Designed for Divine Destinations

I am sure that some readers immediately know the frustration I have. I’m not sure what goes on with some hairdressers but it certainly is difficult to find a stable hairdresser.

I started going to my hairdresser (we’ll call her Cindy) about 6 years ago, shortly after I moved to a new city. The salon was right next to my sons daycare, she was personable and did a good job with cut and color.  I went to her for a couple of years and she consistently did a good job.

THEN I moved further away from her. I went back to her a few times but was sure I could find a hairdresser closer because they are everywhere right? I mean, there have to be good ones around right? I had that thought cycling through my thoughts and then one day, I was at my mailbox and there was another lady there who had great hair and I complimented her hair and guess what! She was a hairdresser-perfect! She had to work close by right? SO I decided to give her a shot. She did a great job with the color and a reasonable job with the cut (I had one of those inverted bobs-until everyone else started wearing them).  The next time she did a good job with both. Then the next time, her partner was with her at the salon had her unruly kids therewith her:

Stop right there for a minute! OK when I select a hairdresser in a nice salon, I expect to go there and relax. I like a nice environment with just hairdresser noises like hair dryers and blow dryers. I like a low stress, no child noise place. It’s one place that moms get to go and relax. That SHOULD be part of the experience.

She later apologized and said that was a one off. Then, the next time I went to (oh wait let me make up a name for her- Linda) Linda she got dye on the white shirt and didn’t tell me. It was very obvious and I was annoyed that she didn’t tell me so I texted her and asked how I could get it off-no apology (I wanted her to get that I was annoyed). Then when I wanted another haircut she told me she had a family issue and then NEVER called me back. I was annoyed when she didn’t call yet a couple of weeks later sent an e-mail saying she was moving her salon.

SO, I called Cindy. She was at a new salon that was a little closer to me than ther other salon and so I went to see her.

Seeing the pattern here?-moving hairdresser!

I went to see her at that salon a few times, great job with color and cut. Then she moved to the mall, great! The mall is a lot closer. She does a great job but I’m starting to notice that she’s always talking about her drama. In this 4 years with her I have heard all about her dating, getting married, getting divorced, new boyfriend, break up:

Again, this is a place where you want to go and it’s all about you right? Am I alone in this thought? I want small talk with my hairdresser, chit chat, where are you going on vacation and how are your kids? I don’t want a life story. Isn’t my visit with her supposed to be about me? I don’t want to sound selfish but when I get out and do something for myself, I want it to be about me, M-E!

SO, my birthday is coming up and I call her at the mall and, ops she no longer works at the salon. I text her. No answer for a couple of days. I panic!  (wow this is a longer article than I thought it would be) I am calling friends to see who they go to and I am knocking on another neighbors door who is a hairdresser (really, you’d think I would learn about neighbors), no replies!! What am I going to do??  It’s not just my birthday, I have an event to go to for a few days. I want to look good. OMG!! URGENT! I don’t want to go to just anyone!! Then she texts… ahhh, guess what, Cindy is at another new salon!

She does a great job, I was thrilled about my hair, I forgave her for being temporarily MIA! She worked her schedule to get me in to have it done in time. Ahhhh. Relief.

Although my hair looked great, I was getting weary of tracking down my hairdresser and having to find a new salon each time I get my hair cut and OH this time, she moved out from her boyfriend and I get to hear all about that too.

A couple of weeks ago I need it done again. I text her, she can get me in but will text me the next day and tell me what she has available. No text. I text her later that day, she finally texts me back. We get a date set. Whew! Guess what, another new salon!!! This is the 4th salon since November.

Seriously with the salon hopping! I’m so tired of it!

UGH, I find this new salon. It’s in a sketchy part of town… in an old house. Not like a classic old house, like…just an old house. …right next to the old liquor store (the drive thru kind).  She went from a really nice salon with great ambeince to a ghetto-ish salon. OK I don’t mind that it’s a house but this place wasn’t just a step down, it was a whole staircase.

OH I forgot to mention that each time she moved salons (no wait that was the 5th salon-there was another after the holidays.) I got the whole drama story on why she moved salons. Seriously, I don’t care! I don’t want to hear about the cat fights, I don’t want to hear about owners or rent or any of that. I just want my hair to look beautiful. Is that too much to ask??

The lighting in this place was horrbile! It was not at all like salon lighting. The color seemed ok but the roots looked odd, I figured it was just the lighting. I got home, it wasn’t. I waited a couple of days and it still bothered me. It wasn’t as dark and my roots were too light. SO I text her. “my roots are significantly lighter than the rest of my hair”, Cindy’s text back “can you come in Tues, I’ll fix it?” SO I have to go back to the ghetto salon and she thinks that she didn’t leave it in long enough and I think she didn’t use the right color but she’s the pro…

AND she’s also working at a Cost Cutter type salon as well ..What tha?

When I got home after I went BACK to the salon (ugh, I have kids at home and business to take care of…  I don’t have time for this!) I noticed that my hair was better but that my roots were still a bit light. SO I think I was right and that it’s the color that was wrong.

This is when I decided- I am divorcing my Hairdresser!!

Seriously, being with these hairdressers is like going back to a bad relationship with a guy that doesn’t work out. It’s like that guy that is consistent for a while when you first meet him then he’s got some drama or he disappears for a while or he doesn’t respect your time together yet ya keep going back. Ya break up for  a while then get back together.

What is it, why can’t we just divorce these drama hairdressers? Why do we follow them from salon to salon. Getting my hair done is supposed to be a treat to myself yet I’m realizing that it’s more stressful than it is productive. Why stay in this relationship? I can’t believe I didn’t divorce her sooner.

I am going to do it the smart way, I will start interviewing hairdressers now. I am going to ask all my friends if they like their hairdresser, if she is close, consistent, no drama, doesn’t move, and charges reasonable prices (don’t get me started on hairdressers who charge an incredible amount because they are exclusive- I know there is a difference between cost cutter hair and salon hair but over 70 bucks is a bit much -I liked the exclusive Salon I went to once but not enough to pay that much.). That way, I’m not freaking out when it comes time to have it done again.

I think we all have/had a relationship we need to break off. We hold on to these people for reasons that may not exist. I can’t believe I didn’t deal with this sooner. I kept telling myself things were good since she moved, and since she moved and since she moved. This time I know, they are not better, they are not going to get better. I am done with the relationship that is causing me stress. I don’t need it. There are so many more hairdressers that can do what I need and I will find one.

I am divorcing my hairdresser.  Is there someone you should divorce?

Charlotte Salafia

www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com

“Where its not just about the Destination, it’s the Journey to get There!”

Tags: Barber, Beauty, Hair, Hairstyle, Light, Salon

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Self Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.