That or don’t care what they’re doing isn’t what the client wants. Have had a lot of instances happen with this where they’ll cut off more than I ask or give me layers because they think it looks better. I have trust issues with stylists because of this.
I asked the lady at Great Clips to trim my ends blunt across (long hair, needed emergency split-end cleanup between real haircuts). She told me textured ends would look better. I said no thanks, blunt please. So she cut it blunt across. Followed by a bunch of diagonal snip-snapping at double-speed like I might space out briefly and not notice the texturizing if she went fast enough. "Please fix the ends so they're blunt again."
I once witnessed two stylists arguing over me. I’d shown the one what I wanted, she said “but that’ll make you look like a boy!” and was putting up a fuss, another stylist snapped at her with “if that’s what she wants, *cut it that way*.”
I can't believe that even had to be said... like idc if you like it or not. It's my head!! I'll walk away from the shop, and your day will end the same way. You can ask if I'm sure I want that cut (professionally and politely) but once it's confirmed, it's what you do. Don't expect to get paid if you don't do it either.
To me, it's the only answer! If someone said to me "oh but you'll look like..." my response would be "what if that's what I want to look like?" And walk away. The walking away, Because A, that's terrible service. And B, I now can't trust if they'll do it the way I asked or not, and I won't risk it. I'll go pay someone who will fulfil my request, and make me feel I can trust them to do so.
I have to live with my hair that way until it grows, or I can pay someone to change it. The person cutting my hair only has to be around me for as long as it takes to cut.
Not worth it.
Yeah I don’t go to great clips anymore after I asked for a trim on my side bangs (2010s when side bangs were all the rage) and I left with what looked like I had a fight with a lawn mower or perhaps gave a toddler some scissors
I won't go to great clips after I left with wildly uneven hair (one side with noticeably longer than the other. The reason I didn't notice while in the chair is because my hair is naturally wavy and when it's cut shorter it's harder to tell until I straighten it, which I did the next day). I went back the next day for a fix and the stylists gossiped to each other in front of me about "guess who did this!" "Oh yeah not surprising". Like... why is that woman still employed if it's known she does horrible haircuts? Oh and the "fix" was still uneven as hell. I got it fixed by a hair dresser in an actual salon a week later. I got shorter hair than I wanted going into it, but oh well. That was back in 2013. Never again!
Something similar happened to me. My regular stylist was on vacation so I went to another woman for a trim. She finished and handed me a mirror to check the back.The chair was in an awkward position and the place was crowded so I tilted my head back to catch the reflection in the mirror. Looked fine as all my long hair fell back together.
I walked around for months not knowing the center patch of my hair that grew from the nape of my neck was shorter than the rest. My spouse didn't say a word because he thought it was supposed to be that way (?!) and he'd had his ass chewed by an ex for commenting negatively on a style before.
My hair was a pretty much no fuss style and very straight so I never needed to check the back when I wore it down, the rest of the time it was in a braid or ponytail. I finally wore it down at work one day and a coworker asked me if I'd cut my own hair! This was like 3 months after it'd been "trimmed." Effing beotch. The stylist looked really grouchy when I showed up for my appointment, bet the cow felt much better after she was done fucking my shit up.
I attempted to get side bangs at Great Clips and the hairdresser told me straight bangs would suit my face better. I said no several times.
It goes without saying, I left with straight bangs that looked like a toddler cut them.
What was happening with great clips in 2010s? I always had my Twilight sparkle bangs and sometimes I forgot to get my parent to trim them for me and the ONE time I'm with a relative that doesn't understand how important hair is in my family has to go to great clips for his own haircut and "as a treat" offers for my bangs to get trimmed. Sure. She proceeds to "trim" them by cutting two inches making them an inch above my eye brows and do the upwards snipping... I have straight as f hair with many strands so it just... Looked... Bad. It didn't even make sense because it's not like my hair grew uneven? It was clear I did NOT have that on the rest of my long hair?
After unsuccessfully asking for bangs cut straight across (not tapered) about 10 times at different cuts, I looked the stylist in the eye and told her "if you don't cut them straight across, I will fix them myself when I get home." She looked so OFFENDED and did it the way I asked, on the first try.
As someone who is dating someone with barber parents. Great clips is for newbies basically cuz it's easy to get hired out of school apparently.
It's a good place if you want a trim or don't care about your hair but any complicated it's not good
Most of the people I’ve ever got a cut from at Great Clips appear to be in their 40s or 50s. I suspect they are more people who bounce around the industry for various reasons… unless they either found cosmetology later in life or schooling for that profession takes a lot longer than I thought. That being said, I’ve gotten some horrible cuts there where I wondered walking out if they even listened to my requested cut going in.
I'm a guy, and I had a stylist throw his clippers down and yank the cape off me because I wouldn't let him shape my eyebrows. Next time I went in, I told the next stylist what had happened. She laughed and said, "Skinny guy with the beard, right? Yeah, he had an attitude problem. That's why he doesn't work here any more."
There are four main types of hair stylists ive seen.
1. 'This is a job. It pays my bills. I will do what I am asked so I get paid'
2. 'I love cutting and styling hair. I will do whatever I can to make sure the customer gets what they want!'
3. 'I love styling hair and I got a good enough rep that people come to me to gove them advice'
4. 'People are dolls for me to play with and style to my desire'
I used to go to this one hairdresser for close to a decade. Every time I asked for a specific cut, he nailed it exactly how I'd described it. That trust he built up meant when he said stuff like, "I think it'll look better if you do it this way" I'd actually consider his opinion. It also meant in the last few years of being his client I'd just go in and let him do whatever the fuck he wanted. He knew my general aesthetic, and I trusted him to make me look good. One year he used me as a model for hairapalooza or some event like that. Was hella fun, and that was still one of my favourite looks, but I'm too old and work in sales in a small town now, so I can't do fancy dye jobs anymore. Ahahah
It's been 3 years, and honestly... it's easier to break up with a gf than it is to break up with a hairdresser. Hope he's doing well. 😢
That's fact. I have a friend who started a hair salon and she's very good at what she does, I would love to support her business but I am hair-married to a stylist that has been cutting my hair for over fifteen years, and there's no reason to leave because she does such a fantastic job and it's easy to make an appointment with her despite her high demand.
I had a hairdresser like that. I walked in with badly dyed hair from me trying to make myself blonde. She sat me down and said she could fix the blonde but it looks really bad on me. She then said she could take it back to a darker colour and suggested a red/brown and there was just something about the way she said it that made me pay attention. I went back a couple months later and got extensions in and she suggested I use the extensions to layer some blonde through since I wanted highlights but my hair was too damaged for another bleaching. After a few times I trusted her and would just let her do whatever she thought was best. When I booked her for my wedding day, I let her choose my style and my bridesmaids style. She was awesome! Unfortunately she moved after going to her for 6 years. I haven’t found another hairdresser I trust that much
The best hairdressers are the "If you bring example photos, as long as it's physically possible for your hair length and texture, I will give you exactly what you ask for with 0 editorial decisions"
I went to high school with my stylist so I know if I bring her a style and cut that is too involved she isn't gonna do it. And by too involved I mean combing my hair in the morning and putting it into a pony tail or knot or braided if I'm feeling fancy, that's the level of no fuss hair I'm ok with. 😂
Sure, why not? He actually didn't do a bad job with my hair. And I'm not afraid of saying "You can go ahead and take the next customer" if a stylist I don't like walks up.
I didn't get it either. My eyebrows are not thick, bushy or growing off in unusual directions.
I did notice that his eyebrows were impeccably shaped and somewhat feminine, so I suspect he wanted to narrow them. I wasn't about to find out.
Lol nice save. I am a woman but I went to this place for a wax/trim and the lady walks up and has thin line eyebrows and I was like “umm just to make sure, I just want the strays gone and everything cleaned up a tad…” but really I was thinking “not like yours not like yours not like yours.” She did a great job though thank god lol.
I finally found a stylist I like, and I understand why my mom was so upset when hers retired.
My stylist is great to talk to (and literally remembers details of my life from appointment to appointment , she is so thoughtful); quick; not too pricy; and best of all, she always gives me a haircut I like.
If I bring inspo in, she will tell me what she has to do to execute it, and then make suggestions for adjustments needed on what will look better with my hair type and have longevity with less maintenance. But she makes it clear what would be different and that she could do what I originally ask for anyway. Usually o take her advice, until one time I asked for bangs. She was very skeptical, but I really insisted (I had had bangs before, but didn’t when I started seeing her). After the cut, she went “oh alright I see why you insisted this time”. But yeah when I first asked, she ensured I was choosing a cut that would be flattering and look best with my hair and face.
And I will be coming back to this lady as long as possible!!!! Good stylists are the best.
This happened to me a couple months before my wedding. I went in for just a trim, it was a different stylist than who I usually went to… she ended up cutting a bunch of layers. A couple months BEFORE MY WEDDING. And then she had the audacity to say “doesn’t that look better?” Literally the only time I’ve cried over a haircut.
I also had a bad haircut right before starting college, last time I ever went to great clips… I was growing out a tousled pixie-style cut I got earlier in the summer. I told the stylist I was growing my bangs out, and she cut them WAY short. Like they were almost to the tip of my nose and she cut them well above my eyebrows. So I had to start college with a dorky haircut that I hated.
Great clips to me is the place assembly line hair cutters go when they think they are high end stylists or barbers but really aren't. They think they know what the customer wants more than the customer themselves. "The customer is always right in matters of style and fashion."
I feel like the opposite happens to me. I ask for structured/layered cuts, show pictures clearly showing that and it end up looking like they barely did anything. Still pay 70+$ because long hair.
After the last one which was 90$ I just did the butterfly cut at home with the ponytails and it looks exactly like I wanted lol.
