r/hairstylist

I've worked approximately the same schedule for easily 5-6 years. Wed-Thur-Sat and sometimes 1/2 days on Tuesdays (I use this as a flex day for busier/slower times). Honestly, my schedule hasn't changed much, even when I changed salons and eventually moved to a Suite. My clients have followed me and each time, I assured them my schedule was staying the same and the transition was pretty seamless.

I don't know if it's just summertime and they're bored but I suddenly have an influx of people asking about my days as if they're brand new. I currently have the 3 full days open and I will open up Tuesdays or sometimes Fridays on an as needed basis. I have 2 kids home for the summer and one of my kids does Homeschool during the year so this is about all I really want/need to work right now and I stay relatively busy but generally not so busy that I can't make room or accommodate my clientele with 1-3 week notice tops.

It seems weird to me that all of a sudden I have people asking about it like it's new and even had one or two bolder (or ruder) clients say things like "Oh you only work 3 days a week? Must be nice" and almost seem personally offended that I'm not there 24/7 for them or at least more often.

Not even getting into how physically demanding the job is and how I'm on my feet all day for 8-11 hours for those 3 days, but I'm just in a season of life where I can't (physically/emotionally)/don't want to do much more than that, which I won't apologize for. But I'm just curious if others come across this, if it's been a more recent trend in client behavior and how do you react?

I feel like I'm losing my mind a little here and would appreciate Any and All insight you may have.

I have been working on a client who uses topical rogaine and has had great results.. the issue is when I am highlighting over it it turns the bleach greenish yellow and I feel like the lift is a little yellow..

First thought was.. wash first so none of the medication is there.. great. I did that but I still find the finish of the raw lift is incredibly yellow and orange..

I also feel like the foam is yellowing my toners over the course of wear.

Does anyone have any experience with this? What have you done to work in tandem and still get the tones you want.

I have a client who I’ve been driving an hour to SalonCentric for so that I don’t have to transition her formula. At my previous salon we used L’Oréal and when I moved I switched to Wella since I can get it at Cosmo.

The clients formula is Inoa:
20g 4.62
10g 4n
2g 3n
20 vol

Can someone help me translate this to Wella KP? I’m still learning Wella and this color feeling tricky because the 4.62 reads very purple-y

Hi folks,

I’m a ADHD shawty who has recently realized I fucking CANNOOOOTTT work a 40 hour week behind a desk. Ultimately, I want work that I have some control over, that I don’t have to bring home with me, and that ultimately allows me to spend time on my other pursuits.

I’ve considered hairstyling - hairstyling is something I’ve tried and enjoy (I run a small at-home thing where I cut people’s hair for cheap and for practice) and I really enjoy the social aspect, but I worry about sustainability of doing it for a while - I don’t want to f up my body and wrists and only be able to work as a stylist for like 5 years or less.

Wanted to get some advice:) if it’s relevant, I’m in Ontario.

Xoxoxos

I had a new client come in a month ago who was ghosted by her previous stylist. The reasoning was that she always got highlights and one day she saw her picture and realized there was no color left in her hair. Then the previous stylist couldn't get her base color right. She says, "I still have my base and I just want to see it again."

During our consult I color match the remaining base and we apply it and leave out some highlights. She loves it when we're done. Last week she comes in and is complaining that in 6 days she could see her roots and had to use color spray. Then her friends kept pointing out her roots and saying how red her hair was. And according to her, she's not a red head. I explained that over time, the brown we put in would fade warm and that's the "red" she is seeing. Now she wants more highlights so her roots don't show so quickly but also still wants that base color cause she swears she still has a good amount of color naturally.

I can't figure out how to get her to understand that she is 80% white. Any base color I add will grow out and her roots are gonna show again in days. What do you do/say to someone to get them to accept they don't have brown hair anymore?

I'm a new stylist, and a client reached out to me wanting to remove years of black box dye to go chocolate brown. I asked her a couple of questions about hair history and I thought about it and I realised that I have never done colour correction before and this was going to be a complex one, and I felt I wasn't experienced enough so...

I turned her down.

I recommended another stylist in the area to her ( my hairdreseer), who has 25 years of experience behind the chair.

Did I do the right thing?

I own a 6 station salon and have made the decision that I can no longer fulfill my ownership duties and keep my sanity. In the last year, I have gone through a high risk pregnancy, traumatic birth, and the beginning of raising an amazing, medically complex child. Life hasn’t just changed, it blew up. I did not make the decision to sell easily, but I see it as the best outcome for my family so I can focus on them. I plan to keep working 3 days a week behind the chair but not have the responsibility of ownership, the upkeep of the space, and the accruing bills.

I told my team and they were so kind and supportive. They’ve all also reached out to me independently since saying incredibly heartfelt words of support, pride that I’m putting myself first, and how I was a great boss and made the best environment they’ve ever worked in.

I’m looking for reassurance I’m making the right decision basically and that everything will be ok. Am I making a huge mistake?

Hi everyone ,

I have been working at corporate salon since Dec (2025) . This has been the weirdest work dynamic I have ever worked it . So at my salon there is 8 of us . For a little bit of background I got hired in as a master stylist because I met the qualifications and got the new hire bonus as well for meeting within my level which according to my managers it’s hard to do). Here my issue some of my co workers and I don’t get along ( which idc about 😂) . I love doing hair and coming home to my kids .

