Hair Mistakes // DON'T SAY THIS TO YOUR STYLIST!! Say THIS instead

Look, if you've got collarbone or longer hair, whatever you do, you don't want to make the mistake of saying these things to your stylist. I've been doing hair since 1995, and over those years working on those clients, there are some common things that I hear people say that ultimately are, dear just ran in front of my car, that ultimately are very dangerous. So in this video, I'm going to reveal those common mistakes that people are making, and more importantly, at the end of the video, I'm going to share my simplified process that I think is the safest way for you to explain what you want to your stylist, so you actually get a haircut you love. And I brought you to a wildlife sanctuary where there's some wildlife, like the deer that just ran in front of my car in the middle of me filming this. It scared the crap out of me, I'm not going to lie. All right, let's get on to the tips. Okay, the first mistake is using terms like trim, or dusting, or anything that's kind of like that. Now here's the thing, you may be thinking, well, you know what, I've seen my stylist for a long time, I've actually got a pretty good relationship with them. That may be true, and in some cases it may be okay, but here could be the problem. A lot of times if people have longer hair, you may tend to go a little bit longer in between cuts. If you are going longer in between seeing your stylist, you may find that your version of a trim and their version of a trim may be very different. You may be saying, well, I want my hair to go back to what it was when we cut it last, six months ago. But here's the thing, hair can grow quarter to a half an inch a month. When you get into six months, that's a pretty large span. So your idea of taking it back to what it was and their interpretation of where it was six months ago may be very different, and that may be different enough that you end with hair that's too long and you're frustrated, or that you end with hair that's too short and it's too short and you're frustrated. So yeah, if you're seeing a new stylist, you definitely want to be shy of those terms, because we have no idea what their version of trim or dusting or anything of the sort is. So you want to make sure that you guys are on the same page. Using words like that, there's a lot of room for interpretation. That can become a huge mistake. Now, let's move on to mistake number two. Okay. Actually, hold on one second. Okay. How long is this? Seriously, I want you to actually comment in the comment section and tell me how many inches long is this right here? Take a guess. Did you comment? Okay. Here's the deal. Let's see exactly how long this actually is. I've got a little thing here. Okay. So this is about 11 inches long. Okay. Did you get it right? Maybe you did, but I promise most of you didn't. And here is why that is important. This could be your inch. This could be your stylist's We don't know. It's always unsafe. So when you walk in and say, just take an inch off, just recognize that that can be a completely different thing to you than it is to them. So what do you do instead? Be very specific. Show them exactly where you want that to sit. I want it to sit right here. No shorter than this. And side note, make sure you turn around in the mirror and look at the back and show them in the back. The reason for that is if you just take your hair forward and you show them in the front, this stylist may cut it straight across. And that means that center part in the back goes quite a bit shorter because you said, I want it to here. And so they're taking the back and the front. So there, that means that back part comes up quite a bit more and you actually end up losing even more length through there. Big mistake. I see. I get that one all the time, but the ones coming up even bigger. So let's move on. Okay. So the next mistake is a big one and here's what it is. Do whatever you Here's why this is dangerous. That doesn't, and it never should actually mean do whatever you want. What it actually means is do whatever you want within my boundaries. So here's the thing. Maybe you feel like, you know what? I've been with my stylist for a long time. We've got a great relationship. I know them and I trust them. So therefore I want to give them some sort of creative license. And I agree with that. I think that's awesome. And like I said, I'm always flattered when I hear somebody say that to me, but you have to remember this. Let's say for instance, you've got longer hair and you've invested some time and emotion into getting that hair longer. Now you've been with your stylist for a long time. So you go in and you say, Hey, do whatever you want. Now, in your mind, you're saying, obviously we have a relationship. You know, that I prefer long hair and that I feel most comfortable in long hair. So do whatever you want. Just don't take it too short. But the stylist hears, Oh, well, you've never said do whatever you want before. You must be ready for a change. And then you end up with hair, my leg and you're rightfully pissed. What we want to do instead is share the boundaries. I'm going to give you creative license. Do whatever