After the cut......(before/after picture heavy)

[pdy2kn6]

Hey everyone, I survived my trip to the hairdressers. Here's how the day went down:
So I got up at a ridiculous time, 3am, then got to the train station at 4, which left me an hour to spend trying to stay awake at the station. I was so nervous because I hadn’t had a haircut in so long (2 years) so was really hoping the London long hair salon could do something with my hair. Neil Ward was just how I imagined him to be, confident but not cocky, obviously been in the business a long time and knows he does good work. He gave me the typical George Michael long hair talk (as described before by others who have gone to long hair salons specialising in the George Michael product line). He tested my hair’s moisture level which he said was good because it was close to 2% which is what is the ideal. He did this by pulling on one piece and seeing how it reacted. If it stays close to straight I think he said that means it is good and is close to 2%, if it turns very curly, that means you are lower down in % (I think, from what I remember). Anyway, he went on telling me what I am guessing he tells all his customers, that we need to buy all the George Michael products, boar bristle brush with my head upside down etc etc. When he was talking about my hair with me, he did go on telling me what ‘we’ would do to m y hair (in terms of treatment) before I managed to say yes or no. The treatment he said we should do was one that would take 3 hours to be done. I thought he was meaning the £14 12minute deep conditioning treatment, not the £110 treatment. I think he forgot I was a student, and kind of had blown most my budget coming all the way to London for the trim, so I had to refuse. He is a good persuader, I was actually considering doing it, because he was saying altogether he would only charge me £100, but then he told me that I would need to do it about 2/3 times a year, which is not something I would want to keep up so I thought “don’t even go there Phil!”. He did offer just to give me a 12 minute deep conditioning treatment after that, but I had to refuse because I just didn’t think it would be worth the fuss of having to get my hair washed/dried again when I had washed it the night before. Then he cut my hair standing up. I told him I wanted to get the bulk of my layers out, but told him that I was really worried about having to go much shorter. He did an amazing job. He cut my hair with me standing up, and even though I feel most of my layers are gone, my hair still feels like it has a good amount of length left. As promised, here are the before and afters. I am so happy with it. The first few pics are freshly washed and no oil on the day of the trim, only combed and in its natural state. The last one is my hair oiled and with braid waves the morning after. (sorry in advance for the big photos) J

Morning of the cut:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00542.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00543.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00549.jpg
In a starbucks bathroom:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00556.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00561.jpg
Post cut:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00564.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00566.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00571.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00569.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/pdy2kn6/nov%202009/DSC00579.jpg

[spidermom]

Good result! I'm so glad you didn't get too much cut off.

[vanity_acefake]

Your hair looks great. And still incredibly long. It's funny how hairdressers try to sell you every product in their salons!

[patience]

Very nice! :thumbsup:

[Gypsygirl]

Looks great and its still long! :)

[KarpatiiSiv]

Your hair looks great. Glad it went well for you.:thumbsup:

[RancheroTheBee]

The color in your last picture is absolutely thud-worthy. :) It doesn't look like you got much taken off. Very nice!

[Gumball]

Your trip netted some great results! Good stuff! Your hair is looking good and it's especially nice you thought the trip went well.

[pinchbeck]

Hi Phil, I am so happy you're satisfied with your trim. Doesn't it feel great? I am wondering if in the future it may be easier to find somebody local whom can give you the same result. Maybe this should be your next goal in a year or two when you decide to go for another trim. I am not in favour of the stylist charging nearly 100GBP for a deep treatment unless they're incorporating 24 karat gold dust in their treatments!

Your avatar photo looks different than your pre-trim photos. In the latter your hair is much longer. Am I seeing things? But I will admit I prefer your hair in its natural state because the braid waves start at the middle of your head.

Now that your ends have been blunted, do you find it easier to comb? It's going to feel weird for the first few weeks because you're naturally going to want to comb lower where you were used to combing. When I squeeze the water out of my hair I am still missing those unnecessary inches I cut off myself.

