Death Penalty for Iowa Hair Stylists

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m wondering if there is such a thing. If not, there should be. You should definitely be able to sentence your hair stylist to some sort of oblivion.

I have whacky curly hair. I used to live in Boston and I had found a woman with hair like mine who did a great job. Recently, I took a job in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where I like it just fine. No! I love it! Everything is cheap and people are really nice here.

After the move I needed my hair cut badly…I’d let it go to pot during the weeks before, during, and after the move and seriously wanted to feel more pulled together. I’m not usually THAT picky over my hair. It grows fast, it’s only hair, and a bad snip here or there won’t show up in my mass of curls anyway.

So I started looking around at the local women to see who had cute hair and I noticed something strange: Stepford Iowans. They all have the same haircut. Not only that, but it’s not a very flattering haircut at all. It’s very short and “stacked” up the back and angled down so that it’s MUCH longer in front. This haircut is flattering on very few people. In addition, I think it went out of style in 1984.

In any case, I’m not that snobby. If the locals have their own style, if they’re all emulating a good buddy, whatever…we don’t all have to have some “big city fashion.” I grew up in the Midwest in jeans and flannel without Stuart Weitzman and Dellaria. Off I went to the salon on the corner.

There, I apparently ran into the woman who’s giving everyone the same haircut. I asked for a trim and came away with very, very short layers in the back that angle down to points below my jaw in the front. Except my hair is CURLY. This gives it massive volume that I seriously didn’t need.

It won’t curl up nice. I tried to straighten it out this morning, which not only takes 40 minutes, but doesn’t really work that well.

Now I look a GREAT deal like Sideshow Bob. Of course, the benefit is that I have a jumpstart on my Halloween costume. The bad part is that I’m shocked to find that there is such an obviously unflattering, horrible hairdo. I didn’t realize it could be so bad. It’s the exact opposite of whatever I needed for maneagable hair that flatters the shape of my face. Anything I would do to try to fix it would likely end up making it SO short that the solution might be just as unmaneageable (though I am considering that option).

So, without “justice” in this event…I can’t get my hair back and must suffer the consequences of this crime…I really think the perpetrator should be punished. Just what IS the penalty for hair massacre in Iowa?

2

I’m afraid I’m going to have to see a Great Hair Disaster picture before I can advise you on that.

3

I’ll see if I can get my husband to take one tonight. I just hate to risk breaking the camera.

4

Oy. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that thick hair and short cuts don’t go together. I can kinda imagine what it must look like, as I have very thick hair (that’s difficult to straighten, though it’s not curly either) and I did the short hair thing when I was younger. The results were not flattering.

You could sue her for ‘pain and suffering’, for having to see that in the mirror ;). If necessary, add a bill for replacement mirrors.

5

My daughter, who just left there in August, recommends Capri College. I don’t know if they can fix it, but maybe the next time? She says it’s also cheap, since they’re in training.

6

isn’t the standard penalty not paying? If I went in for a trim, I would expect my stylist to follow the cut - no matter how grown out it was - that was already there. A trim doesn’t mean a new cut. She should have asked you how much you wanted trimmed if you didn’t specify in the beginning. It sounds like she did something you really didn’t want her to do.

I would have voiced my dissatisfaction, and if it’s something that really can’t be fixed without practically shaving your head, she shouldn’t have charged you.

7

Be careful what you wish for :smiley:

8

The unfortunate thing, about me at least, is that it looked fine when I left the stylists. I could see that it wasn’t exactly what I’d asked for but I’m usually pretty laid back about these things and thought, “Oh well, it’s cool anyway.” I’m only starting to realize how bad the damage is about a week after the fact. She did something I actually asked her NOT to do because I specifically told her not to give me the cookie-cutter haircut that everyone else had. If I’d had any brains I would have told her at the time I wasn’t paying for it.

Instead I struggled trying to make it work by myself and then started whining up a storm. NOT the best way to go about these things. I just kept thinking if I learned how to manage it, it would look better. Nah…it’s out of control.

9

You are not alone, KnitWit. My last haircut is unsatisfactory as well.

I got a really good cut in February, looked at a picture in a book, and my stylist of the day (I usually hit SuperCuts-type places) fussed and styled, and it looked really good–if a little “styled”. Bought product to use in my hair to her recommendations, and was generally happy.

Got trims from other stylists every 6-8 weeks, and while the overall shape was more or less the same, the cut had kinda lost it’s snap.

So, I got my hair cut early in September, and found either the same picture or a similar one. But this stylist had a totally different idea about what made that style desirable. We discussed that the picture was more or less what I had but I wanted more Zing. She took off way too much hair all around the back. Especially when she asked me something about making it uneven and I agreed (I forget what her description was, but I was expecting her to just make the ends less blunt, and I felt like she removed inches of hair around the back).

The length in the back is ok, but the amount which is inches shorter than the rest is excessive. And because I lack any inborn talent for styling my hair, it looks flat on top and puffy from ear level down. I think my next stylist will be asked to cut my hair as if the goal was all one length, and that length was chin level.

But I paid, because just because I thought she’d cut off too much hair, I wasn’t sure, and it can’t be too bad because my sister-in-law admired it unprompted. And maybe if I were willing to fuss a little more it would be better, but I hate fussing and the only people who see me are family (OK, and people at work, but half the time I wear a hat at work, so my hairstyle doesn’t matter).

Also, when I get my hair cut, I take my glasses off. I despise being handed a mirror and asked my opinion before I can get my glasses back on. Look–I can’t see my hair without my glasses. Give me a chance to look at myself.

10

I came in to recomend coming down to the Quad Cities and looking around. Capri College is here and like the Palmer Chiropractic College the students tend to set up camp in the area right after they graduate.

We have an abundance of hair places and chiropracters around here.

On a side note, how many Iowa dopers do we have anymore? It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I remember there were only a few of us. I say party in the QC!