c/cosmetologists

13

jake191•1d ago

Vent: My coworker's tip about using purple shampoo ruined my blonde highlights

A stylist at my salon in Denver told me to leave purple shampoo on for 10 minutes to fix brassiness. I followed her advice exactly and my highlights turned a weird gray-blue color. Took me two extra sessions with toner to get them back to normal. Has anyone else had a coworker give bad advice that cost you time and money?

24

hugo236•2d ago

I finally swapped my round brush technique after 8 years

I used to always wrap sections away from the face with a boar bristle round brush. That's what I learned in school 8 years ago and I never questioned it. But about 3 months ago I tried wrapping toward the face on a client with fine hair and it gave her so much more volume at the roots. Now I do a mix depending on the section and hair type and it makes a huge difference. Has anyone else changed their basic wrapping direction mid career?

19

richardknight•3d ago

Chat with a barber at the bus stop changed how I approach haircuts

I was waiting for the 42 bus last Thursday and this older barber named Lou starts talking to me about clipper maintenance. He said most cosmetologists treat their tools like they're disposable and replace them every 6 months instead of just cleaning and oiling properly. I realized I've been throwing away money on new clippers when a simple cleaning routine would make them last years. Has anyone else switched up their tool care and noticed a difference?

4

charles_coleman•4d ago

I finally hit 500 client appointments last week and it felt weird

I've been doing hair for about 4 years now, mostly at a small salon over in Oak Park. Last Wednesday I checked my booking system and saw my total appointments crossed 500 exactly. I keep pretty detailed records for taxes and stuff, so I know it's legit. It surprised me because I never really thought about hitting a milestone like that, just grinding through each day. 500 people sat in my chair and trusted me not to mess up their hair, which is kinda wild when you think about it. Not sure if other cosmetologists track their numbers this close, but it really put my career in perspective. Has anyone else here noticed a specific number that caught them off guard?

20

iris_rivera44•4d ago

Changed my mind about using hair oil after a stylist in Denver talked sense into me

I used to think hair oil was just greasy marketing hype. But last month at a salon expo, a stylist named Jen showed me how she applies argan oil to damp ends before blow-drying. She even let me feel her client's hair after - it was so soft and shiny, not heavy at all. Now I've started using a light oil on my own clients with dry hair. Has anyone else had a product they swore off but came around on?

2

palmer.zara•6d ago

Unpopular opinion: I stopped layering haircuts for texture

A client straight up told me my layered cuts made her fine hair look stringy instead of voluminous, which hurt but she was right lol. I switched to blunt cuts with texturizing shears only on the ends and it gives way more movement without sacrificing fullness. Has anyone else had a client call them out on a technique they thought was working?

2

william_taylor•7d ago

Bleached a client's roots with 20 volume instead of 30 volume by accident

I was in a rush last Tuesday and grabbed the wrong bottle. Client has level 4 natural hair wanting a level 8. I thought for sure it would come out orange and patchy. But honestly the lift was slower and more even, less damage too. She was happy with the result. Has anyone else had a happy accident like that where the weaker developer worked better?

20

cole_robinson•8d ago

Can we talk about how hair oils actually work way better when you apply them to damp hair instead of dry?

I used to think putting oil on wet hair was a waste because it would just slide off or make it greasy. But a client last month told me she does it that way and her bleach damage looked way healthier between treatments. I tried it myself with some argan oil on towel dried hair and honestly the difference was night and day. The oil spreads more evenly and soaks in instead of just sitting on top. Now I tell all my clients with dry ends to do it this way. Any other cosmetologists here do something you were skeptical about at first that turned out to work?

11

the_eva•9d ago

Found out my color depositing conditioner has been fading my highlights cheaply

I was at a supplier expo in Orlando last month and one of the brand reps mentioned something that caught me off guard. She said most color depositing conditioners actually strip existing dye because of the surfactants they use to keep the pigment suspended. I had been using one on a client every 2 weeks thinking it was protecting her blonde, but it was probably making her toners wash out faster. She was coming in every 3 weeks for a refresh and I thought that was normal for her hair type. After the expo I checked the ingredient list and sure enough it had sodium laureth sulfate right there. Now I'm testing a different brand with no sulfides to see if she can stretch to 5 weeks. Anyone else have a color conditioner trick that actually works for maintaining highlights?

9

nancy_davis•9d ago

My favorite flat iron finally gave out mid-client yesterday

I was in the middle of a blowout in Portland when my trusty GHD Platinum+ just stopped heating. The display showed a flashing error code I'd never seen before, so I had to scramble and borrow a hot tool from the stylist next to me. Has anyone else had a major tool fail on them during a service? What did you do?

15

victor219•10d ago

That $80 color depositing mask that stripped my highlights instead

I bought this fancy ColorWow mask from a salon in Des Moines last month, thinking I could refresh my copper tones at home. Well, it completely stripped out the blonde highlights I had done, and my hair turned this weird orange mess. I wasted $80 on the product plus had to pay my stylist another $120 to fix it. Anybody else had a color product backfire this badly?

9

andrewt41•15d ago

I actually stopped using hair masks every wash and my clients love it more

Everyone in my salon swears by weekly deep conditioning masks, especially for color treated hair. But about 3 months ago, I had a client with fine hair who kept complaining about limp, greasy results no matter what mask we tried. I switched her to a lightweight leave-in spray instead, just on the ends after every wash, and skipped the masks entirely. Her hair texture improved in 2 weeks and she books with me twice as often now. Has anyone else found that skipping the standard mask routine works better for certain hair types?

