Today was a veeerrrryyyyy long day. I ended up pulling an All-Nighter, finishing up some Units. They turned out great!! I wore one to work today. Got lots of compliments! I'm glad because I was a little nervous at First. I was Serving some "sho nuff" Raggedy Ann Realness! LOL
Anyway, I'm not here for that Today! I'm here to address something EXTREMELY important!!
Today at work, I had a client to come in, very very sweet lady, Intelligent, and Attractive. I had met her previously (about a month ago) as she was a referral from one of my newer clients and she was just dying to meet me. I asked her how long she'd had her extensions in, She told me she'd had them since May. When I met her, It was September so my eyes got BUCK when I realized how long she had this extensions in her hair. I was scared for her but she said she visited her BEAUTICIAN regularly and that SHE said her hair was fine underneath and she could keep it for awhile. When She set up her appointment with me, the other day I expressed to her that it was imperative that we go ahead and take out the extensions (6 months old) shampoo, do a re constructor (assuming she'd be in dire need of one) also silken it and trim it. I got her into my chair and as soon as I sectioned off her leave out and saw how her hair, six months of dandruff, product, hair that wanted to shed ,dirt , and the wefts had long before locked up into about 7 really big, what looked like, DREADLOCKS! My heart fell into my stomach. I have faced a lot of challenges in my short career as a HAIRSTYLIST but I hadn't ever been presented with a challenge of this caliber.
Anyway, a play by play details of how I rectified that situation would surely stress you out. I even had to apologize to the other 3 clients I had there because I had gone from "The HappyStylist" to "The Not-sO-HappyStylist" in pursuit of my trying to rescue this sweet woman from her hair. After about 90 minutes of deep conditioning treatments and careful detangling, I began to ask questions. Now, one thing I know about myself is that I have to be very careful with my tone and my facial expressions because before I know it, I will insult someone and that wont even be my intention. I asked her why she thought it was okay to keep a sewin that long?? Thats when she expressed that the person that installed it told her that she could--that she would also allow her to keep her braids for six months. I could not believe what I was hearing. During our consultation, She said she was considering going natural so while I was flat ironing her hair and I noticed that she had quite a bit of relaxed hair on her ends, I asked her when she'd received her last relaxer and she replied "six months ago". I gave her a confused look. She said "Yep, I got a Perm all over my head, a Rinse, and she sewed my weave in". Now those of you who know me, knows when the words perm (when she wasnt referring to a jheri curl) and Rinse (when she wasnt referring to what she does to her dishes after she washes them with detergent) came out of her mouth, I cringed, a little but there was no time for corrections, I would get to that later. I was much too busy trying to figure out how this triflin' ass PERSON (term used very lightly) passed State Board and ended up with a Cosmetology license.
Okay, now that I am done griping, let me explain to you all why my nerves are shot.
First of all, NOBODY UNDER THE SUN SHOULD KEEP A SEWIN FOR 6 MONTHS!!! That is insane and the fact that this lady trusted her hair with someone so uneducated scares me to death. I dont know if i would rather her be uneducated or just triflin'. *6 in one hand, Half dozen in the other. Either way she needs to take her license out of the frame, pour some cheap spritz (highly flammable) all over it, light it on fire and hurl it into traffic.
Then, It would really make my heart sing if she applied at her neighborhood fast food joint as the
person that gets to sweep the french fry and apple pie boxes off of the parking lot. That is how pissed I am at her and every other Beautician and Hair Dresser that doesnt take any regard for their clients, their needs, their lifestyles, their hair's health, and their image as a whole. Im so tired of them buying up these Hummers, Range rovers, and bmw's and shit but putting NON-PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS(because they're cheaper) on their backbar and complaining about not having time every time they're told about a continued education course and then over charging people for less that mediocre work because that have a car note to pay. Im exhausted!!! Im tired of people coming to me with jacked up ends because their BEAUTICIAN or HAIRDRESSER didnt own a decent pair of shears AND had no clue how to perform a decent haircut. Im tired of people coming to me with over processed hair because their BEAUTICIAN or Hairdresser relaxed their hair every chance they got. I spend hundred of dollars on Color a month trying to salvage or correct colour that these Beauticians and Hairdressers have jacked up with Bleach and pulling through a cap (IT IS NOT 1980), "boosters" (whatever the hell those are), and then trying to tone with a Semi permenant colour or "rinse".
I AM OUTRAGED at the amount of people out there that call themselves, "hair care specialists" but they don't take the time to educate their clients because they HAVE NOT educated themselves. But they know about the newest gucci bags and Christian Louboutin shoes, grinning and "kee-kee'ing" with these women, while taking their money and LITERALLY tearing their hair out of their heads. I am so upset, I have a head ache.
