I am in desperate need of a hair cut. The last time I went to my stylist was at the end of May and he did something that I've never experienced before and don't plan on experiencing again: He gave me the royal treatment, spent extra time shampooing my hair, paid extra attention to my haircut. So far, so good. But then he went ahead and did what he wanted with my hair instead of what I asked for, was so pleased with himself that he showed off my new 'do around the salon - which didn't look bad that day but I was never able to make it work again - and THEN when I went to pay (feeling pretty ok at this point, despite not getting the cut I asked for - it looked good at the time) he said, "How much do you think this cut is worth? It is pretty great, no?" I said, trying to be polite, "Oh, it's priceless. Thank you." I mean, it was nice, but nothing amazing. "No, no," he said. "Really, how much do you think I should charge you? Write down your price." Folks, there is no winning here. If I say too low, I insult him. If I say too high, I get screwed with paying more. So instead I said, "Well, last time you charged me $65." He smiles and says, "Ok, I will charge a little more then." And then he charged my credit card $80! Excuse me? At this point I was a little upset and said, "Well, that's how much I would have given you with tip." And so we agreed that I wouldn't tip on top of that price. The point is, I didn't ask for special treatment - I really just wanted a trim - and I've never had to haggle my haircut price before. I had planned on tipping nicely, probably more than the final total, but shouldn't that be the way? If you provide a service I am happy with, then I'll tip handsomely. You can't just charge me more because you're pleased with yourself. So I'm done with him.
Ok, so the point of that diatribe is that I have some split ends I need to mask while I search for a new stylist. Here's a good tip I just read in this month's Cosmo:
Your tips will look healthier if you keep them hydrated, says celeb hairstylist Ashley Javier. "Put on a leave-in conditioner before you blow-dry. Then run a flatiron over just the cuticles so they look glossy." The conditioner will protect against styling damage, he says. (9/08, pg. 126)
Hopefully this will work for a bit. In the meantime, any readers in the LA area that have a good stylist they recommend? And anyone else have scary salon stories they want to share? I would love to hear them! Mine is really mild since it doesn't end with me shaving my head or something like that. But I know there are plenty of salon horror stories out there. Get it off your chest!
