Monday, June 30, 2008

This Hair Doesn't Come Easily!

I've had a twelve-year relationship with my hairdresser. It's sometimes been rocky and he's done quite a bit to chip away at my loyalty over the years. Truth be told, I should have walked out the door and not looked back when my best friend called and told me that he'd cancelled her wedding so that he could do a show in Atlanta. I did walk, but only for about two months since the replacement hairdresser turned my hair red...

I'll be frank here. My hair is not simple. I go through a multitude of processes in order to achieve the look.


Here's a retrospective in pictures...

In the photo below, I am sitting in the chair, waiting on my hairdresser to mix the color. It is 10:45 AM. My appointment was at 10:15, which he told me means 10:30. He waltzed through the door at 10:40. Only 10 minutes late!


He got the color on quickly! By 10:50, the root color was on and I was getting ready to sit under the dryer for 15 minutes to process under the heat! We are still pretty much on-time.

At 11:50, my hair was covered in foils with both dark color and bleach for "dimension." Once again, it was time to sit under the dryer, only this time, I looked like an alien.

Ahh! 12:45! The color has been rinsed, my hair has been conditioned, and I'm ready for my haircut! At this rate, I'll be out no later than 1:30!

1:10 PM. It is time to blow dry. I'm still happy at this point...

At 1:15, after drying the front only of my hair, my hairdresser stuck me under the hood dryer to finish. This would have been fine, had he not abandoned me for 20 minutes with only cold air. Once it was done, I was fed up and walked back to his room. He was elbow-deep in color and he told me that he was "sorry" for the cold air and re-started the dryer with heat. 20 minutes later, I was fed up and ready to pay and go.

Sadly, he couldn't tear himself away from his client to check me out. So I had to wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally! At 1:55, he finishes his other client and beckons me back into his room to finish. I told him that he should have given me the choice to pay and go if all he was going to do is shove me under a dryer for an hour. He haughtily informed me that blow drys are now an extra service, but he was trying to "do right" by his loyal customers and not force them to leave with a wet head. He then upped his normal price by $55!

I'm not a cheapskate when it comes to my hair. I just like to be informed and respected. Due to the various slights over the years and complete lack of respect for my time, I'm going to have to find someone new. Apparently, you have to be a two-bit, E-list actor or model to get his time these days. And this is so NOT New York or LA.

Good riddance!


But good hair!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's lucky you paid at all.

FYI it wouldn't fly in LA at all. The guys who get top dollar are absolute perfectionists in color and in business and a colorist should not be blow drying.

Oh, they should also have better hair than that.

And your legs... holy crap woman. The gym is good to you.

Anonymous said...

LOL @ "Oh, they should also have better hair than that."

A good hair dresser can be hard to come by, but it does seem like it's beyond time for you to find a new one. Good luck!

Mrs Pop said...

For what it's worth, my guy does the color and cut and just went from renting space in a salon to opening his own not too long ago.

I've almost always been thrilled with the results. But the customer service has been going downhill. At a rapid pace.

He has his moments where he will really do special and nice things for me, but they have become fewer and far between.

Violet said...

I'm with Sue - He's lucky you paid at all!

Good luck with your new hairdresser!

Mrs Pop said...

I don't know what I'm going to do... He's really good with my hair and breaking up is so hard to do! But he will never respect me. I am not high-profile enough for him anymore.

Oh and Sue... Thanks! :)