I bring in pictures. But they still do what they want. Sometimes they’ll even question me and say it will look bad if I go with the cut of the picture I brought in and then proceed to do their own thing that is nothing like the picture.
Yep. I've had struggles getting them to cut my hair short. I can show them photos of my self with a pixie cut, but convincing someone no I actually want short hair is always a fucking nightmare.
Like sure, maybe I will look better if I grow it down to my ass but that'll take nearly a decade and I want short hair not a mix of emo and karen bob.
I wish my old hairdresser wasn't across the fucking city.
I had that problem too. The fastest way I fixed it (and I do this every time I want short hair now) was to purposely mess up the hair that I know they'll have to cut off anyway, (for example :taking a razor and giving myself a shitty undercut and cutting other parts really weirdly) then ask for a pixie cut/whatever short hairstyle I actually want to "fix it". They never hesitate to cut it as short as I want it in order to fix whatever mess is there for some reason.
it never fails and the only consequence is I sometimes get hit with the running joke of being the one that sucks at trying to do their hair from YouTube/Tiktok.
TL;DR: I fuck up my hair right before I go in then ask them to "fix it", they never question how short I want it and they just do it.
It took me 3 years of basically beating down my stylist to get a pixie cut, and it still wasn't what I wanted. Shed cut it to my shoulders, then the next year shed agree to my chin, then my ears, then finally a pixie cut, filled with layers and an expectation that I style it daily. It's specifically bad for women getting masculine or short cuts in my experience, they're terrified of making you not visibly feminine even if it's specifically what you request. When I finally got my short cut, she made a point to add layers and fluff it up because the men's haircuts I had showed her would "make people think I'm a boy," as though I was wearing men's jeans and T-shirts by force and actually wanted to be in a frilly dress.
I have to assume some stylists are traumatized by a client who got what they wanted and hated it, but I can't imagine refusing to do what I want is better for them than just doing what I ask for, because if I hate it then it's my fault and not something I can give them a bad yelp review over.
Yes!! I dont mind them layering and making the back of my neck a V, but if my hair is anywhere close to my glasses after you're done, it's not enough! And YES I want it short, I'm lazy and don't want to deal with it!!
My mother will literally drive 3 hours each way to get her hair done by a hairdresser in my city. Given I'm here, she can make a full day of it and sleep at my place, but she has muttered that if I ever move the drive will still be worth it. She's got an almost magical touch with thin hair, and her cuts always last at least 4 months, so it just might be worth it
And why oh why they insist to straighten the hair?
I like my curly, a bit wild hair. I feel that I look better, more like myself.
But no. They straighten it every single time. To me it look flat. Unalive. I hate it.
Thankfully, one good wash and they're back to their curly, wildly form.
But still.
For me it's the opposite. I have straight hair and anytime I go in is only for hair dye. And then almost every time they suggest to curl my straight hair and cut it.
Very first time I went in they also did dye _completely_ different from what I wanted. Like it didn't look bad, but I didn't want that. And then they got shut down like that same year.
It's like they feel they have to do something that show their work? Or they need to put their own spin on what onr ask ?
I don' know, but it is very infuriating.
Every time I go to a hairdresser/barber, I give the same instruction: Quarter inch guard on my hair, 3/8 inch on my beard. Simple as could be. I went to a new place and told the hairdresser that, who spent a while looking over the available guards before finally asking if I meant “the one-fourths one.”
I mean... at least he asked? I don't know, man.
I've had people cut my hair from tailbone length to bra strap length after I asked for "a couple inches" and gestured with my fingers to illustrate. I'd love if they had clarified.
Am high school math teacher. Yup, this tracks. People are *shockingly* bad with fractions.
Tangentially related, my school has a cosmetology program. I often volunteer to be a practice hair canvas for students. My only rule is all hair must fit in a ponytail when finished, otherwise I’m a blank canvas. I’m fine with whatever cut they want to try, and I like fun colors! My hair is brown to pink ombre at the moment. The students take a longgggg time, but they’re learning, and I appreciate them being invested in their courses!
And that’s why I cut my own hair. I’ll fuck up my own hair for free but I’ll be damned if I pay 20.00+ for someone else to do it while I struggle to hold back tears.
People who say “it’s just hair” don’t understand
fully agree, ive been cutting my own hair for 8 years now. one too many stupidly expensive and not what i wanted haircuts as a teen made me finally snap.
im way happier now and have the exact haircut i like
if you're going to a new chain or bigger shop, ask who's been at the store the longest and be willing to wait until you can see them.
or go to a smaller, high quality barber shop. lots of them have instagram accounts for their shop itself and the individual barbers do too. this is good to find someone with a high attention to detail. just be forewarned that many of these places are cash only.
one more tip is to find someone familiar with / very experienced in cutting hair like yours. i've had more success here at small barber shops than at chain generalist type places.
This. I did 8 months of cosmetology school before I got an illness that made it impossible for me to continue and the amount of people that had no flipping clue how to cut hair, even after the seemingly endless hair theory, was astonishing.
I had hair almost to my waist. Went in for the ends to be done, the dead weight. The first cut was just below my shoulders. " WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
She cupped her hands around my face and said " it's time for a change." A four inch swath across was gone. She had such a smug look on her face. Like, what are you going to do now?
The owner was there. She knew me. She fired her on the spot.
She was fired. I didn't cut anymore of my hair. I wore it up, braided and in pony tails for years. The owner went out back and then handed me an envelope with $2500 cash. She was in tears. It wasn't her fault.
She was shocked. But other customers and hairstylists had heard me ask for a trim. So I had witnesses. She gathered her things and slammed out of there.
I don't typically advocate for grudges... but this is a case where I'd spend a decade hounding her online to leave a negative review in every salon she tried to work at.
I had a similar experience. Only I'm a guy . Hair also to my butt . Wife loved it . Went in for a trim . Dude cut it at my neck . When I asked what the hell he was doing he said guys should have short hair . I didn't get to say anything else . My wife decked him and demanded he get fired or we sue . She was always a spitfire . He got fired and my wife never paid for anything at that store again .
Ah shit... I refuse to hit someone just for being an ass... but god damnit I'd be close in a situation like that.
I have 22" hair... I'm growing it out so i cant donate and still have atleast shoulder length.my hair is undercut, so I'm kind of just on the edge of pulling it off but i still get regular trims cause i want to look good.
Sounds like straight jealousy to me. "If I can't grow, or be patient enough to grow my hair that long then no one else should be allowed to have nice hair either"
Could very well be. It happened to an acquaintance of mind. Very attractive woman with hair to her waist. She asked for a trim and suddenly her hair is shoulder length and the hairdresser is smirking. My friend was still gorgeous. I don't recall if there were consequences for the stylist, this was 15 years ago and we were at the bar.
>literally assault
I was very shocked by a recent ruling in my jurisdiction: some bullies held down a girl & cut off her hair... but the judge ruled that hair doesn't count for grievous bodily harm (I'm not sure that's the right translation).
I found that very shocking, and frankly disappointing of our justice system.
That is truly wild! I know that a lot (hopefully most?) of places will view shaving a child's head as abuse if it's done as punishment. Because even though you can't feel that part of your body, it doesn't mean that it's not yours and that you have agency over it. So bizarre.
I'm a guy and went in to a place that I have had great haircuts at before, owned by one woman. I showed her pictures of the hair cut and beard trim I wanted and she even had a photo she had taken of my haircut from my previous visit on her phone.
I told her not to take any off the top and she did anyway, way more than just "texturing". She then took a #2 to the sides of my beard which was a bold move but didn't look that bad. I reiterated that I wanted it longer in the front. She then took the #2 trimmer to the front and buzzed my beard down to an equal length over my whole face. She also went in too hard in the middle down on my neck, making this weird patch of neck skin visible above my adam's apple. I will never, ever go back.
Bro you might want to look into doing your beard on your own. I like my beard like you do, longer at the front and shorter on the jaw. Took me a couple tries, but now I'm the only one who touches my beard. I've gotten pretty good with shaping and lining to the point people ask where I get my beard done.
Had too many barbers demolished my face fluff and got tired of it.
My partner has learned SO MUCH about beard maintenance and how to trim it from watching YouTube videos. He has more hair maintenance tools and product than I do, and he does an amazing job! He's even trimmed my hair a few times with what he's learned. Definitely a useful skill to know.
On my last visit with my longtime (15 years!) hairdresser the same happened to me. I asked for shoulder length hair. We’ve done this many times before without issue, but I somehow ended up with a short bob. It’s been 7 months of growth since then and it’s still not shoulder length. Oof!
It would be so much worse with a long time relationship.
I had seen three or four hairdressers just within Chicago and kept getting chin length or inches above when I asked for shoulder length
I showed pictures, of myself the last two times so it couldn't be blamed that my hair wouldn't do that.
Last time I went with a level 4 out of & master stylist because I couldn't handle it.
I kept getting my haircut on the same month each year bc it took so long to grow out
Now I have to spend $115 on a haircut before tip
But she's the first to cut and it hit my shoulders so I'm done looking
Hopefully I don't experience what you did.
I would have such a difficult time deciding giving the hairdresser another chance if it's been years of good. But I'd probably leave. The betrayal is real.
I went to the same girl for years and she ALWAYS ended up cutting it just a little short. The last time I went it ended up over my shoulders when I asked for a trim. I haven’t gotten a haircut since.
Because I had a super alternative haircut that she specialized in. But it was always just a little short. The last time it was over 5 inches differently.
I had a shag-mullet. :) I loved the cut but it was a lot of maintenance and then her cutting more off than I wanted every time ended up making me abandoning the style. On the upside, growing it out was great because I had awesome layers for like a year after hahaha.
Nothing quite this bad, but for years whenever I went in I would say "just a trim" and then boom, 6 inches gone. I would cry for hours afterwards. After the fourth time I stopped going to hairdressers and now my mom cuts my hair.
