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▲ 17 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

A Salon Visit That Left Me Heartbroken Instead of Happy.

I paid Rs. 5,000 for a hair colour, and while I'm genuinely happy with the colour itself, I'm still furious about what happened to my hair.

My hair was down to my waist. I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't cut it, and I went in only asking for a tiny trim — just a few centimetres, maybe the length of my index finger. They asked me how much I wanted cut, I told them, and they said okay.

So imagine my shock when approximately SIX INCHES of my hair was chopped off. 😭

WHY ASK ME HOW MUCH I WANT CUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT ANYWAY?

It's been almost 18 hours, and I'm still upset. And no, it's not just about the length. It's about the attachment, the time it took to grow my hair, the promise I'd made to myself, and the fact that I trusted someone with something I was very particular about.

I'm happy with the colour, and I can acknowledge that. But that doesn't erase how I feel about the haircut.

Hair grows back, yes. But that doesn't mean you get to disregard someone's wishes just because you believe it will grow back eventually.

A salon visit should leave you feeling beautiful and confident, not sitting at home hours later, replaying what happened and wondering why your instructions weren't respected.

If you ask a client how much hair they want cut, please respect their answer. Their hair, their choice. It's really that simple.

Still fuming. Still heartbroken. And definitely not over it yet.

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u/Ok-Conference-4428 — 4 days ago
▲ 5 r/AskHairstylists

Ran into an issue with my hair stylist, I’m not sure what to do in this situation.

I don’t ask Reddit for advice often, but I figured this would be the best place to go for advice in this situation. Also I am not a stylist so I don’t know all of the correct terminology so if I make any mistakes I apologize! This is a long story but I’ll try to make it as short as possible.

So I’ve been going to this salon since 2022, I had my wedding hair and makeup done there and I decided to keep going after my wedding. I’ve spent a lot of time and money in this salon. I started out with a different stylist that decided to go to a different salon in 2023, well I wanted to stay at the salon I’ve been going to so I found a different stylist and have been going strictly to her since then.

To preface this story, I LOVE my hair stylist, she’s never done me wrong before. I’m not the perfect client, especially this year because I’ve had to reschedule a few times due to finances/unexpected emergencies.

Long story short, I’ve been going getting blonde highlights/root touch ups pretty much every appointment since I first started going in 2022. This week I decided I wanted to change things up and go back brunette with some Carmel highlights for dimension.

I texted with my stylist about it and we decided on a 1.5 hour appointment to work with my work schedule (I had to take an extended lunch to make my appointment). The day comes, my appointment is at 2 so I leave work at 1:30, I get to the salon and my stylist texts me saying she’s running a little behind and if we can move the appointment to 2:30. NBD, I’ll just go grab something to eat. I get back at 2:30 and the appointment starts. I’m mildly worried about time because my 1.5 hour appointment is now 30 minutes less, but I go ahead anyway.

We talk about what I want and what I have time for today and we decide on an all over gloss to take me from super blonde, to a nice brunette color that blends well with my natural brunette. After the gloss and everything, her and her coworker are blowdrying my hair and they start silently talking about how the gloss didn’t take to some of my hair. I ask what’s going on and she shows me and a big chunk of my hair is the same shade of blonde that I walked in with. It’s almost 3:30 now, I have to be back at work at 4, this is the worse case scenario. I decided for the sake of time to skip the trim and layering, so we only trim my curtain bangs a little bit. Which ended up being a little uneven and choppy. Whatever, at this point I have to get back to work.

She starts asking me about my work schedule for the rest of the work trying to find a time I can come back in for her to fix it. We decided on the next day at 9:30am, she braids my hair to hide most of the blonde, I pay $123 for the hour appointment, I go back to work. The next day I leave the house, run into standstill traffic due to a wreck on a 2 lane road and hit every light on the way there so I’m about 15 minutes late. We start, everything gets fixed, I get a trim, layers and my curtain bangs fixed. I’m happy, then it comes time to leave and she charges me $60. I pay it and head to work.

