All Points Bulletin (APB) For Qualified HairDressers...

Please Study The Above Picture Very Carefully...

It was a little more than 2 years ago when a certain mishap happened to me at the beauty shop. My hairdo (hairdon't) looked like one of those in the above picture after visiting the salon. I kid you not. It was late spring and almost summertime when I started to look for another hairdresser. I had become very dissatisfied with my last hairdresser (cosmetologist), because after going to her for about five years she could never plaster a hairstyle on my head that I liked. I think she didn't really care for me as a customer either, because I'm not the kind of client to go the beauty shop every week. I prefer to wash and condition my hair at home every week so I can check the condition of it. I only go to the hairdresser once every 8 - 10 weeks for professional services. Besides, I would never think about cutting my own hair. And if I decide to color my hair in the future, I would only have a licensed hairdresser to perform that service.

Mistake #1: Picking the wrong salon - Well, in central Maryland it's hard to find a good hairdresser period. So, many times we ladies have to go closer to Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD to find someone who halfway knows what she or he or is doing. But no, I was determined to find one close to my home. I looked on the internet, in hair magazines, and the yellow pages for a list of stylists. I found a salon at JcPenney in one of Mizani's ads placed in Essence magazine. I stopped by the salon to make an appointment. Everything was set. *sigh*

Mistake #2: Not meeting the stylist first - I got up on a Saturday morning and drove to Columbia Mall for my hair appointment. When I saw the stylist, I should have just said that I had the wrong salon and walked away. But my sense of not wanting to hurt folks' feelings led me to stay and try to make the best of a possibly bad situation. I had a feeling that I was going to regret this experience. The stylist was a real twinkie. This was the first time I saw him. But when I made the appointment a few days before, the employees at the salon talked so highly of him, saying that he was a master/senior cosmetologist and all. Yeah right. *rolling eyes*

Mistake #3: Trusting a new hairdresser and letting that person have free reign - Upfront, I showed the stylist hairstyles that I was interested in. I had torn out these pictures from old magazines of mine. I picked hairstyles that could be achieved according to my hair length and grade. He AGREED with one of the styles. So, I THOUGHT that was what I was going to get. When he started to do my hair, I noticed that he was too heavy-handed. This was the first time I had ever let a man style my hair, but really he could have cut back and cut down on the roughhousing. Good Grief! My head, neck, and back were beginning to ache. He said that he needed to trim my ends. *shrug*

Mistake #4: Going to sleep as a new hairdresser zaps your hair away - Perhaps, since I never get enough sleep at night (4 hours or so) and my iron deficient levels, I fall asleep very easily. This was the case the day the hairdresser committed a crime on my head. He didn't cut off a whole hunk of hair at one time. It appears that he used a pair of scissors with a comb feature built into it. It seemed like he was cutting off a little bit. Oh my goodness. I'm getting a flashback of the panic I felt when I woke up and realized that he cut off about 6 to 8 inches of my hair. I could barely form the sentences to describe to him what he had done. Before the hair crime, my hair was a few inches down my shoulders. With that amount of hair, many hairstyles can be achieved (a pony tail or a french roll or another upsweep do or an allover curly do or a do worn straight). For years, I kept my hair washed and well conditioned. Now this fruitcake cut it off just that fast. All I can remember him telling me was some crap about him trying to achieve some Grand Ole Opry (Oprah Winfrey) hairdo on me. What happened to the picture, we had both agreed to? He was bugging. He acted hurt when I was less than thrilled and was downright disgusted. I flipped... *rolling neck*

Mistake #5: Not Handling Business - **Side Note: Zee doesn't encourage violent acts or profane speech. Peace must be achieved as much as possible. ** But in this particular situation, that know-it-all twitching hairdresser earned the right to have his hindparts horsewhipped. He was crying out for it. I ain't lying.....But no, Miss Zee, "So Too Nice", kept cool. I just wanted to go home. When I got home, I looked in the mirror and really recognized how much he cut off, which was a whole lot. Plus, my head, neck, and back were still aching from his strong ox-like hands. I took a nap only to wake up and realize that in fact my hair was messed up. Ah snap... *hands on hips*


My New Hairdresser: A Complete Godsend...



Dealing With The Hair Fiasco

After stressing over a torn up hairdo over the weekend, I came to the conclusion that I could not grace my office that way Monday. That morning I looked in the yellow pages and the net for another stylist to correct my hairdo. Many ladies know that many hairdressers are off work on Mondays. But this wasn't going to stop me. I called and called shops until I found one. I called a shop in Bowie. It looked to be a respectable shop. Plus, some of the stylists had received awards for their work. And some had their work featured in hair magazines. I still wasn't totally sure this was going to work out. But at this point, almost anything else would be better off for me.

Armed with my cordless phone, I proceeded to tell the main hairstylist/owner what happened to me over the weekend. Apparently, my sense of desperation won the hairdresser over. She said that she could take me within the hour, but not afterwards. Not a problem. I was in the car to make the 20 minute trip. Immediately when I arrived, the hairstylists and shampoo girls put me at ease. They talked about the possible styles that they could give me, but I only entrusted the owner to style my hair. I told her everything I hated about the new style. Not only was too much hair cut, but the previous oxen-handed stylist gave me an ultra straight hairdo that robbed my hair of it's natural volume, which I happen to love about my puffy hair. At the new shop, my hair was washed, conditioned, and set on rollers. The new hairdresser, licensed as a senior cosmetologist, worked her magic and came up with a style that looked really nice and something that I could maintain myself. I received so many compliments from my co-workers the next day.

OOoo Ooo Ooo....I Got A New Attitude

Under the new hairdresser's care, most of my hair grew back in about 8 months. This meant wearing styles that used wet sets and staying away from direct heat/thermal styles 99% of the time. The use of Biotin, a food supplement, also had a hand in growing that hair back. I'm totally satisfied with my new shop and am very thankful to find it. My new shop is a relaxing place with several hairdressers, shampoo girls, and a manicurist. The hairdressers really do try to sastisfy the customer and will take walk-ins when possible. Also, I love the the atmosphere. It's clean (which is a requirement) and the people there keep interesting conversation going. It's not wild stuff; it's just interesting. Whether we are going to attend church the next day, go to a special social event, such as a wedding, or just get regular weekly maintenance, I have to admit that we look good when we leave the shop. That shop was a Godsend.

This whole fiasco involving my hairdo isn't solely about the haircut itself. It had more to do with someone else taking my "decisions" away from me. Some overbearing stylists have a vision of how they want their clients to look. But if I'm paying for a service, I should get what I asked for. A co-worker of mine, whose mother is a hairdresser, confided in me that "some" stylists cut their clients hair too short on purpose, because they know their clients wouldn't know what to do with a short do. And then the client would be forced to come to the salon more often and become dependent on the stylist. That's not me. I actually enjoy washing and styling my hair. I don't care for the overprocessing and the strong chemicals that many salons use. But nevertheless, I learned a lesson from this incident. I should speak up and voice my concerns and stop letting folks who don't have my best interests in mind dictate to me. Sister Zee better learn to handle her business SHO NUFF!!!

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Song I'm Listening To Now:

"Mezmerized" on the "First Lady" CD by Faith Evans