Why did your haircut go wrong?

[omidaverde]

Okay so I previously had BSL hair which was heading towards waist when I went for a hair cut and somehow a trim and layers turned into several inches off the whole length! I thought it was weird when I saw where she was going to cut but figured that was for the layers but it became apparent very fast that she was cutting it all to that length (SL) after the first snip at which point I protested but there wasn't anything I could do to keep my length anymore. Since I'm now growing my hair again I thought it might be useful to discuss bad hair cut experiences to see what goes wrong and why it goes wrong. I'm afraid of the same thing happening again so hoped if we all shared what went wrong we could learn from each other and avoid these kind of cuts again! Maybe we could also discuss what we would do differently which would help others also. In my case I feel that it was part translation as my boyfriend was translating for me since I didn't speak the language, and partly the hairdresser deciding to do what she wanted instead of what I wanted since I did try to confirm several times what I wanted. In the future I would probably only ask for really simple cuts when abroad, as in just a trim, and watch where the hairdresser is cutting and intervene if I think they look like they are going to cut at the wrong place. I would also try using coconut oil on my ends first as that can improve the appearance of my ends without trimming or try cutting it myself. So have you had a hair cut that went wrong? What went wrong? Why do you think it went wrong? And what would you do differently? (Note: I tried searching for a thread like this under several different words but couldn't find anything, so if something similar already exists...I apologise and feel free to delete! Also not sure how to put stuff on separate lines, tried all the different things I could think of but nothing worked. Nervous newbie! :scared:)

[vega]

Hey Omidaverde you will notice a lot of members trim there own hair here based on similiar experiences to your google feyes method this is a common trimming technique good luck.

[Wildcat Diva]

Hi! Hitting the enter/return key should help you to break up a wall of text next time.

I go to a barber, not a hairdresser. She cuts my hair dry and only what I say. I get a simple cut, all one length, which because of her cutting method, ends up a gentle U when all my hair is at the back.

Last time, I had some slight issue which I'll try to correct in the future. Mainly that, even though she told me to come with some coconut oil in to make my hair easier to deal with (I'm highly wavy/ wurly), it was tangly (even though I had been constantly detangling over and over for thirty minutes prior) and she tried to fast-comb it. I stopped that quick and had her slow way down. She's not used to long hair, I suppose.

Next time I will oil way more before. It will be straighter for the cut, but I am never going to have a pristine line at my hemline anyway due to texture so it matters not.

[omidaverde]

vega - Thanks I will take a look!

Wildcat Diva - I did try that but for some reason it didn't work. Maybe it's the PC I'm on?

I definitely would recommend coconut oil, I was just thinking my hair needed a trim when I gave it a go and now I look like I just had a cut :D

I have had short-medium-ish hair for a while now so I forgot how much they can pull when combing hair! Glad you managed to solve it though :) I will try keep that in mind for my next trim.

[Wildcat Diva]

Yes. I didn't solve it yet but next time I will. I'm only trimming very infrequently.

Note to self: Slather on more coconut oil before cut. Expect to leave barber shop looking like a greasy mutt, check! Remember all will be well after a wash.

I think that those who tend to have a more stylish or layered cut only have success with maintaining length when they have a longstanding relationship with the stylist or just luck out with a good random visit with a new person.
Otherwise, it's lotsa length gone.

[chen bao jun]

Perennial problem. I don't think it was lost in translation. I believe there are good hairdressers out there because members here run into them sometimes but I think basically hairdressers work well for those who like short, styled hair and aren't too thick or curly. Learn to self trim or else get a barber. I am another person who loves my barber, he listens and really will cut 1/4 or even 1/8 inch.

His ego is not invested in how I look when I leave his shop.

I have also learned my hair doesn't actually need to be cut very often. I s & d for fairy knots and get a trim once a year or less. I discovered I don't mind fairy tale ends.

[lapushka]

The worst cut in my life was from a trainee, and it was months before graduation. It was all cut up into a million layers. The manager then straightened it out (ear length). My God. I remember my mom was so, "OMG what did you do to your hair"!

