so i went to my hairdresser today and said i needed a teeny tiny little trim.  she knew i didn't want too much off.  i told her a quarter of an inch, half an inch if necessary.

she took off a whole inch... maybe even a little more.

i know it doesn't seem like a lot, and i know if i'd gone to a salon it'd be a lot worse, but think about it: it's two months of growth, which is how long it's been since my last trim, meaning i got to keep none of it.  my hair was finally starting to grow- it was even an inch or two past BSL- and now i feel like i'm right back at start.

the most frustrating/scary thing about it is my hairdresser said we'd need to keep taking that much off until the damage from all the dye i put in it last year was gone.  and i personally didn't see much damage at all this time around.

i know you've all been in similar situations regarding trims, and i do know i'm making too big a deal out of a measely inch, but i'm wondering: how do you guys deal with the frustration of losing your hard-earned growth?

I've been there and I'll bet a lot of people have.  Definitely find a new hairdresser, but as far as how to deal with the frustration for now: Realize what you have on the ends now is much healthier. It could be (depending upon the amount of damage) that you would have lost that inch through splits. Now you are starting fresh. And your hair WILL grow. Doesn't it always?

Have you shopped around for hairdressers since you got "snipped"?

oh man that is rough! even when i intend to get an inch taken off i still regret it for awhile. but after a week i stop noticing it and enjoy the healthier ends. it motivates me to keep my hair as healthy as possible so i won't have to trim so much off again.

I splurge. On hairtoys, on vitamins, etc...

Oh, and put my hair in updos more often.

(((((Katja)))))) So sorry to hear what happened.. Stylists like them should get a . Just kidding. Next time you can self-trim with Feye's method. Your hair is certainly long enough to do a Feye trim. You can find it in my sig, under Reviews and Links.

Anais

Hi Hi:

I know exactly how you feel.  Fire that witch.  These people work for you. Unless you give them free raine, then they sould do exactly what you want.  The last time that happend to me. I refused to pay the witch.  I caused a big scene in the salon and I was yelling like a crazy witch myself.  I made sure everyone in that salon knew what this witch did.

I never went back and I make sure that who ever touches my hair. Does what I say, or all hell will break out.  I tell them that up frount.

Just remember, it will grow back.  But your money in that jerks pocket will not.

Susan

At the risk of getting pounded here, it's not like she cut off 6, 4, or even 2 inches.  Admittedly, it was more than Katja wanted and I'm by no means belittling two months worth of growth.  But if she is still trying to get rid of damage, speaking from experience, an inch is about the minimum you could cut off to make any impact on that. 

If, however, there was very little damage and every inch is so precious at this point, why get it trimmed again after just two months?  Again, I sympathize with Katja's frustration, but I'm not sure exactly what the stylist's out here was. 

There's been the discussion before of whether or not you want someone who only does exactly what you ask or if you want them to use their years of training and experience to help figure out what's best.  I'm NOT saying that means they can push you into the latest short, hip style.  What I am saying is that if they see damage that needs to be fixed that may result in, say, more split ends if left uncut, should they just ignore that because you said only cut 1/4 of an inch?  Would you crucify them for merely suggesting to cut more to remove needed damage?

Remember, Katja said she would have been fine with a half inch and the stylist cut off an inch.  She didn't scalp her.  Do you really think the stylist deserves the vitrolic responses posted here? 

From the responses here ("definitely find a new hairdresser", "fire that witch") I'm guessing yes. 

Just my $.02,

JF

Thanks for the replies everyone.  They made me feel lots better.  Other people I told about this said to stop whining and that my hair didn't look any different (though one said it looked shorter, which was definitely NOT what I needed to hear).

I agree JF- it's not like she scalped me or anything and I know it's better for my hair whether or not there was damage in the first place.  Thanks for your input.

The thing that really gets me though, is that when she was doing my hair she told me she only took half an inch off and then when I got out of the chair she revealed the awful truth.

No one touches my wife's long hair with scissors anymore but me. While yours doesn't rate as a "horror" story, I've heard and seen too many of them, including a few DW tales, for me to trust anyone but myself now. 

Sue (DW) has now gone almost 15 months w/o a trim. There is a foot of lighter color from peroxide at the ends, but it is not "damage", but extra beauty. It is up to you, Katja, to determine whether color differences throughout your length qualifies as undesired "damage". To this observer, it rarely does, unless the ends look fried.

 In the future, you might consider going much longer between trims, since this one has upset you so much. Bring a friend to monitor the trim, and tell stylist in advance that you have had bad experiences, and show her on a tape measure exactly what you wish to have taken off. If you get bad vibes, go elsewhere.  Bob

JF made a lot of good points! But I still have to say you should find a new hairdresser--not even so much because of the inch, but because she said straight out that this was the way it would have to be until the colored ends come off. So you know before you even get into the chair again that next time it will be the same thing all over again--and you know you don't want that.

I know it wasn't a scalping but I also know how frustrating it is to wait two months to see growth and then have it disappear, so, hang in there, Katja! Do you feel better about the whole thing yet? Did you take everyone's advice and buy a million new hair toys?  (In my book, ANY occasion, good or bad, is a great excuse to buy new hair toys!)

I feel better... mostly because I've been wearing my hair up since it happened  and I'll probably keep it that way for like the next two weeks.

Again, thanks for the kind words everyone.