I feel your pain! For years I had very short hair because the person I went to cut everyone's hair the same. She used to cut it short on top and cut out around the ears - awful! I felt like a man with lipstick! I finally decided to go to a new salon, certainly pricier but the stylist was excellent. I decided it was worth it to pay the extra $25.00 a cut than to always be self-conscious about my hair. I talked first with the manager and told her I wanted someone with the skill of cutting and styling coarse, thick hair. She recommended Corinna who did my hair for about 4 years and I never had a complaint about any haircut she gave me. She left her job in September to spend time with her children and pursue her art career but, before she left, she recommended that I let Chelsea do my hair. I am very pleased with her work but it's taking her time to get used to my hair. She leaves it about 4 - 5" long on top and long enough (3 - 4") on the sides for me to tuck it behind my ears.

I think the trick is to find an experienced stylist and sit and talk with her/him before ever letting her/him put scissors anywhere near your hair. Make sure they understand your needs. If you feel comfortable then make an appointment to get a haircut.

The last time, and I do mean the LAST time I had my hair professionally (?) cut was several years ago. The stylist was actually on her cell phone while she was cutting my hair, talking to someone called Amanda who was having trouble with her boyfriend. In addition to getting a lousy cut, I got to hear all about who did what to whom and when and how often. When I mentioned that perhaps this conversation should be carried on in private and NOT on my dollar, the stylist replied that Amanda was having a tough time and needed her help.
When I left, with a bad haircut, I refused to pay, but not before asking if I could speak to Amanda (yes, they were still on the phone). I told her she owed the stylist the cost of the haircut, then took the phone and dropped it in the shampoo basin. I suggested that the stylist tell the owner of the shop why the phone got all wet.
I learned to cut my own hair.

Oh trust me, I know exactly what you're going through. I had the best hairdresser ever. But she quit her job to go back to school to work in an office. So I've been on the hunt for someone who is up to date with today's hair colouring techniques and who can cut hair *right*. The first girl 'chunked' my hair, she didn't highlight like I asked her. And she only used one highlighting colour, not the three my other hairdresser always used. My other hairdresser always did more than the crown of my head with highlights and she took very few strands of hair so the highlights were very subtle. Not chunky. So I went to another hairdresser for a cut. I asked for a pixie cut. Not too short, but short. That was the last week of August. I coloured my hair at home the day before the cut and haven't touched my hair since. Right now, I have 1" of the ends of my hair coloured. That's all she left me. Below is a picture of my hair SIX WEEKS after my cut. Or shall I dare say, since she scalped me:

I'm scared to go to a hairdresser to get my hair trimmed. I just want it shaped a bit. But terrified of what I'll end up with. Or without......

I hate when they do that. I had been growing my layers out for over a year, getting regular trims, and one day the hairdresser layered it again! I had been reminding her at every appointment too. I complained, but they didn't do anything for me, so I didn't go back. It took another year to get it to where I wanted it to be. I finally found someone I like, but she keeps doing something annoying too. Why can't they just listen?

This is the reason I have cut my own hair for about 15 years. I watched how they cut hair and can do it myself. However, I am thinking of biting the bullet and going and getting a "new" style. Then again...............maybe not! LOL

In my adult life I can remember three times I was happy with a hair cut and thought I had found the person to continue going to. Trouble is, they never cut it the same way again. I dread having to get a hair cut. I've even tried my husband's barber thinking he couldn't do any worse than a so-called hair stylist. My hair grows fast and it needs cutting again and I have no idea who I will try this time.

I finally learned how to handle this. I tell the girl "I don't want to look like I've gotten a haircut. Maybe 1/3 inch".
I'd rather go every 3 weeks and spend that money than go home bald, which believe me, I've done in the past. I haven't gotten one too short in a long time. Just a trim. I only want a short trim. It's easier if they'll cut it dry. Not many will I've found. Do I ever feel your pain!!! I used to have a wig I kept for just those times.

I love the lady who cuts my hair! I've been going to her for years and have gone from shoulder length to short and back again many times. Right now I have it cut shorter in front and longer on the sides. I can wash it and let it dry naturally and it is ready to go. When I get it trimmed, I always make another appointment for 7 weeks. She is so busy that I have to make appointments like that or I'd never get in.

Mine grows fairly fast too..in a little over 1 1/2 yrs it was almost to the middle of my back from being less than an inch long.I know it will grow back in no time but stilll...I pictured this cute shag sort of haircut in my mind.With the top being short enough to "muss up" and the sides feathered around my face while the back would be rather long.I had it all pictured and LOVED it! This mess she made is nowhere near that..I think I embarrassed Larry and he's hard to embarrass. But I didn't scream ,just told her she was done cutting.AND I did pay her...no tip but still,she got paid for making me look worse than normal.Her boss heard me and asked "Is it to short?" Well ...DUH! So what was she going to do about it? Glue it back on? I came home and cried...I hate it so bad.I hate that an idiot made me cry....Oh welll...what's another 1 1/2 to 2 yrs out of my life to grow my hair back? LOL!I swear they just pull people off the street,give them scissors and say "here,you can cut hair!"I have one of those vacuum cleaner hair cutters...going to go back to using it,I guess.