5

finley_bennett28•15d ago

My salon owner mentioned Brazilian blowouts are fading out and I felt old

I overheard a younger stylist at the shop last Tuesday call keratin treatments 'so 2015' and it hit me how much the relaxer and perm world has shifted since I started 12 years ago, any other veteran stylists noticing a generational split in what clients ask for?

1

ryan_clark40•16d ago

The shift in balayage requests over the last 2 years is wild

I've been doing hair for about 4 years now and I swear clients used to want that super subtle barely-there look. Now every girl under 30 brings me inspo pics with chunky face-framing highlights and way more contrast. It's like the lockdown grown-out roots trend never died. Anyone else seeing this at their chair?

27

the_wesley•17d ago

Appreciation post: how my client's hair changed texture after 6 months of going sulfate-free

I've been telling people for years that sulfates wreck curly hair but nobody listens. Finally had a client who agreed to ditch her regular shampoo and use only low-poo products for a full 6 months. The before and after difference is wild - her 3B curls went from frizzy mess to actual defined ringlets with way less breakage. She used to need heavy gels and creams just to tame the fluff, now her hair holds moisture naturally. I think the real game changer was cutting out the sodium lauryl sulfate that was stripping her scalp. Has anyone else seen a similar switch work for their clients?

27

miles277•17d ago

Am I the only one who spent years sectioning hair wrong?

I've been doing hair for almost 8 years now, and last week a new stylist in my booth watched me do a layered cut and just said 'hey, do you know you're cross-sectioning that?' I had no clue what she meant. Turns out I've been taking horizontal sections on a round head shape for YEARS, which makes the layers uneven on top. She showed me how to follow the natural curve of the head with diagonal sections and it made such a big difference in the finished shape. Has anyone else had a junior stylist point out something basic you'd been messing up forever?

11

taraw16•19d ago

Shoutout to the old school stylist who taught me sectioning 10 years ago

I was doing a layered cut on a client last week and realized I still use the same sectioning pattern a stylist named Margie showed me back in 2013. She worked out of a little salon in Tulsa and had been doing hair since the 70s. Her method was simple: four sections with a zigzag part down the back for less visible lines. I tried fancier sectioning patterns over the years but always come back to this one. Last month I timed myself and it saved me about 15 minutes on a full head of highlights. Anybody else stick with a technique an older stylist taught you?

22

robin_wright•20d ago

Spilled color on a bride's dress 10 minutes before the wedding

I was doing a wedding party at a venue in Oak Park last Saturday and knocked a whole bowl of copper hair dye onto the mother of the bride's white dress. Grabbed a box of baking soda from the kitchen and dabbed it dry, then hit it with a little dish soap and cold water. Got it out completely with 2 minutes to spare. Has anyone else had a close call like that with a client's outfit?

4

kevin_carr•22d ago

Just realized clip-ins beat tape-ins for my fine hair

I used tape-in extensions for 2 years. My stylist swore by them. But after my last removal I lost so much hair around my temples I almost cried. Switched to clip-ins from Sally Beauty 3 months ago. Cost me $80 instead of $400. My natural hair is growing back now. Anyone else have fine hair that just can't handle the adhesive?

14

the_jason•22d ago

My mentor told me to stop backcombing. She was dead wrong.

Been doing hair 8 years. My old mentor at the Paul Mitchell school in Phoenix said backcombing was lazy. Said I should only use texture spray for volume. Tried that on a bridal updo last month and the whole thing fell flat in 2 hours. Bride was pissed. Had to redo it with a teasing brush. Now I backcomb everything for updos and it stays solid. Any other stylists been told old school techniques are bad?

2

maxmurphy•23d ago

Shoutout to the stylist who called me out on my sectioning

Last week a client told me their previous stylist always said my partings were too thick for fine hair. I started doing thinner, more precise sections on my fine haired clients and the color payoff is way more even now. Anybody else get a critique that actually made them better at their job?

18

sarah198•23d ago

Overheard a stylist at the supply store say something that hit me hard

She was telling her coworker that she "stopped chasing trends 3 years ago and started making way more money" and honestly that made me rethink my whole approach. Has anyone else simplified their service menu and seen a real bump in regulars?

15

milar46•23d ago

Wasted $80 on a heat protectant spray that did nothing

I bought that expensive Thermal Shield spray from the beauty supply store thinking it would save my hair from my flat iron. After three uses my ends looked fried and a friend told me to just use a lower heat setting instead. Anyone else fall for a product that just made things worse?

32

riverhill•24d ago

PSA: Your shampoo pH matters way more than I thought

I was at a supplier expo in Denver last month and a chemist from a pro brand handed me a test strip. Turns out my go-to clarifying shampoo was a 9.5 on the pH scale, which is basically stripping the cuticle raw. She said ideal is around 4.5 to 5.5 for color treated hair. I checked three of my most used shampoos at home and two were way off. Anyone else ever test their shampoo pH or just me?

11

troy_wilson8•24d ago

PSA: Stop using hair chalk on wet hair unless you want a disaster

I had a client come in yesterday from Austin who tried to do a rainbow section with hair chalk at home, and she did it on soaking wet strands. It turned into this muddy gray mess that took me 45 minutes and a clarifying shampoo to fix. Has anyone else had to deal with this or found a way to salvage it without stripping the hair?