I guess my problem is that the first appointment was $123 for 1 hour even though her hourly rate is between $55-$75 depending on the service, and that I was charged $60 for an appointment to correct a mistake made on my hair. Maybe I’m just asking who’s in the wrong, and what I should do in this situation? It’s very hard for me to find someone I trust with my hair so I don’t want to try to find a different stylist if I don’t have to, but this whole situation rubbed me the wrong way. I’m just trying to get some other opinions. TIA 🫶🏻

Edit to add: She has an hourly rate, so she doesn’t go by how much/how little product was use or what services were done. Her base hourly rate is $55, and for more complicated services like extensions and stuff like that it’s $75.
2nd edit: Just to clear up some confusion, it was not just a cut during the 2nd appointment, she also fixed the parts of my hair where the gloss did not take and the haircut was just what we couldn’t do at the 1st appointment. I also did not choose to schedule a hair appointment on a day where I had to work. I get my schedule for the week every Saturday, and I had my appointment booked out a month in advance. I work at a small business (5 employees total including me) and it just so happened that the same day of my appointment, everyone else couldn’t work (2nd job, childcare, sick etc) so I was the only one that could work and it was an open-close shift.

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u/About288Dogs — 5 days ago
▲ 3 r/AskHairstylists

Need help to fix my hair ASAP

Last 2 pictures are how I have my hair right now
Sorry this is going to be a long text just for better context:

I had my hair a dark red with a peekaboo of a lighter red which was mostly like a pink and I went to a hair stylist to go to a copper red and she just bleached my hair. She started from the back of my hair, first with my outgrown roots ( they were already my natural hair color which is a dark brown) and then did my tips last. She did it pretty fast and then it was hurting very bad after just a couple of minutes. I told her it was hurting too much and she eventually wash it out somewhat and put me under something to dry my hair. My dark red then became a bright red and she said it wouldn’t be possible to get the brown I wanted my only option was to get a dark brown ( my natural hair color). I told her if she could just let me go like how the hair is now and then she charged me for I suppose the bleach and the haircut ( I asked for layers).
Now I’m at home and I feel there was a lot of left over bleach from her not washing it well and my scalp hurts and I feel little balls in my scalp but I’m not sure if that’s still leftover bleach( I washed my hair at this point) or it’s my scalp or something. I went to Sally’s so I can color remove the remaining red hair but now I’m not sure if that’s the correct approach.

Before this I had dyed my full head with the “No bleach London vivid red permanent vegan” hair dye and then I bleached the bottom half of my hair with a quick blue using a 30 volume and I was able to get a copper color and then I dyed it pink and then a red with semi permanent hair dye. This was about 6 months ago that I did the permanent dye and I dye my hair each month with a semi permanent dye until this month. I don’t know what to do now to get the brown I want. I’m interested in getting a permanent Ion color brilliance dye just not sure which one and I don’t know how to go from the red I was left with to the copper brown I want.

u/Happy_Feature_4204 — 4 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

Asked for this got this, anyway to fix? I leave for ny in two days for a long holiday?

I wanted something quite feminine and have been really disappointed by this cut. The lady spent a lot of time on it, but a lot of the bottom of my hair is gone and thinned out. i really hate the look as i wanted something that really brings my femininity out, i feel like this is a bit more masculine for me and the face framing is hideous on me. i feel pretty shit as i had grown my hair out for months and now its a lot shorter. what do i do?? is there a haircut that i could get another stylist to do that might make me less insecure? thank you!

u/tdfhucvh — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Should I use color oops a third time to get black dye out so henna is more visible?

Long story short, I have black box dye in my hair. I used color oops twice yesterday and then put some Rainbow Research brand henna in the shade mahogany in my hair. My roots are brighter than the rest of my hair as you can see, and the rest lifted a little but is still really dark. Would it be an issue if I go in with another round of color oops today even though I have henna in my hair? I want to get another layer of black box dye out so that I can go in with some more henna and so it’ll be more visible. What do you guys think? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Edit: I do know that henna is permanent and I can’t ever get my hair done another color. I’ve been wanting to be a redhead for so long and ever since I heard about henna, I knew I wanted to use it. I just want to make it more visible and the stupid black box dye is ruining it for me :(

u/orchidsun04 — 5 days ago
▲ 6 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Advice needed for filling my hair and achieving this rich chocolate brown

Okay, so I paid around $300 2 weeks ago to go back to brunette after being blonde since 2018. I miss my dark natural color, and the color she used has faded significantly. Money is very tight and I did communicate with her how disappointed I was that it faded so much after just one wash- in cold water with color care shampoo. She ordered to move up my next appointment but didn’t take blame at all and said it’s because the porosity of my processed hair. She didn’t fill it at all before putting semi dye on my hair and I thought it was strange since I was jumping from a level 9/10 blonde to a level 5/6 but I trusted her. I didn’t want to continue arguing because I’ve been going to my girl for almost 5 years and don’t want to burn that bridge rn. I am planning on redoing it myself to save money. I’ve always been good at beauty things and I’ve toned and glossed my hair when it was blonde, but this is different since I’ve never filled my hair before.

