A question from a hairstylist!

[ChasingBliss]

My issue is trying to get black stylists to understand I'm on a healthy hair care journey not a cut-n-style journey. I have only had ONE black stylist who understood this and unfortunately he moved away. Under his care my hair thrived and he didn't cut hair unnecessarily. I reached waist length SEVERAL times under his care but with these other stylists it's all about just cutting and laying some hair. HELLO! I don't want the latest new look, I don't want layers, how many times did I have to say that and why they couldn’t understand that is beyond my comprehension!! Unfortunately I no longer go to African American stylists. I had enough. If I want my hair professionally done I seek out white stylists who can do black hair or Dominicans. I feel AA stylists are highly abusive to black women....ie..........not listening to us about our hair, leaving us unattended while they talk on the phone, not being on time, having too many appts come in near and around the same time. I just couldn't take it anymore and I feel so free now that I no longer go to AA stylists. No more wasted Saturdays or wasted afternoons, no more crying over too much cut hair etc. It was such a releasing experience and LHCF made it possible. Wish I would have discovered this site years ago.

Maybe you will be different and break the cycle. Just remember we all don’t wanna look like Rihanna or Beyonce. Many of us just want healthy hair that we can grow long. Good luck to you!

Agrees with entire post and could have written the bolded myself.

 

[StarScream35]

I would like to reitterate what my peers have already stated:

Overbooking- this is my number one pet peeve. due to desperation, i've waiting an hour past my appointment time to be seen. Foreal, that's disrespectful. the eating and constant break taking in the midst of my appointment pisses me off. Yes, everybody needs a break. I believe it's against the law to go more than 4 hours without taking a break, but that break time, lunch time, snack time, etc needs to be scheduled into the day. and taking a 5-10 minute break is fine with me but 20-30 min, no ma'am.

Hair care knowledge- Actually, i lied. This is my biggest pet peeve. I do not have a cosmetology license so I can't attest to why so many stylists have no idea as to how to maintain healthy hair or treat damaged hair. maybe that is why they are called stylists because that's what they know- styling. years ago, this happened with more than 1 beautician, i have asked about a deep conditioning treatment (yup, i was willing to pay) and I was told that I didn't need one. If you are applying dry heat to my hair using any medium, my hair needs to be deep conditioned prior. Hell, I deep condition my hair just to keep it from being hellified dry even when i'm just gonna air dry.

Gotdang over trimming- Just recently I went to a stylists who touts all of these continuing education classes, which i loved. Everything was going great, she deep conditioned me, used heat preotectant, gentle on the hair. I asked for a trim. I knew I needed a trim, roughly about an inch. I self trim when I straighten, I dc every week, cowash 2-4 times a week, get very little breakage. my only hair issues are single strand knots and itchy scalp. My hair is in pretty freaking decent condition. She asks me how much i wanted trimmed off the bottom, I said about an inch. She tells me that an inch and a half would be better. I said go for it. This chick proceeds to cut more than 4 inches off my bottom layer of hair. Then to try and drum up business, she tells me to come back in 6 weeks so she can "finish cutting off the leftover dead hair". what? when i walked in the door, i was scraping waist length, when I left out I was about an inch from midback (she cut off almost 5 inches). this goes back to an old thread. i don't think many stylists actually know what an inch is.

Oh and getting too comfortable/lazy with someone whose hair you've been doing for year and not putting in the same amount of work. twice i was going to a stylist for 2+ years and it seemed as though the longer I was a client the worse my hair looked when I left. I felt new people left with the most bangin hair and mine would be "meh".

The bold is sooooo true and not to mention just getting neglected altogether just because you are a long time customer. For example, assuming that you are ok with them running to the store while you wait etc. You should always keep it professional no matter how long the person has been your client.

 

[stylistlaurie]

Thanks to everyone who responded!