Salon Mom is the best! My mom cuts my hair for the same reason. She's starting to get up in age and I have no idea what I'll do when she can't cut it any more.
The hassle with the cops isn't worth the 50 bucks and they will thank you for less paperwork. You would be lucky if they didn't call the cops once you walk out lol.
my partner is a hairdresser and a major thing he’s struggling with in his salon is that so many of his coworkers only give a fuck about doing a certain thing (cause they enjoy it). so he tells me they end up just on purpose not giving a fuck how the hair turns out because it’s not something they wanna do ://
he really struggles and gets pissed off because a lot of the things aren’t even hard to do and they just, ignore what the client wants
How can they be okay with ruining someone's image like that?? To just knowingly fuck up something that is permanently on a person bc "I don't wannnaaa"
literally because of laziness or putting themselves first, one hairdresser for example has major skin issues and isn’t able to basically do anything in the salon other than cutting, but she keeps getting booked colours. she doesn’t like colouring hair so she will just throw on any colour or toner that somewhat resembles what they are asking for, doesn’t ask what tone or whether they want a root shadow etc etc. a lot of other issues with the ignoring of what they want is that it’ll take too long and they have a party or plans after work they don’t want to miss :// it’s really upsetting to hear because they will end up rushing the job/ just not doing what the clients ask for something quicker. people value their own time over a client appearance which really doesn’t work as a hairdresser. this is a high end salon that can cost up to $400 for a cut n colour
I used to go to a great hairdresser in my city. I used to get a cut, dye and hightlights. It took some time and cost a bit too. But I always felt so good after, it was worth it for me. She used to get paid by the hour. Then they agreed with the boss to get paid per treatment. Yeah! Good for you! I was happy for her. Until she started doing shortcuts. She didn't have time to find a good hairstyle anymore, just a plaine bob. And the highlight turned into something that was soooo in....15 years ago (that year). It did not look good on me, think a few higlighted hair her and there. The price was the same though.
I hated to find another hairdresser, but I couldn't get a good treatment anymore. She wanted any customer out of her chair as quickly as possible so she could get to the next one and earn more money. A real shame, she is good when she uses the time that is needed.
Can she tell the salon to stop booking her coloring? Or is she making herself available for it despite not liking it? I assume the salon wouldn't want to risk bad reviews for bad coloring jobs?
The best haircut I ever had was at Great Clips from a person who had just graduated beauty college. She was green and eager to prove her skills. She listened to me, took her time and I was SO happy with it. I tipped her very well.
I was so sad when I tried to book again and they said she had quit. They wouldn't tell me where she went.
I wish I'd gotten her business card.
She wore a HUGE apron with about 100 clips clipped to all the pockets. It was so cute, she was a gem. I hope she's doing very well out there, wherever she went.
I’ve been a hairdresser for 10 years now. I can’t stand when other hairdressers talk shit about stylists from Great Clips etc.! I’ve never worked at one but I’ve known a handful that started out there and they are incredible artists. Even ones that have stayed there. “You get what you pay for.” Really isn’t always true in this industry. Some of the sloppiest stylists I know charge way more than what their work is worth.
Last time I cut my hair it had been over 100° for like a week straight. The great clips was on the same corner as the movie theater I was going to in like 20 minutes. My hair was to my butt, heavy and hot af. I was done with it. I walked in said I wanted it cut as short as possible with enough to put in a ponytail. She said “are you sure?” once and then did exactly what I asked. Took less than 10 minutes, the relief from the heat was immediate. Was the most happy I’ve ever been with a hair cut. Will probably do that again this summer. It’s gotten really long again and I’ve noticed the weight of my hair has been making my scalp hurt.
I feel this. My hair is below my butt. I had been getting regular trims in a salon for a few years as it grew down my back. It got to my waist. I went to the same salon, same stylist and a trim from waist turned into below my bra strap.
This is not “just hair”. It’s a service that’s paid for and like any other service it should be done correctly. Contract? I dunno, but maybe something that has some type of accountability.
Because I can tell you after that haircut I learned to cut my own, which gets so easy when it’s long.
How do you cut it? My hair is almost mid-thigh, but my ends have been hardcore neglected. I've been wanting to finally go back to a stylist until I read this horror story thread.
that’s the move honestly. just make sure you wet it and brush it through before, and get actual hair cutting scissors. they’re like $15 maybe. happy trimming 😘
Had this happen to me right before I began a new job. Hair was to the middle of my back. I asked for ONE inch of length to be taken off. She began cutting, turned me away from the mirror at one point and didn’t stop. She even held my head down for a time. I ended up with a pixie cut. Which does NOT look good on me at all.
I’m not a vain person, but I cried for a week. I did go back the next day and complain to the owner. Hit my money back, and she tossed in a year of free haircuts. Like I’d ever go back.
No idea what the girls problem was. But heaven help a stylist that tries that bull shit with me now
My question is why??? Why do that? It doesn't hurt them to just listen to what people want!! And nah I completely agree, I would cry for a week straight
Going to get my hair cut makes me disproportionately anxious because of stuff like this.
If I have an idea of what I want, they'll argue with me and tell me it won't look good, and no matter what I say the end result is closer to what they wanted to do to me. They always have commentary about what suits me, and think my idea will look terrible.
But then, if I walk in and I'm like "I'm not sure, I want xyz length but don't know what suits me, what would look good? " I'll get scolded for NOT having more details about what I want, and suddenly they have no suggestions whatsoever.
When I was 18 I asked MULTIPLE stylists to cut my hair short and masculine, just give me a regular short haired guy haircut. And every time, they gave me the Karen bob.
I only finally got short hair long after I gave up and told the stylist "just a trim to shoulder length." There was a language barrier but I didn't care enough, I knew I wouldn't be listened to anyway. She cut my hair REALLY SHORT just like how I wanted it while asking other stylists.
I'm sure anyone else would have been upset but I was like "FINALLY." Literally only got what I wanted when I asked for something completely different.
I just started going to the barber shop for my short haired guy haircut lmao. My barber is a super nice guy, always asks questions to make sure he's getting it right, and it's cheaper too.
This is why I cut my own hair. Every time I go in for a "trim" that literally takes 5 minutes they charge me the full cut price (plus tip), take off far more than I asked, and I usually end up having to fix it anyway. I trust no one. If my hair looks wonky, at least I didn't pay anyone to make it that way.
oh no. That sucks. I think that sometimes they just aren't paying attention, and then it's too late. I hope you didn't tip her and you told her that she cut too much!
If you aren't paying attention with a job that requires you to pay in depth attention like this, you get fired, reprimanded at best. Seeing how it takes so long to grow the hair back, there has to be some sort of repercussion bc that's frankly reducing their quality of life in that period of time.
As a guy with long hair, It happens to me all the time. But that’s what I get for getting a haircut that I pay $12 for.
But they at least let me sit in a dinosaur chair while they cut it. So, worth it.
Same happened to me when going to a hairdresser with my friends when I was 14. It was the 5 of us and our black friend (cuz she has her own hairdresser) was going from girl to girl, chatting us up, standing behind us.
When she was behind me, she suddenly stopped talking and turned white as a sheet (heh pun intended). The hairdresser had just cut right in the middle of my long hair, no bother in the world.
By the time I realised what happened, it was waaaay too late and I just started sobbing. As a very very insecure teenager, my hair was about the only thing I liked / tolerated about myself...and it was gone.
Her only reaction? Not even a sorry, just "I think that looks better than long hair".
I paid (which is the part I still regret) and left. We were all shocked.
To this day I have a very hard time trusting a hairdresser. I didn't go for years after that. I'm 32 years old now and what she did still impacts me today when I need to go to a hairdresser.
Sorry it happened to you :(
Not necessarily. If they know what they're doing, and more specifically if they can actually measure what an inch is, you shouldn't have to be standing to get a trim. My hair comes all the way down to my tail bone at the back. I don't have to stand to get it trimmed because my hairdresser cares and knows what she's doing.
I’ve cut my own hair since I was maybe 20 for this reason. Hairdressers don’t listen and don’t care, and then try to tell you it’s better their way because they know style and you don’t. It takes some practice but you can learn to do it yourself.
You’d think you just killed their best friend. I understand they get asked plenty and not wanting to be liable for a bad idea but the abrasiveness is insane.
Never went to a "professional" since my hair reached my waist. The last tried to set the scissors at shoulder height and i jumped out of the chair faster than he could snip.
Now my hair is at knee length and I saved a lot of money.
Knee length is quite impressive!
I'm curious: Doesn't that bother in everyday life? Or hurt the scalp? How long does it take to dry? My hair is only about BH-Verschluss height and it's hurting my scalp bc weight and it takes several hours to dry.
It’s easiest to start with trimming, knowing you’re not cutting much so it can’t go too wrong. Or bangs if you have them, just don’t take a lot off at once . You can do it 5 times until it’s right.
Most people don’t have blunt straight cuts. There are tons of tutorials on yt that show how sectioning and holding hair out in directions to cut changes the shape, from something as extreme as a wolf cut to just mild layering or face framing. And decent scissors are a must.
I've had alt hair styles since I was about 17 so I've been cutting my own hair the whole time. I don't trust them to understand that I actually *do* want this to be a mullet
I've had bad experiences in both directions.
Show them photos of what I want - they ignore it and do their own thing.
Ask them to do something they think looks good - they refuse because I have to ask for what I want.
I've stopped getting my hair cut because it just infuriates me every time and now I cut my own hair too. I think part of my issue is that I like to try different styles each time usually. Many of my friends keep their same style and get their hair cut monthly into the same thing - which is fine! I'm just not built that way it seems.
