Article: 4 Reasons You Still Need a Stylist (Thoughts?)

[mermaiden_hair]

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-salons/4-reasons-you-still-need-a-stylist-si/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=FB_RSS

I don't know how to feel about this, especially with their trim and hair product reasons. :confused: They act like all hair stylists never make the mistake of cutting off way too much length, or pushing products on us that we don't care for or even does not work on our hair types. At least, that's the feeling I get when I read this article. I understand that some people out there just cannot cut their own hair as well and need a professional to help them, but at the same time, I'm growing fearful of most salons because when it comes down to it, they don't like to go against the grain and would rather give you an "edgy pixie cut" with a professional hair dye job instead of listening to me about what I personally want. I'm sorry if this sounds mean but I don't know how else to express it.

Thoughts?

[Chromis]

I take any articles from people trying to sell things with a grain of salt.

[mermaiden_hair]

I take any articles from people trying to sell things with a grain of salt.

I SO agree with you. I'm trying to step away from all the marketing hype when it comes to my hair, though articles like that do tend to pull on my strings a bit and then I become confused!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

....Because "we" professionals know more about how to care for your own hair than you do, even if you consult the internet :rolleyes:

[mermaiden_hair]

....Because "we" professionals know more about how to care for your own hair than you do, even if you consult the internet :rolleyes:

Oh Sarah, please don't think I am here trying to throw dirt on all hair stylists or anything like that. It is nothing personal, I just feel a bit protective of my hair now and I just do not want to have to keep starting over just because a stylist cut too much length (happened to me once), or telling me I should buy this and that (happened to me a lot), and although I totally understand their hair color reason (box dyes are tricky to handle) and transitioning to natural hair after perms.... I just wonder how can I feel comfortable stepping foot in a salon when I know super long hair just isn't so popular in that kind of sphere. I don't hate all hair stylists and cosmetologists, I just don't know what to think.

[Hairkay]

I wouldn't pay attention to that. None of those reasons apply to me. I'm not after colouring my hair. I don't use manufactured hair products so there's nothing they can advise me about and it wouldn't add to their income. I've never processed my hair so there's no transition needed and I don't want a hair cut. Getting hair trimmed at a hair salon is optional. A hair salon is most likely to cause harm to me because of my allergy problems.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oh Sarah, please don't think I am here trying to throw dirt on all hair stylists or anything like that. It is nothing personal, I just feel a bit protective of my hair now and I just do not want to have to keep starting over just because a stylist cut too much length (happened to me once), or telling me I should buy this and that (happened to me a lot), and although I totally understand their hair color reason (box dyes are tricky to handle) and transitioning to natural hair after perms.... I just wonder how can I feel comfortable stepping foot in a salon when I know super long hair just isn't so popular in that kind of sphere. I don't hate all hair stylists and cosmetologists, I just don't know what to think.

Well, I agree with you, but , to me, that article had an arrogant tone to it. Certainly hairdressers provide an important service. But not necessarily needed for every little thing, all the time and nor are the only people who are capable of teaching good hair care practices. In my experience, most don't understand how to keep hair healthy, at all.

[Spinder]

Everyone's hair is unique and I think I know mine pretty darn well, since it is attached to my head and all! Certainly better than some know-it-all stranger...

Honestly, why do so many stylists have such rotten attitudes? Yet they wonder why less and less people want their services... regardless, neither my hair nor myself have been happier ever since I learned how to do trims myself!

[lapushka]

The article applies to "natural" hair. Now, there isn't necessarily a difference, but I do think transitioning can be hard on women and some guidance might be needed. But... you can just as easily get that guidance from other women, a whole online community. And if you're good with scissors yourself, then you're good to go and do your own hair - perfectly fine!

It's so odd that first the article states that cutting your own hair and caring for it is all great and about empowerment, then it goes on to state all the reasons why you shouldn't feel empowered. Silly.

