And this is not to say that all hairdressers are not good at what they do, but these were my main frustrations and I wanted to share them with you in case you have been/ were feeling this way...
To be honest when I look back to as far as I can remember about my hair, I had one really awesome hairdresser when I was in varsity. This was about 4 years ago, and this was actually when my hair was the healthiest and the thickest it has ever been...
Also, in all honesty, I have to say that I experienced the most damage to my hair due to a number of hairstylist nightmares I experienced. Not to scare you, but I can clearly remember one situation where my hair was so overrelaxed that I had burns that required special medical attention. That's how bad it was, imagine how my hair reacted to that... For these and many other reasons I decided to join surprisingly many other ladies who were on a DIY healthy hair journey.
Some of my friends looks at me funny when I say I don't go to the salon, some of them have followed suit in this journey, so it is not for everyone! What matters is that I know how I want my hair to be and I am learning how to get it to be where I want it to be by myself.
So when you read this post, please do not think I have a personal vendetta against hairstylists, I am just sharing my experiences which will help you understand why I am and will be a DIYer for the foreseeable future...
Also, in all honesty, I have to say that I experienced the most damage to my hair due to a number of hairstylist nightmares I experienced. Not to scare you, but I can clearly remember one situation where my hair was so overrelaxed that I had burns that required special medical attention. That's how bad it was, imagine how my hair reacted to that... For these and many other reasons I decided to join surprisingly many other ladies who were on a DIY healthy hair journey.
Some of my friends looks at me funny when I say I don't go to the salon, some of them have followed suit in this journey, so it is not for everyone! What matters is that I know how I want my hair to be and I am learning how to get it to be where I want it to be by myself.
So when you read this post, please do not think I have a personal vendetta against hairstylists, I am just sharing my experiences which will help you understand why I am and will be a DIYer for the foreseeable future...
Anyhoo here are the 10 things I have really not liked about hairstylists, that has led me to being determined to doing my own hair:
1.) When you can feel you are burning from the relaxer and you tell the hairstylist, and he does not even look at his watch to check how long you have had the relaxer on your scalp. This is probably my worst experience and some hairstylists would just ignore me when I would complain of scalp burns.
Truths learnt on my HJ (hair journey) so far: Your scalp should never burn before you wash out the relaxer, and you should ALWAYS follow the relaxer times
2.) When the hairstylist assures you that he/she has applied heat protectant serum to your hair before flat ironing it, and you have clearly seen that nothing has been applied.
This actually happenned to me a few times, the first two or three times I ignored it and thought maybe my eyes did not see properly or I missed a glimpse of the serum application... After a few times I actually stopped my hairdresser from flat ironing my hair and reverted to a much safer option, roller setting.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Applying direct heat to your hair (even when blowdrying) without using a heat protectant calls for major heat damage, split ends galore if your hair easily splits and many other unwanted side effects!
3.) When you ask the hairstylist to trim off your split ends and he/she agrees and trims off 3 inches! Say whattt! And the explanation is that the more you trim the longer your hair will be able to grow out...
This has not happened to me but I have heard and SEEN this happening.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Trimming does not and has never resulted in hair growth, the importance of trimming comes in removing split ends and thin hair (if you are transitioning to texlaxed or natural hair). It does indirectly promote hair growth in that the cut split ends will not have moved further up the hair shaft, but other than that please do not be deceived that your hair will now miraculously grow!
4.) When your stylist tells you that you should never go after 8 weeks without relaxing your hair!
Yes, this also happenned to me, and is now the reason why my ends are straighter than a pencil!
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: This is actually dangerous in that you could easily end up with hair that has been relaxed two or three times if your new growth is not long enough to clearly show the line of dermacation (where the relaxed hair meets the unrelaxed new growth).
Actually stretching the times between your relaxers can be beneficial in ensuring that only new growth is relaxed, and preventing overprocessing of hair which leads to thinning and possibly breakage.
5.) When your hair stylist puts you in the dryer for a deep conditioning session for less than 10 minutes
Aha, you may be thinking I am over-exaggerating this but I have been to salons where they are extra stingy with hot air, you can't even pay extra to get 10 more minutes under the dryer!
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Deep conditioning with heat for an adequate amount of time is of utmost importance to ensure that the goodness of the conditioner penetrates into the strands. Especially for us low-porosity haired ladies where our hair has difficulty taking anything in, DC'ng with heat for at least 20-25 mins can go a long way in improving the health of your hair.
6.) That "awesome" jar of black majic castor oil/ coconut oil will help your hair grow if you apply it to your scalp & hair often.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Please don't get me wrong because there are some ladies who have actually shown that their hair has grown from using oils/moisturizers that are packed with mineral oils, but this does not work for everyone.
I learnt this the hard way, especially with my hair type where products just sit on top of my hair, mineral oiled products are a no-no for my hair. The mineral oil actually forms a film on your hair and does not allow anything else past it, which is why vaseline is recommended as a scalp treatment before applying a relaxer. These products can actually block your pores from performing their function and releasing natural oils onto your scalp that are beneficial for hair growth.
7.) When your hairstylist reveals the secret that doing your hair at a salon gives superior results to when you try to DIY.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: *cough cough* my hair is actually looking so much healthier now that it has been 4 months since I walked out of a salon door. This is only true if you are not prepared to put in the hours of research and effort into ensuring that you are doing the right thing for your hair.
8.) When your hairstylists pulls the last little strand on your edges to make your braids or cornrows look "neat and beautiful"
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Yes I was told that my braids will look prettier that way, what I was not told was how much hair I would lose especially in such a conspicuous area which you cannot possible hide, not even with a wig!
Pulling hair when doing protective styles causes more damage than the benefit from protecting your hair in a protective style. Your strands become weaker, making them an easy target for breakage. If the pulling is excessive, you could even develop a condition called Alopecia, where you could experience excessive hair loss and damage to the follicles. However this can be treated over time, but why treat something when you can prevent it in the first place?!
9.) When your hairstylist just does not want to hear anything you suggest about how he/she can handle your hair.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Probably one of the things I hated most because it meant that even on this healthy hair journey it would be hard to impossible to instruct my hairstylist on how to handle my hair. I mean, even in the corporate world, we learn every day from our colleagues, seniors, juniors... Who are these hairstylists to think that they know everything, and even worse, that we are paying them to do our hair!!! Lesson I learnt was that if I know how to handle my hair, there is no need to outsource this service to someone else who will not care as much for the health and well being of my hair.
10.) When your hairstylist tells you to come at a certain time only to find a host of people in fron of you in the queue.
Truths learnt on my HJ so far: Yes, maybe I am spoilt, but I do not have all the time to wait for my hair to be done. I would rather do it myself, my schedule, my time, my pace!
Hope you enjoyed this post. Do you have a reliable hairstylist? If not, what ticks you off about hairstylists, hair salons, etc?
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