The Hair Hopper

Once upon a time there was a very busy woman that lived in Birmingham. It doesn’t matter what her name was because she could have been any number of women you know, perhaps she could have even been you. She had a very successful career. It doesn’t matter what her career was either. She could have been a high powered attorney, or an investment banker or a pole dancer at a gentlemen’s club, the point is she was good at her job and it demanded a lot of her time. Besides her very busy career, she had a husband and two children. She had actually had three children but she didn’t like one so she always said she just had two. Anyway, her every waking hour was filled with carpools to school, then rushing to a meeting (or to her greased up pole) and by the end of the day she was rushing home to try and spend some time with her family (except for that one kid) before getting up and doing it all again the next day. (I think its beginning to matter what her name was because I am getting tired of writing She or Her). Her name was Tillie. No that sounds like a grandmother. Her name was Judy. No, that’s not a very good name for a pole dancer, (if that’s what she was). Okay her name was Gaberdeen, but people called her Gabby. So Gabby’s days were always full. So full in fact that she rarely had time to make an appointment with her hairdresser until she passed a mirror and saw how bad she looked. Sometimes she could tell it was time for a salon visit when people threw up their hands in horror at the sight of her. The point is that she didn’t always have time to set up hairdressing appointments. Gabby would call at the last minute only to discover that her stylist was already booked up and couldn’t work her in. She would demand, beg and plead but there was nothing that could be done. The only way her stylist could have seen her would have been to cancel on someone else. She was told that she should pre-schedule her appointments before she needed them, but she always insisted that her schedule wouldn’t allow it. So Gabby was forced to call around to other salons and try to find an appointment with whoever could take her at the moment. The result was inconsistent hair color and awkward cuts that didn’t fit her needs or lifestyle. The moral of this story is simple. Your stylist knows your hair. He or she has your hair color formula that they created and they also know exactly what cuts your hair can carry off and what styles you have time to create in the morning. When you go to a different person you are sometimes asking for trouble. Now I am not saying that is wrong to switch to another stylist, I am a big supporter of that if you are unhappy with who you currently see. But if you are doing so for just one visit and you plan to return to your usual stylist, you may be setting yourself up for months of chaos with your hair.

You may not be aware of it, but over time your stylist has been transforming your hair into what it should be. Unless you happen to be one of the lucky few who have hair that will do anything, it has probably taken months to get your hair just the right shade of color you wanted and just the right length to fit the style you need. When you put a sudden halt to that flow of progress and go to another person, that new stylist is going to be using different hair color brands, maybe using a different shade of color, and they may not be able to effectually recreate your signature hair cut because they have never seen what it is supposed to look like. With that said, a truly top-notch stylist can examine the different angles and lengths of your hair and make a reasonably accurate assumption of how your hair was previously cut. But you will be taking a large risk that they happen to be an experienced stylist. So let’s return to our tale: Gabby is busy. Gabby can’t get in with her stylist because he is busy and she didn’t think about her hair until the last minute. Gabby goes to a stranger for her emergency hair needs. The stranger, though good, alters her color a bit and can’t quite recreate her original cut because he’s never seen her before. Now Gabby looks a little different and she doesn’t like it. When Gabby goes back to her regular stylist for her next appointment he now has to start all over with his efforts to get her hair on the course it was previously on. The color is off, the cut is off and his progress just took three steps backward. In the beauty business we call women like Gabby, Hair Hoppers. They see too many stylists to ever keep their hair in a consistent style. Like the bad girl in high school, everyone’s had their hands on her and she looks like it. And she probably feels a little dirty and ashamed too.

So dear readers, what can I do to avoid this horrible fate, you ask? The easy answer would seem, don’t go to another stylist. But that’s too easy and not too practical. Sometimes a client is so busy that she can’t forecast when she will have the time, so how is she going to set up an appointment for something like her hair? Well I have a few suggestions that may help.

The first idea is to start thinking of your hair care the same way you do your health care. I seriously doubt that your physician or dentist tells you “Oh come on in whenever you can. I’ll make some sick people leave and see you instead.” Start thinking of your salon appointment with the same forethought. True, missing a hair appointment won’t kill you, but it may result in other side effects like, deteriorating self esteem, loss of dates, and incontinence. Any service provider that has talent and a loyal clientele is going to reach a point where their services are in demand and you are going to have to pre-arrange your appointments if you want to see them. That’s a good thing. If they weren’t good at what they do and heavily sought after would you want to go to them? Again this is merely a suggestion. Sometimes just like to think that they are too busy to schedule an appointment, but sometimes they really are just that busy. So what do you do then?

There are a couple of things that you can try within the salon that you prefer going to. First tell your stylist about your problem getting in and ask if you could possibly just pop in when you have spare time and be worked in. Your stylist may or may not agree, but at least the option is on the table. Most likely he does not want to lose your business (unless you are a complete pain in the rear every time you come in). If at all possible, a stylist that likes you will try to work with you. Just make sure you haven’t been demanding or rude to the staff a great deal before you start asking favors. If he agrees to take you on a walk-in basis you will have to remember that you are being worked in. He is going to have to make you wait here and there while he takes his appointments that are actually on the book. So don’t get huffy and impatient if your appoint takes longer than usual. If this isn’t an option, you could choose a back-up stylist at the same salon. If you can’t get in with your main stylist then you go to your back-up stylist. She is in the same salon and has seen you time and time again when you come in, and she can get your formula and a run down on how you like your cut from your usual hairdresser. Besides those conveniences she can also confer with the creator of your appearance right there on the spot if things get tricky. Now some stylists do not like sharing their clients. I for one have never been fond of these types of jealousies. I personally feel that if I am doing a great job on your hair, you’ll be back in my chair when you can. If someone else can please you more than I can, I want you to go to who does your hair the best.

You can also do this between two salons. Let’s say that your stylist is terrific but no one else at the same salon can satisfy what your hair needs, but a stylist at another salon can. Go to both. Call your first choice first and see if you can get in. If you can’t, call your second choice. The important thing to remember is to tell your stylist about the issue you have and ask him who he suggests at another salon. See if you can get both stylists to confer together and share formulas and techniques that are used on your hair. A lot of people have misconceptions about different salons being enemies, but usually that’s so untrue. Two honest, respectable businesses are not going to begrudge the other of a customer and the chance to make a loyal client happy and beautiful.

So to recap, don’t be a Hair Hopper. If you are too busy to pre-schedule appointments, or you are the kind to wait until the last minute, talk with your stylist about your problem. Ask them who else they trust to be your back-up stylist within their salon or outside of it. Its like my momma used to tell me, “If you can’t have it your way, don’t punch your sister in the head.”

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