[mermaiden_hair]

I wouldn't pay attention to that. None of those reasons apply to me. I'm not after colouring my hair. I don't use manufactured hair products so there's nothing they can advise me about and it wouldn't add to their income. I've never processed my hair so there's no transition needed and I don't want a hair cut. Getting hair trimmed at a hair salon is optional. A hair salon is most likely to cause harm to me because of my allergy problems.

Well, you got some great reasons to avoid salons, then. :cool:


Well, I agree with you, but , to me, that article had an arrogant tone to it. Certainly hairdressers provide an important service. But not necessarily needed for every little thing, all the time and nor are the only people who are capable of teaching good hair care practices. In my experience, most don't understand how to keep hair healthy, at all.

Sarah, if I could find a stylist like you, who do understand that some women (and men) want to grow their hair out and not worry about how to look like another Jennifer Lawrence with her popular pixie, and who tries to find the best products instead of which products generates more revenue, then I would definitely pay someone like you to look after my hair. But I feel that it is becoming a rarity. These stylists aren't bad people, they have to earn a living after all, but I do agree, that article had a know-it-all feeling to me that gives me a bad feeling. Ew.


Everyone's hair is unique and I think I know mine pretty darn well, since it is attached to my head and all! Certainly better than some know-it-all stranger...

Honestly, why do so many stylists have such rotten attitudes? Yet they wonder why less and less people want their services... regardless, neither my hair nor myself have been happier ever since I learned how to do trims myself!

Like I said, it really depends on the individual hair stylist. Many are after a high revenue, and just a few actually give a darn about their client's personal happiness.


The article applies to "natural" hair. Now, there isn't necessarily a difference, but I do think transitioning can be hard on women and some guidance might be needed. But... you can just as easily get that guidance from other women, a whole online community. And if you're good with scissors yourself, then you're good to go and do your own hair - perfectly fine!

It's so odd that first the article states that cutting your own hair and caring for it is all great and about empowerment, then it goes on to state all the reasons why you shouldn't feel empowered. Silly.

The article says that it is fine to do the DIY dustings at home, but for actual trims and haircuts, to leave it to the pros. Unless I'm after a complicated haircut, I think maybe I can do it on my own. I am getting over that whole "I need lots of layers and cute bangs and blah blah blah" phase of my life, anyway. :rolleyes:

[Entangled]

My response to number one: if it's a tool issue, buy professional grade tools. Stylists are wonderful if you want a style too hard for yourself. However, my preferred style, straight or gentle U blunt cut, is more easily achieved by me than by a stylist visit.

Numbe two is valid. I'm all for consulting professionals when colors are involved, especially if it's permanent. (And the henna specialists tend to be more on the Internet. They count:p)

Number three: I really don't have the knowledge to judge this one.

Number four: this can be valid. However, I'm not going to take wholeheartedly the product advice of someone who makes money selling products. It depends on how much I trust them. Four can also be summarized by "or join TLHC!" I think the danger of anecdotal stuff is real, especially when your advice isn't coming from one place (lemon juice is natural! It's much better than bleach, which is CHEMICAL! Shampoo is sooo drying! Use...baking soda instead! Etc). It's the Pinterest hair hacks and the like which seem gimmicky and more dangerous. Sometimes you get perfectly valid advice, like about coconut oil, and sometimes you get "use the most expensive thing! It's surely better!" One of the reasons I love TLHC is that I can generally get scientific information anecdotally tried and analyzed by many people. It's not so much about shortcuts and gimmick most of the time. It's about hair health and making an informed decision.

So I think stylists in general are best for getting a new style that's more complicated than a basic cut, dye, specifically bleach, and perhaps for in person hair analysis. Other than that, LHC will do just as good or better a job, in my opinion.

[mermaiden_hair]

My response to number one: if it's a tool issue, buy professional grade tools. Stylists are wonderful if you want a style too hard for yourself. However, my preferred style, straight or gentle U blunt cut, is more easily achieved by me than by a stylist visit.

Numbe two is valid. I'm all for consulting professionals when colors are involved, especially if it's permanent. (And the henna specialists tend to be more on the Internet. They count:p)

Number three: I really don't have the knowledge to judge this one.

