Psychology Of Hairdressing

I have been thinking about what would be good information for people to know about why I do what I do. Since I began going to college for my degree, people have asked me why I feel the need to change my career.

Well the short answer is, I don't. I feel the need to expand my mind and earn a degree in something I have already been practicing for a long time now. One of the first lessons Miss Kris gave us in theory class back at Beau La Reine, was how to communicate with clients. Most of what hairdressers do is psychology. Let me explain.

When a client sits in my chair and tells me what they want with their hair, it always has something to do with how they think they look, how they want to look, how their partner thinks they look best, what their mom used to do to them, their last visit to the hairdresser was a nightmare...etc. The list goes on and on, and it very rarely has to do with the actual hair on the head of the client. It really is more about what is inside their head.

One of the funniest things I remember from my early training was a cartoon that Miss Kris brought in to illustrate the point of our future jobs. I looked over the world wide web to find it, but came up short. So I will have to explain it and that will have to do, unless one of you can find it for me! Anyway, the picture showed a stylist with a client in her chair and the list of licenses on the wall in front of them. There was of course cosmetologist, then family therapist, marriage counselor, financial advisor, wedding planner...the list continued. I can't remember them all, that was the late 80's for crying out loud.

So the point is, that the job of a hairdresser is not just to cut, color and style the hair. It is all about planting a seed of what we (the hairdresser) thinks is appropriate and getting the client on board with that idea. Really, no matter what it is....We invent sometimes crazy, whacked, totally insane ideas, and sell them to people everyday. Why? Just ask the tattoo artist why...ask the fashion designer why...

Because we can. People trust our judgement. They trust that we know more about hair than they do. And for the most part, that is true. But ask anyone who has had even one bad experience at the hairdresser's and they will be the first to tell you that is not always the case. It only takes one bad episode to ruin a great hairstylist. One client telling the world the horrors of your scissor happy ways, and your once brilliant career as hair god, is over!

How do I know?

Confession: Every great hairstylist has a bad day now and then when their work is less than perfect. We know it, you know it. Some of us will lie, some of us are really great cover up artists...and some of us never recover to go on. Most hairdressers I know do what they do because they love it, and are really good at their craft. Some are excellent. Some are just plain artists. Of course, there are those who should not be in the field at all and we know who you are! But for the most part hairdressers are talented people, who love to do hair and are looking for ways to express our vision. Your hair is our canvas. What you say about our work matters.

For me, it is not necessarily about the amount of money I make, it is more about the friends I make, and the relationships that follow me. Just ask any of my clients...