Hairdressers!

I met my H/D when she first had completed her training at a local salon,that was over 20 years ago and I have since followed her from salon to salon.She now owns the franchise to two herself and is still a whizz with the scissors!
I have had some hair raising experiences prior to this,such as going into an expensive salon and having my hair permed and paying the earth for it............then walking down the street and straight into the next Salon and having my hair romped .............and believe me on the then nurses pittance I was not in a position to pay such prices!
But as my hair is the constant trouble maker in my life I have REAL reasons to complain these days but at least my one faithful H/D remains.But just like several here have mentioned,how I hate sitting for a certain length of time sitting at my now ashen face staring back at me.............it is murder!!
However it is a very pleasant place and the warm welcome and cuppa.............be it just water,coffee or wine............goes down a treat in such a convivial atmosphere.
Sadly I see my Hairdressing trips out diminishing and that is going to mean a whole lot of head scratching, wondering what next to do with this mane that is causing me lots of grief!
But yes I agree wholeheartedly with you Harrigran..........if you find a good one stick with them,they truly are worth their weight in gold.

I went to a well known hairdresser's. She gave me highlights and lowlights and a treatment. FOR ONCE my hair looked great. I was so pleased. The next time I went I asked for her and was told she had gone backpacking around the world . So I made an appointment with someone else. This time I wanted a cut. So I went and one "stylist" did my roots and put in loads of dark lowlights. I thought it was too dark at the time but I stayed "schtum" because it was wet. Then I had a shampoo girl who gave me a treatment, All this apparently from the instructions of previous girl (the backpacking one). She then wrapped my hair in a towel and informed me that I would have to wait for 40 minutes while the cutter did another customer who has incredibly thick hair (insult to injury, mine is very fine) and I sat there wet and miserable for 40 minutes. I complained and got the price of the treatment taken off the end price. She (the cutter) swanned over, announced that as I had fine hair she wouldn't do layers, that's all wrong apparently, then she took a little bit off all over, blow dried it and had finished. The whole thing took about twenty minutes. I paid (£100) Good God! Then left. Looked in the mirror at home, it was too dark, too long and shapeless.. I rang them up. I have an appointment to go back in a week, to get it re-done.

I am now miserable. I hate my hair. HATE IT. I looked on line and found a hairdresser who everybody loves. If I go to him I still have a week's wait and have to pay.

Shall I go to him? Or shall I give the first salon a chance to put it right for free. Advice wanted, please oblige.

I hate going to the hairdressers. Its almost as bad as a dentists appointment for me. My hair only looks good for a couple of hours after the visit, and then its back to its usual scarecrow look, as I'm useless at doing hair, and have no hairdryer, comb, or interest.

Take a drawing or photo with you and say "look, that's what I want"

I answered a fb request for models for trainees a well known hairdressing group. You get a wonderful cut the trainer's is monitored constantly. The only downside is your can be in chair for anything up to 3 hour's.
You could also try the local college who do beauty and hair dressing course they are carefully monitored.

Agree with you Anya, if a hairdresser leaves, I just shop around until I find another one as good.

I don't know where you find all these bad hairdressers. There are hairdresser shops everywhere, so there's plenty of choice and competition.

Best to avoid those that specialise in cheap haircuts IMO. A good haircut is worth paying for.

Short hair looks fine if it is soft and a bit wispy, when hair is cut too short at the sides it bounces up and looks silly, then the back ends up long with a step up of shorter hair at the front. Two weeks after my last cut I am looking like I have stolen Camilla PB's hairstyle again while the back is more graded. Because I have said please don't make my hair shorter at the front hairdressers make it longer, hence CPB's hairstyle. I can feel the frustration coming on. I don't ask for a hairstyle that doesn't suit my hair. I can feel a cut my own hair feeling taking over me. ??☹️

Yes- the one good thing about hair is that always grows out. Or in! Many thanks everybody for such great advice and kind help. The family are all moaning my hair is too short, but admist that I suit it. So therefore I am happy and the Hair Police can just lump it

I used the same hairdresser for a long, long time. Then I found she was not cutting it as well as she used to. I decided one day to try someone new. The first three times my hair looked great, although I kept telling the young man not to take too much off the hair which is over my ears, as i wear hearing aids, and I like to keep the little wires which go into my ears covered. Every time he cut the hair too short. Then he started to use a shaver to cut up the back of my hair instead of scissors, and the time spent doing my hair was getting less and less. I ended up being very disappointed. I am now back with the original lady, and she still always takes more off the left side than the right, but it doesnt look too bad, so im staying put for the time being. I find myself thinking it's a good job hair grows, because at least if you get a bad cut, at least you aren't stuck with it for long.

I'm growing mine and when it gets long enough, it's going in a ballerina bun. Elegant and cheap!

I have a short hair cut which needs cutting every 6 weeks. When I moved house I had to say goodbye to my hairdresser of 27 years! I wasn't looking forward to having a new one. However, with three hairdressing shops to choose from I chose one which looked the busiest. My new hairdresser is excellent. I tell her exactly what I want and she does it (after all I am the one who is paying). I think that's the secret: tell them exactly what you want done.