Number four: this can be valid. However, I'm not going to take wholeheartedly the product advice of someone who makes money selling products. It depends on how much I trust them. Four can also be summarized by "or join TLHC!" I think the danger of anecdotal stuff is real, especially when your advice isn't coming from one place (lemon juice is natural! It's much better than bleach, which is CHEMICAL! Shampoo is sooo drying! Use...baking soda instead! Etc). It's the Pinterest hair hacks and the like which seem gimmicky and more dangerous. Sometimes you get perfectly valid advice, like about coconut oil, and sometimes you get "use the most expensive thing! It's surely better!" One of the reasons I love TLHC is that I can generally get scientific information anecdotally tried and analyzed by many people. It's not so much about shortcuts and gimmick most of the time. It's about hair health and making an informed decision.

So I think stylists in general are best for getting a new style that's more complicated than a basic cut, dye, specifically bleach, and perhaps for in person hair analysis. Other than that, LHC will do just as good or better a job, in my opinion.

Cannot have said it better myself. I agree!

[chen bao jun]

#1 would a be operative if they didn't cut more than you ask. I hear there are some somewhere in the world who don't. I'd actually rather not cut my own hair, its very thick, plus curly--but I never met a stylish who knew what 1/2 inch meant. fortunately there are barbers in the world.
#2 I don't know anything about #2 but I'd be scared to color my hair myself if I colored
#3, I call BS. Stylists never know how to handle natural textures, straightening is all they learn in school. all you need to grow your hair out is either a drastic haircut or patience to deal with two textures for a bit if you don't want to do that. I did it without the internet. with the internet, it's much easier (with the internet and a little discretion)
#4 Yeah, they would love you to think you need expensive products to do everything. Head on over to the recipe section of LHC, instead.

ETA for #3, I should say 'altering' rather than straightening. If you are curly they know how to make you straight, if you are straight, curly, it's $$$$. No money in leaving you with what God gave you.

Yes, I'm cynical!

[MadHouseWitch]

I'll believe it when my Grandmother who has had the training "back in the day" can get someone who has had "modern training" cut her hair the way she likes LOL
the hardest was when it was a family member... He just didn't seem to have "it" IDK but we tried!
She gave me 1 lesson and said it was the best cut she had in years so.... The "find a different stylist" can be easier said than done

Also, I find it MASSIVELY ironic that it is a curly site????? When I quit listening to all conventional wisdom on hair
I started to love my curls a few exceptions, like Sulfate free! that came from a curly site, EVERY salon I've gone to, has done something that is BAD for the curlies though! from not taking into account for shrinkage and me walking out with a shorter than I wanted cut. To pushing relaxers, to the WORST THING THINNING SHEARS
NEVER AGAIN

[Robot Ninja]

#1 and #2, sure, I can see why you'd want to go to a stylist for that. I'm not entirely sure what makes transitioning hair more fragile than relaxed hair that you keep relaxing, and if you're transitioning then surely you already know how to look after your damaged relaxed hair, no?

#4 just smacks of "give us money." I mean, sure, if you have to choose between a stylist and some hippie-woo "chemicals bad!" blogger for your hair advice, the stylist wins, but we don't have to choose. We have people doing actual research, and calling out the BS, and with the internet's love of declaring things "the worst ever" you will likely find out if anyone has had a bad experience with a product or recipe with a few minutes on Google. And considering how many of the articles and recipes linked here are from natural hair sites, anyone posting to a curly hair site should know that.

Sure, stylists are trained professionals, but they're not trained to give you what a lot of people on hair forums want. It's like telling people to go to a Mercedes dealership when they're looking for a cheap, reliable car with good gas mileage; the people at the dealership might know their stuff, but they're going to try to push you into spending a lot of money on something you don't want, because that's what they're trained to sell.

[Atarah]

#1- Maybe if you want layers, or are growing out layers, paying for a trim is the better route to go. Just for regular trims and cuts though... no. But then I've been to a stylist twice (once a straight cut and once a trim as a gift from an elderly neighbor), and I cut my sons' hair myself. In my opinion most things in life can be done fairly well yourself.

