No More Cheap Haircuts (Rant)

[Granny]

I don't get it. You take them pictures. You talk about it before they ever start, and still they can't get it right.

Before BK, I had beautiful hair, the highlights were perfect and so was the cut, but it was too expensive to keep up at the regular salon so I started going to the local beauty school for my haircuts and highlights. I started with a 2nd level student and we talked about my color for months as she worked her way to graduation. I finally let her color my hair before she graduates and it was terrific. Not exactly what I got at the high dollar salon but good enough. We wrote down the "formula" so that the next student could duplicate it. I took the formula with me, so that she wasn't relying on their computer system. And the very next time the student got it all wrong and I looked ridiculous. Blonde on top and dark on bottom looks stupid on a 50 year old women. Gone were my highlights and streaks. I waited 2 weeks for my hair to recover and then started the search for someone to fix it. Nobody, save one wonderful salon, would even attempt to fix it. They were afraid my hair would fall out....I didn't care, no hair would have been better than looking like a freak. So I gave up the highlights and went with something closer to my own hair color. I simply couldn't afford to maintain the highlights.

So I went to the cheap hair cut place that my hubby and grandkids use. I took multiple pictures of the same haircut. It was Joyce DeWitt, from Three's company. Not a hard haircut. I'm not asking for something that my hair won't do. So she starts cutting and she keeps cutting, and then she cuts some more and then she pulls out the razor to texturize it. And when the girl has finished drying my hair she said "Gee your hair shrinks a lot". No You Stupid B***h, you got scissor happy and you cut it too short!!!! &@$%?$#

There was one picture where I said this is too short and another where I said this is where she needs to have it cut again. I want mine in between the two. I spent hours searching the internet looking for these pictures so I could get exactly what I wanted. How hard is it for them to look at a picture and duplicate it!!!! Must be pretty hard because mine is now way shorter than the one that was too short. D@mn, why can't they get it right???? This is not the first time this has happened. Same song last February, but at least then the girl admitted she screwed it up and didn't charge me full price. Now I have to wear earrrings and makeup daily to keep from looking like a bull dyke. GRRRRR!!!!!!!

So if your down in Texas and see a scraggly headed, mousey haired, dyke looking granny, wave because it just might be me.

[$$only4ever]

OMG Granny, After I read the last part of your post, I was laughing so hard that I was crying!! Your poor thing!

[MomIcantFindmy]

Oh Wow I am so sorry. My sister is a beautician and when the TV show friends came out I wanted Rachel hair....she had only seen the show once and she gave me Monica hair (which was very short at the time). I cried, I have red hair and I looked like a big red egg. It was my sister so I let it go and grew it out. We laugh about it now 10 years later. (and I cut my own hair)

[Granny]

Oh Wow I am so sorry. My sister is a beautician

I can sympathize. My mom was a beautician. When she was going to school, I was in 2nd grade and I was her guinea pig, errr, I mean model. Have you ever seen a second grader with a bouffant hairdo???? and there's pictures of it no less...made into a paper weight in Camp Fire Girls. How embarrassing.

And then when everyone else is using the clothes iron to straighten their hair, my mom gives me a perm. But this is no ordinary perm....the phone rang and she forgot about me. I had a 'fro and 'fro's weren't cool in middle school. I never lived that one down.

Oh the perils we go through, just to look good.

[chpxiii]

Granny, I can totally sympathise. I had LONG beautiful curly hair.

The guy kept cutting it and cutting it. I learned my lesson that day: FACE THE MIRROR WHEN THEY CUT YOUR HAIR. He turned me around and I screamed. Literally. It was a shock because my hair was down my back when I went in. He cut it short short short. I was saying it was TOO SHORT. Everyone was looking at me. (yeah, I can be a bit of a drama queen. )

Get this. When I started crying he said, "Well, maybe I can fix it" and guess what he does. He. Picks. Up. His. Scissors." WTF?!? I said loudly, "How can you FIX IT with SCISSORS when I'm sitting here crying and saying it's TOO SHORT?"

