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Style and beauty

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Original poster

Why are hairdressers not competant with curly/wavy hair?

95 replies

colditz · 31/03/2011 12:28

Every single time I go to the hairdresser, I end up saying

"Don't do that, it pulls the curl out!" (drying with flat brush and hairdryer) or

"Please don't put that on my hair because it makes it lank" (silicone crap) or

"If you carry on running your hands through my hair like a rake I'm going to end up with flat roots and a ball of fluff at the end, and I won't be pleased"

I've had 2 inches off my shoulder length layered shaggy cut today, I walked in with bouncy curls and have walked out with some hair curly, some almost straight, flat at the roots and feeling greasy.

I don't thik I could do that to my hair if I tried, what the fuck do they do to it?

OP posts:

Original poster

colditz · 31/03/2011 13:23

Nobody else gets this?

It must be me...

OP posts:

ClaireDeLoon · 31/03/2011 13:28

Because they don't have curly hair themselves. You need to find a hairdresser that has curls and doesn't straighten them.

That said my hairdresser doesn't have curls and does a great job but she takes the time to understand curly hair. She gives me a great cut with layers that work. Often though I just get a wet cut (short walk from home to hairdresser) and style it myself when I get home. If she's drying it I'm very specific about what I want and what products to use.

PersonalClown · 31/03/2011 13:28

I usually don't bother with hairdressers now. I have a few kinks and a loose wave.

Anything they do to my hair falls out in a day or 2 and I'm back to my useless mess.

I just want to have those sleek waves in the shampoo ads.

BellaBearisWideAwake · 31/03/2011 13:28

When you find a hairdresser who can cope with curls, you hang on to her. I know exactly what you mean. Came home once, washed my hair and the front sections were three inches longer than the rest. Looked mad. Never went back there.

ruddynorah · 31/03/2011 13:32

My best hairdresser is a girl with the same hair as me. She's Indian looking, I'm mixed. Same long wavy hair. Excellent cut, and she works at Supercuts so its dead cheap!

giddybiddy · 31/03/2011 13:33

Agree with Clairedeloon. I have very curly hair and the only hairdresser who has made it look good has curls too... I sympathise, have been there too...

BornToFolk · 31/03/2011 13:35

It's not just you! I once had someone back-comb my hair. I came out looking like a dandelion flower!
As soon as I leave a salon, I have to rush straight home and wash and style it myself. The actual cut is usually fine (I have found a good hairdresser who gets my hair) but the styling is bad.

ilovegreenbeans · 31/03/2011 13:42

Oh yes, me too. I had a brilliant curly-haired girl in London, but we've just moved recently and I have been avoiding getting a cut as I have no idea where to start!
Maybe I should just wander in to various hairdressers until I spot someone with curly hair? (Am in Ipswich btw in case any of you can recommend someone!)
Also second getting a cut only and leaving with it wet to dry/stlye at home. Often works out cheaper and faster too! However, I would love to leave a salon with dry great looking styled curls one day! It's not going to happen though, is it?

MotherNight · 31/03/2011 13:44

I have really curly hair and every time I get it trimmed I end up with a bob, I always ask them to remember it will bounce up. I've given up now.

stirlingstar · 31/03/2011 13:48

Hairdressers are hopeless with curls. You will never find curly-haired hairdresser, as they all straighten their own out. My (poor) solution is to cut it myself and grit teeth & go to hairdresser about twice a year to get it evened out at the back. And I almost always refuse a blow dry from them.

What is so difficult to understand about "it will bounce up shorter once dry"???

belgo · 31/03/2011 13:50

Totally agree colditz. I didn't go to the hairdressers for 10 years because of this, but finally, now in Belgium, I have found a very competent french hairdresser who knows what he is doing with my hair.

I have a Spanish friend with wavy hair, who lives in England, she goes back to Spain every time she wants her hair cut

fishie · 31/03/2011 13:52

yes I haven't been to hairdresser for years. is total waste of money. the worst was the one who liked to dry my hair upside down so i'd leave with a boiling hot red face. i do a version of mn cut but at the back and dye it myself with herby shite. easy.

TheVisitor · 31/03/2011 13:54

My hairdresser is good with my very curly hair, even though she's got straight hair. She spends aaaaaaaaages on the styling when it's been cut and she completely understands that it bounces up once it's shorter. I love my hairdresser.

