So You Got A Bad Haircut

We all do it in our career. Every single one one of us has given a client a lousy haircut. Some much worse than others. Never believe a stylist if they try to tell you they have never done a bad one. She means recently.

My favorite example :
During my first few years as a stylist I learned the term “Over the ear”. Look at your ear. “Over the ear” can mean absolutely no hair over the ear. Very short, cut around the ear. Maybe a longer sideburn, but very short.

Then there is “over the ear”, meaning the client does not want to see the top of her ear. Or the middle or even the whole ear. 

When a stylist hears the first over the ear but the client means the second over the ear, imagine disaster. Once you make that cut around the ear, it’s hard to turn back.

What is amazing is how the client sits there and says nothing.

You would think if she felt the cold steel of the shears as they are moving around your ear a person,who did not want to feel that,would yell “Stop!!”  But they don’t. Usually your stylist will catch a glare in the mirror, meaning she knows you know you are cutting it too short. At which point she is really about the have a heart attack but hopes if she continues cutting somehow it will get better. Cutting longer makes the client think you are making it better?  Sometimes, atl east new stylists hope so.

Possibly if stopped at this point, the haircut could be salvaged. Some people like those pieces around the ear short. It’s actually a bit stylish to cut the first 1/2 inch around the ear then drop hair over it, but really, a client will sit there and say nothing until the haircut is finished, blown dry and styled. Then she will say, if anything at all “It’s a bit shorter than I wanted”  Usually without a smile.

I have asked new clients when they told me they had a terrible haircut  at another salon if they said anything.  No is the answer I alwys get. I inquire as to why they didn’t. Most will say “I thought she knew what she was doing”. 
 A professional should say “I am so sorry, I apologize and will not charge you. If there is anything I can do, please tell me”  Most don’t do that either. They either tell the client they must have misunderstood and after a few days she will like it because it will grow. Or we stand there totally dumbfounded and say $40 please with no comment about her unhappiness . 

Do I still blotch up a cut? Occasionally. Usually because we didn't understand each other. I have learned to reflect back to my client and make sure we are both on the same wave line. Most of the time that works. I always stop when I am by the ear and discuss the length again.

For you who sit in our chair. Make sure you talk with your stylist. For you who are cutting. Listen to your client and remember what they say is not always what we hear.

Have a great day cutting or getting cut.

DS