new thread
I caught a program last night on VH-1. It as about supposedly about helping two people (a guy and a girl)"improve" themselves so they become more date-able. The guy had beautiful shoulder-length hair, sort of the 80s feathered look, and it very much fit his personality, and his profession; he was a rock musician. Needless to say, the two girls who acted as his stylist absolutely massacred his hair in a way that a two year old might cut his own hair with a pair of blunt scissors. The poor guy was extremely apprehensive while discussing what they planned to do, and what they did was a lot more than what they told him they planned to do. I can only hope that he was paid a bundle of bucks for his extremely bad makeover.
I have heard so much advice about being cautious around stylists. The part about doing more than they say is what irritates me. If you are unwilling to do what I ask, tell me, and I will find someone who is.
Something similar happened to me. I have extremley curly hair, and my first attempt at growing out hair was going well; parts of it were already shoulder length. As the night of senior academic awards approached, I had to get what was supposed to be a trim. The experience is still vividly with me, I remember my exact words to the stylist "Keep the length, but a little less bushy." By time I was done I had maybe 1.5 inches left.
That was a few years ago, and whenever I go for a trim, I constantly watch in the mirror and make sure they are not hacking away. I have since recovered and far surpassed what growth I had, but I always wonder how it would look if that had not happened. Moral of the story, when someone tells you to stay away from the sylist DO IT. If you are forced to go, watch their every move.
Pearson
A similar situation happened to be once and my hair tends to get bushy as well.
One time I went to a so-called hair "stylist" when I wanted my shoulder length locks trimmed and told them to trim it up, but I wanted to keep the length.
when I got out of the chair I could see the bottom of my earlobes.
I was NOT pleased at all and never went to that snip shop again!
I think they're not used to doing longer hair on Men and to them if your hair covers any part of your ears or eyebrows it's long hair in their minds. most of these 'stylists' put an attachment on a pair of clippers when they do a guys hair and start buzzing it off and to them it's either a short businessman/regular type cut or buzzcut which they are trained to do!
I do hope the 'buzzed' look dies out completely though and long hair becomes the norm or at least semi-long hair becomes the norm so that these stylists stop thinking Men should all have super short hair and put away the clippers and learn to use a pair of scissors and just trim it like they used to!!
^^^^ That's the truth! You have to watch every snip, seriously!
^^^^ It's not just on men, stylists hack women's hair off too. No matter who you are, if you go for a cut/trim, you have to be very specific, and you have to watch them like a hawk. If you can learn to trim your own hair, that is the best thing to do.
Hmmmmm, how about if you just skip getting your hair trimmed altogether which has a 100% safety factor for preserving length:)My last trim was in 2005!LOL
Mark
He may as well have gone to just about any Salon on any Street Corner anywhere and they might(?) actually have even done a bit "better." Like about 1/2 of 1%.
Of course, there are some extremely good stylist out there that do listen. Trouble is, just try and find one. But, they ARE there. (Just like a needle in a haystack.)
Justin~
Justin, I know of a very adept and conscientious stylist. my partner, Steve. he owned a Scottsdale salon before retiring. yet still has patrons come to the house as they will not have their hair touched by enyone else. I have no qualms about him giving my hair the occasional shape-up. he listens closely to his customers and informs them of what will be done. Then does it. If you're ever in Phoenix and want your hair treated right, you know who to see.
Hi Rktect,
So good to hear about stylists who DO listen clearly and listen well, and then follow the customer's requests exactly -- I know of a couple of hair stylists in San Francisco like that as well! They might charge more than the average joe schmoe stylist / barber; but worth every $$ more, and then some!!!
- Ken
Hey Ken
You are so right, and yes, it IS worth the extra $$ more rather than walking out of a place looking as if you had just been washed up on a beach after a shipwreck! :-0 (Sometimes I think the very good ones were just born with the ability like a musician, composer, artist etc. most likely is.) Takes a special talent. Take care and hope all has been well with you! :-)
Justin~
Thanks! I have one now and no matter what, everytime is a 100% success! :-)
Personally I hate these makeover programs as if the poor guy happens to have longhair good chance he'll get scalped!I'm glad I didn't see this program and thanks for warning of it's existence. I'll know now to avoid VH1.Cheers
This is very much the rule rather than the exception in makeover shows. They want to make a dramatic change for the sake of supposedly good television, so they hack most of your hair off if it is long, regardless of gender. I have heard of them actively seeking long haired people of either gender and offering inducements to appear, but it is a bad bargain.
This is pretty much par for the course when watching commercial media. The media content operates on all kinds of assumptions, including what is "supposed" to be "beautiful." In this world, women need boob jobs, makeup, and the trendiest clothes, and men need short hair, a nice car and watch football all the time. Gender roles are routinely strengthened in the media, no matter how much it contradicts well-being and reality. It's all conducive to delivering profits.
Do you think it's far worse today than it was 20 or 30 years ago?
one show which I now boycott on a regular basis is the show
"Charmed" and it's because of the character Wyatt(son of Piper and Leo) , who appeared all grown up on an episode and went back into time with his short preppie haircut and was considered the 'good son' and when he transformed into the 'evil son' his hair became long and he wore black clothes.
You do realize Charmed has been out of production for a number
of years now. Every episode you see is in syndication.
The last episode made was May 2006.
I don't know if I can say it's worse now, just because there are so many other ways to access media these days. I think someone is going to find it easier to find others they can identify with, especially in websites, etc that aren't profit-driven. Things are more niched now.
But in commercial media, it's certainly as bad or worse.
Rats! I'm all wrong! I lost weight and got rid of slight "moobs", wear eyeliner occasionally to goth venues, and wear fashionably cool clothes. On the other hand, I hate short hair, don't have a car, and never watch football.
I blame it all on not being properly brainwashed by the media as a kid. If only I'd paid more attention! Sigh ... :)
Damon
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