Let Me Calm My nerves because im not sure if any of this will even make sense to anyone else...
The next mistake this PERSON, made was; relax the clients hair, put a Semipermanent colour on it,then put cornrows in her hair and sewed her extensions in. This was a bad idea for so many reasons, in so many ways, and on so many different levels. She was just trying to make a quick buck!! So let me get this right, You're going to put some cheap random relaxer in the clients hair, probably half ass neutralize and improperly condition and then BLOW DRY and yank and pull all of her hair with some CORNROWS???? YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!! THERE IS NO REASON, UNDER THE SUN, WHY THE CLIENT SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ANY FORM OF CHEMICAL SERVICE IN HER HAIR THAT WILL BE PROTECTED DURING THE LIFE OF HER SEWIN!!!! And it makes me so sad because the client really thought that she was doing the right thing.
Anyway, I didn't post this blog to tear those Idiot, Uneducated, Waste of Time, Space, Energy, and Money Beauticians and Hairdressers down!!! I posted this blog to vent and to educate women. There is a difference between a Hairstylist and a Beautician/Hairdresser. Your hairstylist is going to consistently educate themselves so that they can keep you educated about everything that they do to your hair. You should know what kind of relaxer you have, if you have one and you should NOT be getting one more than every six to eight weeks.Your beautician/hairdresser is going to use whatever they have on sale and you're more than likely NEVER going to see a container or package for fear that you'll inquire about why the product used is never the same. Your stylist, SHAMPOOS, COLOURS, and RELAXES your hair and works in a salon and they encourage you to use proper verbiage so that you will be able to effectively communicate to anyone, anywhere the needs of your hair if you ever need to. A Beautician/Hairdresser, Washes, DYES (which, to me is
koolaid and peroxide) and PERMS your hair, oils YOUR SCAB and thinks a hot oil treatment is the answer to dry and itchy hair/scalp or SCAB!! Ugh!
A hairstylist values your time and schedules appointments with enough time to have one on one time with you to give you the things you require and is still able to get you out in a timely fashion. A BEAUTICIAN/HAIRDRESSER doubles and triple books appointments and keeps you in the salon for hours and hours and has you leaving THE BEAUTY SHOP tired, hot, and irritable and you don't even end up caring how you hair looks or feels because you're just ready to go. I could go on and on about the differences but I believe you get my point.
As I close this blog, it is important that you understand how important this is to me. This is not a joke and I find it disgusting that in this day and age people in this industry, are still so careless and lazy. When I decided to leave college and pursue a career in cosmetology, my advisor was so disappointed and She told me that "Dumb women, women who can't get into college or didn't do well in high school either go work at a daycare or go to Beauty School". I was so offended. I am Brilliant. I have always been very smart and I did very well in college and I think that's why she was so disappoint in my decision. But in a way, she was right. A lot of this stuff is theory and if you can do a decent roller set and pass The State Board exam, You can get a license and "do hair" but if you have "the gift", you have a good foundation, you absorb EVERYTHING you are taught, take it seriously, and use the things you learned in school in the salon, YOU WILL EXCEL! And that's what separates the winners from the losers!!
Some of you have been going to the same MEDIOCRE, CARELESS, LAZY, and Unprofessional Beauticians/Hairdressers for 20 years just because you want to remain loyal. I don't understand loyalty when you're tearing my hair out of my head or I'm 40, not on blood pressure pills, and my hair is thinning or it wont grow. In those 20 years, How many promotions have you had?? How many times have you upgraded your job?? Your degree?? It's insane to think that your stylist shouldn't be doing the same things. Do you know how much the industry has changed in 20 years?? 5 even?? If i was doing the same things today as I was doing when I first became a stylist 4 years ago, My techniques would be outdated.
Okay, I'm pretty much done rambling.
I just wanted to put a bug in your ear. I think everyone deserves an AMAZING salon professional who they can brag about, who is well rounded, that keeps their look current, that motivates them, that challenges them to step out of their comfort zone, and provides them with the OPTIMUM salon experience consistently and if you don't, I'm sure you know someone that does. Pay them a visit. You
won't regret it :-)
To all you Beauticians/Hairdressers, I have ZERO TOLERANCE for mediocrity.
I am pissed at all of you and I hope you use this as a tool to make yourselves better industry professionals because you are the reason why women are at home getting hair tips from the kitchentians on youtube!!!
To my fellow hairstylists, I am so excited about you!! I respect you! I speak highly of you and I don't even know you!! I am thrilled everyday that you wake up and make it your business to give each and every one of your clients the best that you have the offer. Keep it up and I hope to see you at IBS in New York and ABS in Chicago in the Spring!
I sinerely appreciate you for reading this and I hope where ever you are in your life, you got SOMETHING positive from this.
xOXo
Your Happy Stylist