However since I have been working there it’s has been some things that I find difficult to deal with . I feel that I’m getting nicked picked on all the time that my other coworkers don’t get . I don’t know if it just they don’t like me or if it’s a race thing . (I am the only black woman that works in salon ).

Then they have complained to management they I am not friendly . My thing is I only mess with people who like me . Like I say hi and bye and keep it at that unless you show my interest in getting to know me . Even though I know some may not like me I still help them when they ask for help . I also like to point out things that should be done for example I had suspicion that color was expired and it became a whole thing .( but I was right there was color there from 2016😭 )

I have let management know about the things going on . The coworkers that like me knows what is going on . But I feel that management isn’t taking me seriously. And yesterday I was kinda showed the if I go to management about something and someone was confronted. They can be retaliatory and a weirdo . (I can’t be too specific just in case a coworker is on this page or I might just be paranoid) So I don’t know what to do .

I am a stylist who us 3 years in, i would consider myself comfortable with the basics. More advanced cutting (stacks, women’s short cuts) are really difficult for me. I work best hands on and talked to my boss at my commission salon, she said we could look for a model and make a social media post for specifically stack models. She doesn’t want to discount them. She says they will have to pay full price still but add on a mask, which imo wont mean much to women with short hair anyway. I want someone to work side by side with me while i do a stack so it wouldn’t be the full salon experience for the client. Does this se fair? So far nobody has bit as i think it should be at least 50% off.

We have been using booker for like eveer, I havent seen anybody talking about booker. But my salon has been using it for almost a decade now and is thinking about a change. Its getting a bit expensive and just not what we are looking for but we have about a decades worth of client history that we need to also transfer over as well. Ive seen Sqaure and Glossgenius as popular choices im just not sure if they can transfer client information or not. Any recommendations or help would be much appreciated thank u!

EDIT: Also if it works with clover devices!!! Ok thank u

I’m a cosmetologist that’s worked in barbershops the last 10 years. I’m moving to a state where cosmetologists can’t legally work in a barbershop and I’m devastated. I might work at a sports clips while I do the crossover program. I’m use to making about $2k/week. I know I’m taking a huge pay cut. How much do you normally make hourly? How much should I ask for if they ask?

Does anyone have any advice on jobs that I can look into? I’ve been managing a Supercuts for 14 years and I’m getting so burned out. Upper management has changed our haircut times from 20 mins to 15 and I have a lot of requests. I rarely get a break standing hours and hours at a time. I just can’t and don’t want to do it anymore. Im so scared to go to a private owned salon bc I won’t be making the $$ like I do at Supercuts. Im just looking for any options I can do that may pay just as well or close to it.

How do you prevent carpal tunnel or your arms hurting?

Hello!!!!

Looking for advice on marketing. I’ve been trapped in the corporate/chain salon game for way too long and need out but can’t afford to just dip to a commission salon with no clients. I also don’t have the time to give to a different salon and still give my current place that’s paying my bills hours. I’ve planned to build a home salon so i can take my small handful of clients at home and hope to build from there. Truthfully I’ve been hearing instagrams really only good as a portfolio/way for clients to see your work. What would you guys recommend as far as marketing to get more clients in?

I did a color correction a couple of weeks ago. The canvas still had a little bit of uneveness, but overall ended up a very yellow level 8/9 blond with a pink/peach hue. I toned down to cover the uneven spots. I toned with shades eq a equal parts 10gi,6gi,8gi (so it would be an 8gi) totally 4oz, and a dash(.2oz) of 6gn to counter the pink. I think I added a little too much gn and it turned very mushroomy, and darker than I wanted. (It had been 10 hours and my brain was not taking into account the porosity of the hair). 100% my fault, and I offered to fix it, but my client left on vacation the next day so they decided to try and fade it at home.

They've been using hot water and clarifying shampoo, but the tone isn't getting lighter at all. I'm having them come in tomorrow. My plan was to use a CPR to pull the tone out, but my client said they don't want to do that again, and asked me to please do something else. (I think they struggled sitting under the heat. And I get that, its hot this summer)

Does anyone have any other suggestions or advice on how to remove the toner?

Hey guys, I'm new to the industry, and I've been building my client base. I've done practice updos on people at hair school, and I've done a prom ( 2 people), but that's about it.

A client reached out to me and asked if I do updos, as she's getting married in April 2027 and is looking for a stylist for her and 6 others, so 7 people altogether.

I've never ever done a wedding before and I'm just not sure what to say/do.

Any advice?

Any recommendations on building clientele? I’ve been handing out goodie bags with my cards , price list , hair clips and lip gloss out and I feel like it hasn’t brought me a lot people.

Hi all,

Currently Im on commission at a salon I got hired at in January when I was renting my chair before at another spot. My new boss / the owner was not willing to hire a renter so I folded and accepted commission because I really needed to move.

The more time goes on, the more I realize I need to be back to rental. I have my business license, business cc and bank account, certain investments, habit managing my menu and money, etc. She has other renters, she just doesn't want new ones. However she is micromanaging reasonable time off, the way she manages services and menus doesn't align entirely with me and she's sketchy on pay. I have to double check my pay all the time to make sure nothing is missing.

I do not want to change salons, I just want to rent, and given that I used to be a renter and that she has renters, I feel like I could try to talk to her about it.

Does anyone have advice about how to go about this? I absolutely know she does not want to lose me so I would love to leverage something.