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View Full Version : Do hairdressers exaggerate your hair's damage?



goldcopperbrown
September 4th, 2013, 12:04 PM
Almost every time I've seen a hairdresser, he/she has told me that I need much more cut off than I'd like. I go in there for a small trim, and he/she just tells me that my hair is super-damaged and half of it has to come off.

At certain times, the hairdresser was right (I used to dye my hair constantly) but I haven't dyed my hair in 2 years, and I haven't over-dyed it in even longer. At this point, my hair has NO split ends (knock on wood) and while it isn't always silky-smooth, it definitely doesn't look damaged at all. And yet, I saw a hairdresser recently who told me that my hair was incredibly damaged!

Do they just do this to get you coming back more often, or get you to buy things? I feel like my hair really can't be THAT damaged...

jacqueline101
September 4th, 2013, 12:05 PM
Some do at least in my experience they have.

Olafwa
September 4th, 2013, 12:15 PM
I have this biased and (i'll admit) prejudice view of hairdressers and salons in general. If you make a living off cutting girls hair and bleaching it, I don't see much room for actual advice. Though I have heard stories of girls who LOVE their hairdresser, so I know I'm just being bias. I haven't seen a hairdresser since I was like 5 and my mother took us all to get haircuts. And when your 5, you could care less about any of that stuff. I've always self cut or had one of my sister's do it. Every time someone I know IRL goes to a salon, they come out with half their hair and it's been given some kind of treatment that they'll regret later. (Perm, dye, bleach, etc.) So personally, I don't trust them to tell me the color of the sky. If I REALLY need a trim and I have no one to do it and I can't myself, I would go to a barber or men's hair salon. They probably won't pressure you to do crazy stuff.

EDIT: Relevant lol:

https://sphotos-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/946002_230317970455109_630015080_n.jpg

BLove
September 4th, 2013, 12:16 PM
Many do. Many of them prefur short hair styles because thoes require more upkeep. It took me a long time to find a hairdresser that appreciates long hair and only takes what needs to come off.

kitschy
September 4th, 2013, 12:19 PM
Every single time I go to a salon they tell me my hair is damaged. It is not. It's just curly. Most stylist have really never seen hair texture like mine.

millyaulait
September 4th, 2013, 12:20 PM
Probably, but not in my experience. I always get told "Your hair is so healthy... Really shiny, too!" but I've never gone to a salon that tried to push products on their customers or anything like that. The most they do is ask if they can put some moroccan oil on for you & hope that maybe you like it so much that you decide to buy it next time. :)

I'm sure there are salons out there that will say that your hair is damaged just to get you to chop your hair into a 'high maintenance' style which requires regular trips back to said salon, but there are also a lot out there who don't. Shop around!

spidermom
September 4th, 2013, 12:22 PM
I haven't experienced this from a stylist, but I've taken a quiz on line about my hair and gotten the result that I have maximum damage with a lot of breakage when what I know I have is minimal damage with a lot of shorter, newer hairs growing in.

patienceneeded
September 4th, 2013, 12:26 PM
If anything I feel like the stylists I have gone to have said there was LESS damage than I thought I had. I've never had a stylist declare my hair so damaged that "xxx" amount HAD to be cut off. I have gone in with hair that I KNOW is very damaged (bleached, tons of splits that are visible to me, etc.) and been told, "It looks SO healthy! You only need 1" (or .5") to remove the very ends and even things up."

To be honest I have never had a bad experience that I didn't ask for (a cut, color, or style that I wanted but just wasn't right for me). It baffles me that so many people here have had such negative experiences.

AmyBeth
September 4th, 2013, 12:38 PM
I worked as a receptionist in a salon for 7 years. I saw a few stylists come and go in that time. I tried to get to know them and their work as well as I could even had them do my hair, so I would be able to match new clients with a stylist I thought would best suit their wants and needs. I think the stylists I worked with honestly liked their work and tried their hardest to understand and carry out their clients wishes. After all, their livelihood depends on just that. I have heard the stories about stylists completely disregarding the clients wishes and cutting off 6 inches when asked to only trim 1 inch. That is unconscionable. I have to admit, as much as I enjoyed the work, I'm glad nobody ever says anymore, "Amy, I'm bored, I just learned a new cutting technique, let me practice on you." But stylists are not the scissor wielding demons that they seem to have the reputation for being.:p

