Why do so many hairdressers cut MY hair crooked?

[pinchbeck]

I went for a trim yesterday and the stylist cut my hair shorter on one side than the other. This, of course had to be corrected which meant I lost more hair and I still ended up with half an inch longer hair on one side than the other.

Should I have this rectified (crooked hemlines make me sick on me) or bite the the bullet and wait for those two inches to grow back and than have my hemline evened out by a better and more experienced stylist?:confused:

I couldn't sleep last night and was very upset. How hard can it be to cut hair straight and even? I once took a small hairdressing course and when I have cut people's hair (for fun) it always came out straight and I wasn't 'officially' trained.

Why are these inept people hired? There went half of my hair progress in the last six months on the floor. :shrug:

[Heavenly Locks]

Is it possible that you sit crookedly without noticing? I heard that one of the big mistakes women can make is sitting with their legs crossed which tilts your pelvis ...

:hmm:

I'm sorry you had a bad trim ... :(

[pinchbeck]

Is it possible that you sit crookedly without noticing? I heard that one of the big mistakes women can make is sitting with their legs crossed which tilts your pelvis ...

:hmm:

I'm sorry you had a bad trim ... :(I am so careful about the way I sit. I always look down when the stylist is trimming and make sure I am sitting straight. Another stylist I went to six months ago did a perfect job, but I didn't feel like spending another $35 to have my hair trimmed. I know...that was cheap of me and now look where I am!

[spidermom]

I can't cut a straight hem to save my life, so it's a good thing I'm not a stylist. I gave up on self-trimming. Maybe you can wear it up most of the time until you need another trim for the health of the ends.

[Sheltie_Momma]

A stylist may not get it perfect, but even at a cheapy place, they should check their work by pulling pieces up from each side before considering the cut finished. I'm sorry that happened. I worked once at a salon where the stylist would cut long hair with the client standing up so the hair wouldn't drape funny down the back of the chair.

[spidermom]

You know how most of us have asymmetrical faces? I wonder if one of your ears might be lower than the other (mine are like this), so if the stylist is gauging length by the ear on each side, they aren't going to be even. Or something like this. I've had crazy-uneven cuts in the past also, but my current stylist is awesome, but pricey. I'm going to stick with her anyway, which means my trims will be few and far between until the economy improves.

[frizzalot]

Ever considered cutting it yourself? A lot of people use Feyes Method (http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim/)

sorry about your cut :blossom:

[FrannyG]

I can't even think of one good excuse for this to have happened. It's been a long time since I had my hair cut by a hairdresser, but I remember how they would make sure that my legs weren't crossed, so that I was sitting straight and evenly, and I can remember how they used to pull the ends out to make sure that they were even to one another.

I would go back to the salon and ask for the owner (or the top stylish) to fix it for free, making sure that they know not to cut anything off the shorter side. Any reputable salon would fix this up for you.

You paid money for this trim. You deserve to have it made right.

I wish you the best of luck, and no more sleepless nights. :blossom:

[MonikaHa]

Happens to me all the time, this is the main reason why I have kept my hair long for so many years. This time I had to go THREE times to get it cut the right way, and of course ended up with waaay shorter hair than I wanted.

I think it is the way my hair grows, one side curls inward, the other outward plus it grows up at the neck, plus my hair is thick and slides away from the scissors.
Good thing I am not planning to cut it for another year or so.

Sorry it happened to you, I feel your pain.

[Athena's Owl]

Er, pinchbeck I seem to remember you as having curly hair. Is that correct?

If that is true, there's your answer. Hairstylists aren't trained in how to cut curly hair properly. You have to attend specialized training beyond the scope of standard beauty schools.

A salon cut on curly hair done by a properly trained curly hair stylist is done *very* differently from a standard wet cut. It is more expensive and it takes more time - easily twice as much time as a standard wet cut.

Whoever that person was who did it to your satisfaction - keep going back. Only 35 bucks? That's CHEAP. Devacuts are twice that. Easily. Ouidad charges a hundred dollars, last I checked.

[pinchbeck]

Er, pinchbeck I seem to remember you as having curly hair. Is that correct?