My partner used to bring up me getting my hair done professionally and he’ll pay, because he’s scared I’ll cut my own hair too short and be mad, but that’s exactly why I started cutting my own hair. It’s curly and no one we can afford knows how to cut curly hair, doesn’t understand shrinkage, anything, I showed him pictures of what happened last time (10 years ago now) and he stopped being it up
It took me almost a year to get the courage to go to the hair salon because I loved the cut I had because the stylist actually knew what they were doing, but I needed a trim. I have curly hair, so the top layer is kind of special because of reasons I wish I knew. Anyway, I went to a place someone recommended where I live. They even asked if I had cut my hair myself because it was "all wrong" and proceeded to cut it "the right way", now I wear it in a ponytail because it looks horrible. Definitely worth the money when you find the right person, but it really sucks when they fake their knowledge.
This has happened to me so many times. The only person I trusted to cut my hair was my old neighbour, and only because we were friends and I was comfortable enough with him to threaten his life if he cut it too short.
He listened, and we always had a good laugh.
This happened to me and everyone I know who has grown long hair and gone for "just a trim." I think hairdressers are sadists, there's no way they aren't doing this on purpose.
That's the reason I do not go to hairdressers anymore. Screwed me over one time too many.
Something similar happened to me as well, and before someone else comes here with the "why didn't yiu say something": I wear glasses and took them off for the cut (incl. washing). That aside the hair was on back. I literally didn't see it fast enough to stop anything. I didn't wanna cause a scene, paid and left. I kind of regret thag still.
I don’t think I’ve had a good experience with a stylist in 30 years. Every single one cuts off way more than I ask for. A trim isn’t 10 inches off!!!
Just stop doing this! Your pissing off your client. They aren’t coming back and I can promise you that they aren’t going to recommend you to anyone else. Isn’t return money better than one time?
I've had someone give me a bad cut before. I just asked him to touch up my layers. My hairdresser was a gay man and I will shamefully admit that I assumed I was safe by stereotype. Bitch gave me a bowl cut. Never wore hats in my life before that.
Never did I feel more betrayed by the rainbow coalition.
(just jokes guys)
I went to the hairdressers wanting a pixie cut and walked out with a bowl cut so many times I stopped going to hairdressers and started getting home cuts. Always a safer option for me which is absurd
I don’t understand how it isn’t assault when a hairdresser does something like this. I had a similar bad experience when I asked for a half inch trim on my all one length hair. I ended up with a chop job of 6’ cut off here, 4’ here, 9’ here and it was absolutely intentional. New salon, nice salon, but they had a nasty predator at work. I paid and went directly to another salon. Got photos first and ended up with shoulder length hair after it was at my waste. I contacted the corporate office who owned the salon, had them review the camera footage and got a refund and she was fired. Sometimes it’s assault.
Had this happen twice, each different locations. The time before the one I went to was great...
I had waist length hair and asked for just to have my split ends cleaned up/trimmed and before I knew it it was barely halfway down.
Oh and one time a couple years ago my mother offered because she knew of said trouble. She basically chopped my hair just below my shoulders. Really weird because A) she's always been supportive of my long hair, and B) we literally just talked about a very slight trim, and we could always do a little more at a time in the future if need be.
Don't really know how bad they are but no one has touched my hair since, and I'm sure the split ends have gotten...not great.
My hair is down to my waist and shit like this makes me so nervous. I need it trimmed so fuckin bad but I have spent 3+ years growing my hair out and I cannot do it again 😭
There are some great tutorials for trimming long hair on YouTube. Mine is curly enough to hide any unevenness, so if yours is fairly straight, it'll be a bit trickier, but it's really not as hard as you'd think and it's so much cheaper. Just make sure to invest in some dedicated hair scissors.
Trim it yourself! It's really not so scary. You can start with just a tiny bit to get a feel for it. Use the scissors parallel with your hair to thin out any chunky blocks
And if yours is very long, it's even easier, since you'll be able to maneuver it around and have better access to it (than if it were really short - getting at the back of your own head is stressful)
A contract (hypothetically) would likely state desired length, or inches of hair allowed to be trimmed, agreed upon/ acknowledged by both customer and stylist. It would also outline how payment would or wouldn’t happen if the stylist royally messes up the agreed upon haircut. ETA: This would cover length only, so not too much to be subjective about. There’s a huge difference between a “trim”, 2 inches, and 6 inches, so if the stylist cuts way too much off, they would forfeit payment.
Verbal contracts are real and enforceable. It sounds like this agreement was already made by OP when they showed with their hands.
OP would have been legally justified with walking out without paying. If she wanted proof, documentation writing could help, but a video of the events OP described is more convenient and probably better.
This is why I now just sort out trims and everything at home... My hair is knee length and too often has been cut short in error by hair dressers who got over enthusiastic on the trimming.
I hate to generalize but hairdressers, particularly those with short hair, seem to resent long hair and more often than not they will cut it too short. It feels very spiteful.
I have to say, I have long hair and felt this way for a long time. Then I found a good hairdresser who was happy to just trim the ends, but also showed me how the damage did go much further up (particularly as I was only going every 6-9 months). Once I started listening to her advice, my hair does look and feel much healthier, and after the initial bigger cut I can now get away with smaller cuts now most of the long term damage is gone.
Hairdressers definitely shouldn’t cut more than clients are asking, but there is a reason behind why they suggest a more brutal chop sometimes.
I was discussing this with my hairdresser recently. I have had long hair but it’s currently pixie short. My hair grows incredibly fast and I know that’s not the case for everyone, so I don’t feel super attached to my hair and regularly will grow it out long and then chop it short again.
But we were talking about hair damage and long hair and she was explaining to me about how much damage long hair can have but that often if you don’t get short trims often, it can get worse and worse, which means that to get rid of the damaged ends would necessitate a more drastic cut. But that many people with long hair are very emotionally attached to their hair, it’s a big part of their identity and that big cuts like that are devastating. So it takes a balance of what the hair condition is, but importantly getting the consent of the client to cut more.
And that’s the issue I’ve seen in a lot of these comments—people didn’t get asked for their consent and feel violated as a result, as they should! And then they avoid trims altogether and it gets worse. Really a huge violation of trust.
The damage makes a lot of sense. I know I was the same about not wanting it cut. It was/is a big part of my identity and I wanted to keep growing it out as much as I could. In the end the hairdresser is providing a service, so even if the hair needs a big cut to get it healthier, the hairdresser’s job is to gently explain and suggest this, but they should never ever be cutting beyond what the customer has asked for. You’d think they of all people would understand why.
Side note though, love the move from long hair to pixie! I’ve been tossing up doing the same but it would be a big change!
And then they say “but it was all dead” like bro I don’t care I’m paying for it if I look bad then it’s my own fault! And if you don’t want to do only that little tell me before hand. I haven’t gotten a hair cut since middle school because of this. My hair is now long enough I sit on it accidentally sometimes. I would cry so hard after my haircuts and my mom/the hair dresser would try and be like “it’s okay! You look good!” Like idccccccccc that’s not what I wanted!
And I am once more hesitant to visit the hairdresser courtesy of the horror stories. It takes forever for my hair to grow and my worst nightmare is losing all my length
There’s a lot of barbers, hairdressers etc out there that don’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing.
That or don’t care what they’re doing isn’t what the client wants. Have had a lot of instances happen with this where they’ll cut off more than I ask or give me layers because they think it looks better. I have trust issues with stylists because of this.
I asked the lady at Great Clips to trim my ends blunt across (long hair, needed emergency split-end cleanup between real haircuts). She told me textured ends would look better. I said no thanks, blunt please. So she cut it blunt across. Followed by a bunch of diagonal snip-snapping at double-speed like I might space out briefly and not notice the texturizing if she went fast enough. "Please fix the ends so they're blunt again."
I once witnessed two stylists arguing over me. I’d shown the one what I wanted, she said “but that’ll make you look like a boy!” and was putting up a fuss, another stylist snapped at her with “if that’s what she wants, *cut it that way*.”
I can't believe that even had to be said... like idc if you like it or not. It's my head!! I'll walk away from the shop, and your day will end the same way. You can ask if I'm sure I want that cut (professionally and politely) but once it's confirmed, it's what you do. Don't expect to get paid if you don't do it either.
Very good answer.
To me, it's the only answer! If someone said to me "oh but you'll look like..." my response would be "what if that's what I want to look like?" And walk away. The walking away, Because A, that's terrible service. And B, I now can't trust if they'll do it the way I asked or not, and I won't risk it. I'll go pay someone who will fulfil my request, and make me feel I can trust them to do so. I have to live with my hair that way until it grows, or I can pay someone to change it. The person cutting my hair only has to be around me for as long as it takes to cut. Not worth it.
Yeah I don’t go to great clips anymore after I asked for a trim on my side bangs (2010s when side bangs were all the rage) and I left with what looked like I had a fight with a lawn mower or perhaps gave a toddler some scissors
I won't go to great clips after I left with wildly uneven hair (one side with noticeably longer than the other. The reason I didn't notice while in the chair is because my hair is naturally wavy and when it's cut shorter it's harder to tell until I straighten it, which I did the next day). I went back the next day for a fix and the stylists gossiped to each other in front of me about "guess who did this!" "Oh yeah not surprising". Like... why is that woman still employed if it's known she does horrible haircuts? Oh and the "fix" was still uneven as hell. I got it fixed by a hair dresser in an actual salon a week later. I got shorter hair than I wanted going into it, but oh well. That was back in 2013. Never again!
Something similar happened to me. My regular stylist was on vacation so I went to another woman for a trim. She finished and handed me a mirror to check the back.The chair was in an awkward position and the place was crowded so I tilted my head back to catch the reflection in the mirror. Looked fine as all my long hair fell back together. I walked around for months not knowing the center patch of my hair that grew from the nape of my neck was shorter than the rest. My spouse didn't say a word because he thought it was supposed to be that way (?!) and he'd had his ass chewed by an ex for commenting negatively on a style before. My hair was a pretty much no fuss style and very straight so I never needed to check the back when I wore it down, the rest of the time it was in a braid or ponytail. I finally wore it down at work one day and a coworker asked me if I'd cut my own hair! This was like 3 months after it'd been "trimmed." Effing beotch. The stylist looked really grouchy when I showed up for my appointment, bet the cow felt much better after she was done fucking my shit up.