sparrowswing
September 4th, 2013, 12:53 PM
I've always gotten the comments about how healthy and shiny my hair is. It doesn't stop them from wanting to chop 8-12" off every time (sometimes citing "dead" or old ends as a reason, but usually just saying it would be "better" if I got a cut), or from insisting that it would be even prettier if I'd let them color and perm it, though. If I'm there for styling (rare, usually just for weddings), they complain that it's too healthy so it's too silky and smooth to work with and try to insist that it would be better if I colored it, even if I just bleached it and dyed it back to my original color (I've seriously been told this two different times!). I'm especially amused when they exclaim over how thick my hair is, as my ponytail circumference is barely 2". I guess because it's straight and very fine, there's a lot of compacted hair in there, but still... I hate that absolutely every time I've gone anywhere near a stylist, even just waiting for my mom to get her hair done, I've had to hear that my hair should be layered so all that thickness doesn't weigh it down and make it look flat and boring.

Miasen
September 4th, 2013, 12:59 PM
I've never experienced that at all actually. I always tell them to cut off all the worst damage, and they usually take half of what i estimated they would cut. *shrugs* I've never met any of these "evil" hairdressers I seem to hear about here all the time, and I've been to a couple dozen different ones at least.

battles
September 4th, 2013, 01:03 PM
Never had that happen.

My stylist usually tells me my hair is much healthier and softer than most that she cuts. She rarely ends up suggesting a trim of more than an inch, and she is perfectly fine with just dusting the ends.

NuclearApple
September 4th, 2013, 01:08 PM
fortunately my hairdresser is a nice person,except when she brush uuuh...I could feel the hairs breaking shudder:
no,she didn't exaggerate about the damage,the last time I went was a couple of months ago,she told me only I had to get layers and stuff like that but she did what exactly said,1/4 inch. trimmed and no more.
maybe I'm lucky :o

anyway,most of the hairdressers say this only to get more money from your pockets,wich is nasty,there are even honest persons who tell you the truth but reading all the threads about hd they are a really small category.

AspenSong
September 4th, 2013, 01:15 PM
I think it depends from person to person personally. One of the last times I went to get my hair trimmed, the lady doing it told me she felt like I could do with taking off LESS than the 5 inches I originally asked for because it wasn't as bad as I thought. So she took about 3".
Now I've had the ones at times too though that told me my hair was "dead and damaged" and used it as a reason to cut off more than I wanted originally. Hindsight, I can see that was bull because a couple of the times I hadn't dyed, etc and my hair really was in good shape, I just needed my ends tidied up. I however ended up with half my length gone because it was so horribly damaged according to them.
So I def don't think it's all stylists, etc.
What I have taken to wondering is if for SOME stylists, someone with longer hair coming in is like a big blank canvas and they want to turn it into something. Like an artist with a canvas or a sculptor with clay. I wonder if sometimes they don't even completely realize they're doing it, until afterwards because they get caught up in a moment. Just my wondering....

rosey4exclaim
September 4th, 2013, 01:26 PM
The last time I saw a hairdresser was the last time I cut it short (just below shoulder-length ... yes, I consider that short lol). I saw him a few times before this incident, and he told me I needed a more "modern, youthful" style (a.k.a. short and layered). He was absolutely ecstatic when I came in and told him I was going to take his advice. Of course, I regretted it about a month later (not sooner because he was right, it was cute), and I haven't seen one since. I suppose if I really wanted to, I could go shopping around until I found one that respected my decisions, but for now I can just go without.

akilina
September 4th, 2013, 01:32 PM
WOWWWWW dear god reading some of these replies...maybe I'm in the wrong business smh. :lala::lala:

I am always honest about everything. I don't lie or upsale frying your hair off just so I can make money, and honestly my downfall perhaps is that money is the very last thing on my mind when I'm at work.

When I see severe damage I actually am more timid about telling them how bad their hair really is because I don't want to cause alarm. I'm still honest though if it truly is bad but I tend to do the complete opposite of exaggeration so it's not a huge deal. Instead of saying "ohhhhh myyyy gawdddd you need half of your hair chopped off" I down play it and let them know how much of their hair truly is damaged and that it would be best to take off x amount but that i understand not wanting to chop it all off and that we can trim it out if they take good care of their hair in the mean time (if it can handle that).


