Hairdressers....is it me?

[Sarcelle]

Is it just me or do you come back from the hairdressers and wash your hair?

I despair of finding a great hairdresser. Now I have settled on an okay one who rescued my hair from a mullet that someone else cut in. Now it is starting to take on a bob shape (which I don't want but always seem to get) but he straightens the life out of it. I have left it for a couple of hours but it was like sheets of glass hanging from my head so I have had to wash it, and now it resembles hair again....

I am really tired of this haircut malarkey. I think I have had two cuts in my long lifetime that were fab, the rest have been on the continuum from so so to fucking diabolical leading up to the aforementioned mullet. It's expensive and a bit demoralising.

I think I am going to make hats my signature look....

Not just you. I have covered the whole spectrum from disappointment to complete horror from many hairdressers over the years.

I must have spent years of my life growing out disasters. It makes me smile cynically when I see people say it’s only hair and will grow. Not much comfort when you feel you need to wear a bag on your head for a year.

I think the problem comes from too many hairdressers thinking they’re better skilled than they actually are and clients go in no having a clue what to expect. Salons are pretty good at talking the talk but often lack true ability.

People say ‘find a great hairdresser’ but that’s hard. There there needs to be better regulation and protection for outright disaster. Recent honest feedback would be useful and before and after pictures of recent work done. Then you’d see how competent someone is.

My absolute worst horror haircut was in a salon where I could literally feel him hacking lumps off the back. It was hideous. The damage was done and took me two years to grow out.

I call them “one cut wonders” because next time it’s totally different. I also do not want to hear about their holidays, health, hangovers and family problems, it really makes me feel uncomfortable.

And yes yes yes to too much chat! Just concentrate. I don’t care about your holiday, girlfriend or neighbours dog. What I am going to have to live with for the next 6 months is what is on my mind.

My worse experience was in a central London salon. The hairdresser decided to allow the junior to blow dry my hair. They held it too close to my head and my hair got sucked in. Smell of burning and hairdresser had to run across and pull it out strand by strand. Of course I paid, of course I tipped!

I have had a few cuts from Japanese trained cutters which have always been excellent. I think I am going to find a Japanese salon.

Japanese trained you say..?

Christ Id actually go to Japan itself if I thought there was a great haircut at the end of it.

These days Im happy to just settle for ‘well at least it’s not a complete disaster.’

My old one left so I tried someone else and we spent the whole time talking about how fine/limp my hair is. At the end she plopped a load of serum on and flattened my hair to my head I spend my life battling flat bloody hair!

I know it’s exactly what you mean! I have naturally wavy hair- I will maybe straighten it myself once a week, but generally I just leave it. I had a haircut yesterday and washed it last night- it was too straight! To be fair, the hairdresser asked if she could because it’s a good way to check the shaping at the front. I’m ok with that.

I love my hairdresser!! They’re an independent, not a chain, the only one in the area to offer totally organic colouring which doesn’t irritate my scalp. They’re expensive, but as a regular client they give me a 20% discount. A bob suits me, I actually like it straightened so that it doesn’t go bouffant, and the cut is so good that it just falls into place in the morning without any faff. They even serve delicious coffee!

I've lived in the UK for 14 years and haven't found a decent hairdresser. I get my hair cut in a different country now, the girl's a genius.

I remember sitting having my hair cut while another customer was blow drying her own hair! My hairdresser told me that she would always go and do it again at home anyway so she might just as well do it there!! He was a brilliant hairdresser so I have no idea why she wouldn't let him dry it, but it takes all sorts!! Sadly he emigrated and it was a lot too far for me to go. Still miss him!

Get one of the directors to cut ✂ your hair. Proper consultation before will ensure you get what you want. They will give you reasons why something works and what doesn't. This is the key to a good style. I pay 70 in an expensive area in Surrey, but it's a reasonable price

I'm so pleased I've found this thread and that other people feel the same as me!

I've been cutting my own hair for a few years now because I realised I was ALWAYS disappointed.

I have long, thick curly hair which is over all great but is prone to frizz but I can usually manage this. It's quite dry and not prone to grease so only wash it once a week (longer at the moment as pregnancy has dried it out even more!). I like to blow dry it with a hot brush so I get a smooth look with a curl at the end and a bit of volume.

