Hair Salon Snobbism?

Is your name Cheryl by any chance?

Zudora don't work on just anybody, ya know?

If it’s a repeat visit, how does “stylist not taking new clients” work?

Hi, R3--I hadn't been to the salon for a couple of years (I was cutting my own hair to save money), and they told me I was therefore considered a new client, and my stylist wasn't taking new clients anymore. The salon did offer to place me with another stylist, but I was a pissed Karen by that point and decided to go elsewhere.

High-end salons are rarely worth the money.

You can get a good cut somewhere else.

OP is a HAIR HOPPER

MMM. I go to a great salon in the gayborhood in Philly. Gay-owned and mostly gay clientele. Four chairs. One straight stylist that most people lust after, the others are very good stylists but not hot (IMO).

Anyway, there seems to be a very wide range of clientele. But then the owner is from a working class S. Philly Italian background. Many years ago I did a fancier salon with video and wine and salad etc. The owner was a big shot but of course the six or seven "girls" with chairs were just ordinary folks.

I like the free glass of cheap wine but the hair cuts weren't much.

Did they tell you "We are a private salon, catering to ravishing beauties ONLY"?

Has your mugshot been posted recently? Did you do something public and/or horrible to someone? If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, the problem is you.

Stylists always get the best gossip. They hear everything, about everyone. If you were rude, violent, have been incarcerated but your daddy got you out of jail, or whathaveyou...a good stylist will know as soon as your name comes up.

Stick to cutting your own hair, OP.

" The salon did offer to place me with another stylist, but I was a pissed Karen by that point and decided to go elsewhere. "

So you answered your own stupid question

I am always welcomed.

Happy Easter!

[quote] Hi, [R3]--I hadn't been to the salon for a couple of years (I was cutting my own hair to save money), and they told me I was therefore considered a new client, and my stylist wasn't taking new clients anymore. The salon did offer to place me with another stylist, but I was a pissed Karen by that point and decided to go elsewhere.

This is a big detail to leave out.

Two years is a long time to be away. It's understandable that a good stylist would not be taking new clients. If you acted like a Karen, then they won't want to deal with you, anyway.

In my 20s, I went to a high-end salon. (I was working in restaurants.) The stylist was a friend of a friend. I felt welcome in the salon. My stylist also did my coworker's hair.

The only other thing I can think of is that you don't "buy enough services or products." I'm guessing you're a woman and they want to upsell -- do color, sell hair care products, etc. If you're "only" paying for a cut, maybe they want clients who they can upsell.

My sister is a high-end stylist. She does take new clients when she’s able, but someone acting like a “Karen” might get the receptionists to lie and say she can’t. It would have nothing to do with the client having cut their own hair, and everything to do with them being a cunt, OP.

OP didn't say she was a "pissed off Karen" toward THEM, just that she was pissed off. She was on the phone with them, most likely. One can be pissed off and still stay cordial while getting the news.

Just saying, we shouldn't jump to conclusions that OP Karen'ed out on them because she couldn't get the stylist she previously had. She could've Karen'ed in private.

I know I've Karen'ed privately before when I was upset about something, even whined to a friend, but still kept my cool outwardly in the moment. Hasn't everyone?

take your business where you are appreciated!

r14 You have no more idea than anyone else, says the dumbass who suggests "we shouldn't jump to conclusions." OP is the doofus who even brought up going Karen.

r16 do you always need to name-call to make your point? Did someone do that to you when you were growing up?

You know, it's possible to just state your opinion and point without calling someone a "dumbass" or a "doofus." As adults, we really don't need to resort to that during a normal conversation. You seem triggered.

R17 Frau alert!!!! This ain't Mommy Central bitch, go die a thousand times.

My regular stylist moved away and I had a terrible time finding someone I liked. I finally gave up and went to a very upscale salon, nice girl, first cut was great. second time she cut my hair not using my natural part, so it never looked right. I went back for a third appointment, mentioned that the last cut wasn't quite right with my natural part, she spent a total of 15 minutes with me from the time I sat in her chair, to the time I was back in my car...to the tune of 90 bucks, that was it for me. I now go to a local barber chain "Rudy's" had a great cut, shampoo with nice massage, 55. plus tip...going back the this guy next week.

R11 is that a penis bouncy house???

R19 what kind of massage?

I always called it snobbery, but I guess snobbism is a word.

r22 ok

So what the fuck do we care about why people don't want to work with you, OP?

Have you checked yourself for lice?

May I suggest Mister Ray's Wig World?

[quote] she cut my hair not using my natural part

That’s not okay for someone charchimg that much, R19! They should know better!

I really don’t give a shit about my hair, but am R13 with the high-end stylist sister who always cuts my hair, so have absorbed a few things ober the years. One of those things is that a good hairdresser can not only tell where your hair naturally parts (a no-brainer), but also ASKS how you prefer it to lie. I swear, going to a good barber can be a much better experience all-round, as you have found.

r26 You swear?

By my troth, R27

I can usually tell within the first few minutes whether a haircut is going to be good or bad. There's a certain confidence and rhythm, working the hair in sections...I hate it when a stylist is slow, cut a little here, bounce to the other side, snip a little...you just know it's going to be a cluster fuck.

I think your location and your rates dictate your clientele as much as word of mouth.

