If you cut your hair it grows faster.... and other things stupid people say.

I'm sure you've heard someone at some point in your life tell you that if you cut your hair it grows faster. Now lets think about that logically just for a second. Does that make any sense to you? It's just ridiculous!!!

The saying should be "if you cut your hair it grows healthier". Now that I can get behind. If you are growing your hair out you should absolutely be getting trims every 6-8 weeks. The reason: those pesky split ends! You have to remember that the ends of your hair have been there the longest. More wear and tear. They tend to be dry, frizzy, brittle and broken. The longer you let those split ends hang around the higher up your hair shaft it creeps. So even though you haven't gotten your hair cut in 6 months and you feel like it's getting long chances are you have a couple extra inches of damage that you wouldn't have had otherwise if you would have gotten trims.

Let's do the math....

The average persons hair grows about 1/2 and inch a month. So at 8 weeks your hair is about an inch longer. A trim should be about 1/4 of an inch giving you 3/4 of an inch of healthy lenght. So after 6 month you'd have about 2 1/4 inches of healthy longer hair. Now if you don't get trims your hair would have grown 3 inches but you'd probably have to get about 2 inches cut off because it felt like tinsel. Giving you one measly inch. I made pictures:



I hate when people come in and say they haven't gotten a hair cut in a year and they only want and inch off. Their hair feels absolutely terrible. And when you blow it dry it looks terrible too. I'm not a magician.

Another aspect of this stupid myth.. Yes, if you have short hair you will have to get it cut more. Not because it's growing faster. It just tends to loose shape after a month. 1/4 of an inch can make a neat cut turn into a sloppy one real fast.

Let me guess what haircut you want.....

I'm not the kind of stylist that is going to tell someone they should cut off their hair or grow it long. Sure we all have opinions, but I'm from the school of thought that our job as stylist is to try to make the clients happy first and foremost and not try to force opinions on them. Of course if someone comes in and wants something I think is totally wrong for them or that is just plain awful I will definitely tell them the reasons it won't work.

My biggest pet peeve is when someone I've never met sits down in my chair and says something like "What do you think I should do to my hair?" It's the equivalent of going into a restaurant and asking a waiter just to bring you whatever he thinks you'd like. I know he'd bring me fish. And fish I just think is nasty. Or maybe I have allergies. This guy has no idea what my palette is like. Get my point? I have no idea what your lifestyle is, what your interest are, or anything about you at this point. Of course I can always ask a million questions and get some direction, and usually these people end up being happy because they had no expectations or just plain didn't care going in. But hair is like a suit you have to wear everyday. It's part of your personal style. I hate seeing people walk down the street in beautiful clothes and hum-drum hair. It negates the little effort you put into yourself. So let's give it some thought....

Naturally we all DO care what we look like. We see other people and advertisements. We compare ourselves to each other. We look at others and are influenced by the things we see. So let's put all the input to good use.

PICTURES!!!! Almost everyone has a camera or camera phone. If you see something you like take pictures. Look in magazines. Anything you can find for resource material. Don't think you can walk into a salon and say choppy and expect a stylist to jump into your brain and know what you're definition of choppy is. Don't try to get into the terminology of hair cutting. Visuals are the best references. Even if you don't like the overall look of a cut but like some parts of it. You can bring in 3 totally different haircuts. A good stylist will sit and talk with you about what you like about each one. Discuss lenght that you are comfortable and the amount of styling you are willing to do. We can work together on what will work for you. I tell every client that brings me pictures how great it is. So don't be apologetic about bringing pictures.

Find a good stylist. Generally a $20 haircut will look like a cheap haircut. When stylists are more expensive it's usually because they've had additional training. I'm not saying this as a rule. If you have a stylists that charges $20 for a kick-butt hair cut then by all means stay with them! But chances are, if they are that good, their prices will inflate. But trust me, from life experience, you do get what you pay for in most cases. If you are having trouble finding someone you like, ask someone. Ask friends. Ask people on the street.

Lastly, is the issue about product and styling. Ask your stylist to give you tips about styling. Watch how they style your hair. Ask what products they're using and why. We really do want you to look good and be happy with your hair. What kind of people would we be if we didn't. We want you to be able to style it for yourselves. You are our best advertisement!