Edit: me exaggerating damage does me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It doesn't make me more money if I cut off more hair, my trims and cuts are all the same price. No matter how MUCH is coming off, alllllll of the hairs are still being cut.

goldenlady
September 4th, 2013, 01:40 PM
My old hairdresser used to always say my hair was damaged and needed cutting.. and would then schedule me in for another appointment as soon as she'd finished cutting. As a result my hair didn't grow past by shoulders for years. Then my cousin trained as a hairdresser, so I go to her about once a year when I'm home from Uni. She always tells me that my hair is very healthy.. even though it's long.

lapushka
September 4th, 2013, 01:46 PM
I think the absolute last person to ask is a hair dresser. But... you probably still have damage in your hair. Hair that's grown out 2 years is about chin to shoulder length. The rest has still seen dye.

NuclearApple
September 4th, 2013, 01:49 PM
WOWWWWW dear god reading some of these replies...maybe I'm in the wrong business smh. :lala::lala:

I am always honest about everything. I don't lie or upsale frying your hair off just so I can make money, and honestly my downfall perhaps is that money is the very last thing on my mind when I'm at work.

When I see severe damage I actually am more timid about telling them how bad their hair really is because I don't want to cause alarm. I'm still honest though if it truly is bad but I tend to do the complete opposite of exaggeration so it's not a huge deal. Instead of saying "ohhhhh myyyy gawdddd you need half of your hair chopped off" I down play it and let them know how much of their hair truly is damaged and that it would be best to take off x amount but that i understand not wanting to chop it all off and that we can trim it out if they take good care of their hair in the mean time (if it can handle that).



Edit: me exaggerating damage does me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It doesn't make me more money if I cut off more hair, my trims and cuts are all the same price. No matter how MUCH is coming off, alllllll of the hairs are still being cut.


you are a honest person,and you have to be proud of it :flower:I'm sorry if I said something that could have offended you but this is true,there are too many persons who cares only about money,but as i said honest people still exist.

clioariane
September 4th, 2013, 01:51 PM
I've had the same problem with some hairdressers but my current one is pretty forgiving, she never cuts off too much length and just recommends moisturizing treatments when it's dry.

meteor
September 4th, 2013, 01:55 PM
WOWWWWW dear god reading some of these replies...maybe I'm in the wrong business smh. :lala::lala:

I am always honest about everything. I don't lie or upsale frying your hair off just so I can make money, and honestly my downfall perhaps is that money is the very last thing on my mind when I'm at work.

When I see severe damage I actually am more timid about telling them how bad their hair really is because I don't want to cause alarm. I'm still honest though if it truly is bad but I tend to do the complete opposite of exaggeration so it's not a huge deal. Instead of saying "ohhhhh myyyy gawdddd you need half of your hair chopped off" I down play it and let them know how much of their hair truly is damaged and that it would be best to take off x amount but that i understand not wanting to chop it all off and that we can trim it out if they take good care of their hair in the mean time (if it can handle that).


Edit: me exaggerating damage does me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It doesn't make me more money if I cut off more hair, my trims and cuts are all the same price. No matter how MUCH is coming off, alllllll of the hairs are still being cut.

That's a great approach, and you are an awesome hairdresser. :)
I am wondering though, do you also see some colleagues telling their new customers with unusually long and thick hair who want something time-consuming (e.g. highlights) done: "First, we need to thin out some of your hair at the bottom, cut a lot off and then work with the rest to make it look "light" and give more "movement" to hair."? Some hairdressers did this routine on me in the past, and I now think that they only did it to do less work in less time (less hair - less work). I suspect that when some hairdressers are used to bobs and pixies, they just get tunnel-vision and forget about the patience heavy hair takes. So I just don't go to hairdressers anymore. :(

LadyCelestina
September 4th, 2013, 02:00 PM
I was to a hair dresser once in my life.She did say my ends are completely destroyed (yes those were her words except not english),but at that time,they probably were.I liked to damage them just for kicks.I wanted a short cut,and she was very nice and explainded to me that with my hair texture,the hairstyle I want might be difficult to mantain and suggested subtle changes to what I wanted.

I must say that while the whole thing went pretty smooth,it cost a bit more than most hair dressers here...Not super expensive though.