Firstly, they seem to be obsessed with 'thinning it out' at the bottom. WHY?! Isnt thick hair what most people prefer? Isn't that why people pay money for extensions? I honestly think they do it so it takes less time to dry.

Then they use way too much product on it (and it being long and thick I use quite a bit myself) so after one day it's hanging lank and actually looks greasy.

Then as pp said they seem to want to straighten it, which I never do, I don't like it. So they just don't even bother drying it properly, it's still damp when I leave, so as soon as I go out into the cold air it frizzes up straight away.

These things always happen regardless for whether it's a big city salon or a little neighbourhood place. Does anyone know why they do this?? @Russell19 I've thought about a wet cut, this would solve some of my problems at least, are many places happy to do this and do they charge less?

My colleague was saying she never lets her hairdresser dry her hair, she gets a cut and colour then uses their hairdryer to blast her hair.

She's quite ballsey so prob wouldn't think twice on asking to do this, but I'm quite shy

I'm trawling my local Facebook pages for recommendations and I'm still in a quandary about how to find a good hairdresser.

The criteria I've picked up along the way when looking for a stylist is
I read somewhere that you should look for a stylist with similar hair to your own as they know how to treat it
Also choose an older stylist as will have a wider experience of dealing with different hair types but then again maybe they're bored and stale.
I always look to see what level of training they have and if there's ongoing training in the salon
If the salon had a busy professional feel to it
What products they use
How much value they put on cutting
What's yours?

It's not just you. Finding a decent hairdresser is so hard!

I've always hated how my hair is styled in salons ever since I was a (fairly shy) child in the 80s and they would always, always dry my wavy hair so it was curly when all I wanted was straight, smooth hair.

Now they don't seem to be able to resist blow drying it so I get really, really big hair. Which I hate as it makes my face look really round and middle aged. I'm happy with the cuts though, so I just live with it these days.

The best my hair has ever looked was the day after my wedding, I'd had it put up (and it looked great that day as well), but the perfect waves I had the next day were unbelievable.

@Boogie It was a director and I paid 70 quid too. No different.

I have also paid a lot more than that in central London.

I think non British hairdressers seem to be better trained. Had a Danish guy for a while. The best was an intimidating French man.

I am going to check put their instagrams in future. Too many of the same style tells me they are just doing the same style on everybody regardless of individual requirements. If there is no diversity of styles in their feed I am going to give them a swerve.

Good idea @Sarcelle

I went to an "Award Winning" Hair stylist in a nearby city. Great, I thought. I've found the one!! Then 2 or 3 cuts in and I noticed one side of my hair was longer than the other - he blamed it on me moving my head!!

I discount a salon if their website goes on about their GHD training and there's no mention of their cutting techniques.
Or if they do little summaries on each team member, this like - Amy loves her 5 cats and her favourite colour is pink. She loves making her ladies happy - yeuck!! No mention of her hairdressing skills!!

I wonder if there's any hairdressers on mumsnet who would comment on this post?

I've done my own cutting now for some years, started by following along with Youtube videos to get the techniques for the cut I want. Good setup, two mirrors and I'm happy with it now. Worth a try, even just at first try the sectioning and follow along without cutting, to get the basic idea.

One of my colleagues has a very sharp bob. She goes somewhere local to me. They did not have a website, only a Facebook page. Every photo was the of the same bob as my colleague. If I want that hairdo (I don't) I will definitely head there. But I will not bother for any other style!

Gingham - I can't even blow dry, not sure getting busy with ✂️ is entirely sensible for me!

I so could have written your post.

For the last 3 -4 years have gone to local hairdresser and had either wet or dry cut as cheaper and when she blow dries it costs extra £20 and doesn't look amazing plus I wash my hair every morning.

I am trying to find a new hairdresser as she has gone on maternity leave. Everyone I have asked where they go have answered along the lines of " xyz but I don't love it !"

Despairing ! Maybe I need to cut it all off ....

I moved recently and so couldn’t use my sisters salon any more (she’s amazing) so started going to a friends. They’re awful. I’ve decided I’d rather drive the 2.5 hours to my sisters salon. It’ll be awkward as fuck when I tell my friend I’m not happy...

I have only found a few hairdressers that did what I asked. They all moved on and of course the salon doesn't tell you where.

After some terrible cuts and revolting colours from top hairdressers in London, initials DG I stopped bothering and have been doing my own hair.