Absolute hair disaster - advice/recommendations needed.

[TheWeeBabySeamus1]

I've been really bored with my hair for ages. Don't colour it and rarely get it cut, but 30 is fast approaching so I decided to treat myself (I'm a single parent and lost my job a few months so it really was a treat) to something different.

Anyway after lots of searching online I found a cut I loved and decided to have Balayage (sp?) highlights done... It's a disaster. It's not Balayage at all - I have bright yellow streaks starting from the root, it's as dry as straw and looks like something from the late 80s early 90s.

The light in the hairdressers wasn't great so it didn't look as bad in there (not great but I could have lived with it) but once I got into the light and saw it I was mortified. It's awful and I'm searching for work - I cannot show up to an interview looking like this.

So my options currently are:

1. Complain to hairdresser and hope they can fix it, however I can only usually do Wednesday's and the stylist doesn't work that day. Salon is quite far from my house so it's a pain to get to. I'm also worried that it could end up even worse.

2. Buy some brown hair dye and cover it up - but that feels like I may as well have just set fire to a wad of cash as my hair will just look the same.

3. Try and save some money in the next few weeks and see if any other salon in willing to try and fix it.

What would you do? Is it worth trying to get the salon to sort it? How do I word it without sounding like a bitch (the stylist was lovely but she just didn't do a good job)?

Aaargh... This is why I don't treat myself - something always goes wrong. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not important but I'm gutted. I've been single for 2 years, coming up to thirty, jobless, skint and feeling crap about myself - this was supposed to be a boost to make me feel better. Now i just feel like a silly old woman desperately trying (and failing) to make herself attractive.

can you add a pic? there's a few things you can do.

A good salon will try and make it better if they agree it is bad. It depends how you feel about returning?

I would complain to the salon manager and ask that someone else fix your hair. Did you take in a pic? If so take it again and say this is what you asked for.

Complain. You don't have to be unpleasant, just say that when you got home you felt disappointed and you wondered if there was anything they could do to rectify the situation. (If it was me, I would email with a photo and the photo of what you wanted.) I suspect you would need to fit around them though, in terms of being squeezed in if there's a cancellation, which isn't great.

My hairdresser always says her clients are her "adverts", and that she would far, far rather someone said they weren't happy than go about feeling shit. At worst they could probably do a "cleanse" which I think is a bleach bath, and then colour it again.

Here's a pic of what I asked for versus what I got. It's the massive streak right at the front that's bothering me most - it's like that thing in the 90s where people would just bleach the 2 front sections of their hair!

I've put on a slightly blurry one because I don't know how to edit pictures so I can't block out my face

Don't beat yourself up, OP - nothing silly about trying to give yourself a confidence boost, and at 29 you are far from being an old woman (not that it would be a silly thing to do at any age). It will be fixable! I should talk to the salon in the first instance, and then decide what to do based on how confident you feel that they can sort it out.

I took the picture above in with me so she knew exactly what I wanted.

Emailing is a good idea - I'm really bad at complaining in person.

x-posted with your pic - it isn't what you asked for, but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as you think. You mention job interviews - I don't think anyone interviewing would bat an eyelid at your hair.

oh gosh thats not great however it is easily fixed.

they need to do a root stretch with the colour you had all over pulling it down an inch or so from your scalp. The blonde hasnt beent lightened enough. A toner would make it look better and take out some of the orange tones but it would look better if you had more highlights added and they were developed longer to get them a lighter shade.

I have a feeling that can be easily fixed but I'm not a hairdresser. I would go back. I know its nerve wracking but they should be fine.

Thanks everyone.

GingerBreadMam Thanks for that, I was getting stressed because I couldn't figure out how they would sort out the highlights starting too far up. I'm going to be cheeky and copy and paste your suggestion into the email tomorrow. 👍

I would ask for more fine highlights, a lighter blonde and with an ash toner over them once developed.

The root things is literally just paintinf the dye on your scalp and about one inch down the shaft of your hair. Different salons use different techniques hopefully they have one they are familiar with.

It's so disappointing when you've saved for something & it doesn't turn out as you expect. I think it's ok, just not as lovely as the photo you took in.
Emailing them- great idea. Just say politely 'it's not what I asked for, can you tone down these front bits please' and make sure it's clear that you expect it to be rectified free of charge.

Your hair looks fine and you can go to any job interview like that. So don't let this dip your confidence. However, it's not what you wanted and as other posters have explained the colourist has made some errors. Email her the two pictures and say you would like her to rectify it. Good luck!

It isn't balayage, I think you should call and say you've got home realised it isn't what you asked for and see if they can help.

sorry i totally forgot you had mentioned interview. Absolutely fine for an interview dont worry about thay and best of luck!

I am into hair and got half way through an nvq in hairdressing so am probably a lot more critical than others although tbh the two side by side photos it is clear that they are very different.

If you decide against the hairdressers or want something in the interim, wash it a couple of times. The contrast between the blonde and dark will fade and it will look a little better. Also purple shampoo is your friend. Savers do a fab one really cheap, think boyes superdrug and boots stock it too. I'll try and get the name of it. Think it might be 'touch of silver'. if you leave it on 20mins it should make a difference.

Proper bayalage is really pricey, like 150-200 quid, so they really should be fixing this. Or did you pay considerably less and maybe they didn't really know the technique well? I had a pixie cut for many years and honestly, the stories I could tell of salons who basically had no clue how to cut a woman's pixie and just did a sort of sad teenage boy haircut. Shudder.

Call 'em up. Bayalage should have been carefully painted on by a specially trained stylist - it's not just chunky highlights, which looks like what they've gone for.

Tesco sells Touch Of Silver too. It's about £2.

I'm in the same position - treated myself and ended up with horrible hair, box dyed it twice to get to be a bit more blended and have now decided to just let it grow out. Sigh