Let's see...
In an ideal situation, the client and the hairstylist make a wonderful team: the hairstylist offers an idea and the client agrees if the professional arguments provided are far more convincing than the latter's. But this ideal case ir rarely seen. Most of the times, the client is not able to give a detailed description of what she's looking for and the hairstylist does not try to understand her demandings, so the result consists of a two-sided dissatisfaction.
Therefore this question is certainly pertinent:
How can I correctly choose the hairdresser?
The best way to start is to discuss this issue with your friends and colleagues. You must also keep in mind that every salon is characterized by a certain prestige that should meet your requirements and if you've had your hair done at a salon where the "expert" left you with a bad taste, it is hard to assume that you'll find someone else in the same place able to realize a fancy styling. It also goes without saying that a haidresser specialized in short haircuts would not become an available choice for someone who wishes to have styled a longer hair.
Good hairstylist are prone to offer an objective advice. When you get to the hairstylist's pay attention to the clients but also to the way the staff looks like. By discussing to the hairstylist, you'll be able to figure out by yourself to what extent is she interested in what you'd want.
Some tips:
- put on clothes that you'd usually wear
- let the hairstylist make an idea about your personal style
- put on a detailed make-up (it does not matter if it'll suffer some changes during the washing and styling of your hair)
- contrary to folk culture, you should go to the hairdresser with your hair recently washed and styled: she/he'll have the chance to notice your hair's tendencies
- the desired hairstyle; you'd better analyse some album photos together with your hairdresser: let her show some recommendation then show her your preferred styles
- if a discussion leads to the idea that no change should occur in your hairstyle, you might still want to focus on some details that you are unhappy about, to wit a displaced parting, too short bangs, too short side locks
- if a different hairstyle is essential for you, let your haidresser know how much time are you willing to spend styling your hair everyday; you have to be honest to yourself
- the hairstylist should be aware of the chemical treatments that your hair can handle and she/he should be the one to discuss about this aspect
- if you insist on a chemical curling you'll have to mention the desired size of the future curls
What can you do if a hairdresser is truly compromised?
This might happen out of a misunderstanding or by mistake. If this is the case, you don't have to get uneasy and you'd better wait to cool down. Afterwards, you may come back to the salon to quietly expose your arguments. A good hairdresser is always open-minded when it comes to her clients' demands, even if it gets hard to tell who's responsible for the mistake.
