TIP # 8 - CHOOSE THE RIGHT HAIRDRESSER FOR YOUR SNAILS

One of the most important things for you to start caring and accepting your curls is knowing how to choose an appropriate hairdresser.

I believe many curly girls have suffered some sort of disappointment in a hair salon, even if just for a simple thing like cutting and straightning curly hair, and then washing it at home and not matching how we left the hair salon. Sometimes the hairdresser doesn’t know enough to know that frizzy hair is curly hair not well treated.

The truth is, the training of most hairdressers is focused more on straight hair, and this we can not deny. We can see this crystal clear on our consumer experience.

I’ve had hairdressers asking me if I would like to permanently straighten or relax my hair, or even rejecting me to naturally dry my hair because “it looks bad to leave the stablishment with ugly hair”.

Today, I can say that a big problem of me taking so long to accept my curls, it was to find the correct hairdresser for me, someone who I could trust and respect my fear, or even teach me how to take care of my hair at home, something I had no idea a few years ago.

It took me a long time to find someone I could trust, so I will share with you some tips that if I knew them a few years ago, it would be a huge help for me:

• SOCIAL MEDIA – Nowadays every hairdressing establishment has a page on social media and this is great to start filtering your choice. If there is something I need to see is pictures of customers with natural hair. A confident hairdresser in his work will share photos of his hair dyes, straight hair, natural and curly hair, so you can see its not limited to one thing. I’m sure you’ve seen hairdressers sharing only photos of blondes, different cuts, random hairstyles… Not everyone knows everything and it is here that you can evaluate this. If a hairdresser will only post straight hair photos, before and after photos where the before one is curly hair to straight, or even photos of permanent straightening, this is a reason for you to search for another professional. You can not hesitate in this issue. If you search for Brazilian or English hairdressers specialized in curls, their social media will have pictures of customers with beautiful curls.

• ASK YOUR CURLY FRIENDS – If you have a friend with an awesome curly hair, you can not hesitate to ask where she cuts her hair and what is her experience with the professional.

• SEARCH FOR A HAIRDRESSER WITH NATURAL CURLS – This was the main reason that made me trust my hairdresser and should be yours as well. She tells me that she has random girls entering the establishment just because she has natural curls and they know that it is half way to understand the curly hair costumer. The truth is: we can not expect a straight hair stylist to understands us so well like a curly hair hairdresser. Straight hair is very basic to be taken cared of, but curly hair requires more special care in its waut of cutting it, styling, products and how to handle it. We can not require someone to have this knowledge if it was never needed. It should be also mandatory to understand that curly hair gets shorter by cutting it while wet, because many times when the hair dries it will get smaller.

• QUESTION POTENTIAL HAIRDRESSERS – A good technique is to make conversation through social media or even in the establishment and ask what techniques or methods they use in various procedures. Here you will need to have a good theoretical basis and know exactly what you want to ask and listen. You might ask for example if they do a dry cut or not, the technique they use to dye your hair, the main brand product used in the salon… For example, when a hairdresser did the californian highlighs on me, they made me a chemical cut. This happen because I limited myself to enter a hairdresser who supposedly had very good rating, not questioning their techniques. Then what happen was they made me the californian highlights in a sink, leaving me with my head up to the ceiling, with oxidant at 20% without telling time with a clock… Of course I knew this was going to go wrong and so ur was, because the end result was my hair half blond. Now, I know this could be easily avoided if I had more knowledge.

• ALWAYS SUSPECT– Asking does not cost anything and it’s always good to question the professional of their choices. Why they are using that product, so they are cutting on that way, what is the reason for that to be done and not otherwise, etc. Always suspect if the hairdresser is just trying to sell something or really wants to know your hair. To get to a good level of confidence, it is necessary to know the professional and this only happens if you ask questions to know him better.

• AVOID BRUSHES – A bad sign is when you sit on the stablishment and someone brings you a brush. There is no worse thing than someone combing curly hair dry . If this happens, try to explain to the professional why you don’t want it dry combed even for a hair dye. Curly hair should be treated with the biggest care and to comb it while dry is a great act of aggression. You will end up breaking it and tangling him very easily.

• ALWAYS ASK FOR THE MOST NATURAL AND SIMPLE THING POSSIBLE – If you still don’t know your hairdresser very well, it’s good to start with simple thinfgs. For example, when I didn’t trusted my hairdressed at the begining, I was afraid to make different cuts and always asked straight cuts. Over time I had the courage to ask for a layered cut and slowly she began to invest more in this section, for me to make sure I really liked it. She started simple and with small sudden changes. The same for hair dyes and highlights. A very important thing is to ask to make highlights with hair dye and not with bleaching. If you want to dye your hair, ask for the least aggressive hair dye, even if it comes out with hair washes. It’s easier for you to try and check how your hair reacts. A good professional will give you options to choose, not trying to sell anything or forcing it.

• HAVE REAL EXPECTATIONS – If you want healthy hair and its maximum curl potential, you can not have for example platinum blonde or have bright colors like pink or orange. You can not have everything and a curly hair needs to be healthy and more natural as possible. A good professional will discourage you from bleaching it.