MayorNaze · 31/03/2011 13:56

i feel the pain

i never ever have poncey hairwashes etc, just tell them to cut it dry. currently i am going to supercuts as that is the only place where they don't get arsey with me and accuse me of telling them how to do their job (er excuse me, it is my hair!)

i am going to be a model at the poshest place i could find (that has won awards and shit!) in a few weeks, lets see if they can have a bash...

MayorNaze · 31/03/2011 13:57

and now i come to think of it, i had to do some hacking myself last time i went as she layered the back beautifully but forgot the sides

BornToFolk · 31/03/2011 13:57

"I have really curly hair and every time I get it trimmed I end up with a bob, I always ask them to remember it will bounce up. I've given up now."

I have the opposite problem. Whenever I ask them to take a bit more off the bottom, I get "well, you know it's going to bounce up when it's dry". Yes, I know! It's my bloody hair! I know what it looks like when it's wet and how it behaves when it's dry and I want a bit more off the bottom to avoid straggly bits. I usually end up hacking bits of with nail scissors when I get home.

tethersend · 31/03/2011 14:02

Go to the Vidal sassoon school in Bond street. It takes a while, but they have a policy never to cut your hair in a way that goes against what it does naturally IYSWIM- they'll cut with the wave/curl, and tend not to straighten anything.

Cheap too.

MayorNaze · 31/03/2011 14:10

ooh ooh ooh

am nowhere near london but this posh hairdo place go by the vidal sassoon "ethic" apparently!!!

maybe there is hope...???

BlingLoving · 31/03/2011 14:17

Do you go to a different hairdresser every time? The trick is that you have to find one, and give her the opportunity to get to know a) your hair and b) your preferences. Ideally, the first time, go in for a wash and blow dry - explain the issues with your hair. You'll get a good sense from that if the hairdresser listens to you and can understand what you're looking for.

Then, after your first cut, which may or may not be perfect, when you go back, specifically reference your issues - the layers on the side were too short when my hair dried naturally and more of the curl kicked in.

Even the best hairdressers seldom get it perfect first time. Remember that they're not seeing your hair naturally when you arrive - you've styled it yourself or used your own products or perhaps the cut is so out of date that it's hard to tell what your hair will do with a proper cut.

nikki1978 · 31/03/2011 14:18

I have always found this a nightmare. My current hairdresser is pretty good but I still always have him straighten it at the end of leave it to dry naturally. Hairdressers ALWAYS get excited at the thought of drying my hair curly and I never let them as I have been mentally scarred too many times by having to leave the salon looking like a frigging poodle.

They just touch it too much, and comb it and scrunch it.

STOP BLOODY TOUCHING IT!!

BlingLoving · 31/03/2011 14:18

Also - those of you commenting on the wet/dry thing - good hairdressers these days will do a partial blow dry before finishing a cut if there's any concern about that. Mine has weird kinks in it so it's always dried almost completely and then the cut is finished to make sure we don't land up with bits that are completely off.

BulletWithAName · 31/03/2011 14:19

This is why I haven't been to a hair dresser since I was 11.

FairyLightsForever · 31/03/2011 14:26

This is the reason that I cut my hair myself- I do the Mumsnet haircut, it works really well on curly hair and ends up as a layered, shaggy cut. I save myself loads of time, money and stress, as I used to come home from the hairdresser and re-cut it anyway!

makeminemango · 31/03/2011 14:31

You have to shop around. I have a wonderful hairdresser but it took a while to find her and she does wonders with my curly hair. I even get her to blow dry it straight at the end because its something i can never be asked to do don't have time for at home. But be assertive, if you don't want your hair done a certain way , tell them. Give feedback on products as well- for example Moroccon Oil just killed my curls.

If you are anywhere near Cambridge I can recommend a fantastic hairdresser who taught me how to get the most of out of curly hair. Good luck

LessNarkyPuffin · 31/03/2011 14:38

My sister once came out of the hairdressers with what looked like oiled ringlets. I didn't laugh. Honest,

My hairdresser is lovely and knows how I like my hair styled. I think there are more ways to mess up curly hair post cutting.

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