hair dressing on a budget?

[vannah]

Does anyone know how on earth I can regularly have my hair styled on a budget. This is not mere vanity, or pampering, its essential!

About a year ago, I went through the worst hair loss of my life. I had huge bald patches and was beside myself with misery. I used to have v long glossy wavy stunning hair!
Thankfully, it has started to grow back, but the regrowth is very short and frizzy and I cant seem to tame my hair like before.

To summarise, only a hairdresser can make it look presentable (there use to be a time when a hairdresser could make it look gorgeous, but I dont have the same hair for that now)

So...Ive been spending my scrappy savings account and paying for a weekly wash and blowdry at £20 a go, but obviously this cant go on.
I live in crouch end, London. Dont know how else to get my hair done on the cheap on a weekly basis. Ive called all the salons asking about model nights but they only want cuts and colours.

ANy ideas? thankyou

Local college, they have trainees who will cut your hair for a pittance. I know a very well groomed lady, who always gets hers cut and has blow drys at our local college.

Can you learn to blow dry it yourself like they do?

Do you have a local college with a beauty school? Ours is much cheaper as the stylists are students.

my mum pays £1.50 at local hair college for a wash and blow dry and £3.00 for a cut

Would it be worth investing in a good pair of straighteners, could save money in the long run?

got ghd's but frightened to use on already crispy (but new) hair, even with tons of protector.
Just spent last ten minutes doing some useless google searches trying to find hairdressing colleges near to me. cant find anything, Im either really rubbish at searching or none near me.
Have tried copying my hairdressers method, I reckon they either use special shampoo or there is something v good about their hairdriers...

thankyou everyone

Do they not let the trainees of the leash have trainee nights at your local hairdressers?

Maybe you could try firstly just treating your hair really well for a few weeks I.E no hair drying etc etc. I can recommend Aveda hair products for this, damaged and post-birth hair loves Aveda stuff. After a few weeks of this, start to learn the art of a salon blowdry. You just need good hairdryer (not one of these short low-wattage things) some hair sectioning clips, a good thermal barrelled brush and some good styling products. If you have these basic items, you won't need to spend money on a proffessional blowdry again, and you don't need to go near GHDs (or at the very least finish off ends with them)

gemy what hairdryer would you recommend, and which aveda products?
thankyou

Hi vannah, this is the exact hairdryer I have and find it very good:
www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1061966&classificationid=1049890&slmRefer=000 but as long as good wattage and super-slim nozzle, think there are quite a few good ones out there (I always think to a certain extent you can't go wrong with Vidal sassoon though)

Regarding aveda, the Shampure shampoo and conditioners are really devine and smell so lovely too. My friend uses the rosemary and mint stuff and she always has soft shiny hair. Aveda also do a range of products specifically called Damage Remedy. I haven't tried these but have yet to find any unhappy aveda users.
www.aveda.co.uk/mini/haircare.tmpl take a look!

P.S another friend of mine will only use Aveda shampoos and conditioners; of she uses any others, she notices alot more of her hair falls out and lots more breakage - I found them really good for this too.

thats really interesting Gemy about your friend only using aveda products else her hair falls out....I found mine fell out more with the use of pantene pro v, though it made my hair look gorgeous.
Will definately look into that hairdryer, thanks for the links, thanks for the advice
x

I agree about Aveda shampoos and conditioner. I have my hair coloured and use the Colour Conserve range. It makes a huge difference to the condition of my hair and how long my colour lasts without fading.

My hairdresser told me that a lot of cancer patients choose Aveda products when they have chemotherapy as they are more gentle on the hair.