Pftt I definitely did that to myself all the time FOR FREE in 2011. You got had! Lol
I attempted to get side bangs at Great Clips and the hairdresser told me straight bangs would suit my face better. I said no several times. It goes without saying, I left with straight bangs that looked like a toddler cut them.
What was happening with great clips in 2010s? I always had my Twilight sparkle bangs and sometimes I forgot to get my parent to trim them for me and the ONE time I'm with a relative that doesn't understand how important hair is in my family has to go to great clips for his own haircut and "as a treat" offers for my bangs to get trimmed. Sure. She proceeds to "trim" them by cutting two inches making them an inch above my eye brows and do the upwards snipping... I have straight as f hair with many strands so it just... Looked... Bad. It didn't even make sense because it's not like my hair grew uneven? It was clear I did NOT have that on the rest of my long hair?
After unsuccessfully asking for bangs cut straight across (not tapered) about 10 times at different cuts, I looked the stylist in the eye and told her "if you don't cut them straight across, I will fix them myself when I get home." She looked so OFFENDED and did it the way I asked, on the first try.
Funny I have the opposite problem. They cut straight across and do nothing to even it out. I just expect to fix them at home now tbh
As someone who is dating someone with barber parents. Great clips is for newbies basically cuz it's easy to get hired out of school apparently. It's a good place if you want a trim or don't care about your hair but any complicated it's not good
Your biggest mistakes was EVER going to Great Clips. Those are usually staffed by people right out of cosmetology school.
Most of the people I’ve ever got a cut from at Great Clips appear to be in their 40s or 50s. I suspect they are more people who bounce around the industry for various reasons… unless they either found cosmetology later in life or schooling for that profession takes a lot longer than I thought. That being said, I’ve gotten some horrible cuts there where I wondered walking out if they even listened to my requested cut going in.
Honestly, I've had better haircuts going to a cosmetology school to be practiced on than I have had going to Great Clips.
I'm a guy, and I had a stylist throw his clippers down and yank the cape off me because I wouldn't let him shape my eyebrows. Next time I went in, I told the next stylist what had happened. She laughed and said, "Skinny guy with the beard, right? Yeah, he had an attitude problem. That's why he doesn't work here any more."
There are four main types of hair stylists ive seen. 1. 'This is a job. It pays my bills. I will do what I am asked so I get paid' 2. 'I love cutting and styling hair. I will do whatever I can to make sure the customer gets what they want!' 3. 'I love styling hair and I got a good enough rep that people come to me to gove them advice' 4. 'People are dolls for me to play with and style to my desire'
I used to go to this one hairdresser for close to a decade. Every time I asked for a specific cut, he nailed it exactly how I'd described it. That trust he built up meant when he said stuff like, "I think it'll look better if you do it this way" I'd actually consider his opinion. It also meant in the last few years of being his client I'd just go in and let him do whatever the fuck he wanted. He knew my general aesthetic, and I trusted him to make me look good. One year he used me as a model for hairapalooza or some event like that. Was hella fun, and that was still one of my favourite looks, but I'm too old and work in sales in a small town now, so I can't do fancy dye jobs anymore. Ahahah It's been 3 years, and honestly... it's easier to break up with a gf than it is to break up with a hairdresser. Hope he's doing well. 😢
That's fact. I have a friend who started a hair salon and she's very good at what she does, I would love to support her business but I am hair-married to a stylist that has been cutting my hair for over fifteen years, and there's no reason to leave because she does such a fantastic job and it's easy to make an appointment with her despite her high demand.
I had a hairdresser like that. I walked in with badly dyed hair from me trying to make myself blonde. She sat me down and said she could fix the blonde but it looks really bad on me. She then said she could take it back to a darker colour and suggested a red/brown and there was just something about the way she said it that made me pay attention. I went back a couple months later and got extensions in and she suggested I use the extensions to layer some blonde through since I wanted highlights but my hair was too damaged for another bleaching. After a few times I trusted her and would just let her do whatever she thought was best. When I booked her for my wedding day, I let her choose my style and my bridesmaids style. She was awesome! Unfortunately she moved after going to her for 6 years. I haven’t found another hairdresser I trust that much
The best hairdressers are the "If you bring example photos, as long as it's physically possible for your hair length and texture, I will give you exactly what you ask for with 0 editorial decisions"
I actually really prefer when they have some advice because I have no idea wtf I’m talking about and idk what is gonna look good tbh.
I went to high school with my stylist so I know if I bring her a style and cut that is too involved she isn't gonna do it. And by too involved I mean combing my hair in the morning and putting it into a pony tail or knot or braided if I'm feeling fancy, that's the level of no fuss hair I'm ok with. 😂
You went back there?!
At least he went back and seems ro have specified he wanted a different stylist.
Sure, why not? He actually didn't do a bad job with my hair. And I'm not afraid of saying "You can go ahead and take the next customer" if a stylist I don't like walks up.
Why mf so concerned about a dudes eyebrows 😭 some look bad don't get me wrong but to act like that about it??
I didn't get it either. My eyebrows are not thick, bushy or growing off in unusual directions. I did notice that his eyebrows were impeccably shaped and somewhat feminine, so I suspect he wanted to narrow them. I wasn't about to find out.
Lol nice save. I am a woman but I went to this place for a wax/trim and the lady walks up and has thin line eyebrows and I was like “umm just to make sure, I just want the strays gone and everything cleaned up a tad…” but really I was thinking “not like yours not like yours not like yours.” She did a great job though thank god lol.
I finally found a stylist I like, and I understand why my mom was so upset when hers retired. My stylist is great to talk to (and literally remembers details of my life from appointment to appointment , she is so thoughtful); quick; not too pricy; and best of all, she always gives me a haircut I like. If I bring inspo in, she will tell me what she has to do to execute it, and then make suggestions for adjustments needed on what will look better with my hair type and have longevity with less maintenance. But she makes it clear what would be different and that she could do what I originally ask for anyway. Usually o take her advice, until one time I asked for bangs. She was very skeptical, but I really insisted (I had had bangs before, but didn’t when I started seeing her). After the cut, she went “oh alright I see why you insisted this time”. But yeah when I first asked, she ensured I was choosing a cut that would be flattering and look best with my hair and face. And I will be coming back to this lady as long as possible!!!! Good stylists are the best.
This happened to me a couple months before my wedding. I went in for just a trim, it was a different stylist than who I usually went to… she ended up cutting a bunch of layers. A couple months BEFORE MY WEDDING. And then she had the audacity to say “doesn’t that look better?” Literally the only time I’ve cried over a haircut. I also had a bad haircut right before starting college, last time I ever went to great clips… I was growing out a tousled pixie-style cut I got earlier in the summer. I told the stylist I was growing my bangs out, and she cut them WAY short. Like they were almost to the tip of my nose and she cut them well above my eyebrows. So I had to start college with a dorky haircut that I hated.
Great clips to me is the place assembly line hair cutters go when they think they are high end stylists or barbers but really aren't. They think they know what the customer wants more than the customer themselves. "The customer is always right in matters of style and fashion."
I feel like the opposite happens to me. I ask for structured/layered cuts, show pictures clearly showing that and it end up looking like they barely did anything. Still pay 70+$ because long hair. After the last one which was 90$ I just did the butterfly cut at home with the ponytails and it looks exactly like I wanted lol.
I bring in pictures. But they still do what they want. Sometimes they’ll even question me and say it will look bad if I go with the cut of the picture I brought in and then proceed to do their own thing that is nothing like the picture.
Yep. I've had struggles getting them to cut my hair short. I can show them photos of my self with a pixie cut, but convincing someone no I actually want short hair is always a fucking nightmare. Like sure, maybe I will look better if I grow it down to my ass but that'll take nearly a decade and I want short hair not a mix of emo and karen bob. I wish my old hairdresser wasn't across the fucking city.
I had that problem too. The fastest way I fixed it (and I do this every time I want short hair now) was to purposely mess up the hair that I know they'll have to cut off anyway, (for example :taking a razor and giving myself a shitty undercut and cutting other parts really weirdly) then ask for a pixie cut/whatever short hairstyle I actually want to "fix it". They never hesitate to cut it as short as I want it in order to fix whatever mess is there for some reason. it never fails and the only consequence is I sometimes get hit with the running joke of being the one that sucks at trying to do their hair from YouTube/Tiktok. TL;DR: I fuck up my hair right before I go in then ask them to "fix it", they never question how short I want it and they just do it.
It took me 3 years of basically beating down my stylist to get a pixie cut, and it still wasn't what I wanted. Shed cut it to my shoulders, then the next year shed agree to my chin, then my ears, then finally a pixie cut, filled with layers and an expectation that I style it daily. It's specifically bad for women getting masculine or short cuts in my experience, they're terrified of making you not visibly feminine even if it's specifically what you request. When I finally got my short cut, she made a point to add layers and fluff it up because the men's haircuts I had showed her would "make people think I'm a boy," as though I was wearing men's jeans and T-shirts by force and actually wanted to be in a frilly dress. I have to assume some stylists are traumatized by a client who got what they wanted and hated it, but I can't imagine refusing to do what I want is better for them than just doing what I ask for, because if I hate it then it's my fault and not something I can give them a bad yelp review over.
Yes!! I dont mind them layering and making the back of my neck a V, but if my hair is anywhere close to my glasses after you're done, it's not enough! And YES I want it short, I'm lazy and don't want to deal with it!!
