JOY-CAFE.COM JoyBlog

JOY and hair.  I was thinking about this the other day while driving to my hair appointment.  Specifically, I was thinking about all the hair stylists I’ve had over the years, both good and disastrous.  I can’t say “bad” because there really is no such thing as a bad haircut or bad color or bad perm.  Nope, it is a total disaster.  I think it is funny that there is a line about having a “bad hair day,” but there it is.  When your hair looks bad, it can ruin an entire day no matter how perfect that day should be.  So, it is a disaster, correct?

I have had so many various forms of bad hair, it verges on the ridiculous.  Cotton candy hair is probably the most common disaster I have endured – when a stylist did not know what I meant when I said, “I want some body but not curls” and they forgot they also bleached my hair two weeks previously.  Now it would probably just be called, “80’s hair” – that poofy BIG hair we all cringe at when we look at old pictures.  Yikes!

I have fine hair so it sometimes needs some sort of perm.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve spent money-wise to have my hair turned into cotton candy.  Oh I can, but it would make me weep so I won’t.  And I love that line, “well, coloring your hair always makes it appear thicker because it swells up the hair shaft.”  Yes, but you add that with a perm and you have way more than swollen hair.  You have swollen, red eyes from crying and serious thoughts about hiring a knee-breaker to go after the offender’s styling tools.  Oh, you thought it would hurt to break fingers?  I beg to differ.  Fingers heal.  Hit ‘em where it hurts – they sink a LOT of money into those styling tools.  And they have a very special, serious, personal relationship with their styling tools that the uninitiated have no concept of.

Then there is the hair stylist who creates a small “oops” in your hair and decides not to tell you.  The joy is when that “oops” led me to the best stylist I’ve ever had:  Ruben Medina, Studio M (Russellville AR). So I’m sort of grateful for that “oops.”  He’s so good that you can’t get into his salon without booking months in advance or praying for someone to cancel.  I have standing appointments; I book one every so many weeks for the entire year.  If I didn’t, I would borrow the above mentioned knee-breakers and find someone and convince them to cancel. 

HEY! Great hair is very important. This guy makes me look like I have tons of hair.  And even more importantly, he does NOT make me look like an old ma-ma.  I have body!  I have style!  I have awesome color! Most important of all - I’m shallow - people say, “Wow, you’re hair looks great.”  That is what it’s all about.  No no, I jest but you get the point.

I know now there is a secret language hair stylists know and use, and it is vital we, as innocent lay-guinea pigs, learn it, too.  At my next appointment mid-March, I am going to ask Ruben some of the secret words we need to know and pray to God there are no secret handshakes that must go along with those words.  It is an entirely secret world of knowledge some of us only learn after that aforementioned disastrous hair day.  There is power in that secret world.  They hold the knowledge and power to make or break us.

Do you realize that if you don’t want to go to beauty school to learn what to say about how you want your hair, you’d better have, not only a darn good stylist, but also a darn good relationship with that stylist?  And huge note here – always, always, always tip your hairdresser even if they are the owner of the salon.  Tip is a polite word for “give them more money than they charge you for what you receive.” 

An ideal amount is 15-20 percent to the hairdresser (if a different person washes the hair, around $3-5 to them for that).  Some people claim to be math-illiterate so here’s a quick example.  If your hair cut is $20, ten percent would be $2.  Another five percent would be half that 2 dollars, or another dollar.  Added together, 15 percent is around $3.  I think you can take it from there, right?  If not, dig out a calculator and figure it out, write it on a small piece of paper and put it in your wallet.  There is no excuse for not tipping at least the minimum amount.  It’s never good to be tacky.

You squawk at 15-20 percent?  Obviously you haven’t had a history of bad haircuts, bleach jobs and perms.  When you find someone who takes the time to learn you, your hair and your habits, they are worth GOLD.  When they become a friend who remembers to ask you follow-up questions each visit on things you’ve talked about, they are well worth more than gold. 

And tipping is not just good manners, either.  You’ve been provided a service and tipping is an expected thing in the service industry.  You may be charged for a wash, color, perm, cut, blow dry, etc., but that money doesn’t all go into the stylist’s pocket.  Some rent a space in a salon and pay a percentage to the owner.  Some, as owners, have the overhead to pay for – electricity to blow dry your hair, water to wash your hair, products to clean your hair, tools to style your hair.   Don’t be stingy.  And don’t even get me started on waitresses and how little they are paid and how much they depend on tips.   Been there, done that!

Oh the joy of a great hairstylist.   Express your joy to the great hair stylists in your life.  Thank God for a great hair stylist.  I believe it does take a miracle to find one!

Tell me about your hair stylist or best hair day.  This is a JOY blog; no need to rehash that nightmare green hair.  Tell me something good!