I Hate Hairdressers
13 February 2006I’ve always been a bit scared of hairdressers. Mostly because, in my experience, they seem to fuck hair rather than dress it. It also seems that my experience is of choosing really bad hairdressers.
The first time it wasn’t my choice. I was about seven-years-old and my mother took me to the hairdressers around the corner. Now, cutting a kid’s hair isn’t rocket science. It’s not like I asked for foils or an up-do. My mum just wanted them to trim my gorgeous verging-on-bowl-cut style and my fringe. I remember them hacking my fringe into complete unevenness, me crying, and my mum fixing it when we got home.
I think my mum cut my hair for quite a few years after that. I also used to get her to perm my hair into waves with the leftovers of her perming solution, because all I ever wanted was curly hair. She never did it bad, but when I was 13 I wanted what everyone in my town was getting in 1993 – the spiral perm. So I went to a hairdressers. Again, they messed with my fringe, which was actually perming my short fringe so it was absolutely fucking horrid. And it being a spiral perm, it didn’t drop for months. I remember hating it, but somehow I didn’t think to clip it back. SMRT.
The next few years were fairly uneventful. I learned which hairdressers I liked and what styles I liked. Then I moved to Texas when I was 21 and started with a succession of shitty hairdressers. There were the ones who convinced me to use Aveda products, even though they dried my hair to a crisp and made my scalp itch. There was the one who never got it quite right. There was the guy – the first male hairdresser I went to – who took offence to me telling him I didn’t want him to cut my hair with a razor because my hair always frizzed afterwards (“Well, I’ve been cutting hair for 30 years, blah blah blah.” Yes, it frizzed.) Then I finally found a good hairdresser, but only a few months before I left for the United Kingdom.
In Manchester, I saw one girl who gave me “blonde” foils that actually turned out orange. Then when I pointed out that they were orange and not the colour I wanted, the senior colourist (otherwise known as Bitch) got all snooty at me and said that the orange was the colour I chose from the book, and took some convincing to fix it. The girl who cut my hair was actually really good, but she moved salons and didn’t tell me so again I was back to square one – going to random hairdressers and hoping for the best.
There was the one who styled my hair with so much gel (yes, gel!) that it crusted. There was the one who when told I was growing my hair and I just wanted a reshape decided to cut off all the length from the layers I’d been growing for a year. She was also the one who I asked not to straighten my hair and then cut it, but decided that that’s what she was going to do anyway. She thinned the ends out so much that it looked like I hadn’t had my hair cut in five years, and it also looked totally fugly. That was the only time I cried after a haircut since I was seven. That time I complained to the owner who then tried to fix my hair but it still looked like shit.
So a month ago I decided to get my hair cut in Antwerp. I went to the fanciest looking place I saw in town. The place that used the products I liked. Kreatos just off the Meir was the place I choose. The guy who cut my hair, Fabien, seemed friendly and spoke very good English and seemed to understand what I was talking about. When he was just about to start cutting, he held up a big chunk from the top at the back and went to cut about three inches off. In a big clump. Like when someone is getting a ponytail chopped off. I thought he was kidding, but now I’m sure he wasn’t. He was actually going to cut my hair like that. But while I was still convinced he was messing with me (I’d told him about my bad experience previously), I sat there patiently until he finished. He showed me the back with the mirror and it looked pretty bad. I asked to hold the mirror myself and had a look at the sides and back. For some bizarre reason, there was a giant hole of missing hair on the side that he wasn’t showing me with the mirror. I pointed this out and was like, OMFG what is that hole? To which he responded with, “I didn’t cut that.” Yeah, okay Fabien. That’s why I haven’t noticed it for the past five months. I’m sure you didn’t do it.
I have been wearing my hair in a ponytail for the past month. In a few weeks, once I arrive in Wellington, I will try to find a hairdresser. I will probably have to get my hair cut really short, just to hide the fuckedupness. Or, it will be fucked up once more.
Seriously, I hate hairdressers.
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Comments
go see brooke at jam on cuba st. i try to save up my haircuts for wellington visits because she rules so much.
I feel for you!
I am 38 years old and have finally found someone who gets what I’m trying to say when I describe the cut or trim I want. She’s expensive, but I’d rather pay the extra money to walk out of the salon looking like I want to look instead of like a freak (well, in regard to my hair anyway).
Good luck!
i pay through the nose (i think about $85 iirc) for my haircuts: i go to toni+guy in auckland. i love my hairdresser, he is great, but most are very average at best.
I used to pay £40 for an average haircut in Manchester. That’s NZ$100, argh!
No way am I wasting my time with sub-par hairdressers again.
Come to Auckland – Go to Francis at Servilles – $75 and takes about 2hrs for a frigging cut but she’s the best. Everyone I know goes to her (very difficult to get an appointment). She rocks!
See… Kreatos isn’t really that fancy, its a run off the mill chain hairdresser.
Even though I’m a man I hate hairdressers too. Once I got my hair cut (i was 13) at the unisex hairdresser that my mom went too – quite a poncy one. So I asked (it was winter) for it to be not too short in the neck. Result: a mullet!!!11
Ever since I came to the UK I swear with Mr. Toppers. Best £6 I spend every time.
