Okay……so I’m going to ask a serious question: “Why do we all want what we don’t have?”. It is so difficult to submit to the fact that we will never have something. The more we tell ourselves its unattainable, the more we convince ourselves that we need it.
Apply this to any facet of life. We see something we can’t afford, we gotta have it. There’s always a nicer, faster, more luxurious car etc……you get the point. Its perhaps worse when it comes to changing one’s appearance, because it has become possible to change it relatively simply. Plastic surgery, makeup, the gym (perhaps the only productive option named), and hair. Yes…..this is a blog related to my “hair” business………so….this brings me to my point.
On almost a daily basis, I have a client in my chair that is struggling with what god gave them; they have untamable curl, or its stick straight and they hate it. Or….its naturally coal black, and they wanna be a platinum blonde……or vise versa. Lets face it, if we were (any of us), happy with what we had, we’d all be walking around with mousy brown, or grey, lifeless hair down to our butts. And for those of us who aren’t mormon…well, thats just not an option. (not intending to offend any of my mormon readers…. though, plentiful they are, I’m sure). Some of us just have way higher expectations than others.
I think hairdressers as well as clients need to learn to put a foot down.First things first. If you are a stylist, and you sort of know that your client’s request is a pipe dream, well, its your obligation to the client to say something! If you proceed, the wrath of the client is going to be far worse than it would be if you’d just say “no”!
And clients, true enough, you can always find some money-hungry thief that will do what you’re asking……but why??? If a professional has a real doubt about fulfilling your request, don’t you think thats valid???? If you are in the person’s chair and you don’t trust their opinion, maybe you’re in the wrong chair. If you are convinced that your stylist is way off-base and your request is not so far left field that it can’t be done, then you clearly don’t trust your stylist and their capabilities, and it’s more than fair on your part to search for another. You have no “obligation” to be with a stylist all the way from prom to the funeral home.
In closing, I just feel like I need to say this: If you like “radical” hair, (and I do very much), find a capable stylist, #1. Secondly, take a step back if that person suggests that your request is undoable…or advises against it. Think about their warnings. Just try to be objective. These people did, after all, go to school to do what they do…..and actually, most of us make a decent living at it. And lastly, If you have a crazy request that your stylist executes, well….by all means…..go for it!!! Be amazed at the fact that it was done, and how well, and enjoy having fun hair that is different all the time! Life is way too boring for mousy brown, waist-length hair!!!!!!
