To think hairdressers should try to make you feel good?

[Opal93]

Writing this thinking of how much I miss my hairdresser 😭 I’ve finally found one who does exactly what I ask and when I leave I feel really good. I can’t wait to finally go! But before I found her, I went to many who seemed to think insulting you is somehow a good business tactic! I also hate it when they begin to criticise the cut/colour you currently have. I once went to one and she said “your roots are a disgrace” erm, that’s what I’m paying you for! What’s your best and worst experiences of the hairdressers and are you excited to finally go after lockdown?

Not a hairdresser but I once had a pedicure and the woman doing it announced she couldn’t as my toes were too weird and proceeded to get the other’s round to show them so they could all gawp at my weird toes (I do have weird toes to be fair)

I cut my own hair as I can’t sit still for long enough for the hairdresser

I'm surprised by this thread. The only remotely negative comment I've had in 20 years of hair and beauty treatments is an eyebrow wax where the therapist suggested I use a pencil as my brows were "gappy." But I think she was clunkily trying to be helpful, not rude!

I remember going to one expensive hairdresser once and they said my hair was terrible -practically like candy floss it was that damaged, tried to get me to have pixie cut! Went somewhere local which was a lot cheaper and they just said no don't be silly it's just a few split ends. 🙈 The more expensive the salon the snooty there are!

Newbiemum20 I had this too one time! A dead posh high end salon tried to talk me into getting a very short Bob because it was so “damaged.” I said no, booked myself into a little local salon and the very lovely but straight to the point hairdresser said “f**k sake we don’t need to be that melodramatic, it’s just a few split ends!” Also, when I was 14, a box dye went a bit brassy, I was in despair because I thought it was orange (it wasn’t THAT bad! ) my mum took me to a posh hairdressers thinking they could sort it and they said all they could do was dye it black over it. I looked like morticia Adam’s I was devastated and it cost £80 which was a lot back then! An ash toner would have done the job! Went to another hairdresser who was bewildered at why they had done it black, and said all the had to do was tone it. At least she was able to strip the black out back to my natural colour but I had to start all over again with highlights. The whole process must have cost £300!!

The hairdressers I have disliked the most are the ones who assume authority and have WAY too many opinions.
I have literally only just met you and you’re telling me what I would like, what I should like or judging my choice of shampoo (Pantene anyone?).

Good hairdressers listen more than they talk. They suggest and discuss options and don’t pontificate. They are kind and gentle.

Thankfully I’ve met some really lovely hairdressers.
I’ve also met way too many with their head up their own backside.

I spent 20 years looking for a decent hairdresser. Always hated going to the salon, expensive, torturous, all that painful small talk and looking at your own face in the mirror and results of an unpredictable standard.
Now I have a lovely, affordable, friendly and reliable mobile hairdresser who (when we're not in lockdown) pops round to my house, gets the dye on, cuts the kids' hairs, has a tea and a chat with me while the colour takes and then gives me a decent, low maintenance haircut. Its like having a friend round that also makes my hair nice. I love her so much.

People should vote with their feet, so a bad hairdresser should struggle to get clients. Sadly, they don't.

Couldn't agree more - I've just ditched my hairdresser as she was rude about me using box dye... I barely have the money to have it cut a couple of times a year never mind coloured.
I had the most wonderful hairdresser a few years ago, not only was she very good at cutting hair and gave fabulous head massages but she used to chat to me about politics, feminism and literature instead of holidays. She went off to the other end of the country to university in the end and I've not found a good replacement since.

I have only had one bad experience with a hairdresser. I decided to try a different one as it was walking distance from my house.
The young lad who cut my hair obviously just viewed me as a middle aged mum and cut my hair accordingly! It had no movement or shape and he even dried it straight down, but not as though with straighteners or style just down.

I came out of there feeling 15 years older than I am. Never went back there again.

Hairdressers make me feel nervous because ime they rarely cut my hair as I’ve asked. I’ve also noticed for many years that few hairdressers seem to either have a decent hair cut themselves, or it’s a case of piling up their long hair into a messy style with obvious root growth.

My worst hair cut was a mobile hairdresser who a friend recommended -she did two good cuts a few months apart so I asked her to do my wedding party- all good. Then she cut my hair just after my wedding and gave me a shaggy haircut that made me look like Zoe Wannamaker. It was horrific and I cried when I looked in the mirror after she left (she never used a mirror), and got an appointment with a High St hairdresser the following day who said straight away ‘who on earth cut your hair?’ when I explained what had happened.

How on earth can a hairdresser misinterpret wanting a shoulder length cut, all one length, with a shaggy dog hairdo with tons of layers?? I concluded she didn’t want my custom anymore so deliberately gave me a bad haircut because no way could having an “off day” result in that much of a mess!

Couldn't agree more - I've just ditched my hairdresser as she was rude about me using box dye.
The one thing hairdressers would consistently say about my hair was how shiny it was and what a lovely colour. What conditioner did I use? My reply was always ‘Castings creme gloss’. They never tried to persuade me to have my hair dyed with them.
One of the best hairdressers I had admitted that my semi-permanent box dye was as good as a salon colour.

I currently have a really good hair dresser, I look back at photos of myself and my baby and I’m so happy because my son is gorgeous and I look full of love but also my hair is great!
She’s nice enough and we have a chat but nothing g earth shattering, she just does a lovely job of cutting and colouring!
I also have a really lovely girl that does my nails and I’ve moved out of area but travel because she’s a friend now. I’ve had so many rubbish or rude ones over the years so I’m so grateful

I have really thick hair (which I now love but hated as a teen!).