I know I need to add some red tones back in, and have been doing my research on what products to use. I plan to use Redken Shades EQ- I’m thinking 6WG for the fill formula since I don’t want it to be overly red. And then after, probably something like a 4N to get closer to my natural color. My natural is a 3/4 neutral cool brown. I was previously level 9/10 blonde, but always have had some dimension still. Now with the faded brown, it’s more like a 7/8 in some spots and an 8/9 in others/ it’s starting to look dull since the red/copper tones have seemed to wash out.

Pic on the left was at the salon, middle is my hair after 3 washes, and right is my desired color. And to clarify, the color she gave me is what I asked for since she said it would be herder to go darker than that with the blonde underneath and I agreed to it since I just wanted to go dark again. I did plan on going even darker again if I liked it and I loved it until I washed it lol. Now I just want to be at the same level as my natural but with a little bit more of that chocolatey richness like in the last photo. With my hair in its current state, will the 6WG followed by a 4N be good, or should I look at something like 4NCH? I am open to any other recommendations as well. Thanks!🫶🏻

u/Both_Barber_3548 — 5 days ago
▲ 1 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Can I reuse box dye?

Opened and used contents last month for a root touch up. Hopefully sealed up . Can I use again for a root touch up?

u/kas1218 — 4 days ago
▲ 4 r/AskHairstylists

How do I tell my former hairstylist I’m going to a new salon?

How do I tell my old stylist I’m going to a new salon?

I typically get my roots done and have gone to the same place every month for 3 years. In this time they have raised their prices 6 times, most of the time I only find out once I’m in the chair that they are raising their prices again. With a 20% tip (the minimum on their tip screen) I was paying $375 an appointment. It also took 5 hours to do, which was significantly more than it took my previous salon.

I moved 30 minutes away and decided to shop around and found a place that does it for $150 total which I’m happy about, and does a good job. It also takes 2 hours to do here as well.

The previous stylist messaged me and asked why I haven’t been coming and if all was okay.

How can I politely explain why I won’t be back?

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u/throwRA221679 — 5 days ago
▲ 7 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Can I get this to copper at home without permanent color?

I’m starting grad school and won’t be able to afford professional coloring anymore. I used to dye my hair color and then started going back to my natural level 6 with some added warmth (growing out) and highlights.

I was wondering if there’s a way I could get it to copper using an at home demi permanent or maybe henna?

I’m afraid to use permanent box dye.

First photo is my hair and second is what I’d ideally want.

u/Water-Dog4838 — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

Did I get scammed by a hair saloon?

I have dyed hair, it's not my first time dying my hair so I know what this usually looks like.

One time I booked an appointment because the color was wearing off, but I accidentally booked my appointment at the wrong saloon (don't ask me how I booked the wrong saloon, it's a long story), so I went to this other saloon for the first time and they actually did a great job! Then they told me something no other hair saloon had ever told me before, they told me to come back in like 15 days because they'd do this thing called lumen that I've never heard of before that according to their words was supposed to make my color last for longer, they said for months! So of course I was stoked because months without having to worry about the dye wearing off?? Especially with pink that wears off faster than others colors?? I felt like I just found the greatest deal of my life!

As I said, I've never heard of this lumen thing even though it wasn't the first time dying my hair and when I told my best friend who had also dyed her hair in the past she also said she's never heard of that (and in hindsight that should've made me suspicious already, but who turns down potentially months without having to dye your hair again!)

So 15 days later I went back to that saloon to get this lumen thing done and everything was fine, but then when I washed my hair for the first time after this lumen I actually lost way more color than usual and I didn't change anything about the way I usually wash my hair and as I said I know that pink wears off faster, but while the other times I washed my hair in the past the water was just a bit pink, this time as soon as the water started running through my hair even before the shampoo the water was already turning bright pink and it seemed really weird since this thing I think it's supposed to make me loose less color, but after that my hair was still pink, so I was just like "whatever that was weird, hopefully next time will go better", then I washed my hair again and the same thing happened, even before using the shampoo the water was already bright pink

That's why now I'm really starting to think, is this lumen thing even real or they finally found someone dumb enough like me to fall for it??