Whoever that person was who did it to your satisfaction - keep going back. Only 35 bucks? That's CHEAP. Devacuts are twice that. Easily. Ouidad charges a hundred dollars, last I checked.My hair isn't curly...it is wavy. Depending on how my finances are going $35 can seem like a lot or a little. I am definitely paying extra for this cut in a different way.:(

[Athena's Owl]

I am so sorry. the bad haircut experience is a terrible one. i would say that if i were in a position to give an impressionable youn woman advice that would make her life easier as an adult, i would tell her to remain more faithful to a good hairdresser than most women are to their husbands.

the only hairdresser I trust moved a thousand miles east of me years ago. I think if i had to get a cut, I'd make the trip.

[Wind Dragon]

Happens to me all the time, [...] I think it is the way my hair grows, one side curls inward, the other outward plus it grows up at the neck, plus my hair is thick and slides away from the scissors.

This is my bet, since you're a wavy. My youngest has one side in back that grows fairly straight, and the other side curves in quite a bit. Even when he has it cut very boy-short so that all the hair is definitely the same length back there, as it grows back out it looks like the wavier side is shorter than the other. When he cut it and left some length one time they cut it wet, which straightened out the wave a bit -- so when it dried, it really looked shorter on the one side. :silly: Getting it trimmed dry helped a bit after that, but it requires a stylist who can trim without having to pull the length straight first. Which probably isn't a simple thing, especially if the ends are thick.

Feye's method, seriously. I was scared to death the first time I trimmed my own hair, but I haven't been to a stylist now in years.

[pinchbeck]

I am so sorry. the bad haircut experience is a terrible one. i would say that if i were in a position to give an impressionable youn woman advice that would make her life easier as an adult, i would tell her to remain more faithful to a good hairdresser than most women are to their husbands.

the only hairdresser I trust moved a thousand miles east of me years ago. I think if i had to get a cut, I'd make the trip.You are so right!

[growing2shine]

I'm sorry about the cut and I know how you feel. When I was younger my mom always took me to a cheap place where she had been getting her hair cut for many years. Well the hair dresser ALWAYS gave me an uneven cut. It was quite embarrasing when I went to school. All the pretty girls with picture perfect hair noticed... And gave me comments.
When I was about 12-13 I started cutting my hair myself. And I still prefer doing it myself. (when I started trimming myself I suddenly got compliments about my hair :D)

[Yozhik]

I'm sorry you had such a bad trim, pinchbeck :(

Do you think maybe you could try to correct the damage yourself? I don't know if I would even want to go back there, knowing how poorly it turned out last time.

[Naamah]

If I were you, I would just wear my hair up for a while until it grows out a bit, that way you don't have to lose as much length right now. That sucks, though. :( That's why I do self trims, I don't trust anyone else to cut my hair.

[Flynn]

My hair isn't curly...it is wavy. Depending on how my finances are going $35 can seem like a lot or a little. I am definitely paying extra for this cut in a different way.:(

Same happens if it's deeply wavy. If you're after a straight hemline on curly or wavy hair, it really needs to be cut dry, with your hair parted the way you always wear it.

I generally go to a barber, and she usually cuts my hair dry or dry enough that the waves really hold their shape.

[tanya222]

Sorry you had such a bad trim! I know how you feel, years ago I went to a cheapo salon for a $10 trim, told her to only take off 1 inch, next thing she says to me (strong Spanish accent here) "I do crooked, I fix". Long story short (pun intended) by the time I left I had lost 6 inches. I was pi**ed for weeks. :mad: Never again. I will shell out $35 and stick with my usual higher-end (to me) salon where the girls know what they're doing, and do it exactly the way I want every time!

[Darkhorse1]

I too had this problem for many years, but my current hair dresser and I have worked it out. For me, once my hair is wet and you cut into it, it curls. Therefore, getting an even hemline is really hard. Now, my hair dresser really soaks the ends and makes sure they stay soaked so we can see it. She then waits for it to dry a bit, gathers it back and makes sure it's even.