• AVOID BLADES – Cutting curly hair with a blade is the worst thing you can do! Curly hair is already very thin compared to straight hair, so, you you to cut it with a blade will leave the hair very damaged. This will cause the hair to twirl upwards at the hair ends and end up with split ends and breakage. This damages the hair a lot so please reject immediately cutting your hair with a blade!

• RUN AWAY FROM RELAXERS – If a hairdresser speaks the word HAIR BOTOX, this is a sign to run away! Unfortunately I have heard several cases of hairdressers who do not understand how to care for curly hair and sell hair botox like a treatment to hydrate/enhance or define curls. The capillary botox is a type of treatment that supposely is used to reconstruct the hair with protein lost, so, will seal over the hair and give more density, this makes the hair has less frizz, less volume… but that’s exactly what defines our curls! Who wants curly hair without volume? Some hairdressers started calling to certain types of permanent straightening of botox, containing straightening agents and thus in most cases a type of progressive.

In my opinion?

Hair botox is a way to sell in curly girls and consequently undergo a transition type to recover the curls. The hair doesn’t look more beautiful at all, because curls will become broken waves which makes it necessary to use flat irons and dryers to become more beautiful, ruining even more hair.. The only treatment capable of doing more curls is a permanent, that once again, It has loads of chemicals and is not at all the best choice.

If there something that the curly-haired girls have to understand is: curly hair is beautiful if well maintained at HOME! It’s not a miracle session at the hairdresser that will make a difference in your hair health. If you stay a month without brushing your teeth and you go to the dentist, do you think the cleaning will save the cavities you may have? No! The important thing is to define curly hair is to use good hair products: a shampoo without sulfates, silicones products and curly creams with ingredients that our hair loves.

There are indeed hair botox that are for reconstruction (with protein), but I consider too risky because we are not sure if the hairdresser itself knows the difference between them. To verify this, you will need to check the hair botox ingredients and check if contains straightening agents such as acids, formalin, thioglycolate ammonia, etc.

• RUN AWAY FROM DRYERS AND FLAT IRONS – If you’ve seen this tip about the evil that heat appliances does on hair, then you know that to straighten your hair is a step back on your journey to accept your curls. A single straightening, depending on temperature, speed and proximity in hair, may cause irreversible damage. The straightening irons is what you should avoid more, especially in a hair salon where there are reports that sometimes irons are not properly cleaned after used in straightening progressives, and can, unintentionally, straighten you hair without knowledge. Always ask to dry your hair with a diffuser and with medium temperature. This is very important because otherwise the strength of the hair dryer on the salon will damage the hair fiber. The last time I straighten my hair was in December 2018 and it was because “I wanted to”. Even my hairdresser did not agree, but I have asked and I accepted. What happened? I washed it the next day because I no longer like to see me with straight hair.

• BE WITH A HAIRDRESSER WHO LISTENS, BUT GIVES GOOD ADVICE – What a customer wants is to be heard and have the hair option just like he imagines. But sometimes we do not have the best knowledge and a good hairdresser will advise you of the best option. For example, when I asked my hairdresser to do some californian highlights, it was she who told me about doing highlights with hair dye and not bleach, since it turns out to be less aggressive for the curls. These details can be assessed if the hairdresser is interested in your hair and a quality work or just for selling techniques and products.

• EXPLAIN THE ROUTINE OF YOUR HAIR – If it’s a new hairdresser, explain how you take care of your hair: how you wash it, the care you have with products, the styling techniques that you use, etc. This will show that you are a careful and informed person of your hair and you can also see by her reaction if you can or do not trust your hair to her. The hairdresser should be interested in your hair care at home! This also helps the hairdresser to get to know your hair, its past and what its story. after all, a hair has plenty of years in our scalp!

• PAY FOR QUALITY – Of course, when I was a student and had no sources of income, I could not think very well on this matter. Now that I can pay for quality, I will! Cheap things will be expensive in the future trust me. After all, our hair is much of our self-esteem and we do not want to give our hair to anyone cheap just to save a few pounds, right? All of this will be reflected in the quality of service, of products and professionalism.

• TAKE YOUR SHAMPOOS, CONDITIONERS OR STYLING CREAMS – You can have an open conversation with your hair dressert and talk on how you follow a method in which you use no sulfates and you intend to use your product in the hair wash. There is no harm in it and often in certain hairdressers you have to pay for the used products by them. If you’re shy to do this, you can always say that you have a very sensitive scalp and need to use certain products. I have a great relationship with my hairdresser so I told her of the Curly Girl method, which was much easier for her to understand me and why I have certain choices.

• IF YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE SERVICE, DEMAND QUALITY– Do not be ashamed to ask or reject something. The money will come out of your pocket and later in the day, who will be with your happy or unhappy with your hair at home is you. Don’t be shy, talk to the hairdressed and put everything in clean dishes so you feel yourself as comfortable as possible. Are you being annoying? Who cares, at least you have awesome curls!

I hope these tips will help you in your hairdresser choice! If you have any doubts, just ask! How about you? Have you found the right hairdresser for your curls?