Have you cut children’s hair and had to deal with a kid freaking out? If so, what did you do, and how did the parent(s) react to the kid/you?
I was in my usual salon and saw a mother and father bring in their young child (maybe age 3 or so). When the stylist tried to start the cut, the boy started crying, and the parents immediately run over to him and go into this routine of singing and comforting and holding while he’s screaming and crying. The stylist was suggesting that maybe they should just let him be for a bit, but they brushed off the comments and kept up their touching and singing and pretty much overwhelming the kid. Finally the stylist kind of stepped in when the parents had backed off enough - still right there as much as they could be, cooing and singing songs and everything while the kid cried - and did as careful yet quick of a trim as he could, with the kid’s fit winding down during the process, and got them out of there ASAP. Afterwards when he was working on my hair, he said that he suspected a lot of the kid’s anxiety was fueled by the parents’ reaction. That if maybe one of them had a quiet talk with the kid in the chair, or offered to hold his hand or give him a comforting item - and had been doing this all along instead of their almost-literal coordinated song-and-dance routine of effusing over him - that it would go much better. :smack: Admittedly there may have been issues with the kid but the parents didn’t make any mention of anything possibly happening before the eruption, and no explanation to the stylist during.
HOWEVER, I usually do not work on kids. There are SOME exceptions for regular clients, but not many. I will do kids 12 and up, though, I find the older kids amusing for some reason. The little ones are cute, but way LESS cute in my chair. Sorry - some people dont do perms, I don’t do kids. Same difference.
Alright, how about another question? (MORE? SHE ASKED FOR MORE!)
It seems like the salon business is highly localized in terms of markets. Where I am now, the cheapest you can get a haircut for is about $12. However, I still always go back to my hometown (not terribly far away) for my haircut from the nice Viet ladies to whom I’ve gone since childhood. They charge a measly $8. So what do you estimate is the cost of actually performing a basic haircut?
I’m not sure I’m following the question. It’s kind of hard to answer, if I am reading correctly, since a haircut is a service and not a product. Sooooo, I guess whatever my shears cost me plus my time, and salon resources? I’m not sure I can put a number on that. I do know that my haircuts start at $45. Sorry if that doesn’t answer the question, but I’m a little confused, I think…
Thanks! I’ll try it out, despite the husband’s protestations (we used to live near a bunch of unwashed folks, so now he’s very pro-soap).
Just to clarify, the routine I’m looking at runs along these lines:
Morning shower daily to de-stinkify and wet my hair, but only put conditioner on the ends. Rinse. Towel dry, although not with excessive rubbing (thanks, Ouidad!)
In the evenings, when my hair is dry, use a powdered shampoo on the roots.
2-3 times a week, wash my hair with liquid shampoo in the shower.
Aw, geeze, Sunspace - I’m sorry!! I missed yours! :smack:
You may not necessarily have to shave your head totally bald, but going a little shorter through the sides and back, believe it or not, may help camoflage the balding. Keeping the top a SMIDGE longer gives you room to play with it, while still looking neat and professional…if that’s your thing. You may want to try what’s universally known as the “Ivy League” seen here: http://menshair.about.com/od/picturegalleries/ig/Short-Styles/short3.htm
There’s variations of it in length and interpretation, so click on the links to browse the pics!
Hey, now I know what my normal haircut is called! Question–is there anything I can tell my stylist to tell them I want that but I want the bangs to not stick up/out? I personally feel they make me look ridiculous but even if I say I want them down I don’t get a lot of good response.
Oh well, my regular stylist will be back next month, I hope.
On styling clay-type product–my stylist recommended Bumble&Bumble SumoTech. Any opinion on their line?
Best bet is something like, “Hey, I really don’t like my hair styled so that the front sticks up. Can you not style like that when we’re done? Thanks.” As stylists, we are programmed to play with hair, even when you think we’re done. Have him/her slap a little product in there and let YOU do the finishing. I let a lot of my male clients do that, and they seem a lot happier/comfortable.
I like B&B - a little pricey but worth it. If you have the means, I say go for it.
Every time I went into a salon with my long straight hair, desperate for a change, I’d say, ‘give me a haircut that YOU think is flattering on me’ and every time, they would give me a lovely chin-length blunt cut, turned under nicely all around. But I could never duplicate it at home. My arms were too short to man a round brush and blow dryer, I couldn’t see the back, and pieces would flip up instead of under. What is the secret of maintaining a turned-under bob?
Do your clients ever complain the hair color stings or burns their scalps? I finally spoke up, near tears, one time and my hair stylist said she had a solution, which was she mixed liquid saccharine into the hair color! It seemed to work, I know not how or why. Have you ever heard of this?
Ahhh, the packet of Sweet n Low in the color bowl trick. Widely know throughout the industry, but it seems that no one is QUITE sure how or why it works. Myself included. But that little pink packet does SOMETHING to the makeup of the developer (most likely the cause of the burning) and buffers it. Hell if I know.
Try using a half-round or “Denman” brush. Takes less dexterity to handle than a full round brush, but still gives the smoothness and bend in the hair that makes a bob a bob.
I have longish slightly wavy hair that I can’t bring myself to do anything more complicated with than washing and brushing. I don’t even own a hair dryer or curling iron, and the handful of times I’ve been to a salon in the last dozen years (seriously, it’s been about 3 or 4) it’s just been for a trim. I’m getting into the vintage pinup look as far as clothing is concerned (like this) and I’m wondering if it’s realistic to be able to get my hair styled for a special occasion (maybe something like this?) and yet not have it look awful when I just brush it out and don’t style it again for months.
Thank you for doing this. I have a question about coloring.
I have a lot of grey hair and I’m told it’s resistant to coloring. This has meant one of two things. A few times I went someplace where the person didn’t color it enough and my roots were kind of pinkish-red. Now I go someplace where they color it adequately, and do the roots only, but in places my hair looks so dark that it is almost black.
Is there any way to color grey that doesn’t fall into these extremes? It may be that I’m just not going to the right salon/stylist.
a) Some stylists (and non-stylists) definitely behave as if guys’ hair is a totally different thing, including some comments in this very thread that could be read that way. Do you consider the HAIR ITSELF to be different, or is it the person the hair is attached to (and that person’s expectations, the styles considered appropriate for that person’s sex, that person’s likely grooming regimen given their gender, etc)? If you consider the hair itself to be quite different, in what ways is it different?
b) On the other hand, if it’s the customer not the hair, mostly, that differs by sex, what are the sort of assumptions and beliefs (on the part of the stylist and also on the part of the customer) that are different when it’s a guy coming in to have his hair done? If a male customer happens to think that he will like the results better if you don’t notice that he’s a guy and just do his hair same as you would for a female customer with similar hair, are there things you think will disappoint him if you did that, and if so what?
c) Whatever else stylists may do to my hair, they never ADD length to any individual hair on my head; it’s basically a length reduction process, accomplished by scissors. If my intention is to grow my hair OUT, is there an optimal interval for going in to have it trimmed and shaped, so that it doesn’t look unnecessarily unkempt but does, over time, get longer?
What do you think of (unqualified, ie not stylists) people cutting their own bangs? Do you always notice when hair (especially bangs) has been cut by someone unqualified? Have you seen REALLY bad screwups in that area?
So how do salons and staff deal with chemical exposure (see previous question)? Are there regulations you have to adhere to? Limits on exposure? MSDS training?
If a couple is booked together, is it ok that one of them comes in a bit late? At my old stylist, we used to book 1-2 every other Saturday. I’d go and do some errands and show up around 1:15-1:30.
