Risky business

I might be a bit over dramatic, but perhaps not, when I say that trying a new hairdresser is risky business. Obviously hair is not the be all and end all of my existence, BUT, I have had my fair share of TERRIBLE haircuts, especially from those who say they know how to cut curly hair and then clearly don't....

Anyway, I bought a dealfind thing for this salon in Abbotsford that included the cut, style and 10 foils. It was a pretty good deal and I thought since it was close to work, I would give it a try.

Let me just say I LOVE my current hairdresser and I felt extremely GUILTY just booking an appointment at another salon, but my hairdresser is in Richmond and it requires a good half a day commitment to get my hair done....sometimes I just don't have the time. Sadness.

So on to my adventure in Abbotsford....to start with, I decided to dye my hair, seeing as I had some serious roots showing. Obviously I thought the best option was to choose the hair dye on sale, which meant there were fewer options, so I went for the slightly wild dark brown/purple/red colour. Let me just say that it has been a LONG time since I dyed my hair, and I usually had assistance when I did. I got most of my hair covered, but it definitely was not the pro colour job I've grown accustomed to.

I showed up to the salon on Monday after work and arrived to an empty salon and one stylist (whom I think is the owner). She sat me down and then said that she preferred to cut curly hair dry, versus wet, but unfortunately that was part of her "special devacurl treatment/cut" and was not included in the dealfind. Hmm. Okay, so you tell me there is a better option but that I can't have it? I asked if I could pay the difference and after some humming and hawing, she agreed.

Next she told me that I should probably have some toner on my highlights, as they would likely turned out yellow and stringy looking with my current colour. Oh, and that's an additional $20. I asked if I could just not get the highlights and do the "special" curly cut....no can do.

We went ahead with the highlights (which actually didn't need toning, they turned out ok - yay!) and then she did the deva curl thing, which I have to say is quite odd. I ended up with my head between my knees as she scrunched in mass amounts of water based gel while my hair hung forward (and while I got gel on my work pants).

Then it was quite the blowdrying process to get my curls dry and set...with more deva curl product of course.

Once that was all done, on we went to the cut. She basically shaped my hair by picking up curls and cutting them randomly - like a bonsai tree (her exact words).

In the end, I am still undecided....I've never seen my hair so curly, but I am also a bit paranoid about "volume" (aka pouf!). I don't love having curly wild hair, it seems messy to me. And it has definitely been awhile since I have had my hair done and walked out with curls!

And while I might go back again, here are some tips that I think in general should be followed by hairdressers:

- Don't wear long necklaces that repeatedly hit your client in the face while you are washing her hair. Seriously. It's annoying.

- Refrain from poking your client in the face multiple times with your fake nails. Ouch.

- Consider not chewing gum while you are working (not sure why but this drives me crazy when someone providing a service is chowing down on gum!)

- Make some conversation when you are alone with your client for an hour and a half.

Take a look at my new 'do, what's your verdict?