What to do when you fall out with your hairdresser...

What to do when you fall out with your hairdresser...

There is nothing in this world like the feeling of being in a hair salon. Woman of all ages come together under one roof for one purpose-making life better for our hair. We go in, we get a complimentary cappuccino (or glass of wine), we talk about hair, we talk about our holidays, we get a divine head massage and we leave walking on air. We have been revived, just like a makeover montage in a movie. 

Or at least we hoped so. Finally, you’re snapped out of movie land when the stylist brings you the mirror and you look like a toddler has been at you with the scissors and/or hair dye and you want to burst into tears. Every woman has at least one moment in her life when she suddenly realises that no hairdressers are not doctors of the beauty world. So what do you do then? 

Lucy Parsons, a Travel Management student, had this same experience. “I was so excited to get my hair cut because it had been annoying me for ages, but when I looked in the mirror it was awful, the hairdresser had cut it so short and given me this ridiculous fringe. I looked like such a mess, it took ages for it to grow out.”

Tracey Barham, a hairdresser who has run her own business for 30 years, has some advice if you’ve had the same problem: “Unfortunately the only thing you can do it let it grow but that’s the good thing, hair does grow back quite quickly. While you wait for that to happen, you can always put your hair up, use pretty headbands or hair slides to hide the mistakes.”

Grace Thornton, an air hostess, had a nightmare with the bleach. “I’ve always had highlights put in my hair and never had a problem. I changed to a different hairdresser and I thought it was fine until a few days later when my hair started to break off and fall out. It was devastating, I just wanted to sit and cry!”

Over-bleaching is a common problem, one that Tracey sees all the time. “There is nothing you can do to completely repair damaged hair, apart from cutting it off. You can however, lessen the damage by using good quality hair treatments to moisturise the dry hair and prevent further breakage. Hair is made of protein so use anything with protein in; you can even make your own hair mask out of eggs and mayonnaise to help with porous hair. You should also refrain from using any other harsh chemicals until it’s in better condition.”

Another problem that often occurs in the hairdressing chair is hair turning green after colouring. Kimberley Young, a trainee teacher, has long suffered from her hair turning an greeny hue. “I once had my hair coloured and when I’d left the hairdressers it just went green and it still happens now, it’s really gross.”

Hair turns green often after coloured blonde hair comes into contact with chlorine, this is because the chemicals oxidise together which is what makes hair change colour. Tracey has a brilliant tip for this: “Squirt some tomato ketchup onto your hair, cover with cling film and leave for half an hour, when you wash it off your hair should be back to it’s normal shade of blonde. Also if it goes orange you can buy purple shampoo which neutralises the brassy tones.”

If you have a hair nightmare at the hands of a hairdresser you do have rights. They are providing a service and if you are not happy with the service they provide, by law they must give you a refund. Hairdressers do not actually have to have any formal training before opening a salon, so before you go somewhere new it is advisable to have a free consultation before hand and check out their credentials. If they don’t have the qualifications, you might end up in a hair horror movie which might not have a happy ending. For more information visit consumerline.org. WW