Hello, my name is Laura and I am a hair procrastinator. On average it takes me a good six months to decide I actually need a hair cut and then a further six to get round to booking an appointment, by which time my hair is unmanageable and half way down my back. I have several issues in getting myself motivated and I am wondering if I am alone in this or if others share my woes…
My number one problem is deciding where to go. With such a wide array of hairdressers in Bristol and none that I am especially loyal to. How am I supposed to know which ones are reputable and which ones just want to rip me off? Please also remember I live in the back and beyond, where salons are divided equally between “purple rinse special” catering to the over 70s and the “wannabe city salon” where prices are high and quality is low.
Next on my list of worries is decision making. How does anyone commit themselves to a style? Before my latest haircut (which I do actually love) I must have run through over a dozen styles, declaring them all “the one”. How did I decide on what I ended up with? I stupidly let the hairdresser decide and thankfully it turned out just fine!
Linked closely with this is trust. How many times have I heard the words “yes I know how much an inch is” only to leave a salon minus half a head? Sometimes it seems like booking what should be a simple trim is some kind of punishment!
Oh, and the small talk. That endless small talk. I can chat until the cows come home, really, I can, but sometimes I’m not in the mood to talk and being forced to explain for the hundredth time that no, I really don’t have a social life/exotic holiday/amazingly hot boyfriend puts me off. Oh, and those lectures about the state of my hair/roots/lack of know-how!
I’m making it sound all doom and gloom, and I promise I’m not always this awkward. When I get down to it I do generally enjoy the experience of having a hair cut and advances in salon software tend to make it much more pleasing,
I’m not brilliant at having people in my personal space so I tend to focus on all my above negatives and forget about the nice parts; the head massage, the trashy magazines and the on tap tea and coffee! The most recent salon I visited in my hometown (Arcadia in Nailsea) has gone some way to get me over my hairdresser phobia, they couldn’t have been nicer, or done a better job for a very affordable price…
I’m due a trim in three weeks; who wants to place bets on how long it takes me to book?
What are you like about hair appointments? A routine patron or repeat procrastinator? Want to give a shout-out to your favourite salon/product/generally rant and rave? I’d love to hear it!
xxx
I’m loyal to my hairdresser, but it took me nine months to get round to going this time. This time, I’ve prebooked so I don’t have to remember!
Bless you. I am not loyal to any hairdresser anymore. Years ago it was only every Toni and Guy but after realising after a terrible cut that they were so over priced I now go where ever to be honest.
I never wonder too far from my original cut either.
X x
I’m a haircut phobe due to scalp issues, and my hairdresser comes to my house! I’ve not had it cut for 9 months and she actually complimented my hair when she came to do my mum’s! Good luck with your hair, it’s not my favourite experience either x
I’ve been needing a haircut for way too long but I still haven’t got round to booking it yet! I keep spending the money on clothes instead :/
I would recommend AKA on the Glouscester Road, the price is slightly higher than average but they really listen and don’t go and do there own thing. But I’m the same, I can never be bothered with paying for a hair cut, I only do it when its so frazzled it looks awful x
I love your recent cut and colour. I tend to leave it too long and then I have to have more cut off than I like due to frazzled, weak ends. I intend to make an appointment very soon… I promised to get my hair cut every 10 weeks form now on (8 is too few, 12 is too many)…
Oh I’m just like you, I could have written that. I go when I absolutely have to, I rarely find a hairdresser I’m pleased with and even when I do (last time) I still wait months and months to go back and set to with the kitchen scissors! It always seems to amaze them that on a Saturday I am not going out that night but just there because I need my haircut. Last stylist gave me his phone number and demanded I go into town and call him and he would meet me for drinks! WTF, I hasten to add he was gay … xx
Oh im a fellow procrastinator fo SHO! in fact, ive been wanting to get my haircut for about two months now, and ive been REALLY trying to get it cut for the past two weeks, but it has to be perfect timing… i dont like to rush/panic/freakout etc! and everytime ive tried to book, there have been problems.