[omidaverde]

The worst cut in my life was from a trainee, and it was months before graduation. It was all cut up into a million layers. The manager then straightened it out (ear length). My God. I remember my mom was so, "OMG what did you do to your hair"!

Oh gosh! I guess the thing with trainee's is that it matters less if you aren't an LHC'er and attached to your hair but if you are growing it long a bad haircut can really set you back years of growing. Did it take long to be okay again?

[Nadine <3]

Aside from when I was really young and my mom told the hair dresser what she wanted me to look like (good lord have mercy that was the worst!) the worst haircut I've ever had was when my new boyfriend told me I should never cut my hair because he liked it long. I went and got a short haircut just to prove to him that it was my hair and I would do what I wanted with it...I chopped from APL to a chin length choppy mess. I regretted it about 30 second after walking out of the salon...

I mean it DID get the point crossed to my boyfriend, and it made me realize I also like it long lol

Never again. I now have my boyfriend help me trim it when it needs it, and he's very stingy when taking off length so no worries anymore!

[Rowanoake]

about a year ago, i got a super short pixie cut. I actually quite enjoyed the cut, but that was when I learned that I have several cow licks which, without the weight of longer hair, made my hair permanently unruly until it grew out again.

[lapushka]

Oh gosh! I guess the thing with trainee's is that it matters less if you aren't an LHC'er and attached to your hair but if you are growing it long a bad haircut can really set you back years of growing. Did it take long to be okay again?

Until the year after. By then I started razoring / millimetering it (higher studies, and highly experimental phase).

[spidermom]

2 bad cuts I remember:
1) She wasn't good at her job.
2) She was about 8-1/2 months pregnant, and it was the end of the day. I knew she was tired; I could see it. Why did I let her cut my hair?

Oh, and one time I was blathering away about how I intended to cut away my layers, but I meant over time.
She thought I meant right now. Ack!

[EdG]

I think my last haircut ever was from a lady barber who commented "you have nice women's hair". My hair was longish at the time.

She likely gave a fine haircut, and after that, I grew it out permanently. :)
Ed

[7thOfTheDamned]

My hair looks totally ridiculous shorter than about BSL. You'd swear it was a lot thicker than it is, and I have several sections on the sides and top that decide to be extra wavy when cut any shorter than that, and yet the back is totally stick-straight. (Chin length was hilarious.) Most hairdressers who have looked at my hair suggest styles that would take me an hour a day to straighten just to look remotely reasonable. Their definition of "low maintenance" is apparently different from everyone else's. I don't do professionals anymore, and I don't bother trimming my length. My husband helps me with my psuedo-bangs. The biggest thing I'd avoid, though, if you aren't into trendy, crazy-layered, medium-to-short hairstyles is to avoid chain and mall salons. That seems to be all most of them in my area do, regardless of what you ask for.

[gwenalyn]

I used to get the trim-gone-bad all the time, too, until I started telling them I was trying to grow my hair long. I say, "I'm trying to grow my hair longer", they say, "So, just a trim? Half-an-inch?", and I say, "Yeah, or less, if you can!" And then they take it as a challenge to cut as little off as possible while still making the ends feel lovely and nice. This has worked on four different hair dressers in two different cities, so this little script seems to be working for me, so far!

[Ava Ruu]

I used to get the trim-gone-bad all the time, too, until I started telling them I was trying to grow my hair long. I say, "I'm trying to grow my hair longer", they say, "So, just a trim? Half-an-inch?", and I say, "Yeah, or less, if you can!" And then they take it as a challenge to cut as little off as possible while still making the ends feel lovely and nice. This has worked on four different hair dressers in two different cities, so this little script seems to be working for me, so far! I've done this too, and it seemed to work. Last time I told the h airdresser that I am curious to see how long my hair will end up growing and got a rather minimal cut. She was also on a journey to long hair, that might have helped too.

[Wildcat Diva]

Boy, Chen and I are really on the same page on this one. (Well, her comment was on the previous page the way I've got LHC set up, but you guys know what I mean).