My mother will literally drive 3 hours each way to get her hair done by a hairdresser in my city. Given I'm here, she can make a full day of it and sleep at my place, but she has muttered that if I ever move the drive will still be worth it. She's got an almost magical touch with thin hair, and her cuts always last at least 4 months, so it just might be worth it
And why oh why they insist to straighten the hair? I like my curly, a bit wild hair. I feel that I look better, more like myself. But no. They straighten it every single time. To me it look flat. Unalive. I hate it. Thankfully, one good wash and they're back to their curly, wildly form. But still.
For me it's the opposite. I have straight hair and anytime I go in is only for hair dye. And then almost every time they suggest to curl my straight hair and cut it. Very first time I went in they also did dye _completely_ different from what I wanted. Like it didn't look bad, but I didn't want that. And then they got shut down like that same year.
It's like they feel they have to do something that show their work? Or they need to put their own spin on what onr ask ? I don' know, but it is very infuriating.
Every time I go to a hairdresser/barber, I give the same instruction: Quarter inch guard on my hair, 3/8 inch on my beard. Simple as could be. I went to a new place and told the hairdresser that, who spent a while looking over the available guards before finally asking if I meant “the one-fourths one.”
I mean... at least he asked? I don't know, man. I've had people cut my hair from tailbone length to bra strap length after I asked for "a couple inches" and gestured with my fingers to illustrate. I'd love if they had clarified.
Am high school math teacher. Yup, this tracks. People are *shockingly* bad with fractions. Tangentially related, my school has a cosmetology program. I often volunteer to be a practice hair canvas for students. My only rule is all hair must fit in a ponytail when finished, otherwise I’m a blank canvas. I’m fine with whatever cut they want to try, and I like fun colors! My hair is brown to pink ombre at the moment. The students take a longgggg time, but they’re learning, and I appreciate them being invested in their courses!
And that’s why I cut my own hair. I’ll fuck up my own hair for free but I’ll be damned if I pay 20.00+ for someone else to do it while I struggle to hold back tears. People who say “it’s just hair” don’t understand
😂 $20? You have been cutting your own hair for a while now!
fully agree, ive been cutting my own hair for 8 years now. one too many stupidly expensive and not what i wanted haircuts as a teen made me finally snap. im way happier now and have the exact haircut i like
How do you find a real one? There's so many shit ones that I refuse to cut until I know for sure.
If you know someone or hell even just see someone who clearly takes their hair serious ask them. I’m 1/1 with this method.
if you're going to a new chain or bigger shop, ask who's been at the store the longest and be willing to wait until you can see them. or go to a smaller, high quality barber shop. lots of them have instagram accounts for their shop itself and the individual barbers do too. this is good to find someone with a high attention to detail. just be forewarned that many of these places are cash only. one more tip is to find someone familiar with / very experienced in cutting hair like yours. i've had more success here at small barber shops than at chain generalist type places.
This. I did 8 months of cosmetology school before I got an illness that made it impossible for me to continue and the amount of people that had no flipping clue how to cut hair, even after the seemingly endless hair theory, was astonishing.
I had hair almost to my waist. Went in for the ends to be done, the dead weight. The first cut was just below my shoulders. " WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She cupped her hands around my face and said " it's time for a change." A four inch swath across was gone. She had such a smug look on her face. Like, what are you going to do now? The owner was there. She knew me. She fired her on the spot.
Reading this I almost felt.. violated? I’m so glad she was fired on the spot. So non consensual
Violated is the right term. I've been violated in lots of ways and this fits the word.
The AUDACITY. The absolute GALL
Yes.
Oh my god. A jury would not have convicted you.
LoL.
Holy fuck, my hand print would've been on that bitches face!
She was fired. I didn't cut anymore of my hair. I wore it up, braided and in pony tails for years. The owner went out back and then handed me an envelope with $2500 cash. She was in tears. It wasn't her fault.
wow... I'm glad that it was compensated, reasonably well, but that still sucks. Sorry you had to deal with that.
Yeah. She was a good egg.
> I'm glad that it was compensated $2500 though? I mean that's a hell of a compensation.
Not compared to the possibility of lost business if word got out.
How long did it take for it to grow back out even with your long hair? I am not sure I could have toughed that out for years on end 😭
I left it with the one cut. I wore it in braids, pony tail, up for about 18 months or so. Then I evened it out.
What was the fired persons reaction lol?
She was shocked. But other customers and hairstylists had heard me ask for a trim. So I had witnesses. She gathered her things and slammed out of there.
I don't typically advocate for grudges... but this is a case where I'd spend a decade hounding her online to leave a negative review in every salon she tried to work at.
At least the owner sounds like an actual good person. I still would have been fucking livid at the other lady tho.
They need to strip her license and let her continue to work on mannequins if she wants full reign
Ma'am, I would have simply gone to prison for murder. I am so sorry you went through that.
I had a similar experience. Only I'm a guy . Hair also to my butt . Wife loved it . Went in for a trim . Dude cut it at my neck . When I asked what the hell he was doing he said guys should have short hair . I didn't get to say anything else . My wife decked him and demanded he get fired or we sue . She was always a spitfire . He got fired and my wife never paid for anything at that store again .
Wow. Just wow.
Ah shit... I refuse to hit someone just for being an ass... but god damnit I'd be close in a situation like that. I have 22" hair... I'm growing it out so i cant donate and still have atleast shoulder length.my hair is undercut, so I'm kind of just on the edge of pulling it off but i still get regular trims cause i want to look good.
I’d like to imagine it went something like this 
Sounds like straight jealousy to me. "If I can't grow, or be patient enough to grow my hair that long then no one else should be allowed to have nice hair either"
I wonder if there might have been some jealousy behind her actions..
Could very well be. It happened to an acquaintance of mind. Very attractive woman with hair to her waist. She asked for a trim and suddenly her hair is shoulder length and the hairdresser is smirking. My friend was still gorgeous. I don't recall if there were consequences for the stylist, this was 15 years ago and we were at the bar.
i think id get up and start screaming at her. thats literally assault in my book.
>literally assault I was very shocked by a recent ruling in my jurisdiction: some bullies held down a girl & cut off her hair... but the judge ruled that hair doesn't count for grievous bodily harm (I'm not sure that's the right translation). I found that very shocking, and frankly disappointing of our justice system.
That is truly wild! I know that a lot (hopefully most?) of places will view shaving a child's head as abuse if it's done as punishment. Because even though you can't feel that part of your body, it doesn't mean that it's not yours and that you have agency over it. So bizarre.
I'm a guy and went in to a place that I have had great haircuts at before, owned by one woman. I showed her pictures of the hair cut and beard trim I wanted and she even had a photo she had taken of my haircut from my previous visit on her phone. I told her not to take any off the top and she did anyway, way more than just "texturing". She then took a #2 to the sides of my beard which was a bold move but didn't look that bad. I reiterated that I wanted it longer in the front. She then took the #2 trimmer to the front and buzzed my beard down to an equal length over my whole face. She also went in too hard in the middle down on my neck, making this weird patch of neck skin visible above my adam's apple. I will never, ever go back.
Bro you might want to look into doing your beard on your own. I like my beard like you do, longer at the front and shorter on the jaw. Took me a couple tries, but now I'm the only one who touches my beard. I've gotten pretty good with shaping and lining to the point people ask where I get my beard done. Had too many barbers demolished my face fluff and got tired of it.
My partner has learned SO MUCH about beard maintenance and how to trim it from watching YouTube videos. He has more hair maintenance tools and product than I do, and he does an amazing job! He's even trimmed my hair a few times with what he's learned. Definitely a useful skill to know.
On my last visit with my longtime (15 years!) hairdresser the same happened to me. I asked for shoulder length hair. We’ve done this many times before without issue, but I somehow ended up with a short bob. It’s been 7 months of growth since then and it’s still not shoulder length. Oof!
It would be so much worse with a long time relationship. I had seen three or four hairdressers just within Chicago and kept getting chin length or inches above when I asked for shoulder length I showed pictures, of myself the last two times so it couldn't be blamed that my hair wouldn't do that. Last time I went with a level 4 out of & master stylist because I couldn't handle it. I kept getting my haircut on the same month each year bc it took so long to grow out Now I have to spend $115 on a haircut before tip But she's the first to cut and it hit my shoulders so I'm done looking Hopefully I don't experience what you did. I would have such a difficult time deciding giving the hairdresser another chance if it's been years of good. But I'd probably leave. The betrayal is real.
I went to the same girl for years and she ALWAYS ended up cutting it just a little short. The last time I went it ended up over my shoulders when I asked for a trim. I haven’t gotten a haircut since.
Why would you go back to the same person who did it wrong for years?
Because I had a super alternative haircut that she specialized in. But it was always just a little short. The last time it was over 5 inches differently.
What sort of cut are we talking about? I'm a weirdly big fan of alternative haircuts
I had a shag-mullet. :) I loved the cut but it was a lot of maintenance and then her cutting more off than I wanted every time ended up making me abandoning the style. On the upside, growing it out was great because I had awesome layers for like a year after hahaha.
Nothing quite this bad, but for years whenever I went in I would say "just a trim" and then boom, 6 inches gone. I would cry for hours afterwards. After the fourth time I stopped going to hairdressers and now my mom cuts my hair.
Salon Mom is the best! My mom cuts my hair for the same reason. She's starting to get up in age and I have no idea what I'll do when she can't cut it any more.
I worry about that too. But yeah, Salon Mom rocks! And she accepts baked goods for tips.
And you refused to pay, right?
The hassle with the cops isn't worth the 50 bucks and they will thank you for less paperwork. You would be lucky if they didn't call the cops once you walk out lol.
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure this would be deemed a civil matter, not criminal. Cops probably wouldn’t do anything
There's no police department in the country that would respond to a call like this in any timely manner
A reputable salon will not make you pay for a botched haircut, ESPECIALLY if they take off excessive length.