YamaMaya
September 4th, 2013, 02:22 PM
I have a friend who goes to the salon quite often, and at least 50% of the time she ends up disappointed with her hair. There's no way I'm putting all my hard work into the hands of a stranger. I know my hair, and I know when it's damaged. I don't need some puffed up hairdresser trying to convince me to do something I don't want to do. Last time I went to the hairdresser was for my wedding, and the girl ripped my hair to SHREDS with a curling iron. She practically pulled my hair out at the roots with how rough she was being. Never again, NEVER AGAIN!!

dulce
September 4th, 2013, 02:26 PM
Definitely,I regularly check for split ends,am lucky I don't seem to get them ,but still hairdressers exclaim about my dead ends and awful splits and how they need to take a lot off,one of the reasons I no longer go to salons.How do you argue with a hairdresser? even if you know they're wrong.In my area,the ''cut your hair off after menopause'' thinking is very prevalent and I've gotten rude comments about my choice of length[past waist] at my age from hairdressers so I cut at home. Would love to find a hairdresser
in my area that supported my length goals,not what they wanted. Isn't that what they are supposed to do for a paying customer?End of rant and to those supportive hair stylists on the forum here,my rant doesn't include you,just the stylists I've been unlucky enough to have to deal with lately.

cosmic crusader
September 4th, 2013, 02:32 PM
I also worked as a receptionist in a salon and my observation is that it depends on the stylist. Some are pleasant and receptive to their clients, and others want to push their own agenda.

Edited to add that I never saw a stylist leave blunt ends, though. They always seemed to "cut in," especially on longer haired clients.

spirals
September 4th, 2013, 02:41 PM
dulce, I just do. not. understand why anyone would tell you to cut your hair off. It's absolutely gorgeous. akilina, I wish I could afford to fly you in as my personal stylist. As for other stylists, the last time one told me I needed 4 inches off, it was true. At that time my split ends had split ends, due to using hot rollers every day.

akilina
September 4th, 2013, 03:23 PM
That's a great approach, and you are an awesome hairdresser. :)
I am wondering though, do you also see some colleagues telling their new customers with unusually long and thick hair who want something time-consuming (e.g. highlights) done: "First, we need to thin out some of your hair at the bottom, cut a lot off and then work with the rest to make it look "light" and give more "movement" to hair."? Some hairdressers did this routine on me in the past, and I now think that they only did it to do less work in less time (less hair - less work). I suspect that when some hairdressers are used to bobs and pixies, they just get tunnel-vision and forget about the patience heavy hair takes. So I just don't go to hairdressers anymore. :(
Not at all....
The woman who owns my shop has all one length natural colored dye free hair that she does nothing too. She loves long hair too. I've never ran I to a stylist who looks at long all one length hair like its a blank canvas. I respect people's wishes instead of doing what I want.


dulce, I just do. not. understand why anyone would tell you to cut your hair off. It's absolutely gorgeous. akilina, I wish I could afford to fly you in as my personal stylist. As for other stylists, the last time one told me I needed 4 inches off, it was true. At that time my split ends had split ends, due to using hot rollers every day.
Aww thanks that's sweet :)

Idk...I just try to be honest. I do not benefit from being dishonest with clients and I can't stand seeing when others are :( being on this website drives me insane some times and I need to take breaks from here alot but I am greatful that I have learned how to respect my clients wishes from learning from others bad experiences here :)

chen bao jun
September 4th, 2013, 03:35 PM
No, I've very rarely had a hairdresser tell me that my hair was damaged, honestly. I can't remember one time, even.
Even when my hair was really damaged.

But I had very strong coarse hair that's thick and resilient and even when it was totally brutalized, it was below my shoulders, which hairdressers consider to be 'long'.

What always happened to me was that they knew a way to make me look much, much better or a way to make my hair 'manageable' that involved thinning it, or straightening it or yes, cutting and 'you have the kind of hair that can take it'.

They also always wanted to charge me more than was quoted initially because my hair was so much trouble.

But damaged, no.

jeanniet
September 4th, 2013, 04:02 PM
If anything I feel like the stylists I have gone to have said there was LESS damage than I thought I had. I've never had a stylist declare my hair so damaged that "xxx" amount HAD to be cut off. I have gone in with hair that I KNOW is very damaged (bleached, tons of splits that are visible to me, etc.) and been told, "It looks SO healthy! You only need 1" (or .5") to remove the very ends and even things up."

To be honest I have never had a bad experience that I didn't ask for (a cut, color, or style that I wanted but just wasn't right for me). It baffles me that so many people here have had such negative experiences.

Ditto. "Your hair is so healthy!" is usually the first comment I get, then "And so thick!" I can't ever remember anyone telling me that I needed to have more cut due to damage. Stylists are often demonized here, but I can honestly say that any bad hair experiences I've had were 100% my fault, unless you want to blame the stylist for doing what I asked.