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u/KennyMcCormickIrl — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

please help! salon is not an option for me, how can i fix this at home?

i wanted to go fully blonde, so i stripped my hair of my black dye and not all of it came out but i couldn’t tell because my hair is naturally very dark anyway. so now i have this strange red-orange patch and a few dark patches at the back of my head. how can i fix this without totally killing my hair?

u/angelatmytable09 — 6 days ago
▲ 3 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

If I stop now will a professional be able to fix this

This is the last time I follow a cute trendy bang tutorial on instagram.

u/Blackcat-95 — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

Why would a stylist not do full highlights?

I booked a haircut for my son at a new salon and after he was finished, I tried to book an appointment with the same stylist for full highlights for myself. The receptionist said this stylist doesn’t do full highlights. She’s a senior stylist so why would that be?

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u/Fzzyalien — 6 days ago
▲ 3 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Melted off hair during color correction

About 5 years ago my last stylist fried my hair doing a money piece/halo. I chopped it to a long bob and have been dyeing my hair myself using joico lumishine permanent hair color in 1N with a level 5 developer. Got regular trims. My hair was to my hips when straight. I had virtually no split ends. I went to get my hair done today for the first time in 5 years. My goal was a dark cherry/violet red. My stylist told me we’d probably need to take off an inch of my hair after the color correction which I was already not thrilled about but I understood. My stylist decided to do a bleach bath and used a 20 volume developer. My hair lifted extremely quickly. At one point it burned on my scalp so badly I was on the verge of tears. Pretty sure I have a chemical burn because my scalp is hot/sore and there seems to be crust on my hair almost like if you pick at your scalp and it oozes/dries. After the bleach wash was rinsed out she did a treatment for the damage and then went over with red dye first, then violet. Washed out and then we went to blow dry my hair. Upon blow drying my hair on my front right side was falling off in the brush and it was so splotchy she decided to throw on another round of level 4 violet. I went home and washed it out, used the treatment she gave me and dried it. My hair is currently so badly broken and the texture is horrible. Extremely patchy. It was falling off in the shower. I’m not sure what to do at this point. I want to dye it back to black but I don’t even know if it will cover the splotches, let alone withstand any other color treatments. I’m heartbroken. My birthday is in 4 days and I was supposed to go out of town for the weekend tomorrow but I cancelled because of this. Cost me $400 for my hair to melt off. Please leave recommendations on what I can do to make this presentable. I struggle extremely with body dysmorphia this is absolutely sending me into an episode. My hair was gorgeous I’m in utter disbelief

u/meganuhlizabeth — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

More photos for my last post. It’s definitely not what I asked for and is giving more cherry cola balayage if anything rather than chocolate (which I know has red in it/is warm but still it will still show up as brown in direct light)

Pic 1 - my hair up now (bathroom mirror)

Pic 2 - my hair now (up bun outside)

Pic 3 - my hair down

Pic 4 - what I wanted

Previous post for reference - https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHairstylists/s/MqOsQ5Evjf

I still don’t know what to do. The Malibu cpr/test strand/toner appointment (which I have scheduled Tuesday and have time to cancel until tomorrow) is $235 at the other salon and her color correction services start at $775 which is so out of my budget. I just wanted to treat myself after years of growing out my hair and giving black dye a break for a year to get a nice different chocolate brown color but now I am down $500 and still having to pay even more to which it’s not even guaranteed after the color correction atp 💔

u/Pale_Lengthiness_572 — 5 days ago
▲ 1 r/AskHairstylists

It’s a hot mess

I used Kristin Ess copper penny hair gloss on my dark blonde hair and now I look like a train wreck.
I CANNOT afford to go to a salon. PLEASE give me your best and honest advice 🖤🖤🖤🖤

I desperately want to go back to blonde!

u/Traditional_Crazy160 — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

Need help. Idk what to do? Can I put black box dye over this?

Pic 1 - my hair now

Pic 2 - my hair now (up bun)

Pic 3 - the virgin hair regrowth that got to a level 10 before toned

Pic 4 - what I wanted

Im very emotional rn so im so sorry in advance if this sounds all over the places.

In 2023, I around the time I started my transition (24 mtf) I started growing out my hair long from very short. I started dyeing my professionally jet black in both Demi and permanent from June 2023 to October 2025. I love my blue black 1A hair but wanted to shift away and do something else since I wanted to have more options.

So after a year this month of waiting, I got a new hair stylist since my original was moving away from long duration color services and got test strand with 30 vol professionally done and it came out a level 6-7 golden light brown with some copper at the ends so I was very hopeful in getting a chocolate brown all over or atleast a chocolate balayage.

