Why are hairdressers not competant with curly/wavy hair?

[colditz]

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?

[willybreeder]

If anyone wants an Edinburgh recommendation let me know! I leave the salon with some product that's been twisted into my hair and let it dry naturally - no touching!

[thinNigella]

I get it too. THink it's because waves have never been trendy. Well not in my hairdressers anyway.

[Meglet]

I get so pissed off when they want to use a fecking diffuser on it. It won't make it curly it will make it frizzy.

I don't let them blowdry it at all anymore, I just clip it back and go home straight away so it can dry in the warm.

They look at me like I'm mad when I tell them not to cut it too short as the curl will ping up. Drives me up the wall

[alexandra65]

Have you tried a hairdresser who specialises in black afro hair ? My DSD is 1/4 black, but her white Mum has very curly hair too. They find a local afro caribbean hairdresser the best solution.

My DS (her half brother)who is also 1/4 black has poker straight hair!

[Cristiane]

Please can you give me the Edinburgh recommendation willybreeder>?

[muddlinleigh]

Murray at Charlie Miller in Edinburgh does a fabby job on this curly girl.

[newrose]

muddinleigh - which branch?
willybreeder - please share!

[BitOfFun]

I finally found a recommended curly expert with a salon locally (yay!), sadly the day after i hacked six inches of my horrendously itchy dreadlocked mess, booked an appointment, only to find that dd2 had given me fucking nits . No wonder my hair was bugging me so much...Anyway, I cancelled the appointment, and now I'm scared to rebook in case I haven't got rid of the fuckers.

[Himalaya]

Oh god I hate going to the hairdresser. they never know what to do with curly hair.

They say gosh it's thick and look a bit dumbfounded, cut layers in too short so it ends up rectangular, try to maul you with a diffuser, put crunchy mouse in it, cut you a fringe (it's not a fringe it's a pom pom on your forehead) arghhhh!

When I had my hair long I used to do the curlygirls drying trick with Boots curl cream and a long sleve Lycra t-shirt. Learnt it off the Internet, it works really well. why can't they teach hairdressers this stuff in college??

Now I wear it short the trouble ialways to pursuade them to cut it short enough, so I don't look like an old lady with a perm.

Last time I got so frustrated I just got DH to do it withthe clippers. It wasn't the best cut I've ever had, but it want the worst by far

[amberleaf]

That ponytail cut looks as though it would be so wrong for curly hair.

The fringe is waaay too short for curls

[cheapFlower]

DIY - it was my last resort (I have very curly hair) my hair/cut looks looks really good. I get even asked which hairdresser I use every now and then. I spent the £££ on chocolate instead :o

[Bunbaker]

I have wavy hair and have finally found a hairdresser who works with my hair and not against it. It took me a long time to find her, but she is brilliant. To get an appointment with her you have to book weeks and weeks in advance.

[mamajp]

Hi Williebreeder- who is the curly hair person in Edinburgh?

[Beautybymums]

I know what you mean. I travel down to see this girl Jay in London. She worked in an afro/European mixed salon and my hair has never looked better. She has curly hair too and really knows what she's doing even throws in free treatments sometimes. I would keep her to myself but its time we were all getting proper curly hair treatment and stop paying £150 for haircuts that make us cry. If anyones interested her number is +44 7517441080

[Lottapianos]

'They say gosh it's thick and look a bit dumbfounded, cut layers in too short so it ends up rectangular, try to maul you with a diffuser, put crunchy mouse in it, cut you a fringe (it's not a fringe it's a pom pom on your forehead) arghhhh!'

This exactly! So many times!

