks for nothing and flounder out the salon whilst her daughter looked so sad.
I'm so annoyed for a multitude of reasons
- Fucking her daughter's hair up because she can't accept she's ginger
- Letting the girl believe she won't be pretty with ginger hair
- Emotionally manipulating me by saying her daughter will get bullied because I won't correct it.
- Wasting my time
There was no way of rescuing that girls hair unless doing a massive bleach job on which i just wasnt prepared to do. I just wish there was something else I could have done for that girl.
Just awaiting a massively embellished rating on my salon page now on how I'm the world's biggest monster.