Remember to change your updo's every now and then in order to avoid stress on your hair from being twisted and worn in the same positions.

[Laululintu]

Looking good :D

[little_acorn]

Looks great - I'm so glad to hear the trip went well :D

[jojo]

Looks brilliant Phil and no difference that I can see in length!

Looking good!

[pdy2kn6]

Your avatar photo looks different than your pre-trim photos. In the latter your hair is much longer. Am I seeing things? But I will admit I prefer your hair in its natural state because the braid waves start at the middle of your head.

Now that your ends have been blunted, do you find it easier to comb? It's going to feel weird for the first few weeks because you're naturally going to want to comb lower where you were used to combing. When I squeeze the water out of my hair I am still missing those unnecessary inches I cut off myself.



Hey thanks guys for all the great comments, and pinchbeck, yeah it does feel so much better to comb, I still am expecting there to be knots and tangles at the end but then my comb slides right through my hair...it's such a nice feeling not to be snagging anymore.

Lol, my avatar has braid waves too, and was from last january. The pre-trim photo was my hair without any braid waves or anything, just slept on from the wash the night before, and combed. I think I am prefering my hair in it's natural state now as well. It does look alot longer for some reason in them pretrim photos, I hadn't actually realised that I had gotten to waist until about a week before my trim. Must be because I have started eating better and more at dinner times!!! :cheese:

[Cinnamon Hair]

Looking good!

[Loviatar]

Great blunt hemline Phil! Hope you enjoyed London. You'll have to arrange your next Neil Ward trip to coincide with a London meet-up :D

Your ends looks really healthy now, they did a good job. It's just a shame they felt they had to push the expensive products. Oh well, you were sensible about things and you can always do deep treatments at home.

[Tressie]

I'm glad your visit to the salon turned out to your liking! Your hair looks great and it's still nice and long! Congratulations!!

[EdG]

That turned out quite well. The hairdresser did a great job! :)
Ed

[GlennaGirl]

Holy moley. Your hair looks GREAT.

[pdy2kn6]

Great blunt hemline Phil! Hope you enjoyed London. You'll have to arrange your next Neil Ward trip to coincide with a London meet-up :D

Your ends looks really healthy now, they did a good job. It's just a shame they felt they had to push the expensive products. Oh well, you were sensible about things and you can always do deep treatments at home.

Haha, your right, I will have to do that! I have been hoping that we would have a meet up in England. It seems they always are happening in America!! Hopefully I will be in need of another trim the next time there is one :)

[Aditi]

Very nice growth :thumbsup:

[Amoretti]

It looks so nice!

[Diamondbell]

The blunt ends look good! :thumbsup:

[georgia_peach]

Your hair looks great! (Though I thought your before pics looked very good, too.) I appreciate your detailed description of the visit.

[DavidN]

What a graet result from your trim, and your ends are thick and in great condition! Your future hair growing journey should be a breeze now!

[JamieLeigh]

Great cut! Glad you enjoyed the experience, and you're happy with the way it looks. You definitely didn't lose much length at all, and that's what you wanted, right? :flower: It's also good that you knew your limits and you were able to effectively put your foot down where you knew you didn't need extras. People whose job it is to sell products, and who have been doing it a long time, are quite persuasive, lol.

It looks awesome! Congrats on a good cut. I know you were super-excited about it. :)

[janeytilllie]

Your hair looks lovely! :thumbsup: I'm very happy things went well for you :)
Your hemline looks great :D

[bigmama8]

Your haircut is really great! It doesn't look like you lost any length but your hemline is so much thicker looking.

[Katze]

looks really good! Neatened up a bit, and still long. :)

[Elenna]

Your hair looks really nice and even. Going to a good hairdresser was worth your trip.

[pdy2kn6]

Your hair looks really nice and even. Going to a good hairdresser was worth your trip.

Thanks so much guys, yeah it definately was worth the trip. I don't think it is something I would be able to do frequently though...Lucky for me I am used to a non-trimming approach to growing

[ilovelonghair]

It looks great and somehow longer than before!