I have very fine hair and have no clue what to do with it. Since moving to near where absentdaughter lives I go to the hairdresser that she has been with for years. The entire experience – from the delicious coffee to the massage chair – is a wonderfully relaxing experience. She suggests what she thinks might suit me and endlessly admires my silvery head of hair. Conversation is friendly and personal rather than the are you going somewhere nice for you holidays sort of chat. I emerge feeling pampered and glamorous – what more could I want?

PS She is very smart about what can and cannot be done with my type of hair and what would look good with my shape and age of face.

Found a few good ones over the years by asking people whose cut I've admired, where they get it cut and who does it. Has always worked out, and times I've taken pot luck have not worked out.

DH has a barber who comes to the house. As my hair is short I asked if he could cut mine. So far it's gone really well, he likes working out what works best with my hair and he remembers what he has tried before - which has never been the case with the hair dresser.

I have only come across three hairdressers in my entire life who know how to cut my hair(I'm 73 now) and have been with Julie my present one for twenty six years.As she has moved salons from time to time I have followed her

Can recommend a good hairdresser in the pontefract area.she has a good reputation. Over the years her customers have tried other hairdressers but have come back as she's that good .her number is 01977700691.

Test them out by just having a set or blow dry. Even very specific with what you would like it to look like but do ask their advice as to be honest they are the ones with the training. If they ask if "it is ok for madam" and it is the ice but say "sorry I don't think k it is really me". Let's be honest we are paying the money but it is so easy to be intimidated. Spent years with the same hairdresser and everything was okay but expensive. Moved house and decided I was going to being the driving force seat from now on and was very specific from day one the effect I wanted but did ask her to give me her absolutely honest opinion whether the look was obtainable. She gave me some hints and told me why she thought they would work and I have had so many compliments compliments on the colour etc. We do little tweaks every visit according to the season going either lighter or darker, she listens, I listen and it is a match made in heaven, also £30 a visit cheaper than the last place. She is young I am retirement age but she certainly has took years off the way I look.x

Twenty odd years ago I asked an acquaintance who cut her hair because I liked it. I still go to that hairdresser although he soon set up on his own. Now, it's a huge business with four branches but very expensive. He always makes me feel good, interprets what I'm trying to say. Sometimes like today, I have it layered and cut shorter, next time I'll be growing the layers out! I always like it and if I didn't, he would redo it. He looks after me, squeezes me in if necessary if I tell him I've made the wrong booking. He's treated me to a manicure, given me a bottle of perfume etc. Yes, I pay for it but it's my treat and I feel my hair usually looks good. So, I repeat the advice to ask people for the name of their hairdresser.

Our local college is bit of a trek and impossible for me to get to. I'd be nervous of offending a home hairdresser - if I didn't like the cut then I'd feel awful not phoning her to come back again. I did strike it lucky though, I walked into a really posh upmarket salon and asked if they could fit me in for a quick cut and they di and it's gorgeous!
But been here before in the past and then found the hairdresser doesn't do it so well the next time..

My last hairdresser experience was a nightmare. It takes nearly an hr by car so I rely on a lift from OH. I've been with my hairdresser for ages & like what she does. She's come back after her baby was born & goes into the salon one day a week. I think because of this she overbooks.
Another girl retouched the roots & she cut it. She repeated 'I haven't forgotten you. I'll come & finish off your blow dry. I'll be over in a minute'. Took ages & ages so I voted with my feet. Paid nearly £70 at the desk & left with wet hair. She was distraught. Hot day so no harm there. I'm now on the hunt for a new hairdresser. In the past I've been really unlucky with hairdressers. I have a short style so it can't be that hard. Long hair seems to be 'in' so finding a good cutter is really hard.

I really love going to the hairdresser! I found mine by lucky chance, whilst I was searching for a replacement for one who cut my hair ok but I couldn't stand her drivelling on about nothing any longer. I just walked into a salon I liked the look of & had the stylist who was free at that moment & have been with her about 3 years. She is like a breath of fresh air, she's in her mid 20s, has a refreshingly optimistic view on life & can always make me laugh & cheers me up if I'm glum. Most importantly, she cuts my hair beautifully- I was stopped in a shop recently by someone who wanted the name of my hairdresser & who now goes to her. So Yes, it can just be a matter of luck.

I tried 4 or 5 different hairdressers before I settled with the one I have now.
She cuts my hair the way I like, and she concentrates! Doesn't gab on all the time like some.
She charges 25€ for a wash and cut and blowdry. About £22.

It helps to have decent hair in the first place!!

I think part of the art of a good haircut is being realistic about what your hair is like. I have dead straight hair with a tendency to fall over my face, so for most of my life I have had a fringe and any style I choose is based on having a fringe and having my hair otherwise cut clear of my face. My mother had similarly intractable hair - but the opposite to me, it was very curly. She too always went with what her hair would do and did not make demands on her hairdresser to achieve the impossible.

I also cut pictures out of magazines so that the hairdresser can see exactly what cut and shape I want. so while I have a few disasters engraved on my psyche, mostly I have had good hair dressers, who have given me the hair cuts I wanted. Certainly looking at old photographs my hair usually looks quite nice.