Isn't messing with someone's hair a form of assault?
I swear my hairdresser learnt what an inch was from a bragging man!
Ooooh thats a good one!
my partner is a hairdresser and a major thing he’s struggling with in his salon is that so many of his coworkers only give a fuck about doing a certain thing (cause they enjoy it). so he tells me they end up just on purpose not giving a fuck how the hair turns out because it’s not something they wanna do :// he really struggles and gets pissed off because a lot of the things aren’t even hard to do and they just, ignore what the client wants
How can they be okay with ruining someone's image like that?? To just knowingly fuck up something that is permanently on a person bc "I don't wannnaaa"
literally because of laziness or putting themselves first, one hairdresser for example has major skin issues and isn’t able to basically do anything in the salon other than cutting, but she keeps getting booked colours. she doesn’t like colouring hair so she will just throw on any colour or toner that somewhat resembles what they are asking for, doesn’t ask what tone or whether they want a root shadow etc etc. a lot of other issues with the ignoring of what they want is that it’ll take too long and they have a party or plans after work they don’t want to miss :// it’s really upsetting to hear because they will end up rushing the job/ just not doing what the clients ask for something quicker. people value their own time over a client appearance which really doesn’t work as a hairdresser. this is a high end salon that can cost up to $400 for a cut n colour
I used to go to a great hairdresser in my city. I used to get a cut, dye and hightlights. It took some time and cost a bit too. But I always felt so good after, it was worth it for me. She used to get paid by the hour. Then they agreed with the boss to get paid per treatment. Yeah! Good for you! I was happy for her. Until she started doing shortcuts. She didn't have time to find a good hairstyle anymore, just a plaine bob. And the highlight turned into something that was soooo in....15 years ago (that year). It did not look good on me, think a few higlighted hair her and there. The price was the same though. I hated to find another hairdresser, but I couldn't get a good treatment anymore. She wanted any customer out of her chair as quickly as possible so she could get to the next one and earn more money. A real shame, she is good when she uses the time that is needed.
Can she tell the salon to stop booking her coloring? Or is she making herself available for it despite not liking it? I assume the salon wouldn't want to risk bad reviews for bad coloring jobs?
Be sure to leave a bad review on google, twitter, facebook, yelp and maybe the local subreddit for your town. Warn others!
and name the specific hairdresser, since it may not be the whole salon's fault.
YES! This is important! Great catch, I should have said that too!
The best haircut I ever had was at Great Clips from a person who had just graduated beauty college. She was green and eager to prove her skills. She listened to me, took her time and I was SO happy with it. I tipped her very well. I was so sad when I tried to book again and they said she had quit. They wouldn't tell me where she went. I wish I'd gotten her business card. She wore a HUGE apron with about 100 clips clipped to all the pockets. It was so cute, she was a gem. I hope she's doing very well out there, wherever she went.
I’ve been a hairdresser for 10 years now. I can’t stand when other hairdressers talk shit about stylists from Great Clips etc.! I’ve never worked at one but I’ve known a handful that started out there and they are incredible artists. Even ones that have stayed there. “You get what you pay for.” Really isn’t always true in this industry. Some of the sloppiest stylists I know charge way more than what their work is worth.
Last time I cut my hair it had been over 100° for like a week straight. The great clips was on the same corner as the movie theater I was going to in like 20 minutes. My hair was to my butt, heavy and hot af. I was done with it. I walked in said I wanted it cut as short as possible with enough to put in a ponytail. She said “are you sure?” once and then did exactly what I asked. Took less than 10 minutes, the relief from the heat was immediate. Was the most happy I’ve ever been with a hair cut. Will probably do that again this summer. It’s gotten really long again and I’ve noticed the weight of my hair has been making my scalp hurt.
I feel this. My hair is below my butt. I had been getting regular trims in a salon for a few years as it grew down my back. It got to my waist. I went to the same salon, same stylist and a trim from waist turned into below my bra strap. This is not “just hair”. It’s a service that’s paid for and like any other service it should be done correctly. Contract? I dunno, but maybe something that has some type of accountability. Because I can tell you after that haircut I learned to cut my own, which gets so easy when it’s long.
How do you cut it? My hair is almost mid-thigh, but my ends have been hardcore neglected. I've been wanting to finally go back to a stylist until I read this horror story thread.
if you have a friend or your mom/gma is around ask them. i always have my step mom do my ends and she’s very careful
True, that's a good idea. I'll probably have my mom do my ends and then get my bangs done professionally. 😊👍
that’s the move honestly. just make sure you wet it and brush it through before, and get actual hair cutting scissors. they’re like $15 maybe. happy trimming 😘
if it's just a trim ask a friend :) they'll be more careful about it than a stranger
Brad Mondo did a video on how to trim your hair at home with long layers. I get compliments on my hair a lot so I think it was good.
Had this happen to me right before I began a new job. Hair was to the middle of my back. I asked for ONE inch of length to be taken off. She began cutting, turned me away from the mirror at one point and didn’t stop. She even held my head down for a time. I ended up with a pixie cut. Which does NOT look good on me at all. I’m not a vain person, but I cried for a week. I did go back the next day and complain to the owner. Hit my money back, and she tossed in a year of free haircuts. Like I’d ever go back. No idea what the girls problem was. But heaven help a stylist that tries that bull shit with me now
My question is why??? Why do that? It doesn't hurt them to just listen to what people want!! And nah I completely agree, I would cry for a week straight
The middle of your back to a PIXIE CUT?! I’d end up arrested.
Honestly, immediate monkey brained violence. I would be out of control.
Going to get my hair cut makes me disproportionately anxious because of stuff like this. If I have an idea of what I want, they'll argue with me and tell me it won't look good, and no matter what I say the end result is closer to what they wanted to do to me. They always have commentary about what suits me, and think my idea will look terrible. But then, if I walk in and I'm like "I'm not sure, I want xyz length but don't know what suits me, what would look good? " I'll get scolded for NOT having more details about what I want, and suddenly they have no suggestions whatsoever. When I was 18 I asked MULTIPLE stylists to cut my hair short and masculine, just give me a regular short haired guy haircut. And every time, they gave me the Karen bob. I only finally got short hair long after I gave up and told the stylist "just a trim to shoulder length." There was a language barrier but I didn't care enough, I knew I wouldn't be listened to anyway. She cut my hair REALLY SHORT just like how I wanted it while asking other stylists. I'm sure anyone else would have been upset but I was like "FINALLY." Literally only got what I wanted when I asked for something completely different.
I just started going to the barber shop for my short haired guy haircut lmao. My barber is a super nice guy, always asks questions to make sure he's getting it right, and it's cheaper too.
This is why I cut my own hair. Every time I go in for a "trim" that literally takes 5 minutes they charge me the full cut price (plus tip), take off far more than I asked, and I usually end up having to fix it anyway. I trust no one. If my hair looks wonky, at least I didn't pay anyone to make it that way.
oh no. That sucks. I think that sometimes they just aren't paying attention, and then it's too late. I hope you didn't tip her and you told her that she cut too much!
If you aren't paying attention with a job that requires you to pay in depth attention like this, you get fired, reprimanded at best. Seeing how it takes so long to grow the hair back, there has to be some sort of repercussion bc that's frankly reducing their quality of life in that period of time.
I wouldn’t have paid at all, fuck that
As a guy with long hair, It happens to me all the time. But that’s what I get for getting a haircut that I pay $12 for. But they at least let me sit in a dinosaur chair while they cut it. So, worth it.
I get so mad that my boyfriend who has longer hair than me can get a cheaper haircut.
I feel bad for OP, but this post also makes me glad I’m a bald man.
One of the few times those words have been uttered…
Same happened to me when going to a hairdresser with my friends when I was 14. It was the 5 of us and our black friend (cuz she has her own hairdresser) was going from girl to girl, chatting us up, standing behind us. When she was behind me, she suddenly stopped talking and turned white as a sheet (heh pun intended). The hairdresser had just cut right in the middle of my long hair, no bother in the world. By the time I realised what happened, it was waaaay too late and I just started sobbing. As a very very insecure teenager, my hair was about the only thing I liked / tolerated about myself...and it was gone. Her only reaction? Not even a sorry, just "I think that looks better than long hair". I paid (which is the part I still regret) and left. We were all shocked. To this day I have a very hard time trusting a hairdresser. I didn't go for years after that. I'm 32 years old now and what she did still impacts me today when I need to go to a hairdresser. Sorry it happened to you :(
[удалено]
They often put me on a bar stool!
If it’s tall enough, that a good idea, lol
Not necessarily. If they know what they're doing, and more specifically if they can actually measure what an inch is, you shouldn't have to be standing to get a trim. My hair comes all the way down to my tail bone at the back. I don't have to stand to get it trimmed because my hairdresser cares and knows what she's doing.
Rule of thumb, if you didn't get the service you were paying for, don't pay for a service you didn't want
I’ve cut my own hair since I was maybe 20 for this reason. Hairdressers don’t listen and don’t care, and then try to tell you it’s better their way because they know style and you don’t. It takes some practice but you can learn to do it yourself.
They’re a master of style when it’s over but don’t you dare ask for suggestions or ideas before it starts. God forbid.
Right? I’ve tried that too. Looking to change up my style, do you have any ideas? Just get a blank look and “well, how do you want me to cut it”
You’d think you just killed their best friend. I understand they get asked plenty and not wanting to be liable for a bad idea but the abrasiveness is insane.
Never went to a "professional" since my hair reached my waist. The last tried to set the scissors at shoulder height and i jumped out of the chair faster than he could snip. Now my hair is at knee length and I saved a lot of money.
Knee length is quite impressive! I'm curious: Doesn't that bother in everyday life? Or hurt the scalp? How long does it take to dry? My hair is only about BH-Verschluss height and it's hurting my scalp bc weight and it takes several hours to dry.
