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How to Choose a Hairstylist Part 3 – Look at the Salon

How to Choose a Hairstylist Part 3 – Look at the Salon

by | May 28, 2020 | Just for Salon Clients!

How was window shopping?

In part 2 of this blog series on How to Choose a Hairstylist, we talked about the wonderful online world that makes it super easy to get a really good look at your potential new Hairstylist’s portfolio. Hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to check out a bunch of different Hairstylists which brings us to part 3 of this series!

It’s time to look at the Salon.

What difference could the Salon possibly make? First, let’s make a list of what you really want from a hair appointment. Sort of like your ‘must haves’!

Let me guess at a few:

  • Makes you feel welcome and comfortable
  • Might be a bit edgy and trendy
  • Gives great customer service
  • Has knowledge and new things to try since they are constantly learning
  • Might be super upbeat and bubbly
  • Makes you feel pampered
  • Stays consistent from visit to visit
  • Knows the latest colour techniques (think back to when balayage first started) and current trends
  • Might be calming and relaxing
  • And most importantly gives you GREAT hair

Have I hit a few? Can you relate to some points?

I’ll be frank.  The points above can be met by any Stylist at any Hair Salon, but as you may well know that isn’t always the case.

A great Salon creates a blueprint for the type and quality of hair services, the customer experience and the level of education required of any Stylist who chooses to work there.  In other words…..

★ If you want a party of a hair appointment with music in a busy, upbeat and fun atmosphere, find the salon like that.  That’s where your perfect Stylist will be.

★ If you want a quick dash in, dash out hair appointment find the Salon like that.  That’s where your perfect Stylist will be.

★ If you want individual one on one services with no other clients in while you enjoy your service, find the Salon like that.  That’s where your perfect Stylist will be.

★ If you want a quiet, calm, relaxing hair appointment to feel a little indulged and pampered, find the salon like that.  That’s where your perfect Stylist will be.

★ If you want a high end, uber professional, chic, knock your socks off experience, find the salon like that.  That’s where your perfect Stylist will be. 

Human nature reveals the following to be true:

‘People like people who are like themselves.’  

Find the type of Salon experience you want to have because your perfect Stylist will also want to be there too. 

I’ll check back in soon with part 4 ?

Thanks for listening,

Carrie

www.cihairstudio.ca

How to Choose a Hairstylist Part 2 – Window Shopping!

How to Choose a Hairstylist Part 2 – Window Shopping!

by | Feb 22, 2020 | Just for Salon Clients!

How did you make out last week?

After the intro to this blog series on How To Choose a Hairstylist, you were off to look at inspiration pictures to narrow down exactly what you want to show your new Hairstylist. Hopefully you’ve found some good ones and you’re ready for the first step in your Hairstylist search.   So here we go with part 2!

 

The world is online and your new Hairstylist should be too!

Career Stylists will be visible on Facebook and Instagram, as well as on a personal or salon website.  Just being there isn’t enough though! 

Now that you know what you love and have your inspiration pictures ready, what you want to do is find similar examples of the colour, cut or style you are looking for right in yur potential new Stylist’s portfolio.

Seriously, I can’t stress how important this really is! 

Every Hairstylist naturally develops a style and by paying close attention to their pictures you will be able to tell tell which style they excel at. 

 

Your new Hairstylist needs to excel in what you want!! 

 

Read it again: YOUR NEW HAIRSTYLIST NEEDS TO EXCEL IN WHAT YOU WANT!

The best thing you can do is find your inspiration picture right from that Stylist’s portfolio.  Loving a portfolio is wonderful but if you can’t see yourself with the hair in that portfolio, it’s probably not the right match.  Keep in mind we are definitly talking about the overall ‘style’ of the hair. If you don’t see your exact colour that’s ok! As long as you love the overall look of the images, the Hairstylist very well could be your match!

So it’s time to window shop! Take the time to really look at a bunch of different local Stylist’s portfolio keeping this handy little checklist in mind.

 

Window shop until you can tick off each item on this list:

✔ Your new Stylist is on Facebook and  Instagram

✔ Your new Stylist is featured on a Salon’s website or has their own site

✔ Your new Stylist posts work regularly

✔ Your new Stylist has multiple pictures that are the style you really like

BONUS:

✔ You are able to choose an inspiration picture for your appointment right from the the Stylist’s portfolio

 

The best thing about this is you can window shop to your heart’s content! Take your time with it, see what options are local to you and broaden your search from there if necessary.  

A word of warning…..you know the saying ‘Don’t grocery shop while you’re hungry’? Ditto for this.  

I can hear you saying…..’these bangs won’t wait’…..’I need a change NOW’…..or the dreaded situation that’s left you saying  ‘I HAVE to get this fixed, TODAY!!’.  

