Works-for-me Wednesday: Getting a Good Haircut

I'm in need of a haircut this week, so this was on my mind. I go to an inexpensive hair salon franchise that I started going to a few years ago when I wanted to become less "high maintenance" with my hair. We began traveling more frequently and I found that keeping up with highlights and lowlights and a style that needed frequent trims was both time consuming and costly. When I switched to the cheaper salon (and stopped going to someone who knew my head better than I did) I adopted a couple of habits that work for me. I happened to catch part of a Rachel Ray episode during the Christmas break, and the segment was about getting a good haircut. Some things I usually do were actually featured as "tips" on the show. Go, me!

"Style your hair before going to the salon. When you arrive at the salon, we want to see your hair the way you normally style it. We want to see your abilities, so that when we design a hair style, you can actually do it yourself. You don't want to get a haircut and then get home and you can't manage it."

It's tempting to go in a ponytail and just let them deal with it, but I've had better success when I do my hair before I go, so they can know how I like to look, where I wear my part, etc.

"You should never do a consultation with wet hair. The consultation is the most important thing and it's when the biggest mistakes happen. We want to see your hair when it's dry, what the texture feels like, if there are any colics or other qualities we might not detect when the hair is wet."

Besides, I look just horrible with wet hair and don't like having conversations with anyone while my hair is wet and hangy. (At the pool it's ball cap or hair up. Always. :)

And my favorite:

"Show your stylist photos of hairstyles you like. It's not about trying to look like a celebrity, but about saying "This is what I like," so everyone's on the same page."

It's not about trying to look like a celebrity... No kidding, LOL! Over the years I've brought in so many pictures (though off the top of my head I can only think of Kathy Lee Gifford and Paula Zahn specifically). I wanted certain aspects of the styles in each of the pictures, and it helped my stylist to get a "visual." I've gotten the cut I wanted but alas, no one's mistaken me for Mrs. Gifford or Ms. Zahn.

The rest of the tips can be read at the Rachel Ray website, but these are a few that have worked for me!

For more ideas, visit Rocks in My Dryer. Have a good hair day!