When visiting your hairstylist or colourist, don’t be vague about anything. Address your wishes, needs, and concerns in detail, making them visualise the exact result you are looking for. Be decisive and specific enough to put a clear message across, or else stay away from a drastic change.
Consultation and rethinking should come before any final choice. Bring your stylist advice home, process all that precious info, and return to the salon only when you are completely certain. Even minute changes are sometimes hard to correct, so you really need to go through all possibilities. Most common misunderstandings are about hair length, shade, style, and condition. Time to rule them out!
HAIRCUT
Do you think that cutting your lengths off or creating some bangs can be easily fixed, if you change your mind? Models clip their fringes in, when they want to hide them for a certain look at the show, or they wear extensions to fake a long mane. In real life, such ‘corrections’ are costly, fussy, and time-consuming. It’s not enough to say ‘just a little bit of trimming’. How many centimetres is actually that?
The usual phrase ‘not too short, not too long’ is also out of place. You think your stylist can read between the lines, and this is why you ask him to do what they know best. Yet after your stylist comes up with a visionary interpretation of your vague description, you end up with complaints.
You need to show them the exact length and the shape, referring to measurements and placing your hands at the exact point your hair should end. Up to your shoulders or in the middle of your ears? Do you want an asymmetric pixie cut, or something very polished, geometric and sharp? Prior to the haircut, discuss with your stylist about maintenance requirements for this look. It has to align with your lifestyle!
HAIR COLOR
You come across so many coveted colours in the magazines and you want be part of the trends. But in the same way haircut should be flattering to your face shape, hair colour should complement your skin tone and eye colour. It should also mix well with your haircut and hairstyle.
Quite often you have no hint at the process needed for an impressive effect, the treatments involved, and the frequency of your salon visits required from now on. You might also be ignorant about your own body’s reaction to such chemical procedures as well as your hair endurance.
Analyse it with your stylist! Highlights are being retouched at longer intervals, yet they need intense hair care. Bleaching is the way to do all bold and unnatural colours. Sometimes it causes irritation and hair breakage, plus you need to bleach your growing roots in less than a month. Things are not always self-evident!
HAIR CONDITION
You often complain that your hair is dry, brittle or thinning attributing their condition to your stylist’s decisions. Yet you should always be aware of the practical implications behind an extraordinary colour, a very long main, excess hairstyling or skipping of necessary treatments in between.
Pick a hair look you can maintain at its best, based on your budget and available time. Be realistic!