Hairdresser woes

Fusspot

This is a long story but I'll try and be as brief as I can. I am dissatisfied with my hair, I guess I am not the only one here but I feel I am going to hairdressers just to please people. Let me start from the beginning. I had a hairdresser who was really good, she only charged me about £25 for a trim, blow dry and colour. My hair stayed the length I wanted it, she just trimmed it like I requested, advised me how to take care of my fine hair, advised me not to over use conditioner. Then she packed up the hairdressing. My friend who went to the same hairdressers as me found a stylist and I started going to her. She was a bit dearer the other one but only about a tenner more, she too kept my hair the length I wanted it and I was quite happy with her until I asked for plum streaks and it looked like I'd had paint slathered over my head, she seemed to be only good at doing one block colour. My friend said she was no longer happy with that hairdressers and found another one so I started going there. Since I've been going there my hair has got shorter. OK once I did request more taking off for a change but even before then it was getting shorter than I wanted it. This hairdresser advises me to use a treatment every time I wash my hair as it has got more damaged. OK I did have it bleached last year but have been having a one block dark colour ever since.

Even though I tell her I am now growing my hair it never seems to get any longer. A couple of times in the past I have quit going and just coloured my hair myself and not had it trimmed until its got to a certain length and then I've gone to a walk in salon and just had the ends trimmed - those times I managed to get my hair to shoulder length again and it seemed in decent condition just using a home colour (Castings) and the conditioner that comes with it and Simple shampoo. But then I started going back to the hair salon as I felt obliged because my friend kept going on about how wonderful they are, and about how they kept asking where I was.

But I am spending £50 every six weeks (plus more when I buy hair care from there) and I am not happy. My boyfriend has said that truthfully my hair never looks the same when I've been to that hairdressers as it used to look before I went there.

I now have a chin length bob which is fine and still has some damage. My goal is to have shoulder length all one length hair just neatly trimmed and coloured a glossy brown, thats all I want. I am grey underneath so need to keep up with the colours. I don't want to use permanent dyes myself incase its too drying, the Castings always worked well before.

Yesterday I bought a false ponytail which is far too long and I would like it cutting to shoulder length but it looks good on and will tide me over until my hair gets to how I want it. Would I be aswell just colouring it myself and using the hairpiece instead of using GHDs and going to the hair salon etc until my hair grows.

I would feel so guilty quitting this hairdressers again but it goes through me paying £50 and not to be happy.

busiscoming2

It seems mad to me that you would pay to have your hair done if you don't like the end result. It's tough if they keep asking where you are. Let them and don't feel pressured into going back.

It's your hair and your decision.

xbrenx

busiscoming2 wrote: »

It seems mad to me that you would pay to have your hair done if you don't like the end result. It's tough if they keep asking where you are. Let them and don't feel pressured into going back.

It's your hair and your decision.

I agree with this. It's your money and you can spend it where you like. Find someone who does your hair the way you like it :-)

theoretica

If you are happy with your hair when you don't go then don't waste money. Of course the salon are asking after you - they are a business!

Fire_Fox

Dark permanent and demi permanent dyes contain peroxide, are you having to 'refresh' the lengths for five minutes every time you dye? If so you are compounding the damage caused by the bleach. I killed my hair between this and mechanical damage and have spent two years growing that out. You are just as likely to get damage from salon colour as home colour, often they use a stronger peroxide or more accelerator so you are in and out faster. I switched to just lifting the roots a couple of shades with a super gentle blonde then semi permanent over the top, my hair is in massively better condition and the colour actually lasts longer than permanent!

The other thing you can do is coconut oil the entire head (on naked hair not silicone coated) then dye over the top, sounds mad but the permanent dye works the same and the oil protects the structural proteins. Coconut oil is great as a general treatment, it reduces porosity and protects from damage caused by UV light, heat styling, shampoo.

Simple shampoo might claim to be gentle but it's still based on sodium laureth sulphate which is a harsh surfactant in the same family as those in washing up liquid. GHDs absolutely destroy hair, they are too hot for fine or bleached hair particularly. Is it possible you have been using them more since your hair has been shorter? Dermatologist opinion
http://www.hairfree.bz/Article.pdf

Once I stopped destroying my hair with sulphate shampoos, silicone conditioner, brushing, terry towels, over colouring and so on, my hair just grew and I went to the hairdresser when I felt it got really straggly or I had an event, perhaps every six months on average. Before I had to cut it regularly because the ends got dry. Definitely MSE not to have to cut your hair every six to eight weeks! :money:

Fusspot

Thanks for your replies. Firefox, that article is interesting. I tend to GHD my hair more to make it look less flyaway and give a straight look but as this article states it only makes it worse in the long run.

Do you think styling products are a problem too? I am definately going to lay off the GHDs for a bit and see what happens, I think tying my hair back when it doesn't look just so is preferable to ironing it all the time.

Fire_Fox

Fusspot wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Firefox, that article is interesting. I tend to GHD my hair more to make it look less flyaway and give a straight look but as this article states it only makes it worse in the long run.

Do you think styling products are a problem too? I am definately going to lay off the GHDs for a bit and see what happens, I think tying my hair back when it doesn't look just so is preferable to ironing it all the time.

Some styling products cause problems. People who are wavy or curly have a more extreme version of flyaways, many of us follow 'Curly Girl' which has worked wonders on my hair. We avoid avoids certain ingredients such as silicones (-xane, -cone, -conol) except on the rare occasions straighteners are used, alcohol denat, some polyquats all of which can damage or build up on hair.

As well as the curls many of my flyaways were broken off hairs, I didn't realise how many until they grew out because I never saw a split end. Mine were 24/7 ponytailing more than heat styling, but it's much the same effect over the long term. Oh and the sticky hairspray I was brushing into still damp hair (vulnerable when wet): wouldn't surprise me if that was as bad as regular straightening! *cringes*

elmer

I only go to the hairdresser every 4 to 5 months as my hair takes so long to grow, my hairdresser does remark that most people come every 6 weeks, but as MY hair doesnt grow that fast I take no notice of her.

She doesnt seem to mind too much as she still trims my fringe for free in the meantime.

elmer

elisabeth76

I, too, have had problems with my hair. Stayed with my hairdresser for years, then 12 months ago, decided as I was going grey to have highlights. Loved them at first and didn't connect the itchy scalp with the treatment until it was redone 6 months later. Now I'm left with a very irritated scalp, lots of dandruff, not something I've ever had, no response from V*sene, H&S, consulted a different hairdresser who has suggested Tgel, think I'm getting somewhere but disappointed that original HD did not do test first.

carebabe

ask GP to examine your scalp. will give you something on prescription if required.

carebabe

it has taken me a year to grow my hair from chin length bob to shoulder length. in that time i just went to get my hair cut once. in between i gave ends a little trim myself. the colour i use is schwarzkopf vital colors. its permanent colour and i apply every 4 weeks.