Monday, January 09, 2006
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Why, I don't know, but I feel compelled to post about haircuts. A good haircut is the single most important thing to my appearance, and, over the years, has been the single hardest thing to find. I have been cursed with limp, baby-fine hair with a very strong wave, a tendency to frizz, and a cowlick at the neckline. Good stylists have run for the door, screaming, after trying to deal with my hair. My own hair styling skills are roughly equivalent to my sense of direction, which is to say, all but non-existent. So if I don't start out with a good haircut, I will in short order resemble one or more of the three stooges.
My mother had her hair cut by the same woman for over 30 years. I have never managed to hang on to a sylist for more than 3 years. Either they move too far away, or they suddenly cannot give a decent haircut.
I won't quit using a stylist after one bad haircut. Anyone can have a bad day, and I'm pretty sure my hair is very different from one time to the next. But if I get 3 or 4 bad haircuts in a row, it's time for a new stylist. For all I know, the bad haircuts are deliberate, and intended to make me go away. But since I tip pretty well and am not very demanding, that does seem like a stretch.
There was one sylist, a former prison guard, who massaged the back of my neck for several minutes after each shampoo. After reducing me to a contented little puddle, he would ask how I wanted my hair and I would purr "Any way you want to cut it." He gave me some of the best haircuts I have ever had. But then one fateful day I told him I was ready to wear it a little longer, and would he just trim it. A chimpanzee could have given me a better cut than he did. I realized that he was an artist who could not be told what to create. As long as my desires and his artistic vision meshed, everything was great. He closed up his shop and disappeared before I could give him more chances, so I will never know if we could have worked it out.
My other really memorable haircut was given by a Columbian artiste. I had just decorated his shop, and felt obliged to give him some business. I walked in with shoulder-length hair, and asked him to cut it a little shorter. He started cutting, then excused himself to go check on a dye job. When he came back, he was very upset. "Oh, my God, her hair is turning green!" Snip, snip, snip. "She is going to sue me!" Snip, snip, snip. When I was finally able to make him stop cutting my hair, I looked like I had just gotten my first haircut for boot camp. Oh well, it saved me lots of money, as I didn't need another haircut for months.
I guess the reason this is so on my mind is because a few months ago I found a wonderful stylist who paid attention to the shape of my face, the way my hair grows, and my styling skills, or lack thereof. I have been Bad Hair Day-free since I found him. But last week he seemed a little distracted, and the hair cut, while not bad, isn't as good as they have been. I am hoping that it is only because I told him I was happy with the cut, and please just clean it up a little, and in so doing, interfered with that artistic vision thing. I have resolved to never, ever again, get between a good stylist and his artistry.
I'm curious if I'm the only one with this problem, or is it pretty common? Can you walk in anywhere and get a good haircut, or do you have to search for a good stylist? And if you find one, does he (or she) stay at the same place for a long time, or do you have to start all over again every few years?
My mother had her hair cut by the same woman for over 30 years. I have never managed to hang on to a sylist for more than 3 years. Either they move too far away, or they suddenly cannot give a decent haircut.
I won't quit using a stylist after one bad haircut. Anyone can have a bad day, and I'm pretty sure my hair is very different from one time to the next. But if I get 3 or 4 bad haircuts in a row, it's time for a new stylist. For all I know, the bad haircuts are deliberate, and intended to make me go away. But since I tip pretty well and am not very demanding, that does seem like a stretch.
There was one sylist, a former prison guard, who massaged the back of my neck for several minutes after each shampoo. After reducing me to a contented little puddle, he would ask how I wanted my hair and I would purr "Any way you want to cut it." He gave me some of the best haircuts I have ever had. But then one fateful day I told him I was ready to wear it a little longer, and would he just trim it. A chimpanzee could have given me a better cut than he did. I realized that he was an artist who could not be told what to create. As long as my desires and his artistic vision meshed, everything was great. He closed up his shop and disappeared before I could give him more chances, so I will never know if we could have worked it out.
My other really memorable haircut was given by a Columbian artiste. I had just decorated his shop, and felt obliged to give him some business. I walked in with shoulder-length hair, and asked him to cut it a little shorter. He started cutting, then excused himself to go check on a dye job. When he came back, he was very upset. "Oh, my God, her hair is turning green!" Snip, snip, snip. "She is going to sue me!" Snip, snip, snip. When I was finally able to make him stop cutting my hair, I looked like I had just gotten my first haircut for boot camp. Oh well, it saved me lots of money, as I didn't need another haircut for months.