#2- no personal experience.

#3- no personal experience.

#4- There are most likely a few professionals who would be good to take advice from. But that is the same as getting information from 'non-professionals' or the internet- either way you need to be careful and think about what they're suggesting, not just take it all on blind faith.

[Nadine <3]

Meh. I need a doctor. I need a dentist. I do not need a hair stylist.

[pailin]

#1,I think this applies if you're keeping a not-so-long 'style'; I think it applies less and less the longer the hair is.
#2,I think a lot of coloring is safer done in a salon, especially the more drastic the difference from your natural color. Blond hair has been getting popular here lately and I've also been seeing green hair.
#4,I don't think I've ever gotten a useful product recommendation from a salon. This might partly be because I can never ever replicate how they style my hair after a cut.

[nalgena]

It really depends on what kind of hairstyle one has, there's a huge difference between someone who's got for example WL blunt hemline virgin hair and someone who's got blond dyed pixie.

I personally think I don't need a hairstylist and am better off without one. I have very fine hair, yet every hairstylist I've ever been to has given me way too many layers to the point it looked thinned out, they pull on hair during a blow dry way too much and just in general didn't treat my hair as gently as I would like.

[turtlelover]

At times it felt necessary to have a stylist when I had short hair, but to me it is easier and less exhausting to just trim my own hair most of the time than it is to try to get someone else to do decent layers with longer hair. It either ends up way too thinned out at the bottom, has too many "steps" from not being properly blended, or is too texturized and choppy, which makes my waves look frizzy. A little point cutting to blend the layers is necessary and good. All out deep point cutting/texturizing is a DISASTER on my hair, and a lot of stylist LOVE to texturize and thin out my hair, and that is not the look I am going for at ALL. I RUN when I see thinning scissors!!!!! I occasionally venture out to a stylist, and the last person that just did my hair did a GREAT job. Wouldn't you know, she just moved? Doesn't that figure? LOL I use either demi or semi color (currently a semi) and that is quite easy to do on your own, but if I was doing permanent color or going lighter or doing highlights, I'd go to a colorist. I know my limitations!

[YvetteVarie]

I have done #3 myself, and had a successful transition for a year. I never went to a stylist and I wore my hair out for the entire period. Honestly, most stylists would not support you in your transition. The majority of them would slap on a relaxer onto the curly hair since they think kinky, curly hair = bad hair.

Rant over, back to your usual programming

[YvetteVarie]

double post

[RottenMango]

I seriously doubt I will ever let a stylist or anyone else besides myself in my head ever again. Given that I’m the only person who has to deal with my hair 24/7 day in, day out, I feel I know my hair far better than anyone else ever could. I don’t plan on chemically processing my hair ever again and I have no desire to straighten it, so there really isn’t anything a stylist can do for me.

[cjk]

Stylists are ONE way of achieving a result. Most people lack the vision and the skills to achieve what they "want."

But those of us who actually value those skills, develop them, and who aren't afraid to experiment a little, we can be our own stylists.

Or, occasionally, inspire our stylist friends. I have one who has actually started embracing her own curls as she has seen me embrace mine.

[Corvana]

Interestingly, I can't get the article to show. It automatically redirects to one about scalp pH! I'm very curious about what it had to say :laugh:

[hinabelle]

I seriously doubt I will ever let a stylist or anyone else besides myself in my head ever again. Given that I’m the only person who has to deal with my hair 24/7 day in, day out, I feel I know my hair far better than anyone else ever could. I don’t plan on chemically processing my hair ever again and I have no desire to straighten it, so there really isn’t anything a stylist can do for me.

Agreed 100%. No thanks, at this point I won't trust a stylist to not just rip a comb through my hair and put me in head-splitting cornrows to 'style' my hair into 'real' curls :rolleyes:


Corvana, it looks like the article is almost 3 years old. It probably got relocated or deleted :lol:

[RottenMango]

Agreed 100%. No thanks, at this point I won't trust a stylist to not just rip a comb through my hair and put me in head-splitting cornrows to 'style' my hair into 'real' curls :rolleyes:


Corvana, it looks like the article is almost 3 years old. It probably got relocated or deleted :lol:


Yep and don’t forget the mandatory four inch “trims”, haha. :scissors::scissors::cheese:

[Stray_mind]

Well, i will Never cut my own hair probably, because i know how That would turn out, lol. So i Do still need a stylist.