I meant my hair is shorter in the back, not front. Wish we could edit our posts!

NOw, here's a switch! I've always felt they don't cut mine short enough..Growing up and until I was married about 6 years, my hair was half way down my back...Well, when DD was 6 mon. old, I had it cut short...DD cried, she actually didn't know me...Since then, it's been short...I have a lot of body and never need a perm. I wash, flip it around and it's good to go..I laugh when someone asks if I had been to a stylist.....When I do get it cut, it's at one of those cheapie places and in between, I snip away.....Now if the rest of the body would be as easy to maintain and look as good, I'd be happy......

I feel your pain!!! I can count on one hand the number of times I've been happy with a haircut. Countless times I've gone in with a picture or found one in the styling books they have sitting out. I always make sure they understand what my definition of an inch is as opposed to theirs, BUT then they start cutting and it's nothing like we agreed upon.

My current stylist seems to be doing ok, but I still have to come home and even it out some.

CR...although I wear mine short...I know what you mean...they always want to cut the back of my hair really short...What I call an "old ladies" cut...Yes I am old, but I don't want to feel that way and I hate that old lady hair cut.
So I always cut my own...I used to cut everybody else's too.

If we were closer I would cut yours and I would not cut it shorter than you wanted.

Gee...if you want it longer than your ears...can they not tell where your ears are.....????

Sorry...Hugs

patti

(((Chubbyrat))) I've been dealing with bad haircuts for about 2 years now... they either cut it way too short or they don't cut enough off and I end up going back in a few weeks. A couple weeks ago I went to a new stylist (later found out that she had graduated with my DD just 2 years ago) and I LOVE the cut she gave me! She's getting ready to have a baby... so I hope she is back to work when I am due another haircut.

Yep. This is what I got when I took a picture in and told the lady that I needed a professional cut for my interview for the WVU phd program. I cried when I got home- Eric was scared to come home! Took two years but I can now put it in a ponytail again. I have had it trimmed twice in the last year and both times I have all but threatened the stylist. Told them it was to be NO shorter than my shoulders and that the last cut I got made me cry. They were so interested in the "gossip" of the bad haircut that they did a nice job. I will be 38 when I graduate and will probably have a nice gray-haired ponytail for the ceremony! LOL (the gray hairs are coming in nicely with all the school stress!)

{{!gwi}} {{!gwi}}

My boss and the nurse practitioner at the clinic where I worked at the time took LOTS of time helping me figure out how to salvage my hair for the interview. Had to go out and spend $150 on a suit dress because there was no way I could get away with wearing a pants suit with that haircut!

I'm so sick of getting haircuts. I always look the same. I have shoulder length brown hair with a lot of gray and white, especially at the top. I always ask for just a trim, layers and the sides angled. And light bangs. I trim my bangs in between cuts. But I'm lomging for a dramatic change. About three weeks ago, I got highlights. I got compliments from everyone for the first week or so. Anybody else ready for a dramatic change?,

I'm sorry you got a bad cut, CR, I know how disappointing that is. I remember an Orphan Annie perm I got one time, I did cry as I was washing it and washing it and nothing helped at all. I was distraught! That was the last perm I will ever, ever get.

I've been going to the same one-person salon for years and have never had a bad cut, although I did walk out with a teeny little cowlick, once, it was too short right there so it stuck straight up. lol

I keep mine really short, almost as short as Janie's, and I have to go in every 4-5 weeks to keep up with it. (I like yours spiky, Janie!) I do mine like that in the summer.

One thing I did when Anna gave me a spectacular cut, I set up the camera and took a good photo of it and carried it back in the first few times I had her repeat it. She said that was really helpful, because when I go in for a cut, I nearly have bed-head, I don't bother to fix it just for her to wash and cut it.

I'd love a drastic change, but since my hair is already so short, the only change I can do is color. And I'm not going to mess with my 7G, no ma'am! lol

Mine is about the same as yours Janie....maybe a tad longer.And I told them I wanted it LONG in back! The one I got 1 1/2 - 2 yrs ago was shorter than that.
I got a dramatic change...don't want anymore dramatic than this! LOL! Maybe I'll streak it purple & red and people will just think I've totally lost my mind....
Really...maybe I should streak it with white...but if I do,I have a Frost & Tip kit here.I'll do it myself.

I used to always say..."cut it short, but don't make me look like a dyke." I think they just hear "make me look like a dyke."

I've just given up. I hate haircuts and I put off going until I aboslutely have to and then, I say, "I don't care how you cut it." The reason is...they always cut it how they want to anyway.

