Specifying haircut amounts in months instead of inches??

[jaine]

If you are a stylist would you appreciate getting instructions about haircut amounts in months instead of inches? If you are not a stylist, have you ever tried it?

For example "trim off 2 months of growth" or "I want my hair to grow back to this exact same length within 2 months" instead of saying "trim 1 inch"?

I was thinking about this the other day and thought it might be less ambiguous ... I might try it someday!

With inches there is so much room for interpretation - not all hairs end in the same place so if I ask for a 1" trim it's not clear if that's 1" off the longest straggly hairs, or 1" off most hairs. There's also shrinkage... for curlies and wavies it's not clear if 1 inch means 1" of dry stretched hair, 1" of dry unstretched hair, 1" of wet stretched hair, or 1" of wet unstretched hair (all of which would be a different length on me).

[Alix]

I think it might be just as ambiguous because peoples hair grows at different rates at different times in the year. I would just physically show them how much you want cut.

[spidermom]

Since everybody has a different growth rate, I think "two months' growth" would be even more ambiguous.

[Juneii]

giving a time frame of growth is even more ambiguous. The stylist could just assume your hair grows fast and chop off 5 inches instead of one.

[Madora]

By all means, SHOW the hairstylist exactly how much you want cut off. Bring a small slip of paper, cut to the size you want to trim off. Don't rely on your hands to indicate you want "that much" trimmed.

[jaine]

hmm good points ... it is tricky to show the amount if you like wispy ends but maybe I just need to elevate a section of my hair before I show the amount ... I usually want to keep the layers somewhat wispy at the tips so I couldn't just grab a section of hair and section off an inch with my fingers (that would look too chunky if she cuts it in the same way that I'm holding it).

I actually didn't specify any inch or month amounts for my last haircut... just pictures of the cut I wanted, and talking with her about what I liked in the pictures and what I didn't like ... that turned out really well too. :)

[enfys]

An inch is a totally standard measurement. Every ruler has the same inch on it.

A "month of growth" isn't standard, so I don't think it would work. I wouldn't try it anyway.

[jaine]

On second thought I'll probably just stick to the strategy that worked so well for yesterday's haircut...bringing various photos of haircuts that look like what I want, and talking with her about what I like in the photos, then let her figure out what type of cutting is needed to get the shape I want. The haircuts that I like are rather complicated with different elevations and angles and whatnot...I seem to have good luck if I stick to talking about the overall shape and let her figure out the low-level details. But my stylist is an awesome communicator and asks me for a clarification if something is ambiguous...that helps too!!