Success Story For My Long Hair

I know what it's like to lose a hairdresser. Mine of 14 years finally moved out of state. I had followed her to three salons, the most recent about a 40 minute drive away.

I swithed to another stylist at the same salon with good results, but she eventually stopped working. I switched to yet another stylist at the same salon with good results.

I wish I could find someone closer, but I just don't know how to go about it. I have to get my hair colored due to all the grey that I have have.......I probably shouldn't have long hair

Glad to hear you were successful in your search. I sure wish salons listed whether they had stylists who specialize in long hair.

Karen

Thank you for sharing your story. There is too much out there of "my hairdresser didn't follow my exact instructions". Oftentimes the instructions are too exact. Hairdressers are human too, and I think a good hairdresser should deserve a lot more credit.

Anais

cmesweet wrote: Nice story, I'm glad you enjoyed your experience.

Hi Cmesweet...Thanks so much.

I always appreciate your feedback & thoughs.

Karen

I have recently been totally freaked out of my mind about changing hairdressers.  My most recent hairdresser, who barely tolerated my "long hair" couldn't make it as a hairstylist and quit to go be a Personal Assistant for a law firm.  She offered to see me on "Saturdays" but I felt the Universe was telling me it was time for a change.  At any rate, my former stylist was constantly on me to cut my hair to a "more reasonable length like the top of the shoulders" but I absolutely refused to discuss it with her.  I tolerated her because I had to have someone do my highlights 2x a year and trim my bangs and I felt that she was the "lesser of all possible evils".  I have hairdressers all the time that I meet because of HB wanting to cut all my hair off.  So I am naturally paranoid about this topic.

After my hairstylist "quit the biz" I procrastinated and procrastinated looking for someone new.  I asked people on the street with "great hair", I asked everyone I could think of and yet it all felt totally scary.  I called one salon that specializes in long hair but they didn't tell me what I wanted to hear on the phone so I didn't book an appointment.

Finally I had to do something.  My roots were so long that people were making comments (OUCH) and I was feeling yucky.  My bangs were down to my nose. 

By chance I "found" a business card for the stylist that was recommended to me before I went to the last stylist.  I had never called her for some reason and then lost her card.  But I found it on a lark and called.  We had a "good" phone conversation and she told me that she "specialized in long hair & in color". 

I grilled her.  I told her my hair was 5-6 inches below my waist and that I wanted her to use the Matrix SoColor that had been used on my hair since 1988 so that it all matched.  She asked if I needed to have my hair trimmed.  GULP.  I was nervous.  She also said she prefers to use Redken instead of Matrix but would use what I wanted.

I was super nervous and called her back 2x to make sure that we were on the same page...no trim except bangs and Matrix, not Redken.

So today was the day.  I took someone with me "just in case".  I walked into her "booth" which was very quaint and had a door and was closed off from the rest of the hairdressers.  She had hair that was long below her bra strap and really beautiful highlights, which she said she did herself.

She said "wow, you have a lot of hair" but it looks great.  Whew.  I stopped worrying about fighting off the scissors. 

She used the Matrix, as promised, and to my surprise, used foils in record time.  Something like 20 minutes for all of my hair.  The last person took over 1 hour to foil my hair.  I was impressed.  Then she put me under special hair color lights (unlike the last hairdresser who didn't seem to know that it would help).

She came and rinsed me out in stages so that it would look really "natural" and blend with the rest of the colors in my hair.  So she rinsed me 2x and then washed the rest out.  She then detangled me perfectly, snipped my bangs and blew dry me with a boar's round brush.  She looked at my ends and said "they look great, no splits" and that was it.

I was done in 2 hours flat and my hair looks fabulous.  The people at the office were oohhing and aahing about how shiny my hair was and how "natural" it looked and how it was so carefully blended.  And silky, silky. 

Best of all, she was 100% respectful of my hair and didn't try to encourage me to cut it or color it or do anything I didn't want to do.  I was super thrilled.  And I gave her a really big tip & said I would be back the minute I saw new roots.

I felt so relaxed when I left.  Whew. 

Whoever makes the list of the top 10 stresses in life (divorce, death of a spouse, marriage, job loss) should definitely add finding a new hairdresser. 

I actually liked this new hairdresser (she has been doing hair for 17 years) better than I did any of my other long hair "specialists".  She did say she doesn't have anyone with hair as long as mine, but she does have several clients with hair to their waist who are "growing it out". 

Just wanted to share a major long hair preservation success story.  :-)

Karen