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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hair Appointment Should Not Take So Long!

61 replies

AiryFlyingFairy · 31/05/2021 11:55

I've been going to my hairdresser for many years. She is a good hairdresser but the appointment always takes absolutely ages.
So I had my 1st post Lockdown do of a cut & full head colour.
For context, I have a lot of shoulder length. thick hair so I understand it can take longer than average.
I was in there more than 4 hours.
She was doing 2 people's hair the same time as mine. So at 1 point I was left at the sink waiting for my colour to be washed off while she was putting a colour on another customer & that was 30 minutes for me just waiting. Bored sh@@less.
I've heard other people saying she takes too long so not just me.
I've got to the point now where I dread the appointment but good hairdressers are hard to find. I do actually like her too & the price is affordable.

Mumsnetters, How long does your cut & highlights take?
Is it reasonable to expect a cut & colour to take more than 4 hours?

OP posts:
ChrissyPlummer · 31/05/2021 11:57

Well, I have a pixie. My first post-lockdown appointment was 5 hours as I had made the terrible mistake of bleaching and dying it at home. Otherwise, I’m usually 2 hours for full head of bleach/tone/wash/cut and blow.

amusedbush · 31/05/2021 12:01

My hair is down to my collarbones and I get balayage (plus cut and style) every six months. It takes about three hours, maybe slightly less.

My hairdresser schedules his appointments so that he starts someone else's colour while mine is developing and his assistant rinses/tones my hair. Then he cuts and dries my hair while the other customer's colour is developing so he never leaves anyone sitting around waiting for him.

CounsellorTroi · 31/05/2021 12:02

4 hours does seem excessive. Usually takes me 2.5 hours max to get my cut and colour.

There’s only the stylists in there at the moment, they do everything including shampooing.

AryaStarkWolf · 31/05/2021 12:04

That's very long, I get similar to you and I'm there 1.5 hours usually

FieldOverFence · 31/05/2021 12:09

2.5 - 3 hours for full cut & colour
And by the end of that I'm ithcing to get out, 4 hours is ridiculous

I'd change hairdressers if you could

Flowers500 · 31/05/2021 12:09

It’s a long time but it might be that the price is less due to the balancing of customers? If you wanted her to just concentrate on you, it might make the cost increase significantly?

UserAtRandom · 31/05/2021 12:12

DD's last hair appointment was 1.5 hours and that was just for a cut and blow dry. Normally it takes 20-30 minutes. Like your experience, the hairdresser was multi-tasking with other customers. I do suspect some hair dressers are overbooking atm due to high demand since lockdown. If her next appointment is still as long, we will definitely be going somewhere else.

Original poster
AiryFlyingFairy · 31/05/2021 12:13

@ChrissyPlummer hope you were happy in the end.
@AmusedBush I think mine is just too scatty & unorganised.
I was once in there 6 hours. She said there'd been a mistake with bookings & people had turned up on the wrong day. Obviously her mistake but instead of asking people to rebook, just left us waiting hours. She is lovely & very, very chatty. I think that's why she gets away with it as she's so friendly. . But I find now I dread the overlong appointment.

OP posts:
Rosieredapples · 31/05/2021 12:16

I was at mine for three and a half hours a couple of weeks ago and there was so much juggling of clients it was ridiculous.
I was cross as he was cutting my hair but another client he hadn't finished was sat next to me, so he had a junior girl that's training blow dry my hair a little, while he finished the other cut then came back and told me my hair was holding water, so started to cut it again then his next appointment he went and mixed the colour for and applied it while the junior came back to blow dry my hair again.
It was awful, I also felt a bit annoyed that as he's head stylist I'm paying for his service not to be passed around the salon.
It's been tremendously difficult for hairdressers so I'm chalking it up to another crappy covid thing but I hope it gets better or I will go elsewhere or have an appointment just for a cut then another just for a colour. I can't stand being there for almost four hours when it should be more than an hour and a half.

Mammymar · 31/05/2021 12:16

2.5 to 3 hours for half a head of meche highlights, toner and cut. I have thick hair past my shoulder.

KingdomScrolls · 31/05/2021 12:20

Can you book for the end of the day? So if she shuts at 6pm book for 4pm , she might be a little more focussed

KingdomScrolls · 31/05/2021 12:21

Posted too soon, I don't colour my hair but it is long (more than halfway down my back) thick and curly, my hair cut and finish usually takes about 90 minutes, and that's with the full attention of the stylist

Christmasfairy2020 · 31/05/2021 12:29

Can't the apprentice wash and dry your hair until she is ready to cut it?

