I am totally inept when it comes to styling my hair. If it’s not in a ponytail or hanging down, I have to consult with my mother. When I was younger, I would frequent hair stylists in order to achieve the look I wanted. Now that I’m almost 4 years into my healthy hair journey, I’ve learned that stylists can be a blessing or a curse.
I’m sure a few of you may be in the same boat, particularly if you are at the beginning of your journey. You are wondering if you should go down the DIY or the stylist route to healthy hair. It’s not easy to give a definitive answer as there many variables. Check out these tips that suggest it may be time to part ways with your stylist:
1. She acts as if heat protectant* doesn’t exist. Curls and waves are nice but sometimes you may want to rock a sleek, straight look. While there’s nothing wrong with that, a problem can arise with how you achieve that look. Some stylists don’t use or have ever heard of heat protectant. They will fry your hair to within an inch of its life, send you home with damaged tresses, and then charge you to do “treatments” to fix it.
Heat protectant* should be applied before each blow drying, flat ironing or curling iron* session. There are myriad types of heat protectant ranging from creams to serums to sprays. The type you use is a personal choice but don’t elect to skip it. If your stylist doesn’t use heat protectant, don’t be shy about bringing your own and advising her how and when to use it.
2. She recommends frequent relaxer touch ups. Let’s do some quick math. If hair grows between ¼ inch and ½ inch each month, the most amount of growth you’re going to see in 8 weeks is 1 inch. Max. If your stylist recommends you make a touch up appointment every 2 months, your hair is going to suffer. Avoiding relaxer overlap is challenging enough when you have at least 3-4 inches of new growth; with 1” overlapping basically a forgone conclusion.
Uuuuugh the dreaded touch ups that break my bank in between the already expensive relaxors @_@ need to learn to relax my own hair..
One very upsetting reason to ditch you may have left off the list. My daughter and I started our journey together on Dec. 1st (we got our relaxer and decided to stretch for 16-20 weeks) and when we went to the salon our “health trim” turned into a huge chop! All the hard work of protective styling, DC, moisturizing and sealing…EVERYTHING gone down the drain in 3 snips! I was so hurt and felt taken advantage of. And the most upsetting part is, I was never asked if I wanted a dramatic cut, they just took it upon themselves to believe “a trim” was what I needed I guess. Unfortunately, I payed for it and said nothing until I got home and vented repeatedly to any family member who would listen. I’m not proud of my reaction to being set back to square one, but I learned a painful lesson that I will NEVER allow to happen at a salon again! If you can’t trust your stylist to respect your desire to retain (healthy) length…leave them for a better one!
This is rediculous! Stylist protect women’s hair, from women doing damage to their own hair that think they have enough knowledge about hair but they don’t, not like full trained hairdressers that have spent years educating about, if your stylist can deal with African American or Afro hair then switch to a better stylist with more experience in that department simple, or you can completely screw your own hair and it will all fall out, your choice ladies!
Just because they do hair don’t mean your hair won’t fall out trust me I know
Why do people think just because they went to 12 months of beauty school they know EVERYTHING about hair??? They talk like they have a p.h
D.or something like it was hard to obtain a beauty license. My mother is a hair stylist and I can do hair just as well as her just from watching for 20 yrs. Y’all ain’t doctors y’all just hair stylist calm down.
i started doing my own hair because the last stylist i went to took my hair out. since ive been doing my own hair, learning about my texture, and how to care of it, my hair has grown, my scalp has healed, and my hair has gotten thicker. not all stylists are bad, but those that are have ruined it for all the others.
I had to ditch my stylist because when she would detangle my hair it was like my hair was being ripped from my scalp. Why on Earth would someone comb through hair like that. Smh!
I hadn’t been to a salon in over 4 years that’s since I been natural. I think I’ll keep doing my own
I’ve switched stylists because of all the listed reasons in this article. Also one didn’t believe in a wide tooth comb. When I’d bring my own supplies I was told none of it was good for my hair. I’m glad I don’t visit salons often.
I haven’t been to a salon in 15 years they don’t ever do my hair right and love scissors. My hair down my back thanks to me and God. We got this!!
I can’t ditch my stylist because she’s also my mom. Blessed to have a mom that does hair!
Well every hair stylist is different. My hairstylist actually cares for my hair. As far as relaxers I get one every 8 weeks and my hair is past my shoulders and getting longer. Relaxers are for some not for all just like natural is not for everyone. Different strokes for different folks.