 

I hear you, I really do but it’s time. Time to get off the rollercoaster ?  

 

If taking a few extra days to make this decision means you can find your forever Stylist, the one who will get it right each and every time, wouldn’t you do it? 

Time to Window Shop.  

I’ll be back with part 3 in the series soon! ?

If you have any comments or questions as we go through this please pop them below! I’m happy to help! 

 

Thanks for listening,

Carrie

www.cihairstudio.ca

 

 

 

How to Choose a Hairstylist – Part 1

How to Choose a Hairstylist – Part 1

by | Feb 18, 2020 | Just for Salon Clients!

Forward

About a year ago I wrote a free ebook about making the process of choosing a Hairstylist a little easier for clients. There were downloads of the book in it’s entirety but I really want to help more clients, regardless of the salon they choose, know the best things to check out before you decide.

So here we are! I’ve updated some info and can’t wait to share!  As there is a lot of information in each tip they will be shared in a series of blog posts so as not to info overload all at once.  Happy Reading!

 

If you’ve ever felt the pain of a haircut or hair colour that really wasn’t what you wanted, you already know why I’ve compiled these tips.  For those of you who haven’t experienced that (knocking on all surfaces of wood), here’s the deal…..

 So often new clients tell us how hard it has been for them to find a great Hairstylist that not only did amazing work, but really listened to what they were asking for. 

 As Stylists we know exactly what to look for before, during and after a consultation, and we also know a red flag when we see one. 

The problem is how are YOU, the most important person, supposed to know??? 

Now you will.  

So if this blog series prevents one more wonky haircut, one more damaging hair color and makes your life easier? Mission accomplished!

Think of the process of choosing a Stylist this way.

You are hiring a Hairstylist to complete a job for you.

How many applicants are hired without doing an interview? Without having to document their skills and education?  Without having to prove why they are the best person for the job? Without having references?

It doesn’t happen very often (if ever) and there’s a BIG reason for that. Hiring without doing some homework first simply doesn’t work.  What I’m suggesting, is that finding a Hairstylist shouldn’t be any different!

By working through these 5 Tips in the order I post them, you will know everything you need to watch for and do, to find the Hairstylist that’s the perfect match for you!

A little word before I finish this first post………

Yes, we are a hair salon full of Stylists who would be happy to help you but that’s not the point.  The point of this is for you to feel confident in choosing the right Stylist for YOU, no matter where they may work.

And since its all about you……. I have to honestly tell you that before you even think of choosing a Stylist you have to know what you want. Yes your Stylist should help you choose and yes your Stylist can help you gain clarity on what you’ll need, but I can tell you with 100% honestly that Stylists cannot provide a result you will love unless it is 1000% what you actually want.

We aren’t mind readers.  Oh how I wish we were, but we aren’t quite that magical ?

So here’s a bit of homework before the tips role out!

If you want to book with a new Stylist for a haircut, you need to bring two pictures with you.  One showing the front and another showing the back.  This shows us the exact shape you are wanting.  You will also need to know the answers to a couple of questions. What you are willing to do for styling your hair each day and how often you’re willing to visit the salon for maintenance.

If you want to book with a new Stylist for a haircolour, again you need to bring two pictures with you.  One that shows the actual colour you love (platinum, caramel, chestnut, hazelnut, etc, etc), and one that shows the placement or style that you love (ombre, colour melt, bold highlights, super natural highlights).  You don’t need to know what the techniques are actually called – you just need to know how you want the colour you love to actually look on your head!  Ditto on the questions above about daily styling and maintenance.

A word of warning.  If you have an entire Pinterest board pinned with 14 different cut and colour pictures you love, you might not be really sure what you want yet.  And that is totally ok! Sometimes we don’t know what we want.  Sometimes it takes a few weeks of looking at pictures and deciding yay or nay.

Ask any Hairstylist what their response would be to coworker who’s asked them to do their hair, then showed 12 photos of what they like. It will absolutely sound something like this:

“You have to narrow it down.  I can’t do it until you know for sure what you really want.”

Amen ??

I understand that as a client, its not that simple and you do need help with the process!  That’s what we are here for and are happy to help you with.  Just have a look at the number of pictures you plan to show.  If it’s over 5 for cut and/or colour, you still need to narrow it down a little more.  Once you get to about 3 or 4 pictures max, that is an amazing time to book an appointment!

Ok – you know what you need to do! Get busy finding those pictures and narrowing things down and I’ll be back to turn the focus to exactly how to choose the right Hairstylist for you!

 

Thanks for listening,

Carrie

www.cihairstudio.ca

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