you want within these boundaries, the next biggest mistake. And I would say this is probably one of the biggest, if you could do anything, what would you do? I get this question all the time, especially from new clients. And while I understand and stylists, I believe, understand that you want our insight. We also need to understand that if I were to answer that question for you, what I'm essentially telling you is of all of the different shapes and styles and possibilities for your hair. This one option is the one that would be the absolute best for you. It's very limiting to you. It's not fair to you. In my opinion, maybe mullets are really cool at that point. That may be the trend that they're attaching to. They love that. And that's what they would recommend for you, because if they could do anything, that's what they would do. For me, that's going to be heavily determined on how you style your hair on a day-to-day basis. How much maintenance do you want to see with your hair? What length do you feel most comfortable in? What shape you feel best in? If there's anything you've had in the past that you liked or didn't like, there's anything that you've ever really wanted to try, but you just weren't sure if you can do. I need to know a lot of different information. Now, based on all of these boundaries, this is what I would do if I could do anything. Now, here's why this is so dangerous. It may be a mood that your stylist is in, and it's something that they talk about. They share this style with you. You get really excited. Both of you come together. They're amped up about it. You're amped up about it. It's a really hot new trend. Everybody's on board, and you end up getting your hair cut. It's a totally different style, and it was whatever they could do if they could do anything. Even when you leave the salon, you feel good, but there's a little part of you in the back of your mind that is not 100% comfortable. Then you get home or you come around friends, anybody that you care about, and one person says, oh, you got your hair cut, and that's it. That's all it's going to take to make you feel very insecure about what just happened, but now you're letting that grow out, so you get to sit with being uncomfortable for who knows how long, depending on how short it is. Now, let's get into my process that I would recommend for you to simplify this whole thing and ensure that you get a haircut that you love. Now that we know what not to say, what do we say? How do we actually get the haircut that we want? It's a pretty simple system, actually. Step number one is you've got to understand your boundaries, and we need to make those boundaries very clear. What's going to be too short? What's going to be too long? Is there anything that you've had in the past that you did not like, anything that you really need to stay away from, anything that you absolutely must have, layering, bangs, et cetera, et cetera, right? Understand what you love and what you hate so that you can convey those to the stylist. Step two is find photos. I'm not saying you have to find the perfect photo of exactly the style you want. What you want to find actually is photos of stuff that you like and that you don't like, so that when you're explaining those boundaries, you have visual references to use as an explanation. Nothing expresses exactly what you're talking about quite as well as a photo. If you find an exact photo of what you want, bring that in, but also understand that we still need to know the boundaries. We still need to have other photos of things you like and you don't like, so that you can say, I love this photo. Here are other things I like, and here are the things I don't like. If we can't do this on my hair, how can we modify this to work for me, knowing that my boundaries lie in these other photos? Step three is, again, being very visual in the way you explain things. When you're talking about length, do not use inches. Be visual as to what is going to be too short. I don't like my bangs any shorter than my eyebrows. Okay, it sounds ridiculous, but literally show them what you're talking about. You might say, I don't like them shorter than my eyebrows, and they might cut them right to the top of your eyebrows because technically they're not shorter. What you mean is you like them longer than your eyebrows, right at the bottom of your eyebrows. This is an easy way to avoid any of those potential miscommunications. I know it's not really your job to understand all of this, and as a stylist, this is really why we go to school. As much as I would love to say, hey, as a client, you should just be able to sit back and just let the stylist do what they need to do, and everything should be good, that's just not always true. My goal is to give you the insight that you need so that you can take that to the stylist and navigate or mitigate some of the possible concerns that can arise. Right now, after you hit subscribe, which you need to do that right now, there's a little video right here you need to go watch because you're going to learn some great stuff. I appreciate you hanging out. I'm going to go off and enjoy this view, and I'll see you next Tuesday. Take care now. Bye.