Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

Why don't hairdressers learn about curly hair? (rant)

152 replies

sweetmama11 · 17/05/2021 20:18

Ugh... I'm just so sick of crap hairdressers. I have thick, wavvy hair and I've NEVER found a decent hairdresser in like, nearly 30s years! I always get them to blow dry my hair straight because they never seem to know how to properly style curly hair. It's so frustrating. I never wear my hair straight, as I actually prefer it in it's natural state. But it's always a nightmare when a hairdresser tries to style it naturally. I don't get it. Do they not learn about curly hair? It's not like it's some totally unique, rare condition! Lots of people have curly hair! What is going on?! I've been to high-end, expensive places and those super cheap, no appointment needed places too. Always terrible. Why does no understand curly hair?!

Don't mean to offend any hairdressers out there but I'm just so sick and tired of it. How can you be a professional yet still be so clueless? I've honestly never found a hairdresser in 30 years who knows how to style curly hair properly. The one I usually go to is ok, but I always get it straightened. She did a balayage which is again, ok but not brilliant. It'd be nice to pay for a service and be really happy with the results. Most of the time I just cut my own hair, especially during lockdown. It just seems crazy to me that hairdressers can be so clueless about curly hair. I know that curly hair has its moments and that sometimes it's out of fashion and then it'll come back round again, but it's always the same in the hairdressers. I feel like a burden or an annoyance because of my hair :(

OP posts:

Londontown12 · 18/05/2021 09:51

@sweetmama11
I’m a hairstylist and curly hair is deffo a different technique which we don’t get trained in it’s best to go to a stylist that has done extensive new courses ect !
I see u wud travel to London ? There’s a salon called not another salon on brick lane u can see there Instagram there are stylists there that are amazing with curly hair ! Salon owner is Sophia Hilton xxx

Donitta · 18/05/2021 09:54

YANBU OP, I’ve never had a nice haircut in my entire life. I don’t bother getting them to style it because it ends up being awful and then I have to go home and wash it. I just get it cut then rough dried and bring a hat to go home in, because why pay extra for styling that’s just going to be awful? What’s worse is that they’re so pleased with their handiwork and don’t seem to realise it looks like shit!

Thesheerrelief · 18/05/2021 10:08

@bookworm14 I'm in Ireland and would love to know who that hair dresser is! Lived in London for years and pre-covid would still get my hair cut that at Unruly Curls

MissHoney85 · 18/05/2021 10:09

Gah yes this is a familiar story! Every time, I ask them not to blow dry it as I always leave it to air dry. "I'll just dry it a bit, not completely", they tell me as they proceed to completely dry it and pointlessly twiddle bits until I leave with helmet hair which I have to wash as soon as I get home.

Every now and then I find one who 'gets it' but it's a complete luck of the draw, and one who seems to get it one time might not the same next. Makes me dread going, especially if I have to find someone new.

WeavingWandering · 18/05/2021 10:27

It’s always general look of shock when they cut it and then in springs up shorter so your cut is about three inches shorter than requested ? I don’t know what they expect a curl to do….

JMAngel1 · 18/05/2021 10:44

Vicky Queen of Curls at McCrory Hair Manchester is fantastic but so hard to get an appointment with.

In terms of type of cuts, have a look on Pinterest. Most curly hair needs layering to give volume and not drag curls out but some cuts can go triangle or mushroom shaped if not careful. Have a look on Pinterest. I like a collar length blunt end with side parting stacked layers - never taking the shortest layer past my jaw - that is where madness lies!!
Find a curly girl you like on Pinterest or YouTube and take a photo in.

leekandpotsoup · 18/05/2021 10:44

I have wavy curly hair and feel like I'm in a halfway house neither straight no r curly I ask on Facebook etc for recommendations and then I try to look at the hair of those people making the recommendations if it's straightened or cut short or what.

I find some people say they can cut wavy curly hair and what they mean is that they can tame it-- cut it off or straighten it

JMAngel1 · 18/05/2021 10:45

Sorry I meant collar bone length not collar!

XingMing · 18/05/2021 10:45

I am lucky to have a great curly hairdresser in Devon, but she was saying that her list is pretty much full.

Agree with everyone that they are few and far between. If I didn't know better, I'd think hairdressing was restricted as a profession for blind people. The general standard of curl cutting in the UK is appalling.

SweatyBetty20 · 18/05/2021 10:54

Mine is shoulder length, spiral curls (think early years Madonna!). I've never walked out of a hairdressers with curly hair because they just don't know how to style it - I just have it blown straight. My lifesaver over the past few years has been OXC Coconut Curls styling milk from Boots - I just put on a blob in the shower, and comb through soaking wet hair, scrunch with a towel when I get out, give it a quick cold shot with the dryer and then leave to dry, and it looks amazing, but worryingly, it looks like it might be discontinued and then my life will be over...

Original poster

sweetmama11 · 18/05/2021 11:03

@HoppingPavlova

I can’t believe you’ve gone 30 years without thinking to Google ‘curly hair hairdressers’ to see what’s out there. There are hairdressers who specialise in it and indeed some only do curly hair. These people always seem heavily booked so I’m guessing many other people have figured it out.

Realistically you can’t expect to walk into any old salon and find a specialist. Just like you wouldn’t walk into your local GP’s rooms and then moan that they weren’t a cardiologist.

Yeah thanks, like I never thought of that.... And I don't actually think curly hair should be classed as "specialist" when it's so common.

