Do you take in photos? I have found that very helpful. I take in a print of things I know are potentially possible with my five strands of fine hair. ;)

I have had decent luck with the walk in Great Clips cuts. Those stylists are trained at the same local schools as the high priced stylists. The difference is that they break out the services ala carte. If you go in for a shampoo, cut and style, you end up paying just a little less than a full service la de da salon. If you go for a cut you get just that, a cut. No style. Again, visual aides are a must. I can describe all day long but only a photo really shows them what I have in mind.

I'm currently dealing with a really, really dark dye job. I said match my natural color. See the roots back here... Apparently my natural color roots at the back of my neck are nearly black. Ugh. She offered to do a "bleach wash" to help it lighten but I declined. It'll fade, right? Yeah. It'll fade.

yes, it will fade. Wash it more often than usual.

weed, omygod, what a waste; it will grow in so maybe go to supercuts for an in between trim so you are not commiting to an all new cut.

I'm not totally in love with what my hairdresser does but I am terrified to change.

weed LOL you had me laughing hysterically. But I totally get where you are coming from. This has happened to me. It seems the stylists don't quite know how to blow out my hair. I see these girls leaving with precision haircuts and they look just so. Then I look like they're half done. Once I even said just give me the hairdryer and I did it myself!

I FEEL your pain! In my state, they go to cosmetology school only a bit over 600 hours. How do they feel entitled to $75 or more an hour (plus tip!)and do a crappy job?

Yeah, it's expensive! I've been going to the same person forever. Most times I'm pleased with what I walk out with and then there have been times when I walk out thinking "what was she thinking"? I stay because I'm afraid to go. When I've been unhappy with a haircut I always try to go back in within the week and she will try to fix it for free. I recently went shorter than I ever have and I'm beginning to like it. Then I may wake up in the morning and decide to grow it out. Sheeze!

My hairdresser also knows that I will keel over and then I'd trip her if she ever put black in my hair or gives me the "helmet hairdo". I think that's one reason I stay because she knows what I like and dislike.

barnmom, I will take in photos next time. I will have someone take photos of the back of my current cut and say "NOT THIS!!!"

Isn't it sad/interesting that some of us are unhappy, but scared to change?
It's like "I want to find a new stylist, but they might give me an even WORSE cut...."

I'm about to venture back this week to the aforementioned hairdresser for a roots touch up and a trim. Yes it has faded. It isn't black anymore, but it is still very, very dark.

Pray for me. ;)

I feel your pain. I am of Irish heritage - with the dry, excessively thick, naturally wavy hair that goes with it. I do not suit it short - facial features for one - but hair type as well - within a week I would need it cut again as it would grow like a bush sideways. And I greyed at 23 - ugly iron grey - and obviously since tomorrow is the big 59 I would be completely grey. I have had it coloured to its original auburn ever since - did it myself for many years then just couldn't get the colour any more. They call what I get a colour "touch-up" but it costs as the same as a regular full colour. The colour tech applies to roots - this takes her 5 minutes - and then the person rinsing my hair applies the leftover colour for 5 minutes to rest of hair. I have been investigating doing it myself again, but hard with my stubborn grey and weird acidic body chemistry. Highlights don't show on my hair - one guy "insisted" on putting 2 in because he wanted to see how they would look - he had another customer with my colouring. I knew they wouldn't show up - so he went ahead - I was clear that it was his choice to do it - and also to make sure he put them in a blind spot. Well as I expected he couldn't find them - my hair is porous and I appear to have highlights when I don't. So I go to pay the bill and he charged me $20 Cdn. for the 2 highlights. I questioned this and he said that was the cost for the service. I am sure you can imagine the discussion that followed. I ended the discussion by telling him to consider the $20 his tip and never went back. I do have someone who can cut my hair - and boy was it hard to find someone. Years ago I went to a person who did a great job - problem with my hair is that a good hairdreser can do anything with it - I can do zip. So he took a course - a week before my wedding - not pretty. It is helpful if the client might actually suit the style. And beware hairdressers with the thinning shears who turn you away from the mirror. Not about to happen again. I have to book 2 months ahead to get an appointment with the fellow I am going to now. The colouring is done elsewhere - the hair cutter moved to the salon where I went 3 years ago - the same salon where I had the highlights disaster so was not about to follow her. She did an okay job but wanted to fit as many clients in as possible - she cut my hair in same amount of time as she cut my husband's - kind of scary. The current fellow blows my hair dry before he cuts it - and he does it with a brush - not just flinging the hair dryer about and then flat ironing it to death. Then he cuts it. He does this because I am hair dryer challenged so just stick my head under tap to wash and then put in some curl enhancer. If he cuts it too short I will have that short, tight curly look that so many women of a certain age adopt - and I don't want that. People then ask me why I curl my hair when it looks so much better straight. Yep! Can't win. If you lived in Toronto I could give you some ideas of where to go.

