I walked out of the hairdressers!

[JMAngel1]

I can’t believe I did it yesterday - cringing thinking about it but I went to a new salon that I was recommended as being fantastic at colour. I had sent a photo in advance of the colour of my hair and then a picture of the colour I wanted. She had asked for this as she said she wanted to be sure she had the colours in stock that she might need.

I sat down, she was lovely. We chatted and she then told me the colour she was planning to use and I questioned it and said I had been thinking about a Demi not a permanent in 2 shades lighter than what she wanted to use. I also explained my hair is very warm and always needs an ash:violet tone to counteract this.
I had sent her a photo of a caramel honey level 7/8 and she said she wanted to use a permanent 6/4. I ran for the hills!

Felt really awkward but just stood up and said I didn’t think this was going to work.

Got home and did it myself with demi I had bought last week. My friend had talked me into using her hairdresser and said for such a big change I shouldn’t do it myself (my hair was level 9 yellow in places and she said it might go patchy)
My hair this morning is exactly what I wanted - but I am cringing at how I walked out (but glad I did or else I would have dark burgundy hair now!!
I swear that hairdresser was colour blind.

I find that hair stylists don't like it when you know your stuff. I just had a look at JLos hair and I agree it's a 7.5. blondes always work better as glosses or demis IME.

@JMAngel1

Exactly, it is complicated and fascinating and thank god I have learnt it because I dread to think what I would look like this morning - a level 6 would have grabbed to a 4 and the 4 tone is a cool red tone whereas I was asking for a gold which is a 3. I needed the aah 1 otherwise I would look like a pillar box. It just amazes me that this girl was classed as a colour specialist.

When you say learnt it, do you mean five minutes of research or years training in an apprenticeship?

I absolutely am not saying that so know as much as a good hairdresser about colours and dyeing. Absolutely not. But I know about my own hair through trial and error and have spent hours, days, weeks over the course of my life researching it. In this case, I did know more than the “colourist” about what dye would achieve the look I wanted.

Ex hairdresser here and just wanted to say you sound awesome! A knowledgeable client was always a bonus and she should have learned from you and just done what you asked.

Those saying hairdressers don't like it when clients know their 'secret code', I wouldn't say it's that at all. I think most trades people would get pissed off with customers telling them how to do their job, you wouldn't tell a builder how to build your extension or a plumber how to lay your pipes. The main bulk of my job is dealing with customs procedures and it irritates the fuck out of me when customers pretend they know more than me and try to tell me how to do my job. I'm a qualified hairdresser with two very close friends still in the trade and I know they would be the same. Good for you for knowing what you want but the hairdresser was most likely very relieved she didn't have to do your hair in the end - she'd probably have done it this time and then been 'fully booked' if you wanted to make another appointment in the future. Glad it all worked out well for everyone, I don't think the hairdresser will be losing any sleep over it though.

I usually take photos of my hair that I have been happy with . However they do know me well as I have been going to them for 6 years and they keep records . Nevertheless they sit down at the beginning of the appointment to discuss exactly what you want .There has only been one disaster with a new stylist and they corrected that with another stylist within days . Hair is so important that it's worth maintaining a good relationship with them . I have a friend who is never happy with her hair and moves randomly from place to place never explaining to the what she doesn't like and it never gets any better . She is currently getting colour at one salon and a cut at another . Hair is too important to mess about with . @JMAngel1 your title sounds dramatic whereas the reality of your situation was less so .

@HelloDulling

You absolutely did the right thing, but I do wonder if your Demi will still look the same after a few washes. Maintaining a J-Lo caramel is a time consuming, expensive pursuit!

This was my thought . Had a disaster over 30 years ago with an "at home " hairdresser and had to go to a salon for a correction. They did their best but within a week it was all beginning to show through .

What was your base colour and which hi lift are you using now? I want to transition away from bleach! 😊

@sparkledust11

What was your base colour and which hi lift are you using now? I want to transition away from bleach! 😊

@Beautiful3 tried to quote you in the post, didn’t seem to work from my phone!

If your such an expert why go to a salon at all though? Aren't you going to pay for their skill and expertise? If not just DIY and don't waste your time or there's.

With permanent colour she might have been right depending on your colour before. 9, yellow, patchy, sounds like you needed colour correction work which doesn't always make obvious sense from the chart, because it's based on your natural colour, the depth and tones of dyed sections and your desired outcome. You might need a 6 to get even lasting coverage even though your desired colour is a 7. But because your hair was a 9 before it will look like a depth 7, or the tone will be right as the tones have been corrected so it will be the right tone but a shade darker as that is the closest they can do in one sitting.

Being able to read a colour chart is not the same as being a colour technician/specialist. That takes years of training, and I'm not going to pretend to understand it all either. But you seem quite proud of ignoring somebody else's specialist opinion and wasting them an opportunity to earn some Money. Would you do the same thing if you disagreed with your doctor, for example, or would you consider they might know something you don't?