And I would be horrified if my GP was utterly clueless about cancer. They are taught the basics in their training and would come across it frequently in their career. Yes, would get referred to a specialist but you still expect a certain level of professionalism from someone fully qualified and experienced. Maybe that's not the the best analogy...but my main point is thatI'm surprised when we live in such a multicultural society, and that humans come in many different shapes and sizes that hairdressing doesn't seem to adapt to this.

I get that curly hair tends to have a mind of it's own but the basics of how to style it should be taught, in my opinion, and not just some "one size fits all" approach. Like I said, I'm not trying to attack any hairdressers out there but I've been to salons where they don't even understand how to use a diffuser...the mind boggles.

OP posts:

Original poster

sweetmama11 · 18/05/2021 11:05

@SweatyBetty20

Yep me too, love that! I also use the pink curly jelly from boots. The Umberto Giovanni (sp) one. It's lovely. If that ever stopped making that I'd be lost!

OP posts:

APurpleSquirrel · 18/05/2021 11:08

@XingMing - oh who is that? Is it The Curl Consultant?

QueenPaw · 18/05/2021 11:10

I've got my first curl by curl cut booked after a disaster wet cut last august!

Numnumcookie · 18/05/2021 11:25

I had a cut at Toni and Guy once when I was younger - first time I went somewhere other than cheap local hairdressers as a treat to myself. They wrecked my hair by doing layers and thinning etc, despite me telling them I have curly hair (as I turned up to the appointment not blow dried) which I do not like to straighten.

If I didn't straighten my hair after it looked ridiculous, all fly away and no shape to it. Took ages to grow out long enough to cut normally again and hair became brittle from all the hair drying and straightening. I just cut my own now.

As side note, the guy doing it just talked non stop about his qualifications, which was incredibly boring and made the end result even more of a piss take.

WeAreFromThePlanetDuplo · 18/05/2021 11:30

@bookworm14

YANBU, it’s shit. I finally found a hairdresser who knew what to do with my thick, wavy, frizzy hair, but then he went and moved back to Ireland. Still looking for a replacement!

I'd love a proper curly hairdresser, do you know where in Ireland your hairdresser ended up? I too often come out of the hairdresser looking a state.

catmandont · 18/05/2021 11:39

I have similar hair, and managed to find someone after years of trying.. who had curly hair herself, so she gets it.

We have a good laugh about our unruly locks, but she knows what works so, it's as good as it's ever going to be

Moltenpink · 18/05/2021 12:35

One thing I absolutely hate is when hairdressers style my very thick, curly hair with a severe parting. It just looks ridiculous. I once asked one to try to not leave it so obvious but I just got a blank look.

plumpuddisnice · 18/05/2021 13:02

You're right OP, I'm mixed race with with 3b/3c curls. It's taken years to find a hairdresser who knows how to cut and style my hair. She's black but has a mixed race child so understands the variation between hair types. You may want to try hair dresser who cuts Afro hair? Just a thought.

HoppingPavlova · 18/05/2021 13:13

Yeah thanks, like I never thought of that....
And I don't actually think curly hair should be classed as "specialist" when it's so common.

If you did think if it, why are you still rocking up to places at random and moaning they don’t do curly hair well?

Just go to someone who only does curls. In the time you wrote your first post you could have Googled, read reviews and made enquires about a booking. Realistically at least 50% will probably have full books but you will find someone and can ask to go on a wait list for a more convenient option if need be.

Original poster

sweetmama11 · 18/05/2021 13:21

@HoppingPavlova - You seem to have completely missed the point of my original post.
Sheesh...

OP posts:

Twatterati · 18/05/2021 13:22

I hope you find one OP! I've had the same frustrations forever until my most recent cut - an older hairdresser whose wife has curly hair (for context, I guess he's 'classically' or 'old school' trained.

The difference has been amazing and for the first time in over 40 years my hair is perfect.

He pointed out all the things other hairdressers often get wrong with curly hair and it was an eye-opener, so many "yes, that happened to me" errors. Also said that the long trend for straighter hair meant that younger stylists just didn't get the chance to learn about curly hair.

I got loads of helpful styling tips, some I knew but others I'd not have thought of. It's the first time in decades that I've come away feeling - and looking - a million dollars!

It's definitely worth travelling for IMO, and waiting if there's a waiting list.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 18/05/2021 13:28

I have long, thin wavy hair and I have the same problem. They all want to straighten it and/or layer it to 'make it curly'. All this does is make it frizzy and increase split ends.

SweatyBetty20 · 18/05/2021 13:41

@plumpuddisnice You mentioned 3b/3c curls - is that some kind of curl grading? I'm white Irish, so not sure if it's just afro or any curls. Would be nice to categorise mine - curls are so hard to describe.

APurpleSquirrel · 18/05/2021 13:45

This is a very interesting study from Australia which found:

Hair morphology is one of the more conspicuous features of human variation and is particularly diverse among people of European ancestry, for which around 45% of individuals have straight hair, 40% have wavy hair, and 15% have curly hair.

So, not even factoring in anyone of non-European descent, 55% of the European-descent population could have wavy or curly hair. Which means there does seem to be a clear disconnect between what hair people actually have & what hairdressers are taught, if they aren't routinely taught to cut & style wavy/curly hair.
The obsession with straightening hasn't helped clearly, but it does seem to imply that there is a huge untapped & underserviced community out there that canny hairdressers could & should look to meet.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775823/

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7