Common mistake I bet with most hair dressers that aren't used to just trimming ends. ;)

[Sunsailing]

An uneven cut has always put me in a mood also, regardless if my hair was short or long.

Since I've grown my hair, my hair always looks shorter on the right side. So my stylist purposely leaves the right side slightly longer, so that it is even when it dries (and she always remembers!)

I agree with the comments about always going to the same stylist. Once you find a stylist, stick with them and tip extremely well!
If you go to a different person each time, then you are accepting that you're gambling with your hair.

[TheLuckyLurker]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this theory about cheap places giving bad cuts. I think it's a cop-out. I've been going to the same place for years. They're cheap (under $20), they have no special curly hair training, I always got someone different, and I never got a crooked hair cut. Not once.

I'm sorry, and I don't intend any offense, but I get really brassed-off when I see blanket statements like that thrown out as if they were objective fact. If you got a bad a hair cut, it's because you got a bad hairdresser, and those can be found everywhere, no matter how much they charge.

I am sorry you got a bad cut, though. :)

[Flynn]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this theory about cheap places giving bad cuts. I think it's a cop-out. I've been going to the same place for years. They're cheap (under $20), they have no special curly hair training, I always got someone different, and I never got a crooked hair cut. Not once.

I'm sorry, and I don't intend any offense, but I get really brassed-off when I see blanket statements like that thrown out as if they were objective fact. If you got a bad a hair cut, it's because you got a bad hairdresser, and those can be found everywhere, no matter how much they charge.

I am sorry you got a bad cut, though. :)

This is very, very true.

The worst cut I've had recently was also the most expensive. He decided, against all the information I gave him, that I needed a square, blunt hemline, and to start wearing my hair straight. Dried wavy, it just looked messy, clumpy and awful.

I generally go to the barber. That costs less than $20. My last cut was at the Uni hairdresser, with a cut and blowdry for about $45. Just the cut would have been something like $25... but I wanted to see how to blow-dry it! ;p

[Demetrue]

I've had uneven cuts a number of times - I think it is because I have a 3 inch 'S' wave which is not symmetrical on each side - one side curves up while the other side curves down.

[Sunsailing]

Okay, I have to weigh in on this theory about cheap places giving bad cuts. I think it's a cop-out. I've been going to the same place for years. They're cheap (under $20), they have no special curly hair training, I always got someone different, and I never got a crooked hair cut. Not once.

I'm sorry, and I don't intend any offense, but I get really brassed-off when I see blanket statements like that thrown out as if they were objective fact. If you got a bad a hair cut, it's because you got a bad hairdresser, and those can be found everywhere, no matter how much they charge.

I am sorry you got a bad cut, though. :)

I agree with you that price is not always connected with a good stylist. Someone this past week posted about finding a great long-haired stylist at a Bo Rics. But they intend to go back to that same stylist next time.

But even at a "value" salon, a person can request a particular stylist. If you get good service by a stylist, why not give them your business on your next visit?

No matter what type of salon (value or high price), all the stylists are not the same. You can get a bad cut at a high price salon.

In the past 20 years, only 2 different stylists have touched my hair. I remain a loyal customer.

To the TheLuckyLurker...may your luck continue on your good cuts ;)

[pinchbeck]

Now that I have had time to cool off, I am going to leave my hair alone until a bit of length grows back. It is never down anyhow because it is bothersome so nobody will notice its unevenness.

I agree it isn't the price that results in a good cut. It is the person's ability, skill and knowledge. I am not a hairdresser, but am able to cut a person's hemline straight!

The stylist sprayed water on my hair and than cut it. I don't think this was a good strategy for my hair type. Most hairdressers I go to do this. Some pieces of my hemline are actually 1/4" longer in some areas (they actually stick out). I didn't cut them off because I am thinking of going back to the hair salon and showing the owner. The ends are also choppy looking.

Years ago a hair stylist told me she had a tendency to cut hair shorter on one side. I think it depends on if a person is right handed or left handed in some cases. I thought that was interesting. It is easy to get carried away and careless when cutting someone's hair.

Than you for all of your input.