By then the manager came out. i was totally freaking out. It was a HUGE shock because it was such a DRASTIC change. At anyrate, the manager said I didn't have to pay and I yelled, "DAMN RIGHT I'M NOT PAYING FOR THIS" I was crying so hard. I grabbed my things and ran out. I cried so hard the rest of the night. I have a picture of myself whereyou can see my eyes are so red and puffy. hehehe

Anyway, what sucks about that is that Ihave not been able to grow my hair back that long. I am actually losing my hair. Rheumatologist thinks it's due to lupus. Dermtologist thinks it's due to female pattern baldness. *sigh* So I'm on biotin, rogaine, and lupus meds. In that time (6 years ago when The Hair Incident occurred) I've lost a lot of hair. The meds are helping a wee bit. While I think that having my hair short was a bit of a blessing, I do NOT like short hair. And I have NOT been able to grow my hair back to that length.

I still mourn my long hair. And I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dread going to the hair dresser. Since I've lost so much hair, get this. Hair dressers get into the business because they like playing with hair, right? So. When they cut and style your hair, they'replaying with it. And because my hair is so thin (you can see the scalp) they try to HIDE the scalp (helloooo!) by poufing my hair up. WTF? I usually get red hair colour put in my hair. They can't even get the red right. I'm about to give up on that and just go with whatever colour my hair is: mousy brown with some graying.

So anyway, since they try to pouf my hair I end up walking out with f@cking cotton candy on my head. It looks awful. Last time I finally told the hair dresser to not even bother to do my hair. Just cut it. Do. Not. Style. My. Hair. They always get it wrong. If they can just get the cut down, I can style it just fine. But I dread going to get my hair cut. They almost always do it wrong - especially if they try to style my hair.

Good news is since July what I've been doing is helping my hair to grow back (I miss my bangs! And my pony tail is not feeling so whispy anymore.) It's shoulder length now and I've been thinking of another cut ... but I so dread it.

I firmly believe, tho'... when it comes to hair cuts, you definitely get what you pay for. The last woman who cut and coloured my hair was not offended when I told her not to style. Just cut and colour. But that cost me $150. eep! I think she did an okay job and atleast she didn't bother styling it. I don't know what I want to do with it now. I have very very thin and fine curly hair. I'd like to go dark red again, but that's such a hit or miss with it. And cuts ... you'd think that hair dressers don't know how to work with curly hair. Don't they have like, a "curly hair" chapter in "Hair Cutting" class? eesh. I always know a bad hair stylist when they PULL on curly hair to cut. Hello. That makes the cut SHORTER than what i want cause it CURLS UP. Do people not THINK?

I'm beginning to think not.

Trust me, Granny. I feel your pain. Oh, and I hate when people tell me, "Oh, it'll grow back." Uhm. No. Not when you're losing your hair. It could take YEARS to recover, not months.

[chpxiii]

PS:

My hair is so thin, I've seriously considered wigs.

[BKcrazy]

I am queen of having people do bad things to my hair. For years. One lady gave me Cleopatra bangs, and cut it too short in the back and it was uneven, so she french braided it! I couldn't see the back, that is why she did that. The salon ower said they would not charge me to have it "evened" out. No thanks.

I've had the three/two tone look before. Well, I decided to make it all blonde. My hair got horribly fried! It was already blonde on top, he made it worse.

This was bad, in fact I left the shop in tears and came back to it after I went home to style it myself. I had debated about going blonde on top, for the two tone look. Then I decided I just wanted chunky highlights, I had this done before and I liked the line they used for highlights - Schwarzkopf. Well, the owner, also a stylist was the one doing my hair. I learned do not let the owner of a salon ever touch your hair again. Stylist or not, they suck. She fried my hair. She had made not the chunky highlights I asked for, but the thin kind like you get with a cap. I made her fix that, but she did it wrong. Then I told her to just take the tips off when she trimmed my hair. She took off more than that. She said she would cut her hands if she took off the tips. Bullcrap!!!! She tried to calm me down with free shampoo and conditioner. Yeah right. My best friend used to go to a lady there too. In fact, later the same day, she went in for her appt. and her stylist told her the devil came out of me. That I'm so sweet and quiet, but wow was I upset. After that happened to me, my best friend told me that the owner ruined more hair. A girl had come in with hair down to the middle of her back. She was dark blonde I believe, and wanted highlights. Her hair got fried too, and her hair was shoulder length when she left. She was supposed to pay a little over $200. She got on the phone with her dad, and wrote a check for $100 and told the owner she was going to stop payment on it, and told her what she could do with herself. That was in 2005.