So i figured today was the day i HAD to do something… and (spookily, just before reading this!!!) i just booked mine for this thurs. dun dun duuuuuun!!! haha. im excited, but now commences the epic “find a picture of a haircut i like” marathon so that i can try to eliminate that “ohmygod they’ve chopped off all my hair” moment :p
Who said self-preservation was easy?!
Good luck with your hair-prepare… at least your getting ready in advance! x
Oh I almost never manage to get to the hairdressers. Mostly because I’m cheap, but the one my mum takes me to (because I’m spoilt and she’ll pay xD) never manage to get my hair right, even with pictures for guide. And I fail at the whole small-talk thing.
I really need to find a decent hairdresser and get my hair sorted out some time soon, it’s getting ratty and Christmas is coming up.
I’m a procrastinator. It doesn’t help that my hair is around 2 inches long and ideally needs doing more often than the every 6 months or so I get it done. I’ve only ever used one salon. When I was young and living in Pill we went to a woman down the road who worked from home who kinda wrecked my hair with a perm, I wanted it but she didn’t go through maintenance or anything.
Then she started getting a bit too personal, telling me and my mum that we ought to lose weight (fyi none of your business), thankfully soon after we moved to Portishead (you being in Nailsea are fairly close by XD) we made an appointment with a local home visit hairdresser and discussed me wanting to get my hair a bit shorter and dye it, she never showed for the appointment so we went to the local salon Hayley’s simply cuz it was cheapest (and later home-dyed it) and we’ve stuck with her ever since. Except she recently shut down her salon and just does home-visits. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my hair now, she’s been with me from my bum-length dark blonde school days through shoulder-length, bob, asymmetrical and now super-short and dark red 😀
I am a procrastinator! I might only get mine cut once a year, I am that lazy! Long hair like mine just gets left! I always go to the same hairdresser in recent times- a lovely Lithuanian girl in the salon at the end of my road except last time she was cutting someone else’s so I had to have the salon owner and she doesn’t take much time over it!
I only get a hair cut about twice a year, and I go to an inexpensive national hair salon chain. Thankfully they do a decent cut on my thick, wavy, hard to deal with hair. So yeah, I know what you mean. Though I am trying to do a better job of keeping on top of hair cuts, I still find myself running over to the salon only when I am desperate. ; )
I am quite lucky because my sister is a great hairdresser, but even still it takes me and her AGES to arrange time for a cut & colour! Good thing is she knows what I want and what suits me- even though she often wants to use me as a guinea pig 🙂
Hope you find a hairdresser that makes the process a little more pleasurable! New cut looks gorge xx
Hair on the Hill in Cotham – friendly, quick, inexpensive (£15 for a dry cut- just wash your hair before you go)and they do what you ask for! Three of their hairdressers have cut my hair now and they’ve all been lovely. I’m still with you on the procrastination front though!
I haven’t been to a hairdresser for over 10 years! I always cut my hair myself and I’m sure real hairdressers would have a heart attack at my lack of hair cutting talent/ability haha xoxo
I never really go to the same hairdresser, which lots of people find really weird. I just like to shop around and am yet to find the perfect hairdresser!
http://arrceebee.blogspot.com.au/
I’ve had the same hairdresser for 10 years. I only go once every six months though now my hair is longer.
I think going to the same one regularly is better than moving around. My hairdresser knows my hair, and remembers things I’ve regretted. She refuses to do drastic things to me unless I give her a months notice because I do regret them!
Caroline
I quite like having my hair cut but I completely forget to ever book appointments. Hence not having my hair cut since February… Quite often at uni I was approached on the street and asked to model for trainee hairdressers as at the time I had really short hair. Made life a lot cheaper and easier really! xo
The small talk, oh god the small talk. It’s my idea of hell, my social anxiety nightmare! I seriously prefer the dentist.
xx