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Have decided to grow my hair long from a near military style haircut. Looking for a salon/stylist friendly to the idea of men with long hair in the Los Angeles/San Diego Areas. Any Suggestions?
No such animal. After many years and many bad experiences I
have come to the conclusion that hair stylists are scum. If
there is a good one out there I have yet to find him/her. If
there are any hair care professionals out there, someone should
tell them how someone like me holds them in such disdain.
i hate to prejudice you against the hair care profession so i will preface what i'm about to post with, "i'm sure there are longhair friendly stylists out there"... having expressed that i will say that my experiences have been similar to ken's... this over nearly 10 years. i invariably received a chop job even after giving the most unambiguous detailed instructions to "just get split ends- please do not mess with the length" i averaged about a 4-inch setback at the hands of a professional.
Interesting...
I have kinda the opposite problem.
I hadn't been into my stylist in about 5 months - I usually go in about every 3. As a result, my hair was about 1-1/2 inches longer than I wanted it. I had to do some talking to get her to remove the extra length - she loves long hair on both sexes. Mine is mid-back in length - worn loose - but there is a certain point when it becomes "too long" and needs to be kept at that mid-back length.
So good stylists *ARE* out there...
-Zorba
Hello Sean,
You could perhaps refer to the following link.
The disclaimer is that I'm not an American but I've got this list from a trusted international long hair site. The salons were visited and testified by many long-haired ladies to be "long-hair friendly".
The advice is to be very clear as to what you want for your hair. A short conversation with the stylist would usually reveal if he/she is long-hair friendly or not. Be observant.
I live in San Diego, and I do understand where folks like Ken and John are coming from, as I also had more than my share of bad experiences on the road to getting what I wanted from a stylist. First off, there seem to be two different philosophies among stylists. One type feels that his/her purpose in life is to make the client look good, and considers him/herself to be the expert on "looking good," regardless of what the client may wish or believe. Avoid these people. If you tell a stylist that you want to grow your hair long, and they respond by telling you that short hairstyles are more fashionable, or would be more flattering to you, or that "nobody has long hair any more," thank them politely and head for the hills. The second philosophy is what I call service-oriented and aims to listen to and respond positively to the customer's wishes. These are the folks you need to find.
Any decent salon offers a free consultation for new clients. Here's what finally worked for me: When I met with my stylist, my hair was barely over my ears, and frankly looked kind of scruffy. I told her that I was looking for someone to help me take care of my hair on a regular basis, but it would have to be someone who wouldn't freak at the idea of an old guy like me (then in my mid-forties) having long hair. I told her that within a year I wanted to have a pony tail that would hang well below my shoulders. She didn't blink, but told me she wanted to "give you what YOU want. If you're happy, I'll be happy."
I've been seeing her for problably ten years now, about every six weeks. The first year, she just cut the "weeds" that stuck up as I was growing it out. She also would even it up a bit, since I was working and needed to present a neat appearance, even as my hair grew out. There have been times when I felt she took too much off, but I told her so, and in general we've got along very well. In fact, she does some tricks with shears and comb that make it appear that I have more hair than I really do. In recent years I've had her add some "low-lights" as my increasing gray was starting to make me look pretty grizzled.
I should add that when I've been pleased, I make sure that I reward her for it; she's also done many things for me, such as juggling her schedule, and once even coming to work on her day off. Even so, after all this time, she's not just my stylist, she's a friend. May you be as lucky.
.....JP in san diego.
Thanks, JP, Jin and the rest of you for your feedback. JP, who is your stylist and where can I find him/her?