i went in last weekend to get mah hairs did, but the lovely gal who gave me that gorgeous red earlier this year wasn't available, so i went with a stylist i'd seen before but hadn't loved. i figured all i needed was a touch up of the exact same color, so it would be fine, right?
i think you know where this is going.
it's not BAD, really, not like some travesty that needs to be fixed or anything. but the thing is, i went in and said "hi, i just need my roots done and my color brightened a bit! and also a few inches chopped off," and my lady was like "ok, yes, that's such a pretty color! although i think darker, it will look better?"
(she has a bit of an accent.)
"oh, yeah, well, i do really love the color i have now. it's.. really nice. i like it," i said, as firmly as i could. which, granted, is not The Firmest Ever, because i don't do Firm very well.
"yes, yes, i do too! but you trust me - i do this EVERY DAY! - just a LITTLE bit of darker red will be SO CUTE. see? like this? SO CUTE, no?" she pressed, hold hair swatches up to my face.
"well... yeah, maybe.. i just really like how this color looks NATURAL, you know? like, people assume this is my real hair color now, which i like," i tried.
"oh yes, this will be natural! even MORE natural in fact, look at this color with your skin, you see?" she insisted. "SO CUTE, it will look even better! you trust me, i color hair EVERY DAY. i know what i'm talking about."
"well... that's true. ok then. let's do it! i trust you!"
and i did! for a bit! i mean, she should know better than me. i'm not a hair specialist. but i started to get worried when, while brushing out my newly-dyed, still-wet hair, she started to cackle about how great the color looked.
"you see? this will be SO BEAUTIFUL. it's good you trust me. you know, i make EVERY SINGLE ONE of my customers change hair color this week! every one! i always know best color!"
uh, great. so your priority is not to take into consideration what the customer wants, but to have some weird power trip about forcing all your clients to change hair color..?
dudes. my hair is BROWN now. again. to be fair, it's a lovely color - a kind of rich chestnut - but... brown.
i miss my red hair. it makes me sad when i think about it.
and also. ALSO! i do not overly enjoy making small talk at hair appointments in any situation, but ESPECIALLY when the small talk goes like this:
stylist, out of the blue: are you doing anything for father's day today?
me: yeah, going to dinner with my boyfriend's family & his dad.
stylist: that's nice. [pause] i don't have a father. he's dead.
me: ..........uh. i'm.... sorry?
i'm going back to the first girl next time, even if it means i have to rearrange weekend plans.
That totally sucks. Where was your original hair stylist during all this? In my salon, if I go to see someone who isn't my normal guy, my normal guy usually consults with whomever is seeing me. He makes sure they review my file together, so everyone is on the same page. I've never been disappointed that way. What a shame you had such a disappointing experience. Though, I bet if you shared a photo (hint hint!) that I'd say you look fab with chestnut locks (do you realize that word is all dirty and stuff ... chest + nut ... hahaha).
ReplyDeleteyikes! sorry... can you get the red back somehow?
ReplyDeleteWow. That lady sounds like a nightmare. I wonder how many of her clients she talked into changing their hair color actually liked it. Honestly, if I don't like my hair afterward, I don't say much or make a big deal of it. That's just how I roll. Nice and confrontation-less with no balls whatsoever. I wonder how many of her clients went home afterward hating their new hair color. Just because she does it everyday doesn't mean she always makes her clients happy. And I love that she asked you a question that then prompted her to share that her parents were dead. How awkward.
ReplyDeleteI did that once in high school - going to a different stylist out of convenience. I learned my lesson, though, when I came out with significantly darker hair than what I wanted.
ReplyDeleteBut, like Nilsa said, I'm sure the chestnut looks great!
Jesus! It would be one thing if you, unknowingly, brought up Father's Day but SHE brought it up. That's messed up.
ReplyDeleteI went back to the person who cut my hair the way I liked but she was on holiday so I went to a sub in the same salon. She wanted to change the angle from what I wanted. I insisted on going shorter. She did what I asked. Turns out she was right. It would have been a better angle the way she wanted to do it. Oh well. I'm still getting compliments and hair grows. :)
I need a picture!
ReplyDeleteAnd why do they DO that? Mine does the same thing. I have to be very serious with her or she wants to get all "creative".
Aw, man. Why did she have to push?! I would have done the same thing that you did and trust her.
ReplyDeleteSorry it's not what you really wanted!
Damn her.
ReplyDeleteYour regular stylist will probably be all, now we gotta undo this shit.
I'm sure it looks great though. Show us a photo!
Oh man, this has me cracking up, only because I've totally been there. And I should've known it would turn out badly because the gal who did it had the UGLIEST HAIR I've ever seen. That's my rule now - if the stylist has awful hair, I won't let them touch mine.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the color will change a bit as time goes on? I'm sure it looks beautiful, though.
I can't stand the small talk, either. And I always feel bad because I'm usually silent during my appointments while everyone around me is chatting it up. Oh well.
Pushy stylists are the worst. I guess it could be worse, right? At least your hair isn't now, like, fire engine red or something... BUT STILL
ReplyDeleteI was a little worried you were going to say your hair is now highlighter green or something.
ReplyDeleteStill though, I can't STAND those pushy hairstylists. That's kind of like what my previous one was like (but more with cutting my hair) and she was expensive AND I'd have to go back every few months. I like my new dude WAY more. Mainly because he listens to what I want.
Next time if you need someone to be firm, let me know and I'll have a talking to with whomever.
Can you call your regular stylist and tell her what happened? Maybe she'll offer to fix what the crappy stylist did?
ReplyDeleteSomeone did that to me recently with Mother's Day. A casual acquaintance asked me how my Mother's Day was, so I told her it was great and gave some details, then said, "How was yours?" Her: "Well, it was hard: my mom died earlier this year." Oh. Well...maybe it makes it harder to be asking people how their Mother's Day was and hearing all the happy stories?
ReplyDeleteI hate stylists like that. That's why I've had the same wonderful stylist for YEARS. Everyone else I ever went to always wanted to chop all of my hair off.
ReplyDeleteOne of the worst salon moments I ever had was back in my mid-20s. I used to go to this place right across the street from my office and the girl there was great. Then she quit and moved out of state. But I figured that I'd stay loyal to the salon, so I made an appointment for a cut one day and they hooked me up with this guy who looked like Andy Warhol's paler, obese cousin. And he spoke like a bad movie stereotype of a gay guy, with all the crazy inflections and drawn-out ess sounds. Immediately upon sitting in the chair, he grabs a chunk of my hair, looks at it like he's gonna vomit and shrieks, "OH MY GOD, your endsssss are ATROCIOUSSSSSS!!!" I was like, "Yeah dude, that's why I'm here to get my hair cut." Then he continued to look at my hair like it was something he just snaked out of a drain and asks, "Do you use Pantene?" When I said no, he snapped, "HERBAL ESSENCESSSS???" I said no again and he kind of rolled his eyes and goes, "Are you sure? Because it looks like you do. That shampoo is GARBAGE." The worst part is that, even though the cut ended up being fine, his styling skills left much to be desired. And the old me put up with it. Post-NYC me would have thrown a tube of barbicide in his fat face. :)
weird ass experience! i'm so sorry. you do remind me that i need to get my hair cut. it's been, gulp, two years?! clearly that needs to happen before my trip east. xoxo
ReplyDelete"i don't have a father. he's dead."
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LOL. WHO says that?!