With most life instances I go through, I like to connect them to metaphors and analogys to help me better understand the situations I’m in and what I may be going through. As of recently I’ve decided to really break down what being a hairstylist is like and what it feels like being in the salon.

There was a day Ashlee and I were working on a guest and her guest had mentioned something about how it’s like surgery because I was helping her by handing her foils as she applied the lightener. When the guest said that, it just reassured me about what I was thinking about how doing hair is similar to surgery.

If you think about it it kind of makes sense, especially when you’re lightening hair.

Sometimes people come into the salon and think that you can perform miracles when they want to go platinum blonde in a day. For these guests I always tell them that going blonde is like getting a cut and having to give it a couple of days or sometimes weeks depending on how much of a hit the hair may take. Hair just like anything else, doesn’t fix up over night. Depending on your body and diet, will determine how quick any wound is going to heal, the same goes with hair. You need to treat it with the proper at home care (take home) and make sure your diet is well as not having a good diet could challenge the integrity of your hair when lightening it or just in general.

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Take home is like a prescription your stylist is referring to you. Depending on your hairs diagnosis when you come in, will determine which take home you might need. When stylists are pushing you to purchase products from the salon, it’s not because they’re trying to make the salon or themselves all this money. Stylists will push take home to make sure you’re taking care of your hair away from the salon and because they ultimately care about your hairs well being. Any stylist who is passionate about their job is expressing that passion from the knowledge they know about these products to ultimately help YOU out.

Sometimes I understand that money might be tight but in those situations, I would make sure before going to the salon you have enough money to invest in a decent shampoo and conditioner to at least get you by.

Drug store shampoo and conditioner is loaded with animal fat, chemicals and water, it’s so harsh on the hair and scalp that it can even cause you to lose hair. Think of drug store shampoo and conditioner as oils on your skin, sometimes those oils clog your pores and if you’re not using the right cleanser then you’re just keeping those pores clogged, it’s the same with drug store shampooo and is the main reason why sometimes hair color won’t penetrate the hair as well or it’ll fade after about a week or 2. Drug store products are SHIT, and they might have such a low amount of “vitamins” that makes it passable as having any vitamin at all, just like food that is labeled organic. No offense to anyone who legit might not have the money for expensive products, I do get it but now you know the truth about drug store products. I’m sure Sally’s has something better.

Fun fact: If you look on the back of any shampoo bottle, the first 3 ingredients are what you’re getting the most of.

A teacher of mine once said “If you don’t get your hair done at Walgreens why are you buying your hair product from there?”

Hair truly does affect the way you feel and if it doesn’t look good or feel good, chances are there might be days you don’t either. I mean, when you go to get a blow out and your hair is huge like a Victoria Secret model, do you feel like shit the rest of the day? Hell no, you feel like you need to go out and live your life because you feel great about yourself. That’s why it’s so important to take care of your hair and really LISTEN to what your stylist is recommending for you. Choose wisely who you want doing your hair. Social media is so important nowadays and instagram is #1 where people go to look at photos of everyone’s work so pick and choose who you really want touching your hair.

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So to me doing hair is like being a surgeon and book keeping is like keeping records of these guests to see what we did last time and if it worked or not just like going to the doctors. It’s a different form of being a doctor to me.

By no means do I ever want a guest to FEEL like they’re at the doctors, obviously, or want my guests to feel like how I perceive being a hairstylist because some people might be sick or hate going to the doctors and so on and want to take a salon day to feel better and forget about their day for a minute. But this is just the way I interpret being a hair stylist because it helps me take the job more serious.

Above everything talked about, I definitely feel strong about making people feel really good about themselves. I’ve always been about making someone feel good and to be honest, you just never know what tomorrow holds. We’re not promised tomorrow so make the best of today. We are one of the very few occupations that allow you to touch someone, so why not make someone feel amazing after their service? Words of encouragement and making someone feel good by looking good can make anyone’s day better and heal if they’re sick.

After being in a salon for about a month now, I can definitely say I feel I chose the right career path for now. The way I see things and my passion for learning different color lines and different products are what ultimately help me see what’s going on in my heart and let’s me know that I’m trying and giving this 100%.

❤ 🙂