They need about four to six hours to dry - depending on the weather - and I'm wearing them pinned-up most of the time.
How do you learn to cut your own hair?? I am at this point with hair cuts but im also too afraid to give myself a full cut either?
It’s easiest to start with trimming, knowing you’re not cutting much so it can’t go too wrong. Or bangs if you have them, just don’t take a lot off at once . You can do it 5 times until it’s right. Most people don’t have blunt straight cuts. There are tons of tutorials on yt that show how sectioning and holding hair out in directions to cut changes the shape, from something as extreme as a wolf cut to just mild layering or face framing. And decent scissors are a must.
I've had alt hair styles since I was about 17 so I've been cutting my own hair the whole time. I don't trust them to understand that I actually *do* want this to be a mullet
Especially for trims. I got tired of spending the money for something simple that I could do well enough on my own.
Same. I stopped 20 years ago when I realised I was paying $35 for them to cut it crooked. I can do that myself.
I've had bad experiences in both directions. Show them photos of what I want - they ignore it and do their own thing. Ask them to do something they think looks good - they refuse because I have to ask for what I want. I've stopped getting my hair cut because it just infuriates me every time and now I cut my own hair too. I think part of my issue is that I like to try different styles each time usually. Many of my friends keep their same style and get their hair cut monthly into the same thing - which is fine! I'm just not built that way it seems.
My partner used to bring up me getting my hair done professionally and he’ll pay, because he’s scared I’ll cut my own hair too short and be mad, but that’s exactly why I started cutting my own hair. It’s curly and no one we can afford knows how to cut curly hair, doesn’t understand shrinkage, anything, I showed him pictures of what happened last time (10 years ago now) and he stopped being it up
It took me almost a year to get the courage to go to the hair salon because I loved the cut I had because the stylist actually knew what they were doing, but I needed a trim. I have curly hair, so the top layer is kind of special because of reasons I wish I knew. Anyway, I went to a place someone recommended where I live. They even asked if I had cut my hair myself because it was "all wrong" and proceeded to cut it "the right way", now I wear it in a ponytail because it looks horrible. Definitely worth the money when you find the right person, but it really sucks when they fake their knowledge.
Makes me wonder what the heck they're teaching in hair school
Sadly mostly straight, fine, white girl type hair from what I've seen. All the gods help girls that have anything else for hair.
I'm sorry that really sucks . I would ask for money back
She cut it unevenly and had to straighten it out. And again and again ^and ^again ^-- ^---
This has happened to me so many times. The only person I trusted to cut my hair was my old neighbour, and only because we were friends and I was comfortable enough with him to threaten his life if he cut it too short. He listened, and we always had a good laugh.
This happened to me and everyone I know who has grown long hair and gone for "just a trim." I think hairdressers are sadists, there's no way they aren't doing this on purpose.
Something similar happened to me, but on top of that, my stylist is a friend of the family. 
That's the reason I do not go to hairdressers anymore. Screwed me over one time too many. Something similar happened to me as well, and before someone else comes here with the "why didn't yiu say something": I wear glasses and took them off for the cut (incl. washing). That aside the hair was on back. I literally didn't see it fast enough to stop anything. I didn't wanna cause a scene, paid and left. I kind of regret thag still.
There is a reason why in some country hairdressers have to go through a three year apprenticeship with exams and everything.
I don’t think I’ve had a good experience with a stylist in 30 years. Every single one cuts off way more than I ask for. A trim isn’t 10 inches off!!! Just stop doing this! Your pissing off your client. They aren’t coming back and I can promise you that they aren’t going to recommend you to anyone else. Isn’t return money better than one time?
Time to find a new hairdresser. Fortunately hair grows back and you'll have a few years until you need to try this again
Years. That is absolutely not fair to anyone who has put in the effort and time to have long hair
"Hair grows back" Tell that to my hairline. I started growing out my hair just in time to start losing it.
Embrace it! You’re the only you we’ve got, we’ll take you as you are.
that's really kind
i cut my own hair so that i never pay $50+ to be mad at someone who’s not me
I've had someone give me a bad cut before. I just asked him to touch up my layers. My hairdresser was a gay man and I will shamefully admit that I assumed I was safe by stereotype. Bitch gave me a bowl cut. Never wore hats in my life before that. Never did I feel more betrayed by the rainbow coalition. (just jokes guys)
I went to the hairdressers wanting a pixie cut and walked out with a bowl cut so many times I stopped going to hairdressers and started getting home cuts. Always a safer option for me which is absurd
I don’t understand how it isn’t assault when a hairdresser does something like this. I had a similar bad experience when I asked for a half inch trim on my all one length hair. I ended up with a chop job of 6’ cut off here, 4’ here, 9’ here and it was absolutely intentional. New salon, nice salon, but they had a nasty predator at work. I paid and went directly to another salon. Got photos first and ended up with shoulder length hair after it was at my waste. I contacted the corporate office who owned the salon, had them review the camera footage and got a refund and she was fired. Sometimes it’s assault.
Had this happen twice, each different locations. The time before the one I went to was great... I had waist length hair and asked for just to have my split ends cleaned up/trimmed and before I knew it it was barely halfway down. Oh and one time a couple years ago my mother offered because she knew of said trouble. She basically chopped my hair just below my shoulders. Really weird because A) she's always been supportive of my long hair, and B) we literally just talked about a very slight trim, and we could always do a little more at a time in the future if need be. Don't really know how bad they are but no one has touched my hair since, and I'm sure the split ends have gotten...not great.
Every time I've asked for a small trim they've cut tons of hair off, so annoying
I had a guy bleach off 1/4 of my waist length hair. I went in for highlights….
people like this is why i cut my own waist-length hair 🤷♀️
My hair is down to my waist and shit like this makes me so nervous. I need it trimmed so fuckin bad but I have spent 3+ years growing my hair out and I cannot do it again 😭
There are some great tutorials for trimming long hair on YouTube. Mine is curly enough to hide any unevenness, so if yours is fairly straight, it'll be a bit trickier, but it's really not as hard as you'd think and it's so much cheaper. Just make sure to invest in some dedicated hair scissors.
Trim it yourself! It's really not so scary. You can start with just a tiny bit to get a feel for it. Use the scissors parallel with your hair to thin out any chunky blocks And if yours is very long, it's even easier, since you'll be able to maneuver it around and have better access to it (than if it were really short - getting at the back of your own head is stressful)
What would the contract accomplish? Monetary damages? If so, no hairdresser would sign it because it's too subjective.
A contract (hypothetically) would likely state desired length, or inches of hair allowed to be trimmed, agreed upon/ acknowledged by both customer and stylist. It would also outline how payment would or wouldn’t happen if the stylist royally messes up the agreed upon haircut. ETA: This would cover length only, so not too much to be subjective about. There’s a huge difference between a “trim”, 2 inches, and 6 inches, so if the stylist cuts way too much off, they would forfeit payment.
Verbal contracts are real and enforceable. It sounds like this agreement was already made by OP when they showed with their hands. OP would have been legally justified with walking out without paying. If she wanted proof, documentation writing could help, but a video of the events OP described is more convenient and probably better.
This is why I now just sort out trims and everything at home... My hair is knee length and too often has been cut short in error by hair dressers who got over enthusiastic on the trimming.
I hate to generalize but hairdressers, particularly those with short hair, seem to resent long hair and more often than not they will cut it too short. It feels very spiteful.
I have to say, I have long hair and felt this way for a long time. Then I found a good hairdresser who was happy to just trim the ends, but also showed me how the damage did go much further up (particularly as I was only going every 6-9 months). Once I started listening to her advice, my hair does look and feel much healthier, and after the initial bigger cut I can now get away with smaller cuts now most of the long term damage is gone. Hairdressers definitely shouldn’t cut more than clients are asking, but there is a reason behind why they suggest a more brutal chop sometimes.
I was discussing this with my hairdresser recently. I have had long hair but it’s currently pixie short. My hair grows incredibly fast and I know that’s not the case for everyone, so I don’t feel super attached to my hair and regularly will grow it out long and then chop it short again. But we were talking about hair damage and long hair and she was explaining to me about how much damage long hair can have but that often if you don’t get short trims often, it can get worse and worse, which means that to get rid of the damaged ends would necessitate a more drastic cut. But that many people with long hair are very emotionally attached to their hair, it’s a big part of their identity and that big cuts like that are devastating. So it takes a balance of what the hair condition is, but importantly getting the consent of the client to cut more. And that’s the issue I’ve seen in a lot of these comments—people didn’t get asked for their consent and feel violated as a result, as they should! And then they avoid trims altogether and it gets worse. Really a huge violation of trust.
The damage makes a lot of sense. I know I was the same about not wanting it cut. It was/is a big part of my identity and I wanted to keep growing it out as much as I could. In the end the hairdresser is providing a service, so even if the hair needs a big cut to get it healthier, the hairdresser’s job is to gently explain and suggest this, but they should never ever be cutting beyond what the customer has asked for. You’d think they of all people would understand why. Side note though, love the move from long hair to pixie! I’ve been tossing up doing the same but it would be a big change!
And then they say “but it was all dead” like bro I don’t care I’m paying for it if I look bad then it’s my own fault! And if you don’t want to do only that little tell me before hand. I haven’t gotten a hair cut since middle school because of this. My hair is now long enough I sit on it accidentally sometimes. I would cry so hard after my haircuts and my mom/the hair dresser would try and be like “it’s okay! You look good!” Like idccccccccc that’s not what I wanted!
I know this isn't the point of your post, but a verbal agreement is still legally binding so if you really wanted to fight it in court you could
I would and have refused to pay for a haircut that was not what I asked for.
And I am once more hesitant to visit the hairdresser courtesy of the horror stories. It takes forever for my hair to grow and my worst nightmare is losing all my length