Nowadays, who ever has the cash and the time gets the service.

I think the truly high end big shots like Kenneth when he was alive, are booked so carefully and so far in advance and of course they have their standing appointments, that a mere nobody, even a wealthy nobody, couldn't get in to save her life.

This is an EST. It may happen in real life but it hasn't happened to OP.

[quote] I hate it when a stylist is slow, cut a little here, bounce to the other side, snip a little...you just know it's going to be a cluster fuck.

I disagree with this. I had a hairstylist who took her time and circled around me while I was in the chair. She was really treated the haircut like a sculpture. It was expensive, but I've never had a haircut like that, before or since.

about ten years ago, I lived in a very affluent area suburban to Detroit. Out in Oakland County. The second generation and third generation of the Automotive crowd had abandoned Grosse Pointe leaving it to the doctors, lawyers, and public utilities big shots. These moneyed society people, big name high society types lived in Birmingham. There was a salon my mother's rich friend told her about, (They played tennis together) that was down a tiny brick lane barely noticeable from the street,in the business district. No name on the door, no indication it was even a business. It looked like it may have housed offices. Anyway, this was the Stylist to the bigshots. She agreed to do my mother's hair for her30th wedding anniversary, and I never saw my mother look so good. But then when Ma tried to book her again she didn't even return her calls. If she didn't know you personally she just ghosted you.

R35, that is fascinating. Thank you!

Fuck those cunts! Save your time and money!

Search "Flowbee Women's Haircuts" on YouTube.

Hon, I’m takin’ new clients.

I'm such a rude freak I can't get a haircut at all. I just give myself a full buzzcut once a year or so after my hair reaches my shoulders.

I buzz my head about once a month with the same clippers that I use on the cat.

Go to Supercuts and ask for the Sinead.

Years ago I was a stylist. One thing stylists depend on? Paying clients. I’ve never known a stylist to discourage any paying client unless they were a major pain in the ass to deal with. I had only one like that who continually made me run over time because nothing was ever right. She was costing me money, so we had the “difficult” conversation. I cant speak for high end salons, but even those need paying clients - probably more so.

Top notch OP.

They don't want you telling people where you got the shitty hairstyle you demanded.

If they're booked, they're booked. My shop stops taking new clients once it takes longer than 2 weeks to schedule a regular.

I paid a 1500 retainer and my stylist still has difficulty fitting me in, but she's the best so I deal with it.

We've only got to look at the average celebrity making a public appearance to know that upmarket salons aren't necessarily any better than ordinary ones. Name me one contemporary female celebrity whose hair always looks fabulous, whether she's performing, on the red carpet or doing an interview.

Here's a hot tip: If you're thinking of changing hairdressers, check out the new one's website. Quite often there is a tab called "Careers" or something, and if you click that it shows you their job ads. In the first place it tells you what staff they are missing. If Principal Cutter and Principal Colorist are on the list, skip the salon. In the second place, the job ad often includes details like "the salary is X [low], but you will receive a 20% commission on any products you can sell to customers. Staff are expected to earn at least X% of their total salary in commissions."

I’ve been to high end salons and strip mall franchise salons and I think the Supercuts types are better at haircuts because of mass volume practice. Not sure about hair coloring or other services.

1500 retainer? Are you a man? Are you over 40 years old?

The hair salon experience is VERY different for men and women, so we should specify gender in comments. OP and others , can we please give some pricing details? I think a 30% sounds excessive.So if OP is paying $120, you leave a $40 tip?

[quote] This is an EST. It may happen in real life but it hasn't happened to OP.

How uneventful is your life that you think this experience is so out of the ordinary that it warrants being labelled an EST?

Having had a had a terrible argument with my boss, and already a 5th avenue colorist working a block away from his Sherry Netherland salon, I went to audition for Garren.

At the time Garren did every fashion magazine cover, the position at his salon would’ve been the absolute pinnacle of my career, and plenty of my clients already went to him ($800 a cut). One of my feisty redheads had given me the greatest compliment when she said while she sat in his shop his three other colorists went right up to her to ask who did her color…I always interview great, and he asked that I bring three clients to his shop the next day so he could see my work.

I had all my clients lined up and the morning of the interview, then two colorists at my job quit suddenly, and I was promoted. I called Garren and cancelled the interview. Six months later his shop closed and he owed everyone money. I dodged a bullet!

If you go to a high end salon, only go to the owner. Everyone else is smoke and mirrors. Garren, Fekkai, and Ted Gibson all shuttered salons before I left NYC.

What?

High end salons are the EPITOME of snobbism, R53. With three strokes of his shears, Garren can do a beautifully layered cut. I’ve been doing hair for 35 years and couldn’t do that. My (wayward) point is there are indeed skilled hairdressers that can fetch top dollar, but all the ego can’t keep their salon doors open.

Save your money and go to a lower priced salon where they do a LOT of hair and find the business stylist. They’ll be just as good as an $800 one.

“Busiest”

wine and salad

Salad in a place where hair is being cut?

I've been to Vidal Sassoon...

R51 Reading skills are not your strong suit. I said the scenario happens. Many businesses in the carriage trade can be snobbish about their clientele. I said this scenario hasn't happened to OP. He packaged a story for our discussion and debate.

R18, get help.