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View Full Version : Hair dye hell and hello fabulous new hairdresser



Snowlily
September 3rd, 2014, 11:22 AM
So a few weeks back I decided to get a hair dye - my normal technician decided to try out an ombre look and coated my head in copper dye, then mid blonde to white blonde. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I went into the salon...she didn't even warn me that this would be a lot more money than my regular T section highlights...about £100 more. It was a shock when I came to pay let me tell you!. I went out of the salon a bit deflated thinking what the hell just happened. My hair felt just like Barbie's nylon hair and the ends looked like it. I was beginning to seethe.

Fast forward 2 weeks and after watching one of the videos' Ruth from amodelrecommends had posted, I decided to try a new salon - Trevor Sorbie in London which is exactly the same price as what I had been paying at the old salon for the past 4 years. Anyway, today I went for a cut and a colour consultation & skin test.

I just want to say HOORAY for a decent hairdresser. The guy chatted with me for a good 10 mins. For the first time ever, a hairdresser has not pushed for layers!! My old hairdresser would tell me that layers will make my hair look thicker/voluminous and inside I was saying, no it will make my wavy fine ends look even thinner...

Anyway, he just told me exactly what I wanted to hear 'we need to bring all your hair back and do a nice straight blunt cut it so it is all one length. This will help to thicken the ends'. And did I get a good hair cut? - no, i got a GREAT haircut. My hair is silky smooth for the first time in ages. Which reminds me, with the old salon my hair would feel a little sticky and unpleasant after a wash cut & blow dry but today, its lush :D Only downside is he chopped off about 3" so my goal of 25" seems a very long way away which makes me go urgh a bit but in the long run, my hair is much healthier having had this cut...this time next year hopefully! - 5" to go!

Going back next week to get the colour sorted out. I was told to bring a book!!!

LipstickGirl
September 3rd, 2014, 12:33 PM
A good hairdresser is the bees knees. I'm shocked at your previous hairdresser though, it's really unethical not to tell the customer what you're doing to their hair and how much it'll cost. Plenty of people wouldn't have been able to afford an extra £100...

ErinLeigh
September 3rd, 2014, 12:55 PM
I am so glad to hear your story had a happy ending! I relate so well.

This happened to me last month. I went for root touch up and was told "oh let me just highlight the roots instead, will be cheaper" She highlighted ALL the way down (something I told her many times I was avoiding) making my hair feel awful. Then she dumped awful semi ash color on my hair (which I assumed at time was a standard toner)
I went to pay and it was $100 more than usual. Cheaper she said??!! I too was seething.

I walked out telling myself that is the last time they will get a penny from me.

I found a new stylist and she gave me a nice cut and I felt sooooo much better.
Am I further from goals? Yes. But at least now I can get over my anger at the other salon and move on happily.

So glad to hear you are happy now and sorry this happened in the first place, but I guess fate was pushing us to find someone new.

blue_eyes
September 3rd, 2014, 01:00 PM
Unexpected extra costs are the worst. I recall the last time I went to my usual salon a few years ago. My hair was soaking wet and the stylist says something like "did you want me to dry it?" I'm sure I looked at her funny, thinking "noooo, I want to go outside during a frigid winter's day with soaking hair!". What she said to mention is it'd be an extra $50 to get my hair dried.

Anyway, I'm glad it all worked out for you in the end! Great salons are wonderful! :)

ghost
September 3rd, 2014, 02:28 PM
Your original hairdresser sounds pretty shady >_> I'm glad the second one worked out!

lilin
September 3rd, 2014, 03:51 PM
So a few weeks back I decided to get a hair dye - my normal technician decided to try out an ombre look and coated my head in copper dye, then mid blonde to white blonde. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I went into the salon...she didn't even warn me that this would be a lot more money than my regular T section highlights...about £100 more. It was a shock when I came to pay let me tell you!. I went out of the salon a bit deflated thinking what the hell just happened. My hair felt just like Barbie's nylon hair and the ends looked like it. I was beginning to seethe.

Fast forward 2 weeks and after watching one of the videos' Ruth from amodelrecommends had posted, I decided to try a new salon - Trevor Sorbie in London which is exactly the same price as what I had been paying at the old salon for the past 4 years. Anyway, today I went for a cut and a colour consultation & skin test.

I just want to say HOORAY for a decent hairdresser. The guy chatted with me for a good 10 mins. For the first time ever, a hairdresser has not pushed for layers!! My old hairdresser would tell me that layers will make my hair look thicker/voluminous and inside I was saying, no it will make my wavy fine ends look even thinner...

Anyway, he just told me exactly what I wanted to hear 'we need to bring all your hair back and do a nice straight blunt cut it so it is all one length. This will help to thicken the ends'. And did I get a good hair cut? - no, i got a GREAT haircut. My hair is silky smooth for the first time in ages. Which reminds me, with the old salon my hair would feel a little sticky and unpleasant after a wash cut & blow dry but today, its lush :D Only downside is he chopped off about 3" so my goal of 25" seems a very long way away which makes me go urgh a bit but in the long run, my hair is much healthier having had this cut...this time next year hopefully! - 5" to go!