Shortbreadbrokemytooth · 31/05/2021 12:30

When I used to go to a hair salon for colour and cut it took about 2.5 to 3 hours, never any longer. I have quite thick hair which is shoulder length. Since I stopped colouring I’ve used a mobile hairdresser - it now takes less than 30 minutes!

Gwenhwyfar · 31/05/2021 12:36

It used to take two and a half hours for a colour and cut, maybe just two hours sometimes if there was less waiting time. Last time was only an hour and a half because I didn't have to wait as much and they did a quick blow dry.
4 hours is a lot, but I'm presuming you have your phone/book so you're not just sitting there?

SaturdayMood · 31/05/2021 12:39

Very thick just below shoulder length hair here, I have to mention it when booking in to block out extra time. This time it took 4 hours for a freehand highlight and cut, a junior washes hair and gives a nice head massage while the stylist goes between two clients. It can take up to 6 hours if I'm having a fine balyage and a toner, and the stylist and has a junior to help hold hair while colouring then to speed it up. I don't ever feel like I'm sitting about waiting for more than 10 minutes though, that would annoy me. And she does such a good job I only have to go about once every 6 months.

BiddyPop · 31/05/2021 12:44

Sorry, I couldn't hack that. I gave up on highlights in my early30's and embraced the grey ( Isobel since I was 19).

I jump in the shower before hairdresser arrives so it's already wet (sometimes a conditioning treatment needs to be rinsed out).

Quick chat as he gets out his tools to check the cut, he gets stuck in, no waiting for apprentice to dry it and then wait for the stylist to recheck - he does it all and no other clients unless DD is getting her annual tidy up trim of the ends of her waistlength hair.

So he's gone in less than an hour, I've had a nice cuppa or. Glass of wine and a chat, he knows me well enough since before he left the salon that I can work away on confidential work docs while he cuts if I need to...and it's way less expensive than salon prices. I used to get evening appointments after work, but with WFH can fit it in during the day as well (as my lunch break).

YellowandGreenToBeSeen · 31/05/2021 12:46

Thick hair past my shoulders. I have full head tint, ballyage and highlights. Takes at least 4 hours every time. Sometimes bit longer.

Imnothereforthedrama · 31/05/2021 12:55

About 2.5 hours sometimes little longer . The foils can take 40 - 1 hour to put on depending if it’s full head or half head then usually 40 mins or so waiting for the colour to take then wash cut & blow about 30 minutes or so .
Yeah it’s boring but worth it , I’ll book when I’ve got a free morning or afternoon. I try and book first thing then I’m done by late morning .

itshappened · 31/05/2021 12:57

That's why I don't see going to the hairdressers as a treat... I get so fed up waiting! My old hairdressers on a bad day would take nearly 5 hours as he was squeezing in so many customers during my appointments. He was an amazing stylist but I couldn't cope with giving up half a day every time. I always say no head massages because I just want them to be quicker. 2 hours is ideal for colour and cut in my opinion. Otherwise I find I have to book time off work just to go to the hairdressers as i wft and have two toddlers at home who need me around at the weekend.

Ponoka7 · 31/05/2021 12:57

My hairdresser was similar, so both me and my adult DD started to book the last appointment. The hairdresser is good and cheap, so I put up with the extra time. I usually do online shopping, game playing and reading. I've redesigned my garden and ordered all of my plants, found wallpaper (I'm fussy), Christmas/personalised birthday card shopped, researched day/theatre/cinema trips while waiting so I don't feel as though it's wasted time.

Sally872 · 31/05/2021 12:59

It is long and waiting about is annoying. But for a good result at a good price I would suck it up.

Clydie89 · 31/05/2021 13:02

I have really thick hair around the same length as yours OP and every salon I've tried takes 3-4hrs. I used to take a book pre covid.

Now I just colour it myself at home and just get the cut/style at the hairdresser. My hair is dark so easy to colour at home though.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 31/05/2021 13:08

I have fine shoulder length hair. T section foils, colour between, wash, cut and dry takes about 3 hours. Your timing doesn't sound excessive to me as it seems you have much more hair.

I did spend 6 hours once (and ended up being late to a hen do). I didn't go there again.

QueenPaw · 31/05/2021 13:11

Fair enough I didn't have colour but I have curly hair which takes ages to diffuse dry
My cut the other day was 90 mins and that was talking through products, having it cut twice (before wash and then after diffusing) and diffused dry
For an idea of timing, mine takes 10hrs to air dry and 60 mins to diffuse BlushShock
I would be very fed up at being that long!