I had the best time last night making someone who had a really bad experience with a haircut (not at my salon) feel like her hair looked even better than before the miscommunication happened. It was one of those times when you meet someone and really get to see them completely light up because they are happy with what you do - and THAT is what I love about my work!
This client is the sister of a long-time client and she had gone in to a walk-in salon for a trim. They discussed layers and I guess there was a miscommunication. One very aggressive snip later this clients hair was what I would categorize as "extremely" layered and not blended at all. As she had one length hair that was about 14-16 inches long this was a very dramatic change. Unfortunately, when she washed it herself and tried to style it at home, the un-blended layers coupled with the extreme difference in the shortest to longest lengths made things quite difficult. She couldn't even really wear it in a ponytail because it just accentuated the 'shelfiness' of the new layers.
Here is what her hair was like before the bad experience at the other salon:
Here are some photos of the ponytail that really show how choppy these layers from the other place were:
And then the fun starts!! We agreed we wanted to keep it as long as possible.. but make the layers more manageable. So I washed and flat-ironed it using Keratin Complex Anti-Frizz Creme (for added conditioning.. since, why not?). Then, I took down a section and determined the minimum I should cut to make the bottom as healthy and full-looking as I could, while still maintaining really long hair. (Sure we could have cut 6-8 inches off, but what's the fun in that?) This photo is that first section and I decided to start at about 2 inches to even it all up:
Now this photo is the super exciting photo of all the hair trimmed, section by section (after flat ironing w anti-frizz creme) but not yet blended. You can see even here, though, that meticulous layer cutting pays off over one big snip and letting them fall... especially with fine textured hair! My peronal opinion is that being meticulous in a haircut is the only way to be sure that hair cut is going to hold up over time and grow out well. I love my clients but I want them to be able to go a really long time between visits. That's why I do a really precise cut, every single time, that I know they can count on to have built in structure and style! Anyway..here's the photo (pre-blending):
At this point I was feeling really good about the cut because the over-all foundation was solid again. The rest was details.. blending the layers, taking out weight here and there so she should get height and volume... here's the photo's her sister took as well as some I took myself:
And then I did a quick curl with the flat iron to show her another 'look' she could get with the layers. She was really happy - and so was I!
Such a fun evening!! And so much more fun than just throwing in the towel on that length and cutting a bob to start growing out. With regular one inch cuts every two months her hair will be easier than ever with solid, manageable layers and she wont have the pain of the "growing out short hair" feeling to go thru. I'm so excited for the evolution of her hair! I just love it when people walk out loving their hair...