I once visited a new hairdresser who happened to be going out after work. I'd called in when booking the appointment so she had seen my hair, but she was running late on the day of my appointment and apparently my thick hair was getting in the way of her evening plans...

Not only did she sigh and complain that I was making her late throughout the cut, she also thrust the hairdryer at her friend and told her to finish so she could get ready (not another hairdresser, just her mate who'd turned up to wait for her to finish work!).

Her friend apologised profusely as she "wasn't a hairdresser and had no idea what she was doing" and the hairdresser charged me more than the agreed price because I made her late...

As a nervous 15 year old I said nothing and paid her! Her shop only lasted a couple of months though so 🤷

I loathe going to the hairdresser. All those mirrors that really make you look so odd, the music and chemicals and getting cold with tint on. It's definitely not a treat. My best friend was my hairdresser and tragically died 15 years ago way too young. Took me years to find a stylist I trust. So many of them pretend to listen to what you want and do what the hell they like.

I hate hairdressers too. All that faff and they never do my hair how I want.
But the one I remember was in the days when I had young children and I asked for hair like a certain actress and she said effectively 'no chance - can't be done'. I've not been to a hairdresser since and the kids are mostly grown up now. But on a good day my hair does now look like said actress's. Sometimes I dream of sashaying into the salon and surprising that hairdresser.

I've had my fair share of hairdresser disasters. I have curly hair and seemingly no-one teaches about curly hair at college. I have been told that my hair cannot be blow dried straight, I should have it straightened, I should never straighten it, it should not be long, it shouldn't be short, I should colour it, I should never colour it.

I went to a fancy place precovid and I had the pleasure of watching the manager bollocking the assistant who mixed the dyes when he thought he was out of earshot. The lady cutting my hair proceeded to talk about having kids and told me she didn't want to be like these old women having kids in their 30s. She hardly spoke after I told her I was 32 and 34 when I had my kids.

I had a really insulting one once. He was the salon owner, not my actual hairdresser. I was discussing getting extensions. He wafted past, listened and said "You're too old. Your grey hair wouldn't suit them. You would look better with a nice layered bob" That's the only style that will suit you now".

I was 30! Not a single grey hair! My actual hairdresser was mortified and started telling me about different kinds of extensions once he'd gone. But the damage had been done. I never went back, got my extensions done the following month elsewhere. They looked fab, and I had loads of compliments about them.

We only had one hairdressers in 20 miles and she had trained many, many years ago. Specialised in perms on older ladies and was awful at anything newer. I'd go get a trim and she would just cut, horizontally, straight across my back. Id take a hair bobble in with me so I could tie it up as I left.

Then one day a new, fancy salon opened up in a nearby village. Oooh the excitement! So, as many others did I went to book myself in. It was lovely and modern with young, glamorous, fake tanned, well trained local lasses.

And they completely blanked me as I stood there looking like an idiot.
My face just didn't fit. Perhaps I was too frumpy/scruffy in my hoodie and jeans? Maybe it was because I wasn't friends with them? I don't know. But I felt an inch tall when they finally deigned to come and speak to me, giving me a sneery up and down body check. I actually felt like I had gone back in time 25 years and I was standing in front of the high school mean girls.
I did book in (too late to back out) but when the time came, the stylist spoke to her friends and the other customers instead of me. I suppose my hair was nice though.

Now I have a mobile hairdresser who comes out to me and she's fantastic. Haven't seen her in 14 months thanks to Covid but I can't wait til she can come back. My hairs a mess!

I went to a London hairdresser once who had a special offer on. (I think it was about £25-30)
My hair is quite long, very thick, a bit wavy and gets tangly very quickly. After they washed it, 2 assistants yanked tangle teezers through my hair - one either side.it was horrific and not at all relaxing. I manage to detangle my own hair after washing it in a far more civilised and comfortable manner.
After this the hairdresser wouldnt stop going on about how awful and tangly my hair was, and asking what I did to it to make it like that.... and would I like to buy their recommended shampoo/conditioner/mask/spray etc which a quick tot up was about £100.
Well not really because I came for a cheap hair cut and just got loads of insults about my hair! Funnily enough there was no one else in the salon. Later I looked at some reviews and I was by no means alone in having a bad experience.

I'm gobsmacked. Why put up with behaviour like that?

I've never had a hairdresser make rude remarks about me; nor have I ever heard them make rude remarks to or about any other customers.
Not once.

I have very, very long hair. I don't use much heat or chemicals on it, it gets cut about twice a year. The majority of hairdressers are just so, so rude about it!

"Omg we'll have to get rid of that"

"Its so hard to wash" (er what, is this not part of the job I don't complain about my job to my clients)

"Why do you have it like this"

And just general cats bum face about me not being persuaded to go with the style they want for me - it's my bloody hair!! And they often admit my hair is healthier than they thought it would be, as if all super long hair is destined for split ends.

The best place I went to (now too far away) was actually a barbers that did long hair. They did exactly as I asked, no faffing, no judgment!

Oh yes ... I've had a fair share of 'it takes so long to dry' comments

Some beauticians are even worse.

I went in to get my eyebrows threaded and the lady started listing all of her services and finished up with 'you need a facial very badly'.

My hair is thin as fuck and the hairdressers always talk to you like they pity you. It's horrible

^
Same here. It's like saying 'oh you poor thing, your skin is too white' etc. As if you pick it!

I now only go to a woman who does elderly ladies. It's not a trendy salon, there's no fancy products or screens. She does exactly as she's told, no fucking commentary, no messing. Hair is perfect after. I tip 50% every time.