ETA: My current stylist cuts my hair dry and curly, and exactly how much I ask for--I mean, he's so exact it amazes me. And every time I go in I tell him to cut more off, lol.

jlb
September 4th, 2013, 04:48 PM
Apparently I've been lucky. My stylist is great, always asks if it's all right to dry my hair & actually gets excited because she can get out the big paddle brush when I show up :D More than once she's told me I don't need to trim off as much as I think. And she's brilliant with color, guess I better keep in her good graces.

Firefox7275
September 4th, 2013, 06:56 PM
I've had a few stylists tell me my hair was damaged when it wasn't particularly (permanently dyed but no splits), largely because it was poofy/ fluffy, not super shiny, not easy to rip a narrow tooth comb through. Pretty much standard for wavy/ curly hair being incorrectly treated as straight, but very few have the skills to recognise that.

A couple of stylists on Facebook the other day were saying a foot or more 'needed' to be cut off hair that was 'breaking' - the photo in question had healthy looking ultra long (past knee) hair with sun lightened fairytale ends. Pointing out that splits cannot be seen from that distance, that fried hair doesn't grow that long, that fairytale ends are a legitimate style choice, that ultra long hairs regularly trim their ends was met with disbelief. Ironically one of the stylists had photos of herself up for public view with hair that was short, bleach blonde, flat ironed and looked completely fried!

Nowadays I trust my own research into what damages hair, what keeps it healthy, what products and ingredients do. Not someone who makes their living destroying hair sulphate clarifying, perming, bleaching, blow frying and flat ironing hair into submission. There are good stylists who engage in continuous professional development, but many don't seem to.

CurlyCap
September 4th, 2013, 07:01 PM
No, I don't think so.

I DO think that many stylists aren't used to working with hair that is aged. Most people who frequent salons have relatively short hair that is equal in diameter from root to tips, and is also tamed with silicone heavy serums.

Experience is what lets a person tell the difference between older hair with no split ends versus damaged hair. And that kind of experience can vary from stylist to stylist.

I'm in the same boat with kitschy. Most people have no idea what to do with my hair type in it's natural state. They can't "recommend" that I go to a black salon, but it's clearly not straight. If the stylist flinches when I take down my hair for co-washing, I get my things and leave.

Leeloo
September 4th, 2013, 07:31 PM
Almost every time I've seen a hairdresser, he/she has told me that I need much more cut off than I'd like. I go in there for a small trim, and he/she just tells me that my hair is super-damaged and half of it has to come off.

At certain times, the hairdresser was right (I used to dye my hair constantly) but I haven't dyed my hair in 2 years, and I haven't over-dyed it in even longer. At this point, my hair has NO split ends (knock on wood) and while it isn't always silky-smooth, it definitely doesn't look damaged at all. And yet, I saw a hairdresser recently who told me that my hair was incredibly damaged!

Do they just do this to get you coming back more often, or get you to buy things? I feel like my hair really can't be THAT damaged...

I think it depends on the hairdresser. They are running a business so some may fib.

fairview
September 4th, 2013, 08:58 PM
Do they just do this to get you coming back more often, or get you to buy things? I feel like my hair really can't be THAT damaged...

The stupid ones do. With the advent of youtube and other similar reference materials on available on the net, my guests can definitely learn more about there hair type then I may know. I don't think they know as much as I do about cutting, coloring and styling on the broader level but I recognize that they can be an expert on their specific hair type and I can learn from them and they can learn from me. If they have nice healthy hair in great condition I will ask them what they are doing for it, tell them their hair likes what they are doing and until they see diminishing results, they should stick with what they are doing. It's how I found out about this forum.

All I can say is that split ends isn't they only type of damage hair can have but it is probably the most visible type of damage. If you haven't colored your hair for 2 years then you have no more than 18" of hair that hasn't been colored. The remaining length could be highly porous (
while it isn't always silky-smooth and if your hair is 33" then it is possible that half your hair is damaged and that is what he is referring to.

But with me, I would call your attention to it, recommend that we do maintenance cuts (1/2 for every month between service) until the damage is removed while preserving your current length and if that wasn't acceptable and you were concerned about the lack of shine I would recommend a keratin treatment to restore the shine and if that wasn't your cup of tea, whatever floats your boat floats mine also. I would make a note on your guest card about your preferences and not mention it again, ever unless you wanted to talk about it.

