How hard can it be to find a good hairdresser? I used to have a great stylist who listened to my wants and needs and gave my great looking, easy to style at home hair. Then she left the salon. Her replacement did a good job but I didn’t really gel with her. It was a fairly expensive salon and as S and I were trying to watch the pennies, it seemed a good idea to try shopping around. The last straw came on my third visit to the replacement stylist when, after not even having had my presence acknowledged when she came over and started grumpily cutting my locks, I tried to make conversation by commenting something innocuous along the lines of “town seems busy today, doesn’t it?”. She responded by walking off, only to return with a bundle of magazines which she dumped on my lap, telling me that these would keep me occupied whist she concentrates of the hair! So I had to concede that my £50 wasn’t being well spent on customer service and really seemed excessive anyway for, what I thought, was a simple cut and blow-dry. Thus began the search for a hairdresser, who would (a) do a good job; (b) be nice and (c) cost less than £35.00 . It has been two years. In these two years I have experienced disaster after disaster. These include:
- The realisation that hair straighteners are not standard salon equipment. One salon told me that they are too expensive to buy. Unfortunately my hair tends to be quite frizzy – there are ways to dry it into soft frizz-free curls, which is good. Attempting to make it straight without the aid of straighteners does not work. I know this. Why couldn’t they see it, or at least not wait until my hair was a bushy mess before dropping the non-straightner bombshell.
- Apparently conditioner is also too expensive for some saloons to keep in stock.
- The stylist who “got hungry” in the middle of doing my hair, went off to the shop down the road to get a bar of chocolate, having dried one side of my head nicely. During this hiatus, the other side dried of its own accord – frizz central. Upon returning, she remarked there was noting she could do about that now and sent me off like the half-man half-woman ladyboy act.
- The stylist who gave me a 45 minute appointment and as soon as this was up – to the very second – announced that my appointment was over – despite the fact she hadn’t finished cutting my hair!!
- The “Senior Stylist” fro whom I had paid extra, having a friend come in to show off her new baby and handing me over to the junior member of staff to do most of the styling whilst she chatted for 35 minutes. I wasn’t given a reduction on the appointment cost.
Not once in the past 24 months have I come away from a saloon actually feeling happy with my hair. This has resulted in my leaving longer than usual between appointments, whilst I try to find the next place to try and my hair has grown far longer than I am comfortable. And each time, no matter how upset I have been, I have smiled and paid up like a fool.
Today, I really thought it would be different. The salon looked nice and the big selling point was 50% off on the first visit. Nevertheless I scoped it out before booking. They had straighteners (GHDs no less!), the staff had modern but not stupid haircuts, people were smiling and leaving with nice hair! I was actually looking forward to my visit and spent the morning pampering myself in anticipation.
Upon entering, I was greeting with a warm smile (good!) and asked if I would like a tea or coffee (very good!), having asked for a black tea, I was a bit disappointed when a black coffee arrived. I can’t drink black coffee. Mistakes happen however so I tentatively ventured an “I’m sorry about this but it was tea I had asked for”. Only to be told in no uncertain terms that I did not (very bad). Yes, that’s right, I’m in the habit of requesting a drink I find vile and even if I had slipped up, what happened to the customer is always right or service with a smile?
After the drink debacle, I was left waiting 15 minutes past the time the appointment should have started. Not good but I had nothing planned so didn’t really mind – after all, workplaces get busy and I would rather someone else wasn’t ejected before being finished the way I had previously. Eventually I was taken to be washed. The girl who washed my hair was friendly and gave a truly excellent head massage whilst applying the conditioner (very good!) I was just drifting off and enjoying the salon’s choice of music when I was sadly jolted back to reality by the arrival of the stylist who would be cutting my hair. This was where things went downhill fast. At no point did she ask what I wanted done – just started cutting, and not cutting very much at all. When I did muster up the courage to say, “er, sorry but I was kind of hoping, you know, maybe, for a few inches taken off” she seemed genuinely puzzled, telling me that I don’t have many split ends so I don’t need much cut away at all.
“Yes”, I ventured, “but I don’t really like the length and was hoping it could be shorter”
“No, it looks fine and you don’t need it”
“But I want it”
“But you don’t need it”
And so on it went until, inevitably, I paid up for the “service”, mentally cursing myself and went about the rest of my day under a black cloud of grump.
Had I been given an opportunity to explain, I would have mentioned that I either like to wear my hear naturally curly or sleek and straight so layers are needed to give shape to the curls, otherwise I end up with triangle head. Apart from that, I feel I am getting a bit too old for long hair and prefer a just below chin length style with not too much hair falling around my face – gets in the way when I am cooking. I have the opposite to all this and most annoyingly, so little was cut that I look exactly the same as I did when I went in – the look I wanted to have changed!
I had planned an afternoon of shopping, but every time I caught sight of myself in a mirror I just wanted to burst into tears. And that made me mad at myself for getting so angry over something so self-obsessive and trivial. Hair will grow back or can be cut again, it doesn’t matter. But it does matter. And the money matters. It matters a lot – I feel like I have just been throwing bundles of £0 notes down the drain over the past few years. So I think I need to explain to S that I have to start going to expensive salons again – or at least give one a try to see if it makes me happier. £50 every 3-4 months is better than £35 in have that time because I am unhappy or the style hasn’t lasted.
And my hair now? Well, upon coming home I almost did the unthinkable and got out the kitchen scissors. Don’t worry, I stopped myself just in time. Then I nearly called a very expensive salon to see if they could see me today, before I shook myself out of it and realised it’s not a hideous cut. Just not what I wanted. And far far too long for my liking. That said, I’m going to give it a few days, try washing and styling myself and see how it goes. If I am still as upset, I will make that other appointment before going on holiday at the end of the month.
