“Is that really her hair color?”
I want to say bravo to Sophia Hilton, Director of Not Another Salon, for standing up for stylists everywhere! We have to give a huge round of applause to Devon Abelman, who wrote such a beautiful masterpiece to the Allure audience, Not Another Salon Calls Out the Problem With Instagram Hair Trends. Here is the original post from Not Another Salon:
Dear clients, There’s something you don’t know about that’s happening to the hair colour industry and you shouldn’t be in the dark any longer. Hairdressers are in a colour pandemic. Have you felt frustrated after seeing hundreds of images flooding your social media of beautiful immaculate colours, yet somehow your hairdresser can’t achieve it? Maybe you have seen celebrity transformations or hairdressers online performing ‘miracle’ dark to light colour changes? You’re looking for the same results, and rightly so. After all, the results of other people’s hair is everywhere, why can’t it be you? I’m here to tell you that firstly, so many of these images are retouched, or with the saturation changed to make them look cooler paired with selected angles or extensions to hide damage. But here is the embarrassing part, there’s a small percent of hairdressers that are actually doing this themselves! But wait before you judge, let me explain. When other starry eyed hairdressers see these images, just like you, they are wowed. This leads to feeling obliged to compete, they too want to feel they are as good as as the last person- of course. They also produce unrealistic images which again go online with no information of the journey of the client… and so the damaging cycle continues. The next issue is time. The videos you see on Instagram of incredible transformations are never done within the appointment time us normal folk can afford. In fact, most of these clients have paid for a colour specialists attention for an entire day. This means you’d need to be paying what a hairdresser can take in an entire Saturday – ouch! But this is rarely made clear to you. When a regular hairdresser is presented with these images and videos, they feel the pressure to get the same results on a fraction of the money, in a fraction of the time. Sadly, this is leading hairdressers in this country to have a confidence crisis, because they can not and never will be able to compete. Not only do you loose faith in them, but they loose faith in themselves…
Preach, sister!
I too am tired of the false expectations that clients have when it comes to miraculous hair color makeovers. We are not magicians that can turn you into Insta-glam when you come in with hair that is fried from blonder than platinum highlights, relaxers, keratin shampoos and conditioners, and you use products that shouldn’t be used on human hair. As we all know, you cannot believe everything you see on the internet, and that includes hair that seems to illuminate the entire room. Realistically, your hair has to be in great shape before you are even a candidate for a color service at DyeVerCity, and that goes for any spectrum of the rainbow and sea. Stylists go wrong when they allow their customers to pressure them into something they know will give way to tragedy in the end. Hilton described it best when she told Allure, “Countless amounts of these colors are completely unmaintainable, have no future options for change, or cause damage…”
My question then becomes: as educated stylists, why are we not schooling our clients?
Are we really afraid of standing up for what is right and beneficial to our client, or are we clueless to the fact that lightener has the potential to blast the cuticle wide open? If your client only wants to see you once a year and you are inspecting hair that is not properly maintained, maybe you should be discussing products and trims insteadof color.
Truth be told, it can take all day to perform color makeovers on hair that is in tip-top condition.
Let’s just say for instance you are a hair color virgin, level 1-3 (black to dark brown color”>, less dense/medium to normal porosity, and you only use the best products available. At best you may be able to reach a level 6 or 7 (light brown-dark blonde highlights”> during your first lightening service. But even you, my dear friend, will see that your blonde ringlets will require some extra TLC after a color service. (Keep in mind, the lighter the blonde, the drier the hair. When you opt for the Skittles Rainbow, you are essentially just an undercover Atomic Blonde waiting to explode.”> What looks okay today can look like a frizzy fried mess after a few times of shampooing. And honey, can’t no conditioner reach that deep down to bring your hair back to life.
Moral of the story? Be careful with hair color!
To all of the stylists out there: I encourage you to take time to research color companies and in some cases, take a refresher course on the science of hair. Don’t be the ‘yes’ stylist that agrees to every trendy, filtered, Photoshoped, hidden camera picture that your client screen shots or tags you in. I challenge you to be honest with your clients about the results they can expect and what their maintenance schedule will look like. For all of you beautiful divas ready to explore your colorful side, make sure you are prepping your tresses and you have allowed room in your budget for products and regular salon visits.
Happy coloring.
Here are some of our top hair color articles to keep you in the know: How to Prevent a Severe Allergic Reaction to Permanent Hair Color How to Enhance Your Hair Color With Steam How to Protect Your Hair Before Using Hair Color