I always do an ititial consultation, infact this question is to assist with consulting black women. Only a few of you suggested ways in which I can help black women communicate with me about their hair. Someone suggested cutting the first section then getting the ok to go on, i think that will work for some of the women i see I dont know if its because black women dont get asked often, but when I get one in my chair for a consultation I dont get them to open up about what they want. I get a lot of "do whatever you want" or "im not sure" and I hate to say it, but most of us do want to look like Beyonce or Rhianan when we go to the salon...maybe because they either dont know how to communicate what they want or dont know how to set a goal for themselve. Either way, its my job to help them get where they need to be.

So what im asking is for ladies to tell me what tools work best for you in a salon setting as it relates to communicating what you want out of your hair appointment at that time and in the future.

Im sorry some of you have had such horrible experiences. I know what you dont like, what does not help, work, ect. those of you who do/have/will visit a salon, tell me what does work.

thanks so much, Laurie

 

[diadall]

Wow, it looks like people are saying to the OP what they should be saying to their ow stylist.

Thanks for asking us to improve service.

I think one major issue I have had with stylist is them not asking me what are my hair goals. I think a simple, "what do you want your hair to look like, what is your dream hair," would be good.

That way the stylist knows if someone is asking for color all the time and their goal is healthy hair the stylist can educate them that the two may conflict.

Again, thanks for asking.

 

[StarScream35]

Thanks to everyone who responded!

I always do an ititial consultation, infact this question is to assist with consulting black women. Only a few of you suggested ways in which I can help black women communicate with me about their hair. Someone suggested cutting the first section then getting the ok to go on, i think that will work for some of the women i see I dont know if its because black women dont get asked often, but when I get one in my chair for a consultation I dont get them to open up about what they want. I get a lot of "do whatever you want" or "im not sure" and I hate to say it, but most of us do want to look like Beyonce or Rhianan when we go to the salon...maybe because they either dont know how to communicate what they want or dont know how to set a goal for themselve. Either way, its my job to help them get where they need to be.

So what im asking is for ladies to tell me what tools work best for you in a salon setting as it relates to communicating what you want out of your hair appointment at that time and in the future.

Im sorry some of you have had such horrible experiences. I know what you dont like, what does not help, work, ect. those of you who do/have/will visit a salon, tell me what does work.

thanks so much, Laurie

The bolded is mainly what the problem is and this stems around the lack of customer service in black salons. Black stylists just don't ask. Plain and simple and therein lies the problem. Case in point, after deciding to depart from black salons and go to white stylists who did black hair, I was shocked to death when the white stylists asked me questions like does my hair tangle more when wet than dry, had I noticed any breakage, did I take multivitamins, what kinda pillow did I sleep one etc. He also told me that my hair was in good health but my ends were a tad bit dry. I had been going to black salons for years and nobody EVER asked me about my hair or examined it.

I think the key is asking women if their goal is to retain length and grow waist length hair or if they just want styles.

I know you are right about most sistas wanting to look like Beyonce or Rhianna but this is likely where an error can be corrected. Let me tell you ain't nothing like being lumped together with everybody else. Just because 20 other clients come in and want Rhianna's latest hair style doesn't mean "I" want it and I have a deep respect for stylists who respect this. Reminds me of a stylist I went to once. She detangled using a denman brush and when I told her that denman brushes rip and tear my hair, do you know what she said?? Her response was "denman brushes are very good for detangling and they work on all my other clients" Do you know how this made me feel? Do you really wanna sit and argue with a stylist only to have them catch attitudes? What if you aren't the confrontational type? It's stuff like this that makes us run to Dominicans, white stylists or do our own hair. You must LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. Keep a variety of detangling tools around, denmans, wide tooth, bone tails, tangle tamers, tangle teezers etc. Educate yourselves on the SCIENCE of hair ALONG with the latest styles. Read reference materials about hair and how it works. This will come in handy when you DO get those clients who are on a healthy hair journey. As you are doing hair, veer off from the usual gossip and talk to your clients about their hair. If you notice thinning sides, breakage in the kitchen area, lets talk about this. And stop overbooking so you can take the time to do these things with clients. Keep YOUR hair looking good and healthy and looking good. Should I trust a stylists who has hair in poor condition or wears weaves all the time??? What's going on? That's what I would like to know. I think your hair reflects you.

Good luck mami. If you have any other questions you know the chics here will help!