There are so many people pleasers on this thread. Op, you did the right thing, don’t cringe, be proud of yourself.

Actually I’ve read your post op and 3 is gold so yes your correct but it’s deffo not Ash it’s warm and caramel is warm ??? Not really sure your 100 % knowledgeable on this x

@SoSickOfItNow

Good for you.

I’ve got home from far too many hairdressers and cried after saying “ lovely, thank you” then paying for awful hair. Well done.

This exactly!

So many grim experiences at the hairdressers. ✂😱

A level 6 would have grabbed to a 4 on my hair - I’ve been there before!
I need to have in some of the mix a little ash tone 1 as my hair has so much warmth naturally. So I used 8/73 and 8/71 50/50 mix. If I didn’t put a smudge of ash 1 in, I would like I would combust as the 7 is a warm brunette too. I had been toying with adding a little /6 violet booster too but didn’t and glad I didn’t as the yellow covered perfectly with this formula. If I had, I could have had some violet peep through on my whiter highlights (been there before too 😂)

Maybe I should have just gone DIY from the off but I had been really looking forward to a pamper hairdresser appointment as I haven’t been to one for 18 months. Plus my friend talked me into it saying I could mess it up myself given there were so many colours in my hair from previous balayage, root tints and glossing treatments.
I do feel bad that I had to walk out but I would feel much worse if I had to go stripping dark red colour out my hair.

I have such bad luck with hairdressers… walked out of a salon a couple of weeks ago as I was ignored for 29 minutes :). They had completely forgotten about me.
Got an appointment at another salon, but couldn’t get usual guy. Said, I dislike over coloured blocky looking hair, wanted it natural looking and not too dark as I’m too old and look witchy.
I was SHOCKED when the towel came off. I look gothic. So upset. She told me my hair was darker naturally than I thought? Wtaf?
Then I paid up. I honestly hate myself sometimes :)

Colour correction is a complicated science and your hairdresser's approach was to use the red as a "filler" on your bleached yellow hair. I assume she would then dye over that to achieve the honey brown shade you wanted.

This is a well known technique (red as a base) to take bleached hair to a brown shade. When the dye fades, you are often left with a khaki greenish tinge to your hair if the red base isn't used. So perhaps she was thinking long term; ensuring you had a colour that lasted.

Sorry but how did you end up with yellow hair if you're a colour expert?

It just seems daft to say "I'm certain she was colour blind". Of course she wasn't.

You hair sounds like it had so much prior colour treatment, I would be amazed if the home dye works for long. It's a bit like painting furniture without sanding it first, it might look ok on the day but it won't last. You need to prep the furniture/hair first.

Demis last for ages on me as I don’t shampoo my hair - so I’m not worried about fade etc.

The yellow was in the ends from a previous high lift balayage done in a hairdressers - not my doing!
There was no question she was going to put anything else on after the 6/4. She thought that would achieve what I wanted from the off. I know about needing to fill with warmth when correcting otherwise it will go green ( been there before too many years ago 😂). The formula I used had sufficient warmth in it to avoid this.

OP are you not open to change at all? Maybe you would have suited "dark burgundy" hair. The hairdresser is the expert and perhaps she was trying to tell you that your colour doesn't look as great as you think it does.

@TwinklyBranch
I have had dark burgundy red hair in my 20s and believe me I looked like a corpse.
I have very warm colouring.
The hairdresser genuinely thought her formula would give me JLo hair - she said it wouldn’t make it dark red.

@TwinklyBranch

OP are you not open to change at all? Maybe you would have suited "dark burgundy" hair. The hairdresser is the expert and perhaps she was trying to tell you that your colour doesn't look as great as you think it does.

But she doesn't want that colour!

OP are you not open to change at all? Maybe you would have suited "dark burgundy" hmm hair. The hairdresser is the expert and perhaps she was trying to tell you that your colour doesn't look as great as you think it does

Who gives a fuck it’s her hair ? She can shave it off if that’s what she likes.

But even if a hairdresser has an idea of what "suits us" sometimes people want a very specific look. The amount of times I've been told to be blonde I need to have highlights is ridiculous. My hair does lift, but most hairdressers have told me my hair is to dark to go platinum (not the case at all, it just takes time and a bit of trial and error).

Pay her either in full or a cancellation fee? 😂 Are you having a laugh?
The op told the hairdresser at the time of booking exactly what she wanted. With photos. Hairdresser agreed. Op went to the appointment based on getting the service agreed in advance. The hairdresser then told the op she'd be doing something completely different.

Oh well no, that's a completely different colour. It's not what I asked for and I don't want it. I'm so sorry for not just having my hair coloured the way you've decided it should be. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, please accept this payment for not doing what I had clearly said I wanted. I'm so sorry I wasted your time by wanting my hair the colour I told you and showed you when I booked.

I mean, come on.