Syaoransbear
September 4th, 2013, 09:07 PM
I don't really understand why some hair dressers will comment on the damage when half of their job is damaging hair. Why aren't they immediately shaving people's heads after they bleach it if they are so concerned with damage?

sparrowswing
September 4th, 2013, 09:17 PM
I have to wonder how much these stories correlate to the areas we live in, though. I know most of my stylist horror stories are from when I was growing up in the backwoods of WV. There weren't many options available, and it was difficult finding someone who could understand what you wanted if it was anything other than their usual, let alone be able to get it right. I had one who had to use a ruler to cut off the inch I asked for, as she generally just snipped away however much "looked right", and that was probably my best experience getting a haircut in that area. In cities, I always seem to get better service, even if the people are a little rude or the prices are a little high. Maybe it's harder to keep a job in the city if you can't or won't give people what they want. Standard supply and demand, really.

There's a cultural factor as well, even given my extremely limited experience. I've found that in small towns people are much more conformist and consumerist, insisting that you must have the current style, using the current products, or you're doing it wrong. There's an exception for religion, but that's pretty much it. In the suburbs, you still see a little of that, but there's a lot more freedom of expression. In the cities, nearly anything goes. And with cities being such cultural melting pots, it's much easier to find natural hair care even in salons. But I've never really traveled, so I have to wonder if this is a localized experience.

teddygirl
September 4th, 2013, 09:58 PM
Mine is the opposite! She loves my long hair and tries to cut as little as possible. I appreciate her honesty, and wouldn't trust/return to someone who cut off more/exaggurateed my damage.

UltraBella
September 4th, 2013, 11:42 PM
I adore my stylist. She always compliments the health of my hair & I always love my results.

blondecat
September 5th, 2013, 01:22 AM
I love my hairdresser/barber, she loves my hair and treats it gently.

But, she did tell me a lot of the newer HD's comming through the ranks do not know what damage really looks like. Anything less than a fresh cut looks like damage to some.

Comming straight from one HD to another appointment. Gets told had damaged hair at second Apt. Sighhh

Flor
September 5th, 2013, 02:35 AM
I had a fair share of unpleasant hair salon experiences. But now thinking back, I don't think they exaggerated the damage, they just made sure to tell me everything that was "wrong" with my hair ;) That it's on a thinner side (let's cut it shorter and layer it, so it has more volume!), that I have a few grays (let's dye it!), that it's grown out too much (you should come to us more often to get regular haircuts!). It would really spoil the experience for me. I have this dreamy idea that women go to salons to get a confidence boost and for some pampering, but I always felt like I was made feel bad. Maybe it's this psychological trick they use. Make you feel bad about your current hair condition first, so that the final result would look more impressive?

Also, I really can't stand it that they're not careful enough combing hair while it's wet. For crying out loud, spend another minute and start from the ends up! Or give me that comb, I'll do it myself!

hikarilu
September 5th, 2013, 02:48 AM
My hairdresser is my cousin, I visit her every 2 or 3 months and she's been telling me since february that i don't need any trimming because my hair has no split ends and is perfectly healthy. I guess this means hairdressers who want to cut your hair every 2 months are exaggerating, yeah...

lunalesca
September 5th, 2013, 03:00 AM
Maybe if you ask for a blunt cut they want to cut back enough for a really thick hemline?
All that photos and posters of models with super-thick long hair around there, they nearly all have extensions in and are photoshopped to the death. So nobody can imagine that it is possible to have long hair without such a mega circumference :shrug:

chen bao jun
September 5th, 2013, 02:02 PM
No, I don't think so.

I DO think that many stylists aren't used to working with hair that is aged. Most people who frequent salons have relatively short hair that is equal in diameter from root to tips, and is also tamed with silicone heavy serums.

Experience is what lets a person tell the difference between older hair with no split ends versus damaged hair. And that kind of experience can vary from stylist to stylist.

I'm in the same boat with kitschy. Most people have no idea what to do with my hair type in it's natural state. They can't "recommend" that I go to a black salon, but it's clearly not straight. If the stylist flinches when I take down my hair for co-washing, I get my things and leave.