I guess the reason this is so on my mind is because a few months ago I found a wonderful stylist who paid attention to the shape of my face, the way my hair grows, and my styling skills, or lack thereof. I have been Bad Hair Day-free since I found him. But last week he seemed a little distracted, and the hair cut, while not bad, isn't as good as they have been. I am hoping that it is only because I told him I was happy with the cut, and please just clean it up a little, and in so doing, interfered with that artistic vision thing. I have resolved to never, ever again, get between a good stylist and his artistry.
I'm curious if I'm the only one with this problem, or is it pretty common? Can you walk in anywhere and get a good haircut, or do you have to search for a good stylist? And if you find one, does he (or she) stay at the same place for a long time, or do you have to start all over again every few years?
10 Comments:
I have a very hard time finding people as well ..For years my EX MIL used to cut it and she did a great job when she wasn't trying to cut it like hers...Hers was short and spiked my was past my butt.Anyway when I moved I did not let anyone touch my hair for like 7 years .I was too scared.I had a lady come up to me and offer a free deep condition and cut at her shop..My hair must have looked terrible..lol Her daughter cut it but it still wasn't all that great.finally a friend of mine was going through school and asked me to let her do mine and she was my stylist for years ..Until I moved to Tx.I miss her ..She knew just how my hair grew and what it did ..Now
I am stuck with no stylist again..As anyone that knows me can tell ..lol The last one I went to here took 41/2 hours and $150.00 to fry my hair.SOOO
I am stuck with what I have I guess..lol
omg! there is no place to go and get the great cut you want. each hair designer sees the cut you ask for in a different fashion. my hair is down to my butt... was almost to my knees, just got it lopped off about 3 months ago due to headaches..... it took me 2 weeks of going into different salons telling them how i wanted it cut and letting them tell me how they felt i meant.... i finally found a gay man at gene juarez who knew exactly what i meant. and he did an excellent job...... but girl when it comes to a womans haircut.......... you must investigate before you let them have the scissors. i only get my hair cut once a year because i am afraid they will lop off too much and mess it up. lol
good luck in your venture.....
In my opinion, looking for a hairstylist who does it right each and every time is like looking for a comfortable bra, it just ain't going to happen. :)
i'm not really picky with my hair, mine is thick and has a definite wave, i'm in the process of growing it a little longer at the moment. as long as it's not in my eyes, i'm ok with any haircut i get.
I drive 60 miles one way to get my hair cut and noone else touches my hair...;)
I'm actually in-between hairstylists at the moment. I made the mistake of getting my hair cut two weeks before my wedding by a new stylist just around the corner from where I live. It was (still is) one of the worst hairstyles I've ever had. It's like two styles in one. So, for now, I am wearing my hair in a pony-tail...every single day, until I get my nerve up to try out a new stylist.
Gandhi used to cut his own hair, this started while he was in South Africa under apartheid, He had to... as no one would do that for him. he continued cutting his own hair until he had no more hair to cut.
I have been doing the same Mitey Mite for over 40 years now, Still doing a pretty bad job of it, and no one ever noticed. Not many years left though, Since I have very few hair left to cut, the job is getting more and more difficult for me as my skill or the lack of it is showing off.
Well, I have been going to the same salon for about 15 years now. Most of the time a different person cuts my hair. I could pay quite a bit more ant have the owner do it, but I'm too cheap for that. The cut I like is one that the owner teaches all his girls, so I usually get what I want. One time I had a girl that was new and she was afraid to cut. When she was done there was hardly any hair on the floor. It was the only time I got upset. She was gone within two weeks and I didn't have to deal with her again.
Hi, Here via your comment at FTS.
I dont bother with hair styles anymore, just too busy or lazy perhaps. In my younger days , I had perms and varying lenghths. But my hair grows so fast , I would be getting it trimmed everys three weeks. I,d get it cut really short, hate it, grow it long , get tired of it then cut it again. For the last few years I have just left it long, one length, parted on the side and put in a ponytail. Its a classic, clean look and best of all its easy and only needs trimming every few months.
I enjoyed your writing, and will be back again.
heh heh, thank God for #4 clippers
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