Newsletter * Your Email Address: * Preferred Format: Text HTML * Name:

Communicating with your Hairdresser

by Laura Vendetti

www.vendettihair.com

lvhairco@bellsouth.net

Communicating with your hairdresser can easily affect the outcome of your hair days for at least the next 6 weeks to come. For instance, “I know what you want honey” does not constitute a consultation, and are NOT the words you want to hear at the beginning of your hair service!

It was the winter of 1988, day before I started college, and that was the actual consultation I
received from my new hairdresser. I went into the appointment with anxiety, as I had frequented the same salon for the majority of my life. He in fact did not know what I wanted, and I had the embarrassing proof of the result on my college ID.

Starting school with an image I was uncomfortable with was bordering on traumatic, and was an
event that shaped me for life. It helped me become a better communicator with future hairdressers, and ultimately helped shape consultations in my career.

So how do you communicate with your hairdresser and prevent this from happening to you? Particularly if it is your first appointment, you should always be granted a thorough consultation. Most salons offer these complimentary, which is a sure way of knowing if you are going to see ‘eye to eye’. It’s easier than either freaking out because you didn’t communicate clearly and this only becomes evident after it’s to late, or swallowing your disappointment and paying a bill for something you did not want.

Pictures truly speak a thousand words. Dozens of magazines have great inspirational pieces that can help you describe what it is that you desire. The only reason these are sometimes discouraged is the fixation on the photograph, without considering the model is under extreme lighting, as well as having a hairdresser on site.

Trust me when I say it’s startling to see the effort it takes behind the scenes to create that look,
and yes you too can look like that under the same circsumstance! It’s important for you to know what it is about a photograph that actually appeals to you.

More importantly than knowing what you want, is what you don’t want. We have a form in my salon that ask each client three specific questions. What do you like the most about your hair, what do you like the least about your hair, and how do you wish to be perceived when you walk into a room? It’s a pretty simple concept, but very often we find that prior to the appointment, people haven’t given it much thought.

By knowing what you don’t want, it at least eliminates a plethora of choices, and at least you won’t leave with something in your style you dislike at the least and detest at the worse.

As passionate as we are about communications in my own salon, even I admit to making mistakes. The beauty in having an established relationship between a hairdresser and client, is that communications are usually easy, and in depth consultations are typically brief, allowing more time for creativity.

The most recent example of this occurred with one of my favorite clients. Her personal style is not shy or withdrawn, and I have formulated a great color for her consisting of the perfect shade of very dark
brown high lighted with the perfect shade of very light blonde. On a certain whim a few appointments ago, she casually suggested, “Hey, how about dyeing my eyebrows this time?” To this I agreed “Sure” and that was the extent of our consultation.

Having two extremes of hair color on my tray, what color would you guess I dipped my brush into? The WRONG color, that’s which one! Fortunately she has a wicked sense of humor, and accepted my uh, post recommendation on brow color. All’s well that ends well, we laughed into near hysterics and it gave me something to write about.

Point being, don’t let this happen to you. If it does and you really like your hairdresser, try to keep your wits about you, as almost nothing is truly permanent as hair does eventually regenerate and grow back.

There is a fine line between having input and dampening your stylist sense of creativity. In the end,
it is you that must wake up, go to sleep, and present this style every day for the next several weeks
not your hairdresser. Follow the parameters of communications as you would with anyone else that has importance in your life, and you should have many good hair days to come.