That second sentence caught me off guard and I just laughed with soda in my mouth and now it’s on the keyboard. Fuck hair – hilarious!
Danm, I read your story and my heart goes out to you hommie..LOL. I know what you mean and I’v e heard the story many, many times.. I’m a hair designer at “Erik of Norway” in Mequon WI. I know its a long way from where you are. Ive seen lots of storys of unhappy people. Let me tell you what your hair type sounds like to me.. You have brown hair that has had a hell of a lot of layers in it…NEVER RAZOR your hair.. always moistureize your hair.. LOL ,Did I spell that right? OHh by the way >>I work with Aveda and you are alergic to Aveda..sometimes the most natural ingreedients can have the most adverss effects sorry were and Aveda salon..but you can bring your own product.., I’ve gone through training for 5 years and only been cutting for six,, you know what works for you and just tell your next styilst to give you square layers cutting only half an inch off.. !Untll you conect with that person ,, six visits… at least.. contact me anytime.. Marrissa… xoxox
I just read your story and boy do I totally relate. I’ve been to hairdressers that I wonder how in the world did they ever get their license. I’m sitting here with fucked up hair and it’s been growing out for almost a year and it’s not even close to being back to normal. The haircut I wanted was very simple and I had it cut that way before,so I know it would have worked. I NEVER allow the razor to be used on my hair. This hairdresser used a razor on my hair, the thing that gets me is that I didn’t know he was using it at the time,I couldn’t see what he as doing. He ruined my intire head of hair by razoring half way up my layers. He also cut the beginning layer to short for the bottom,making the bottom way to thin,then the razoring on the layers thinned out the rest of my hair. I’ve had my hair cut once since then,she had to cut five inches off the bottom to get it proportioned and just barely trim the layers. I still hate my hair. It will probably take about another year of trims to get all the razored part cut off. I’m really pissed off. What kind of hair dresser takes it upon their self to use a razor on their clients hair without permission. I have fine hair,but allot of it,or I should say had allot. Using a razor on fine hair just seems so wrong to me. I had to wear what was left of my hair up for about a year. It lookes a little better now, but it still looks horrible. I don’t think I have any options accept to just keep trimming it. I’m still so sick about this.
oh, I forgot to ask. Is it o.k. to post the name of the hair stylist when talking about about what they did? I noticed you mentioned Fabiens name,he sounds like an idiot. Anyways, I just wanted to make sure it’s o.k..
Missy and I met because of our hair hell. I had an idiot razor me and when I thought that was fixed I had highlights done. Well the moron of a “stylist” put bleach on my head (I wanted color used) and sat me under a dryer for 40 minutes. I think she forgot about me while doing her friend’s hair. I have dark, thick coarse hair. The idiot turned the top of my head an ugly blonde. This looked lovely with the rest of the hair dark. This was done with foils. It also felt like straw. The only way to fix this is by cutting it off. Trying to find someone that understands this is frustrating. The idiots want to leave pieces that don’t belong because you are trying to “grow” it out. Don’t they understand some people need to totally start over with the proper shape in order to tolerate it while growing it back out. I finally just gave in and had someone use a #2 clipper on it. She tapered it and the shape is better than it has been in months. The only thing I can do now is let it grow. I’d rather have no hair than a bad haircut. That just brings you down and keeps you in a bad place. People there are a lot of bad people out there doing hair. Some are warped. Some are hair nazis that use your head for their own pleasure. This is our hair people. We have to wear it . It’s time to hold these idiots responsible. I’m sick of paying for what I don’t want. I hate when hairmessers say I like that, I think you should leave it. Well I don’t care what you like. I’m the one paying. Listen to the person with the money. I hate reading about people going through what Missy and I are going through. It can drive you crazy.
i can totally empathise ive just been to the hairdressers (toni & Guy) and theyve completely hacked into my hair which was once long and thick to give me a scraggly thin mullet the bad kind thats not in any way stylish i just look like i let a five year old loose on my hair whats worse is i paid £50 for the pleasure!
I realized how lucky I had been with my hairdressers at home in Holland until I moved to a different country where women and hairdressers have ideas about hairstyle that differ slightly but only slightly ;-) from mine. I actually wrote about my first visit to a hairdresser there here.
About two months ago I had gathered enough courage for my second visit, which turned out even more disasterous. A few weeks ago I was back in Holland for a short visit and you guessed the first thing I did after my arrival: schedule an appointment at the hairdresser’s for the next day!
I myself am now suffering from the reprocussions of a horrid hair-cut. I sincerely thank you for taking the time to reflect on your past incidences – it’s made me feel a lot better about this knowing I’m not alone. I have very short hair now – due to a hair dressers insistence that I let her razor cut my hair till it was so thin and wispy I looked like an electrocuted poodle. Ever after in my frustration – I’ve never really been able to grow it out shoulder length again… I miss it… and yeah… I think I may even share your upset to an even more elevated level… I feel naked without my hair!