I've also worn extensions. The glue in kind. That kind of ruined my hair too. My best and friend and I miscalculated that move I know how to make the clip in ones now, so I play with those sometimes.

I waited until my bday this year to get a trim. My bday. 10 days after filing. And it was a girl I've known about three years. I was sooo upset on my bday! She made these layers in my hair more noticable! I hate layers on me! My hair is thick, and naturally curly/wavy. And I like to wear it straight. It's already growing back out, thank goodness!!!

So, I can relate. There are possibly other stories, but those are my "highlights" of bad hair experiences. Here's a suggestion, I used Nioxin when I was trying to fix my hair after the mess with the glue in extensions. It seemed to help my hair out a lot. Also, grapeseed oil is supposed to be helpful with hair as well. I eat a lot of salads, and I noticed my hair was looking really really healthy, and that I had a growth spurt. I thought why? And I had been using grapeseed oil in my salads for a month....Try it, can't hurt and grapeseed oil is really good for you.

[BKcrazy]

Oh, I forgot that there is some coloring you can do at home. It's easy, and gradually goes away in 4-6 weeks. It's called Color Gems by Loreal. It's a gloss., semi permanent. And there is no ammonia. They have a good range of colors too. You can get this at Sally's. My hair is dark, almost black. I still had traces of highlighting after trying to get my hair one color again. So, this girl (hairdresser-but not in a salon anymore), told me to try it. She said to use darkest natural brown 3.0 (4.0 is blue black I think), she said it would be close to natural hair color. Gentle on your hair, the stuff smells ok too. She told me by getting the 3.0 at 4-6 you wouldn't have roots showing. She was right. They also have a clear on too for extra shine. And it's pretty inexpensive. Under $20 I think, even if you get gloves, the tube of color or clear, and developer. I got the biggest bottle, so that was worth it. She told me she had mixed brown and red together before, and in the sun you could see a pretty red shine on her hair. I think I may try that.

This is from the back of the box "no-ammonia, true-to-tone color that enhances or slightly deepens natural haircolor while adding a brilliant shine. Also perfect for blending first grays, toning highlighted hair, refreshing faded permanent haircolor, lowlighting to add contrast and glossing for flawless shine."

[chpxiii]

Hey, BKCrazy, it seems that there isn't a woman on this board that doesn't have a hair "DON'T" story, eh? I've tried the Nioxin. I didn't like it. It seemed to burn my hair off. I'll keep a look out for the Color Gems.

[BKcrazy]

HAHA, yeah we all have hair stories from hell. Just more for us to bond over.

The first two times I tried Nioxin, it was super tingly, but then I didn't notice after that. My hands were really badly tingly the first time. It really can dry your hair and scalp out, so if anyone does try it, alternate it and don't use it maybe more than two times a week. Also, if you can get by, don't wash your hair everyday. They have sprays you can use in between washings. I used one called Dry Clean only by Sebastian. Sometimes CVS has this, or the salons, though CVS may be cheaper. I think it was $9.99, and was so worth it. And the bottle will last you too. Spray in your hair, and brush it through. I don't wash my hair everyday, it's too insanely coarse. Also, before you wash your hair, brush it. Sounds weird right? But, when you do that, you are redistributing the natural oils in your hair and it somewhat helps protect your hair when you wash it.

[arkienurse]

2 stories......

