So today I did this kind lady’s hair named Janice..

Janice is a school teacher for middle school kids and she came in today to get her hair done for her son’s wedding next weekend.

She had told me when we were walking to my chair that she hasn’t done anything to her hair in 2 years and that her youngest daughter did her hair the last time she did it.

It was blonde before and her regrowth she came in with was about 6 inches long so she definitely needed something done to it. She figured since her son was getting married that she would do something fun and different so she could look nice at his wedding. I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

The minute she sat down I could just feel that feeling of something old that needs to be moved or changed. She wanted high lights put in and I suggested we color the rest of her hair brown so that everything matches, but a warm brown since she had warm blonde in her hair. She was all for it so we were good to go. I had my learning leader Brent help me with getting down the right high light techniques down that I would need to make sure she left with good hair.

As I was doing her hair, she told me that she was happy her son was getting married, but it didn’t seem different or anything because the girlfriend had been part of the family for so long. That was beautiful to me because parent approval is so very important. She ended up getting really quite and just closing her eyes as I did her hair, which really helped me concentrate on what I was doing. Man it was quite the project and just getting all the weaving and color in there took about 2 hours alone for me..

She told me her daughters actually done Paul Mitchell shows! She said her daughter did the gathering 2 years ago and they actually wet her down on stage and she fell down the stairs or something like that because of how slippery the steps were. Her daughters had her hair cut by Tikashi and Angus Mitchell and all the big names for Paul Mitchell really so I thought it was so rad!

I asked her about her kids and she ended up opening up to me and telling me her daughter who’s done the PM shows almost died 2 years ago from her Crohn’s disease.. She told me that her daughters organs had so much scarring that she didn’t think she would make it and that she had all her funeral already planned and her casket she picked out because she really didn’t think she’d make it…. It broke my heart to say the least.. That moment made me realize why she hadn’t touched her hair in 2 years. She was probably holding onto that blonde that her daughter did for her.

We got rid of half of the blonde in her hair and put some round layers in it with the highlights she wanted. I went back and checked my work to make sure I didn’t miss anything and if I got a holiday or line of demarcation I could correct it and make sure she left with good hair.

I was blowing her hair out and I went to grab hair spray to set her curls and when I was just about done with the hair spray she was crying. I thought she might of had a sensitivity to hair spray so I was like oh fuck.. I asked if she was ok and she said yeah, that she was crying because she no longer has to look at those 2 years of regrowth and use it as a reference to the time her daughter almost died…. I think she was traumatized and her hair was a reminder of such a sad and bad time in her life. The highlights and brown in her hair covered up those 2 years of sadness she must of been feeling and she honestly looked completely different.. I was happy and I didn’t feel anything when she started crying to be honest, I kind of didn’t know what to do. She checked out and bought a caper bag to help me get to caper next year and she also left me smash burger coupons so I can go to lunch.

When she left it just hit me like a train how bad I felt for her and her situation and how she used her hair as a reference to the time her daughter almost died.. I mean I just couldn’t imagine myself or my mother going through something like that. It seriously made me so sad. I kept trying to fight back the emotions I was feeling to try and be strong about the situation because I know I’m going to run into things like this as a stylist and need to be emotionally strong for my guests and for myself.

I walked to smash burger after I was done with her hair and I just felt the need to call my mom to talk to her and I just started crying because of how sad that was to me. Using hair as a reference to a sad time in life. It made me realize the power hair can have over someone and how even regrowth could be used as a reference point in life and all that. I told my mom all of this just crying to her explaining to her how I was feeling and how kind this lady was and the amount of hurt she must feel sometimes knowing her child almost died and all that. I know it sounds dramatic, but things like this truly get to me because I feel for people that go through hard situations like that..

I had completely forgotten to even take a before and after photo so when I walked into smash burger I actually saw her and managed to get a photo of her hair and I’m glad I did because this marked a very important moment in my life to always remember; To always do my best and truly strive to change someone’s life and appearance to make them feel good about themselves. It made me realize the importance of ALWAYS trying to do your best and giving it your all so at the end of the day you can say you did whatever you could and if someone doesn’t like your work then try again.

Overall, today showed me the effect hair has on most people’s life and sometimes their heart. It showed me and helped me understand the importance of doing your best in this industry to become the best and be respected. I see hair in a completely different view after today and going through something so emotional for me..

To say the least her daughter is doing amazing and works as an engineer for Disney and is currently working on the guardians of the galaxy ride at Disney right now! 🙂

So that makes me happy 🙂

Today was a great day and I’m glad I had the pleasure of working with Janice. She will definitely be back in the school for me to do her hair. 🙂