Well i have come to this post having just got back from my hairdressers and i’m in tears. I made a point of telling my hairdresser (4 times) i only wanted a trim becasue i wanted to keep the length because i love my curly locks. She has practically cut it into a bob- and it looks a mess, i cnt even put it into a pony tail god knows how long it’l take to grow back to the length it was; but i’m never going to a hairdressers again. :’(
Recently I had my hair turned into a disaster by a stylist who cut off most of the length, thinning many of my locks close to the scalp using a razor, and shattering the bottom with frayed, horrible layers. If anyone lives in or will be visiting NYC, avoid the Eva Scrivo salon. Don’t fall for the hype of a big name salon and instead always go to a trusted stylist, even if their cuts aren’t always perfect. Imperfect hair is manageable and can be fixed, but hacked off hair is a different story. I just wanted to prevent others from experiencing the same grief.
Yeah, what’s with these stupid hairdressers who want to use razors and thinning shears to layer long, baby fine, thin hair! I stupidly sat in the chair and let this dork do it, why? I do not know. I find they have a way of intimidating you(or me rather) so that I just sat there like a dolt and let him go to town on my long, fine thin hair. It is now looking so damaged, I could just go back there and wring his bloody neck! But, I think, I am even more PO’d at myself for just sitting there and letting him continue on. I kept thinking that he is the professional and knows what he’s doing…Yeah Right! Not this one anyway…I keep thinking that he did this all on purpose, as if he somehow WANTED to ruin my hair and God only knows how many others hair as well. I don’t know, but do you think that maybe some of them really do have a hatred thing there going on for their clients hair, that they really do want to purposely wreck people’s hair, that they do in fact actually get off on it? I really am starting to think this may be the case, not with all, but with some of them.
Mixed Chicks products work well for curls and straight hair with frizz. No crusty residue, but my curls are defined.
Geez, i hate hair dressers too, they also never seem to listen to what YOU want, i have tried to tell them and they make that face (like when you take your car to the garage, you know what i’m talking about girls, and if your not accompnied by a oily sweaty man you have thousands worth of work needed on it) and then convince you how bad that look is on you, make you feel an inch tall. Then if thats not bad enough you end up swaying to what they reccomend they try make it sound like it’s close to what you wanted only for it to be completely different and 7 / 10 it winds up far from and ressembling the persons hair next to you or their own hair cut. They even make YOU feel guilty that it didnt go right….. thats why i avoid hairdressers until i NEED a hair cut, i have a special brush that chops of dead ends now so i dont have to go as often
i have found where i live, anyway, if you pick the girls with sper pretty locks of long hair and extreemly into fashion, you will get a pretty good haircut. Without seriously offending any readers, in my town,if u are slightly over weight and frumpy (not into fashion) and they have short hair…WARNING BELLS go upfor me. I say this withot meaning to be cruel. I am slightly over weight and very hippie trend in clothes, but i fear the hairdressers too. In fact, i recently got a bad due, and its all frizzed out, yes, i didnt follow my own advice, i was in bad mood and went to first place i could. BAD MISTAKE. oh well, I am begining to think real hairstylists are gifted by god the others pretend.
i went to the hairdressers today. wasted 30 quid…....thanks you bloody moron!
okay well i was so sick of shit hairdressers i thought ‘what the hell, i can do a better job than them.’ i cut my own hair.
idiotic me.
it went all lopsided so i went to get it fixed. i stated to the hairdresser that she was not to touch my fringe as i was growing it out. she did an okay job and then decided she was going to go against my wishes and cut the fringe anyway.
she took about an inch of an inch and a half long fringe. my hair grows quite slowly and i’ve had to brush all my hair foward so you can’t see what a shitty job she did.
i have never found a hairdresser that has done what i’ve wanted in my entire life. i really feel for you. hairdressers suck.
I found a great hairdresser, like really, really great – Emma at Vanilla on Victoria Street in Wellington. At my last cut she told me she is moving to another city. :’(
i am a fully qualified hairdresser with good experience and specialise in racoon hair extensions at excellent prices i am in cardiff i can help with your mess ups !! give me a bell on 07891232434
Wow crazy stuff im a hd have been for awhile and fark this is scary stuff, yes razzor so not good i still dont and have never understood why hairdressers use them, lots of great hairdressers in welly but sadly they are not cheap, the best why to find a great cutter is to spot a cut you like on the streets then track them down always the way, good luck. peace
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who finds it exceptionally traumatic going to the hairdressers. I went today and came out of the place in tears, having been on the verge of a mullet. And to make it worse, I tipped her as I felt like I was the one who had the problem!! AAARGH. Had to go to another salon to get a sort out – now its going to be three months before I can tie my hair back again, which would be okay if it was actually a nice cut.. Here’s to solidarity for all others who share an entirely rational fear of hairdressers, especially ones who insist on using products even when you have told them that you don’t want any…just a wee spray of this or a blob of that. NO! NO! NO!
I’m somewhat convinced that certain hairdressers just keep cutting in order to pad out the time. This way they can be justified in charging you as much as the other more time consuming cuts.
For these hairrdressers ‘just a thinning and tidy up’ means nothing.