It's downright shocking how many hairdressers have no clue what to do with curls. I'm lucky enough to have found a fab hairdresser (MN recommendation actually) who does indeed have curls herself. My first haircut with her was a revelation - she practically cut each curl individually, took off just as much as I asked her to and didn't come near me with any damn thinning scissors either. And didn't blink an eye when I declined a blowdry. She's a keeper

[Sammyplus3]

I used to go to this Salon in Camden. They were OK I guess but I havn't had my hair cut in years now and my stylist isn't there any more. Beautybymums I took your recommendation and saw the stylist up in North London. It took for EVER but only because I needed a total restyle and I do have a lot of hair.
Needless to say I am shocked that a white girl has done a better job for only £60 that years of Afro hair dressers and posh salons. She cut every single curl one by one in its dry state following the Devachon Salon method and my hair looks like it did before my kids sucked the living life out of it.

Also I'm so pleased she didn't try pawn off expensive hair products on me she just gave some really good styling tips and information on at home natural treatments that save money and work better. She has curly hair too and it looks really nice so I take it this girl really knows what she's doing. I don't doubt she'll open her own salon sometime very soon at the rate she is going. I hope she keeps her prices the same :D

[TheGreatHunt]

I'm slightly worried as my two DCs have beautiful bouncy curly hair. Ds is fine, he's a boy so cut it short. DD (who's only 2) has amazing, tightly curled hair (but looser than afro iyswim) - I took her to DS's hairdresser and asked her advice about looking after DD's curls. She suggested I cut it short (as in boy short) not a clue about treatments or anything.

It's going to cost me a fortune isn't it to maintain!?

[missymum]

I too totally understand this and it's taken me twenty years to find my current hairdresser who is fantastic with curls and was trained at the Vidal Sassoon school... She's in Exeter, Devon, if anyone needs a recommendation let me know.

[delasi]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet (quick read through so might have missed it):

• Going SLS and silicone free is great.

• If you're looking for a curly hairdresser in Brighton, Cuttlefish Organic (North Laine or thereabouts, iirc) has a hairdress who is really good. I don't remember her name, if she's still there, but the first time I went on recommendation I said, "Can I have someone who is good with curls?" and the woman taking my booking said, "Ah, you'll be wanting x then", when I chatted with her it transpired that she had loads of clients with curly hair and it all started with her sister who has very curly hair. I think her name began with an S...

[delasi]

PS that's an old recommendation as I left Brighton and couldn't find anywhere new, so I've been cutting my own hair for 2 years now! I'm actually pretty good...

[Ploom]

I do the MN cut but dont bring the ponytail anywhere near as far forward as in that youtube clip - I dont want a fringe! I also sometimes leave some front bits out of the ponytail and cut them afterwards.
Only problem I find is that the back is still really long - the layers are great but I'm not skilled enough to then chop some off the back.
Thankfully I've found a hairdresser who isnt trying to do anything fancy with my curls & I top it off with a MN haircut afterwards.

[TheRaniOfYawn]

I just got my hair cut at the training college and it is driving me crazy. My hair is wavy with a couple of ringletty bits and thick and the volume pulls it straight. She cut am inch off the bottom but left all the volume so now I have a shoulder length frizzy mess. She died out straight in the salon which looked fine but I'm going to have to either rely on salt spray or straighten it for the next couple of months. Grrr.

[MadBusLady]

Oh my people!

Yy to the diffuser thing. WHY?? In fact styling aids generally. I've almost never had a hairdresser make my hair look as good as it looks when it just dries naturally after a good wash with a good cut, with the right product in, and then lightly combed out.

I used to go to mahogany in Oxford years ago, had a gorgeous little 20s/30s wavy bob then, I second that recommendation if they're still as good.

[Scarletohello]

I've recently discovered a fantastic hairdresser in Birmingham who trained for 10 years in New York with the woman who wrote the Curly Girl Handbook. He totally transformed my frizzy/ wavy/ curly hair, cut it dry, told me what products to use and how to dry it. I couldn't believe how lovely my hair looked afterward. I thoroughly recomnend him.

www.matthewjameshair.com/Site/UKs_Curly_Hair_Specialist.html

[Sillybillypoopoomummy]

Yes please makemine!