Once you get a haircut you can live with then go out and buy a Flobbie haircutting system I think they are really reasonable. It is a hairclipper set tht is attached to your vacuum. You "pounce" the cutter shields on your hair and it will take off just as much as you want or hardly ny at all and because you "pounce" it stays in the shape your hair has been cut just trims it up and finishes it.
I've had one for years. Last year I let my DS talk me into getting a pro cut again and the cut was nice and I went back to her faithfully for a couple of months and then stopped. Let it really go then recently went to the guy who cuts DS's hair nd he shaped mine nice. I'll go to him a few more times then back to my Flobbie again. When you use the cutters they are attached to a tube to the Vacuum cleaner so both go tat the same time noisy but no hair flying around. There must be a link somewhere to the Flobbie

here is a google page for t he Flowbee

not trying to sell them

Here is a link that might be useful: Flowbee - Google Search

Who knew so many of us didn't like our haircuts? We've lived here a little over a year and I've had my hair cut 4 times at different places. Some recommended. It seems like each one got progressively worse. Now my hair's a mess. Way too long which ain't too purty for someone my age. Plus I hate it being on my neck.

I took pictures in, too. Told them I wanted it angled in front. Did they do it? Nope--they always cut it same length and I usually have one side longer than the other. I do have to admit they never cut it too short.

I feel your pain, too, CR. Seems there should be some recourse since we're paying for it and not many of us seem too happy!!

Been there and had that! I must admit I go to the cheap places like Supercuts. Sometimes you get someone who knows what they are doing but most of the time not. I have let my hair grow out for the last 2.5 years too. Now I just get the ends trimed. I gave up on short haircuts, just don't look good in them anymore. Sorry you had such a bad experience.
Clare

What's with this hair-cutting program for females?

I thought that, since you characters pay 4 times as much as we for a "simple hair cut", presumably due to the greater complexities involved ... that at the very least the practitioners in the project would know how to deal with the complexities ... and be able to take some directions!

When the boss of the chop (so help me - that's the way it came out! ... and I'm gonna just leave it! ...

...that was supposed to be "shop" ... came over to ask whether it wasn't right - I'd have stuck the picture in her face and asked whether she felt that there was any similarity whatever between what she saw in the picture and what she saw on my head?

And if she thought that there was ...

... then she must have a mirror that lies, for I surely couldn't see it!!

Here's the real deal, for the future, folks ...

... when you show the picture ... tell the cutter that if she doesn't make yours look like the picture ...

... that she climbs into the chair ... and you pick up the scissors!

Memo to the gal whose "cut-up"'s about to go on maternity leave.

Get her phone No. ... maybe, once "settled" (more or less) she could handle some home-based business, at an arranged time.

Have a great loo-o-o-n-n-g-g weekend, gals.

ole joyful (with fairly short hair - that has the neighbour lady cut it, oh, maybe a couple of times a year)

P.S. And I have nary a complaint!

Of course - she doesn't charge, either. Won't take a tip.

o j

Gosh, I had no idea people had such problems with haircuts. I've been going to the same stylist for 16-17 years - from long to a buzz and now growing it out again. I am usually pleased with how my haircut looks and get lots of compliments. The few times I have questioned if I liked the results were because I did not speak up clearly enough. When I was growing up, my mother had sisters who were beauticians and I cried at those cuts and perms. Ugh!!!

Wow I'm sorry to hear so many of you have had bad haircuts. I've owned a Boston salon for years and I can honestly say that my staff is required to consult, in great detail, with the client to define just what the client wants and they are to uses measurements vs pictures. If a technician asked you, Do you want it to cover your ears, behind your ears, to the shoulders etc. you would have had the right haircut. Since they aren't doing that I suggest you do it. Write it down if you have to but make sure they know EXACTLY what you want. If someone were on the phone doing my heair, I would tell them I'll wait until you can give me the attention I'm paying for.
I always tell people to find a person who you think has a great haircut and then ask her where she got it down and who did it, then call and make an appt. with that person. You have a far better chance of getting what you want.

Another one who loves the Flowbee. It is so easy to use and the best thing is no hair all over. I have never had a mistake with it because you choose how long or short you want to go and you always get the same cut without worry. Sorry you had a stylist who didn't listen to you.

i'd be happy if they just cut it the same on both sides of my head!

After wearing a modified mullet (short on top, down to my behind in back) for a lot of years, my daughter convinced me to get a new style. I loved what the designer did, but the $60 price tag is more than I can justify every six weeks. So I armed myself with a photo of my new cut and six weeks later took it to a less expensive salon. In addition to showing her the photo I took care to explain it as well. She assured me she understood exactly what I was talking about, then proceeded to give me an entirely different style. Tears? You bet! But still, I went back to her again and again, telling her each time how to make it more closely resemble my previous style, and eventually it was very close. I thought we had come to an understanding and then the next time she cut my hair it was a whack job again! I've had the flowbee for many years and used it to cut my husband's and grandchildren's hair, so I began to use it on myself, too. It did alright, but not the style I wanted. It has been more than 2 months since my last haircut and I just didn't know which way to go. In a moment of desperation I drove down to the little shop that my 81 year old mother goes to. I asked for the owner (she cuts Mom's hair and is in her late 60's). I had printed out my photo to show her, but in my haste, had forgotten to bring it with me. I proceeded to explain my style and she said she knew exactly what I meant. I knew I was going to drive home in tears, but I just couldn't get up and leave. And guess what? When she was done I WAS nearly in tears! I couldn't believe my eyes. It was exactly the style I verbalized to her. Bless you, little old Lina!