Whew. It went okay. I needed my roots touched up so she did that and added some very fine caramel highlights to brighten the deep dark solid color. I like it. The cut was just a trim. I'm letting my hair grow for now. Some how hair at just below shoulder length is easier to style than chin length.

Glad to hear it, barnmom...sounds pretty with the caramel highlights.

I have decided to go back to my original stylist for color. $50 for highlights/lowlights and she does a good job. The search for a decent stylist will continue.

That's why I now let my hair grow long and trim it myself (with DH inspecting the back for me). At this age, longer hair looks younger anyway. So when I don't feel like washing it or it doesn't look that great I can just pull it back. I color it myself too.

Maybe next time I need a trim I'll go to Supercuts.

I right there with you, and that is why I was googling "why can't I get a decent haircut."
I have very obstinate thick (in volume) but fine in texture, super straight, but with a few weirdly place cowlicks. What a hot mess. Over the course of my life (I'm 56) I have had exactly 2 hairdressers that gave me a good cut every time. One died on me (how dare he), I was only in my 20's. The other, I moved out of state and he had the nerve to stay where he was.
Since then I have tried so many hairdressers. Most of them recommended by friends that have awesome looking hair. None of them cheap. All have done a crappy (and worse) job. I have had my hair cut 3 times in the past 2 weeks, trying to get a decent cut. Today I paid $65 and this is the worst yet, and now it is too short to "fix" anymore without just shaving my head. I don't know if I will ever have the nerve to get my hair cut again. It may just have to grow, in whatever fashion that takes, until it reaches a point where they can just start trimming the ends. I really don't want long hair because of the maintenance, but that's better than horrible looking short hair. Totally frustrating.

Although this post is now old, it really seems to have struck a nerve.
I'm the latest victim of a bad haircut, a simple a-line that she could NOT get straight. She kept cutting and cutting, trying to get the ends to fall in line, and finally I said enough. Thank God it's winter, I can wear a hat for a few months, maybe until July.

I just found this thread too. I am totally frustrated. I'll go to someone new and they do a good job for the first few times then it seems they take me for granted and start to slack off. I am sick and tired of getting cuts that are uneven. Just checked my hair after today's haircut and my right side is a whole one inch shorter than my left. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR! How stinkin' hard is it to check your client's hair to make sure it is even all the way around? I do better cutting it myself!

I am also a good tipper, BTW. IMO they should work extra hard to make sure the cut's good.

I now cut my own hair with one of those as-seen-on-tv widgets that attach to a vacuum. The hair cut isn't as good as the best haircuts I've ever had, but it's as good as at least half of them.

I have had several bad haircuts from high end salons. So many of them don't know how to cut curly hair. Luckily, I found the hairdresser of my dream! He's cut my hair for the last 13 years. He knows that with fine, curly hair, you can't cut it short or it will spring up when it's dry and look awful - at least for me. I keep my hair longer - past my shoulders - and wash it every other day. I get lots of compliments on it. I get trims every 3 months, but sometimes, I've gone as long as 5 months and will usually just trim the ends lightly myself at home. Deep conditioning is a must for my hair type and I do this on the weekends and only add it to the ends. I blow dry it every other day as well and make sure to use a heat protectant sprayed on wet hair before you blow dry - tresseme makes a great one in a red bottle. Hope this helps!

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