Good thing mine Knows exactly how much i want it trimmed and doesn't push Any products whatsoever. We only talked about a product Once, when i said my scalp was itchy. She put a spray on the itchy spots and it soothe them so well. I didn't get that spray that time, but maybe i will.

It's good to find a stylist you can trust. :)

[Begemot]

Well, i will Never cut my own hair probably, because i know how That would turn out, lol. So i Do still need a stylist.

Good thing mine Knows exactly how much i want it trimmed and doesn't push Any products whatsoever. We only talked about a product Once, when i said my scalp was itchy. She put a spray on the itchy spots and it soothe them so well. I didn't get that spray that time, but maybe i will.

It's good to find a stylist you can trust. :)

Same, I doubt I'm going to cut my own hair again. It was easy when my hair was longer but I'm not sure the results were that great... I do appreciate a good cut done by a professional. It's not rocket science but there's a difference between my work and my hairdresser's :D And right now my hair is not even long enough for me to trim it myself.

I guess I have been lucky since no hairdresser has ever tried to pressure me into cutting more than I want (misunderstandings have happened though) or having some crazy style. I'm more concerned the way they handle my hair. I don't have my hair washed and dried at a salon unless it's absolutely necessary, which is rare. That way I can avoid rough detangling and heat tools. I know far too well that most hairdressers adore playing with hair using heat tools and products "Let's curl your hair, okay!" :tmi:

[Waveurly]

Oh no, unless there is some very specific reason for it (like destroying my hair and needing it to look good with a professional cut) I will definitely not set a foot again, ever, in a hair salon. They always wanted to cut waaaay too much and I usually got told that it was so dry and then cut off half of my head of hair. It is great if you find some hairstylist that you can trust and doesnt do that but I am not willing to take the risk anymore. I learned fromt the LHC to take care of my hair and feye's trimming method is all I need now! I don't really care if it looks 100% perfect, I just want long hair and it more or less growing out in a blunt cut. No need for a hairstylist here.

[SleepyTangles]

When I cut back my hair into a pixie I needed to find a reliable stylist, possibly at a decent price. I always cut my hair myself, but with a cut so short it would have been impossible to do a decent job.
The search was a quite interesting social experiment. I crossed out the name of: every stylist that seemed not to pay attention to what I was saying, but rather to my clothes, accessories, or other social markers of affluence; the ones would have preferred a razor over a pair of scissors to cut my hair (which is the fastest way to cut hair short, but requires little to no skills and is, in my opinion, a sign of very little regard for the health of the hair.
And also the usual culprits: people who didn´t even know how to run a comb through hair without pulling and tearing.
I usually go for very simple and classical cuts that are very unexciting for the more artistic hairstylist, so I personally avoid them: I feel like its frustrating for them and stressful for me, as I don´t like my hair to be treated as a "blank canvas" to transform into some masterpiece and I hate when they try to talk me into something "a bit different".


I knew that I found the right stylist when she:
-told me that she would never use a razor on fine or wavy hair
-understood how much I valued my hair and didn´t consider me weird for that
-paid attention to everything I said and to the pictures I brought
-when she thought something would not work on my face/neck length, she explained why in a very non-pressuring way, and was 90% of the time right
-let me bring my own products without problems
Every single haircut she made me was even, precise and seamlessly cut. She charges very little in comparison to most stylist and I´ve seen her making discounts to people and kids who were jobless or on a tight budget.
We are two very different people, but she is a very good hairstylist and I think I will return to her salon: she never gave me a reason not to trust her. Oh well, if it doesn´t work out, I will just cut my hair myself again :D.

All in all, I think the challenge is to find an hairstylist that is committed to your vision and project about your hair.