Going back next week to get the colour sorted out. I was told to bring a book!!!

Yay!! So happy you found a place that actually listens to you. :) It sounds like the old hairdresser really over-processed your ends. Unfortunately, sometimes a chop is necessary. It will stop the damage from traveling up your hair and making it harder to grow further down the line. Try to look at the long game of it.

With good care, you will quite likely get your 5 inches by next year! Average growth per month is about half an inch. Baby those ends and try to avoid cutting. If you start to see the ends letting go and you can't stop it, jump right on top of it with a microtrim, so you don't have to cut off more later down the line. But hopefully the worst of the damage is gone.

As an aside, I have never understood the whole "layer your hair so it looks thicker" thing. I layered my hair because I knew it would make it thinner! When you reduce the volume of hair, it looks... less voluminous. I don't get how some people believe less hair will look more voluminous.

Snowlily
September 3rd, 2014, 05:25 PM
I love the support of this forum - its so comforting :) <3

My hair is too short to self trim at the moment so will be going back to the hairdresser for a 1cm trim every 8 weeks at a new moon (approx 2 months) to see if cutting at the new moon actually does increase growth like the soothsayers say

I had noticed while he was blowdrying my hair that I have a really large amount of new growth underneath around the mid part of my hair - like handfuls which really need to catch up so my thinking is that if I have these 8 week trims, I am getting the ends neatened up and allowing for a little bit of catch up from shorter hairs and a little bit of growth at the same time. I understand that this will take a very long time to sort out and reach my goal but I think its necessary!

lapushka
September 3rd, 2014, 05:29 PM
I love the support of this forum - its so comforting :) <3

My hair is too short to self trim at the moment so will be going back to the hairdresser for a 1cm trim every 8 weeks at a new moon (approx 2 months) to see if cutting at the new moon actually does increase growth like the soothsayers say

I had noticed while he was blowdrying my hair that I have a really large amount of new growth underneath around the mid part of my hair - like handfuls which really need to catch up so my thinking is that if I have these 8 week trims, I am getting the ends neatened up and allowing for a little bit of catch up from shorter hairs and a little bit of growth at the same time. I understand that this will take a very long time to sort out and reach my goal but I think its necessary!

If you're going to trim every 2 months, chances are you're going to be cutting all your growth off. Trimming, unless there is damage, is really unnecessary, esp. if you want to grow it long.

Snowlily
September 3rd, 2014, 05:42 PM
If you're going to trim every 2 months, chances are you're going to be cutting all your growth off. Trimming, unless there is damage, is really unnecessary, esp. if you want to grow it long.

hmmm...I was thinking that I would still get about 1/2" growth even with that 1cm cut off - maybe I will leave it 12 weeks instead :)

AnqeIicDemise
September 3rd, 2014, 05:53 PM
J left my salon. :( I bit the bullet and learned to do my own layers.

So I can now dye, bleach and cut my own hair, but let me tell you, *I WANT MY HAIR DRESSER BACK*. There's just something about finding that lovely gem and seeing an old friend I miss.

AnqeIicDemise
September 3rd, 2014, 06:12 PM
Also, don't let your new stylist go. Period. They're lovely things to have and great friends to make. -le sigh-

Snowlily
September 4th, 2014, 12:28 PM
Also, don't let your new stylist go. Period. They're lovely things to have and great friends to make. -le sigh-

Indeed! My first male hairdresser too - and he just happens to be a cute Italian too.../swoon :P

pastina
September 4th, 2014, 12:57 PM
what happened at your old hairdresser's? stories like that are why i do my hair myself. it's not easy to find a stylist like your cute italian (lol!) that seems to listen and to know what he's doing.

the problem is, a lot of stylists will compromise safety for immediate results, and then coat the hair in silicones to mask damage. there are a lot of horror stories just like yours- where stylists double and triple process their client's hair just to get them to a goal QUICKLY. so, so unsafe! you should always wait at least a month before processes that involve peroxide.

just because it might be POSSIBLE to get dark hair to platinum blonde in a few hours, it shouldn't be done! well.... not unless that person *wants* their hair to melt!

my own example-- one of the last times i had a professional trim, i asked about having my roots done. i usually bleach bath my regrowth so i have a blonde base for veggie dyes. but, at this point i'd let it go too long, and my roots had grown out a few inches. i was worried about being able to lighten them myself without risking overlap. well, the stylist told me she'd need to leave *straight bleach* on my (light ash brown) hair for *two hours, under heat*, before applying *a permanent toner*. ok, that's a double process, right there, using lord knows what strength developer. and, if it overlaps where i'd previously lightened, we're just asking for trouble. i said no! she assured me that it was "special bleach" that's safe to leave that long. ...mhmm, i bet! thanks, but no thanks.