I don't want to go to any hairdresser again but I double do not want to go to a black salon again. They are, if anything, worse and have less idea what to do with type 3 hair, if possible. Black hairdressers, in my experience, know how to chemically straighten you and/or flat iron you. They have now added knowing how to braid you (too tightly, all too often), how to add extensions and weaves, and sometimes how to 'twist' your hair. They are very used to how type 4 hair types react to their various treatments, but confused by the things type 3 hair does. I have had tell me things like that my hair must be heat damaged (when I hadn't used heat in 10 years) because of the way it behaves after being braided.
They also tend to overbook and keep you waiting and waiting and waiting and then rush so are REALLY not happy with people with a lot of hair, which they are not used to. Their clients generally don't have much hair and I believe this is due like 100% to what they do to their clients. I had way better luck with my last stylist, a Korean lady, than I ever had with black salons, whether upscale or downscale and stayed with her a long time because she at least knew how to handle coarse hair (in terms of strand size) and was respectful. But we parted ways because she was determined to keep straigtening me and to keep my hair trimmed more than I wanted.
I might have better luck in a curly girl salon, but have never been able to find one anywhere near me. I live in a rural area.

Kaelee
September 5th, 2013, 03:44 PM
In my experience, SOME (not by any means all) do. I've had hairdressers comment on how amazing the condition of my hair is...and others tell me how hopelessly damaged it is even though I knew for a fact that it was not. The one in particular who did this, I feel had a serious hate on for me, or my hair, or both, because she was also incredibly rude to me AND butchered my poor hair. :( But that was ONE bad stylist. I've had others who were amazing. :agree:

samanthaj08
September 5th, 2013, 05:44 PM
The last time I went, I said strictly to her.. 2 inches (I had suuuuper bad ends). She looked at my hair and held a section about 6 inches long that she wanted to cut. I made the most awful face at her and she backed off lol. Then she proceeded to put at least 6 bottles of goop in my hair. She complimented me on how nice my hair was, clearly she didn't realize it was related to the fact that I don't use goop nonsense. I smelled awful and rewashed my hair the second I got home. I'm never going back. I'll grow these antenna that the spiritual hair thread spoke of :p

prettyinpink
September 5th, 2013, 05:58 PM
I think they are trained to believe hair needs to be trimmed much more often that it really does to make $$. I have a friend whos hair is like silk! No damage at all whatsoever. The stylist complements her hair. When she tells her she hasn't been in for a trim in 6 months the stylist nags her about regular trims -_-

Kherome
September 5th, 2013, 06:04 PM
They always tell me that my hair is so healthy, and I don't even need a trim unless I just want to even it up a bit. So no, I don't think most of them lie about your level of damage.

ositarosita
September 5th, 2013, 08:11 PM
In my experience I have only found 1 hairstylist who understood my hair and DIDN'T want to cut it all off.. in fact he only dusted my ends and never gave me a trim, I went to him for YEARS.. but aside from him everyone else has wanted to chop it off due to "damage/dead ends".

AnqeIicDemise
September 6th, 2013, 01:09 AM
My stylist dusts my ends to humor me sometimes. She keeps telling me that a lot of this is in my head and that my hair is superbly healthy despite the bleach and color. (I'm coming up to a year since my last balayage and I do deposit only colors in red a lot to maintain it.)

Upside Down
September 6th, 2013, 02:27 AM
Bah I went to a hairstylist to have it straightened a few times this year, I don't let them cut any more.

She was only commenting on how long it is, and how difficult to blow dry (it's only waist, come on..), until I told her that I cut it myself.
Then she pointed out (through a joke, she wasn't rude) that I am not doing such a good job, and it is uneven. I found that hilarious since in curly hair you really can't tell and not even in straight really.

That is what they sell, that is the reality.

Bagginslover
September 6th, 2013, 03:12 AM
I think a lot of hairdressers probably do, yes, but cerainly not all of them.

I have had one tell me to cut off 8 inches, and another that I don't need an inch off. I've also had the ones inbetween that will show me where they think I need it cut to, but let me decide if I want that much off or not. I've not seen a stylist in over 2 years now (I really wish I knew the date!), but the last one of the last ones I saw said I couldn't have highlights anymore if I let my hair get any longer, as she couldn't do them very easily, and another, who bleached streaks for me told me I'd be cutting off 'inches' soon, as the bleached sections would break (so why not tell me that BEFORE bleaching them?! They didn't break anyway....).

I do think though, that any stylist that frequents this board is exempt from bad comments made here about stylists in general. Just the fact that you're here and making the effort to educate yourselves on non-mainstream haircare shows you're more interested in the health of hair and the wants of your clients, than only churning out clones of the latest fashion :)

girlcat36
September 6th, 2013, 01:36 PM
Every single time I go to a salon they tell me my hair is damaged. It is not. It's just curly. Most stylist have really never seen hair texture like mine.