I got my “chocolate” balayage done on Wednesday and I honestly hate it. It looks like my hair has faded or like I put sun in, in. it and she bleached my hair during the balayage from near the roots to ends so under the toners she put, it’s pale yellow (level 10) for the first 6 inches and then a orange red from the mids to ends as she only used 10 vol and left it for 30min to 1 hr. She then put 4-5N toner on the pale balayage roots she lightened which looks super dark and still red toned for whatever reason and a “ashier” toner for the mids and ends to “cancel” out the reds.

I hated it so much that I got another consultation at a different salon to see what they will say and I’m just lost and broken. She suggested she will have to do Malibu CPR and then a test strand, to then a gloss afterwards and it’s not a guarantee on what it will come out like or if I’ll ever be able to lift out the warmth to which will cost $250 and we’re not even at the color correction in the future. Mind you I already paid $500 on Wednesday to get this “chocolate balayage”.

I now am so broken and am thinking about cancelling that Malibu CPR appointment because I just cannot continue this journey of spending all my money savings on something that is not guaranteed and just because I want to feel beautiful at the end.

I want to just now put black box dye now in the end to just put it all to rest and give me some feeling of feeling pretty again and not be out another hundreds to thousands of dollars again. But because I now have a whole fucked up base under my hair with level 10 roots under that 5N toner , I just fear the black box dye will cause my healthy thick hair to break off at the hidden level 10 spots after I spent 3 years growing it out around the start of my transition.

It’s just so emotional as i just don’t know what to do from here. As I continue to wash my hair, the blonde root pieces may show underneath the red will continue to get worse as the toners fade.

I recognize it doesn’t look horrible but this is not what I wanted at all.

What can I even do? What are my options?

u/Pale_Lengthiness_572 — 5 days ago
▲ 16 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

Do you tip out your assistants in a commission salon?

I work at a commission hair salon(I am not an owner) but we have assistants who do washes, cleanup, laundry, dishes all of that stuff. they’re also there for us if we need any blowdries. If I ever need a blow dry I always tip them out at the end of the day but I don’t think anyone else I work with does.

One of my bosses is known for running late A LOT and will need the assistant to put root colors on and blow dry a lot of her clients and she does not tip them out.
What do you guys normally do?

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u/Dizzy-Ad4839 — 6 days ago
▲ 2 r/AskHairstylists+1 crossposts

No idea what to use on freshly-bleached, damaged hair!

I had my hair bleached yesterday. I had highlights all over and especially at my roots following a balayage I had done 11 months ago that was growing out. My hairdresser went full-on blonde, applying bleach to lots of small sections of hair. It lifted my hair a lot, which is what I wanted, and she applied a toner which made it a honey-blonde/golden colour.
She said that the bleach she was using was gentle and that the toner would help close the hair cuticle ??? (no idea honestly but it sounded good).

I have been researching products for at least an hour now, reading reviews and such, but still have no idea what to go for as my post-bleach routine. I was previously using Tresemme Moisture Rich products but post-bleach I’m not sure if they’ll be strong enough for how dry it’s left my hair.

I’ve been debating scalp oils, hair masks, leave-in creams vs sprays, bond repair stuff etc, but have no idea what to go for as everyone has conflicting opinions. I know that everyone’s hair is different so there’s no guarantee something will work for me but I don’t even know where to start; there are so many options!

I don’t have a strict budget but I don’t want it to take the P! I’ve looked into both Olaxplex and K18 and both are expensive for what you get but I am willing to* *splash out if it will genuinely help my hair, but the reviews are conflicting.

My hair is thick but I’m not sure if the strands are fine or not, long-ish (falls to the middle of my back), very prone to knots and the hair which has been bleached is obviously now pretty dry. I regrettably didn’t look after my hair properly after the balayage that I had done 11 months ago because I was being too frugal and it left my hair in a bad state for a while. I couldn’t get it to take any moisture and I felt like a stack of hay.

Advice very much appreciated!

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u/Quenald_ — 5 days ago
▲ 0 r/AskHairstylists

Smoky ash toner

Toner for smoky ashy blonde highlights

New highlights that are way too orange/red/brassy for me. I asked for a smoky/beige/ash. I don’t want such high contrast

I currently have these shades at home. Will this work ?

Redken shaded eq color gloss

08VB Violet FROST

09nw Cream soda

010np Pearlescent luster

u/Former_Librarian1069 — 6 days ago