Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Things Your Hairdresser Doesn't Tell You

Like any profession or industry, hairdressing has it’s insider info that we tend to keep to ourselves. Magicians don’t tell you how they do their tricks and we don’t tell you how we water down the shampoo.

1. You know those jars of blue disinfectant you see on the counters? All for show. We hardly ever use them. Apart from the fact that I don’t have time between clients to put every tool in, leave it for 10 minutes and then rinse and dry them, I’m using clean tools on clean scalps, and there’s no need to go through all that. I’ve never heard of Dengue fever or Ebola virus being transmitted by hair. If someone has a scalp condition, then of course I’d clean my combs and brushes off right smart, but for the vast majority? Nah.

2. For the most part, shampoo is shampoo. The only real differences between the stuff you buy at the salon and the stuff you get at the drug store is the amount of water in the bottle. (Salon stuff is more concentrated.) I will say, though, that most clients don’t diagnose their hair properly, and often buy the wrong stuff, which can make problems worse; at least a hairdresser can steer you in the right direction. Also, if you colour your hair, you may want to get your shampoo from the salon; shampoos for colour treated hair really do help keep if from fading. But the difference between a $8 shampoo and a $30 shampoo is negligible.

3. If I don’t have a last appointment booked, I can go home early. If you ask book my last appointment and ARE LATE for it, expect me to be very, very efficient.

4. Rubber necks and moving heads piss us off like you would not believe. If I put your head in a particular position so that I can get at it better, please don’t bounce it right back up. And there’s no need to turn around to talk to me when I’m working behind you, I can hear you just fine. I can’t tell you how many times I have narrowly missed clipping and ear because someone moved their head just as I was closing the scissors. (And just to tell you, we do cut people’s ears sometimes…and those things bleed like the shower scene in “Psycho”.)

5. Unlike doctors and priests, we have no “Code of Confidentiality”. If you tell us something embarrassing or gossipy or hilarious, you can bet that will be bandied around the staff room at the first available opportunity.

6. Just because a hairdresser wins awards and competitions does not always mean that they are a really really good hairdresser. It means that they are very good at winning awards and competitions. Hairdressing competitions have very little to do with what goes on day to day in a salon, so if you go and get your hair done by someone who recently won an award, you may be surprised that they don’t win awards on your head.

But you didn't hear it from me.

3 comments:

Erin said...

I have heard that some salons use the cheap shampoo for washing clients hair anyhow -- and just pour it in to the big expensive shampoo bottle. Could this be true as well? I'm so glad you're honest.

Mrs. Loudshoes said...

Erin~ Some salons may, but we don't; we use the stuff we sell at the basins. We have been known to water some of that stuff down, though, because it can be SO concentrated that it's a bit thick to use on fine, thin hair, and hard to rinse out. But no, it's not the stuff from the dollar store!

Erin said...

I knew you'd tell me the truth. And I knew you'd never skimp on shampoo for a client...okay, may be you would, but Mr. LS would never. :)