This has been my experience as well. Every.single.time.
How could it have been damaged...??? I didn't brush, blow dry, wear hair down, flat iron, or dye(although I did start deposit-only dying eventually). I am convinced they confuse natural TEXTURE with damage. And if my hair wasn't damaged, it certainly was by the time the stylist was through! Ripping combs down through my hair starting at the top, and on dry hair(WHY don't stylists know to start at the bottom? Why, why, why?)......hairspray, heat, silicones, sulfates.....all damaging.

kitschy
September 6th, 2013, 01:56 PM
Girlcat, I just LOVE your natural color!

HintOfMint
September 6th, 2013, 02:16 PM
I've had a stylist say that my ends looked good and that I didn't really need a trim. And I've had a few stylists actually NOT cut off all the damage they could, even though I gave them the vague blanket statement, of "just get rid of the damage." However, that was probably because most of my damage was in the underlayer, and my hair is a bit strange in that you can really only see damage in certain lights. When I finally bit the bullet and went to cut off ALL the damage, I found another stylist who wanted to leave my hair longer than I asked. I actually had to say to her, "Yeah, but let's go a little shorter."

My current stylist doesn't comment on the condition, he's just astonished at how long it has gotten.

BeccaAngel
September 6th, 2013, 02:27 PM
Yes it is a way to sell products or do more to your hair, to make more money. I've been to cosmetology school, they always told me to sell as much as I can.

woodswanderer
September 6th, 2013, 03:02 PM
I sometimes go to the salon when my husband gets his hair cut and sit in the waiting room. I have had more than one person come up to my and say how beautiful my hair is and start touching it.....and then say they would love to cut it...... :rolleyes: Why?

lapushka
September 6th, 2013, 03:37 PM
I have had more than one person come up to my and say how beautiful my hair is and start touching it.....and then say they would love to cut it...... :rolleyes: Why?

Well, from a hairdresser's perspective, long hair is a nice little project, isn't it? :?

velorutionista
September 6th, 2013, 03:46 PM
I've had mixed luck with stylists--when my hair was shorter it was damaged from daily blowdrying/ironing/etc., so cutting off a big chunk really did need to happen on occasion. But in the last couple years of growing it out, I finally found someone who believes me when I say "no more than 1/2 cm", and doesn't harangue me when I come in every 4 months for a trim instead of every 4 weeks. I'm sure I'm not their most profitable customer, but my hair looks awesome, so I'm good advertising! Plus, my hair is just getting long enough that I can reach/see the ends of all my layers to check for split ends, which is helping keep my splits in check, which means even longer between trims.

RavenBaby
September 6th, 2013, 04:13 PM
Yeah I do notice this, maybe they want everyone to maintain a short cut like barely touching shoulder length for example to keep the money coming in for regular cuts.

girlcat36
September 7th, 2013, 07:37 AM
Girlcat, I just LOVE your natural color!

Thank you, kitschy! You are one of my hair idols! My hair will never achieve the awesomeness of yours, but a girl can dream......

deja
September 12th, 2013, 10:28 AM
I don't know what they benefit from doing so, but they definitely exaggerate, sometimes in word and sometimes in deed. "You need a little chop, there is some damage." *cuts off two inches of perfect hair*

Ayjay
September 12th, 2013, 11:16 AM
I think it depends on the stylist. In a perfect world I would find another LHCer to look at my hair in person and help me trim or S&D.

spidermom
September 12th, 2013, 11:28 AM
I HAVE been told by a stylist that my hair was boring (being blunt cut) and would do so much more for my appearance with layers and high-lighting/low-lighting.

Coolcombination
September 12th, 2013, 11:35 AM
The only comment a hairdresser has made on my hair are "it's too thick" (I have a 3" ponytail) and "you have headlice" which upon leaving upset and paranoidly combing through with a nit comb, concluded that no, I didn't have nits!!

deja
September 12th, 2013, 11:41 AM
I HAVE been told by a stylist that my hair was boring (being blunt cut) and would do so much more for my appearance with layers and high-lighting/low-lighting.

But that's just like everyone else and that is boring.

rose313
September 12th, 2013, 12:23 PM
I actually go in expecting the worst and end up being pleasantly surprised that my hair isn't that bad. I do get told that my hair being so long hurts the stylist's arms when holding it up to trim, but some stylists apparently only know how to cut like that, and others can do just fine trimming it while it lies against my back. Not sure what the difference is. The worst thing is when the stylist doesn't know how to comb long hair after being wet and just rips a brush through starting at the top. NO NO NO!