Now some hair stylists won't be able to relate, as they probably work in salons and have a full staff of stylists available at all times for their hair services. So with this being said, for the longest time I resorted to highlighting my own hair. It always turns out just fine but let me tell you, this is a process. By the time I am done, my arms are burning, my hands are cramping, my neck is sore, and I am inevitably covered in bleach. Not to mention, that sometimes you just want to sit down and read a magazine leaving all the work to someone else. You want the nice head massage that any decent stylist or salon will give you at the shampoo bowl (or if you are my client, the kitchen sink) during your wash. I mean that is ultimately the BEST part of any service, the massage. It's that 3-5 minutes where you can just completely zone out and just relax and take a break from whatever it is that may be going on at any given moment. You aren't worried about "who wore it better" in that US Weekly magazine sitting in your lap, you're not worried about what to cook (or if you're me, order) for dinner, you are only worried about that massage right then. Ahh I am getting sleepy just thinking about it and I am at work so BAMMM!! Snap out of it, you work on a LIVE show Cassi, no time for day dreaming. Blogging, blogging is ok..?
Anyyy-whoooo my point being that me doing my own hair was just not the same as having someone do it for me. But how as a hairstylist, can I justify going out and spending 200 dollars at the salon for something I can so easily do myself?? Is the experience worth it?? Am I going to be able to relax? Or am I going to be constantly worried if the stylist is doing it right..leaving it in too long..using the right toner? The list goes on. Regardless, I got to a point where I just didn't want to deal with it. I wanted to go get it done and not have to worry about it myself. So I started to do some research on salons in my neighborhood. I went to this one place around the corner from me but they couldn't take me that day, so I ended up going to another place down the block whose name shall remain nameless. Cough
I walk in and the little girl (who I assume was actually a woman but was chomping her gum and twirling her dangerously high side pony tail like a little girl so I stand by my previous statement) behind the reception desk just looks at me. She has this "girl I'm trying to get off early" look on her face. I should have turned around and walked out then. But at this point I am so excited to actually be able to sit and get my hair done. I wanted the color, the wash, the blow dry, the whole nine yards. Not to mention I was going out that night, so after this I would be fresh and ready to go! After the obviously annoyed receptionist told me that someone could take me in 30 minutes, I sat in the waiting area and picked up a magazine. As I take a quick look around before diving in to reading about how Jessica Simpson got her weight watchers deal, I began to get curious. Curious as to why it would take 30 minutes for someone to see me because all of the stylists seemed to just be talking amongst themselves but whatever, what do I know? They are all obviously very busy and important.
Finally a nice little girl, they only seem to employ little girls here, (I kid) comes to bring me to the chair. At this point, do I tell her I do hair as well so we can talk about exactly what I want done? Or do I just tell her I want my roots done and let her do her thing? I don't know, it;s a tough decision. Telling her can come off as annoying and passive, but if I do tell her then maybe she will try to do an even more amazing job knowing that I actually know what's really going on. So I end up casually telling her. And as I am taking down my hair for the consultation, I'm instantly apologizing for the fact that it is nasty and dirty and at this point, regretting the fact that I told her I did hair based on the embarrassing state of my own at that moment. I am immediately feeling judged but I'm over it, I have dealt with my fair share of nasty dirty heads before. Ugh. But we continue on with the consultation and I tell her I would just like a partial highlight, which for those that don't know, a partial highlight is usually the top half of your head. More times than not a partial is the front, crown and sides. She then says to me "So wait you just like want the top done and maybe like a few on the sides?" I am no longer regretting the fact that I told her I do hair and am now annoyed that she is trying to already do a quick lazy job, especially knowing this fact. So I say, "No I want the top, crown and sides done". So she nods, that's all I got, a freaking nod.
She puts the highlights in and is asking me where I do hair and why I didn't get it done there. The small talk, I hate the small talk, I just want to read or sleep or something ..else. I just tell her I freelance, trying to avoid telling her I work in TV, because for whatever reason, every time I am forced to say that I feel like an asshole. So I dodged my way through that conversation and moved on. My highlights at this point are all in and I am beyond annoyed and fighting off my rising anxiety. She did the top of my hair and then maybe, just maybe put 3 or 4 foils on each side. What the...? I decide to not say anything and tell myself it's fine and that I will just throw in a few foils on the sides myself tomorrow. At least the roots on top aren't looking like Courtney Love anymore. So that is a win..I guess.
She then takes me back to the back room and literally just leaves me. No coffee, no water, nothing. 20 minutes.....25 minutes....30 minutes...I finally walk out of the room pretending to look for the bathroom but really just wanting to make myself visible to her in case she forgot the fact that I was sitting in the back with chemicals on my head. No big deal. But no, she looks right at me (while doing a men's hair cut) and just smiles. It's official, I am convinced my hair is burning off as we speak. This girl is cray. After going outside to smoke a cigarette and again smiling at me through the window between puffs, she comes back to check my foils. "5 more minutes" she says. WHAT?? Crazy! So 5 minutes later her assistant, yes she had an assistant, I don't get it but again whatever, comes to rinse my hair out. After rinsing it I shockingly need a toner which I am sure has nothing to do with the fact that my hair was probably white at this point. The toner is applied and my scalp literally, within minutes, felt like it was burning off layer by layer. I ask the girl to please just rinse out the toner because it is burning and so she does. She proceeds to ask me if I would like my hair styled and when I tell her yes she informs me that this will be an extra 45 dollars. I'm sorry what?! After talking to her, I find out that if I want my hair blow dried she guesses she can do that but there will be no style without the 45 dollar charge.
I agree to just have this assistant, who is probably still in hair school blow dry my hair to her obvious reluctance. Oh and if your wondering why I left out my favorite part, IE the scalp massage, it is simply because there was none. Not even a little bit. I almost can't even deal just writing this. So she continues to just blow dry my hair, literally holding the blow dryer and blowing my hair all over the place. No direction, no brush, nothing. I would have been better off flipping my head over and doing it myself which in hindsight, I am shocked she didn't ask me to do. As I look in the mirror though, I am actually pretty pleased with the color so I am still trying to bite my tongue about all the other disasters that have occurred thus far. It is at this moment, when I kid you not, the assistant turns off the blow dryer, with my hair still half wet, and asks me "Is this good'? O-M GEE. NOOO! My hair is still wet lady. Long story short I end up asking her if I can just finish it as I do not want to walk out with a wet head and instead of taking that as a hint to continue to finish it herself, she let's me! I can't even.
After everything, sporadically spaced highlights, my back room abandonment, my shitty shampoo, my potentially 3rd degree scalp burns and poor excuse of a blow dry, it is time to pay these lovely people. So I now walk up to the front, back over to the ever so delightful receptionist. It literally pains me to hand over my debit card for that service I just received, but I do. Telling myself I will NEVER come back to this salon again. My day of beauty was a nightmare. When all I wanted to do was go there, have my hair done, and relax, I left there with more anxiety that when I walked in. So I ask myself is this an industry thing? Was I expecting too much?? Do waiters judge other waiters? Do accountants do their own taxes? I don't know. I just find it so frustrating when it is time to get my hair done and I have limited resources to do so. I am trying not to loose faith and will continue to look for an awesome salon or stylist that will do an awesome job. The moral of this story...Why is it so hard for a hairstylist to get her hair styled???
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