I have never liked short hair, but as I get older, grayer, and my face is starting to, ummm, look just like my paternal grandma staring back at me from the mirror, I decided to give it a try again. I sat down at the beauty parlor in wal-mart, and found a cute short cut that looked low maintenance. my beautician, who has given me the few cuts, and all the colors I have ever had in the past 7 years cut my hair. I loved it, everyone at work loved it. Was very happy. Flash forward about 4 months when I go in for a trim. My beautician was out with a broken wrist. The girl that cut my hair couldn't figure out how it had been cut, so couldn't follow the pattern. And the next time I go in, the one I like wasn't there again, and i couldn't find a picture like the cut I wanted. So I am still not happy. Does anyone know of a site to look up hair styles, like the books they have for you to look through?

Now for the other story. DH has been Santa in our small town's Christmas parade every year for ages. This year he started growing his beard longer and bushier in June. The girls at the beauty school had agreed to dye it for him for free if he would play Santa at their Christmas party. They dyed his hair, beard, and eyebrows. It looks very santa like, and lots of kids have come up to him asking if he is really Santa. But they really burned his head bad when they bleached it. So bad that he says he isn't doing it again and will wear the wig/fake beard next year.

Here is one of his photos from his myspace account. And yes, that is all his own hair ( and padding)

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=149135172&albumID=1159228&imageID=12444980

[FLBK7]

Talk about coincidences! Just in time for Christmas, today I had a very, very, very BAD hair day -- and the worst is that the effects are going to last for at least a couple months!

I have a lot of medium-length hair and am currently trying to grow out a soft perm (it was beautiful and looks good but I'm ready for a change) and the medium layers that came with it. I needed a trim big time, because my bangs were so long and thick I couldn't see out of my eyes.

I went to my usual salon and my hairdresser was out with the flu. THAT should have made me walk right out and ride the too-long-hair until after Christmas! But stupidly, I let someone else do it. I explained I was growing out the perm and the layers and that I basically wanted a 1-inch trim in the back, and the bangs trimmed but SLIGHTLY layered so that they looked softer, and also "blended" into the sides so that the sides wouldn't stick out. The lady went right to work. Well, because I still have some curl from the old perm, the hair "shrunk" -- particularly the bangs!!!! Now the bangs are much too short, much too layered, and make the sides look weird and out of proportion. I was SO upset I started crying. They offered to "fix" it by trimming the sides some more so that the short bangs wouldn't "look" so short. I refused, told them it had been a mistake, and that I would wait for my own hairdresser to return so that SHE could try to fix it. They didn't charge me for the cut but there's just no way they can compensate for the way I feel, and especially just before Christmas! I'm only blaming myself, though. I should have known better than to go with someone I had never seen before, and who was on her cell phone half the time to boot!

Now I look awful. The back is okay, but the sides look huge because the bangs are so short and layered. So I've been experimenting and I think I'm going to pull the sides up and secure them with barrettes (my goodness, I'm in my 50's -- barrettes sound so stupid! ) which I bought at CVS. Then let a few thin strands drop to soften the whole thing. This is definitely the worst "bang job" I've EVER gotten!!

Another lesson I learned is to always call the salon to make sure your hairdresser is there, instead of dropping by just because you are familiar with her/his schedule. Also, never wait till just before Christmas to get your hair done, because pressure and stress are mistake triggers!

Thank goodness hair grows back......

Happy Holidays!

[chpxiii]

I wish I had my bangs back! And I wish I could find a hair dresser I like.

I guess we can all just laugh about this later ... when the hair has grown back.

[Granny]

Thank goodness hair grows back......

But no quick enough.

And why is it that hairdressers feel compelled to talk to the customer while they are cutting our hair? I don't know that person, I don't want that person to know anything about me. Obviously, they get distracted while talking? They could do a better job if they concentrated on what they are doing?

If I want to talk, I'll go to a shrink....or log onto the BK forum.

[Granny]

I wish I had my bangs back! And I wish I could find a hair dresser I like.

I sent you a PM. Just wanted to make sure you got it.