Should You Bring In A Photo To Your Hairstylist?
A photograph can help you express how youò€™d like your hair to feel. Perhaps the photo is wispy, or long, or cropped very short. This gives us an idea of the direction youò€™d like to go. But expecting a stylist to make your hair look exactly like the photo is not often realistic, especially if you donò€™t look nor have the hair of the person in the photo. ÒOver the years certain celebrity looks have captured the hearts of women everywhere. Dorothy Hammel, Farrah Fawcett, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Anniston, Jessica Simpson, Katie Holmes... Most often the photograph is of a woman under age 30. If I were to show her the exact same haircut and style on a woman over 45, sheò€™d sayò€¦ "Oh no, I donò€™t like THAT haircut."
Avoid bringing in a photo of a woman who has a lower hairline and thicker hair than you. Many women have thinning hair in the temple and front, which makes it virtually impossible to recreate the look in a magazine. Ò
Another idea is to bring in photos of haircuts you have liked and not liked on yourself. I get this frequently. It helps me figure out where youò€™re at. Hopefully itò€™s a realistic consultation, and youò€™re not bringing in a photo of you 20 years ago when your hair and face was 20 years younger.
Recently a client brought in a selection of haircuts she has worn over the years. They were all the same. Short, layered, with ò€œheightò€ on top, tucked behind the ears, wispy bangs, and hair around the neck. Classic and appropriate. It was a good look for her, but she wanted another opinion. Because any suggestion of change made her start to shake, she left with the same cut. I told her this is a good look for her. If it works, it works. Ò Ò Ò
What doesnò€™t work is bringing in several photos and pointing to different elements of each one. ò€œI like the bangs in this one, but the crown in this. Iò€™d like it longer than this one, but I like how the hair goes forward on the sides in thisò€¦ò€ This approach is a recipe for trouble. I canò€™t tell you how many times I hear someone say, ò€œIò€™d like that hairstyle, but with bangs.ò€ Its like, ò€œIò€™d like those chocolate chip cookies, without the chocolate chips.ò€ If you want that hairstyle with bangs, itò€™s not that hairstyle. I get where youò€™re going, but youò€™ll be disappointed with the results. Itò€™s best to find a plain cookie you like, rather than a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chip. They are two different recipes.
This approach is only topped by drawing pictures. When a woman is drawing pictures of how sheò€™d like her hair, thereò€™s an excellent chance itò€™s just not going to happen. I remember an attractive and mature woman with an exact idea of how she wanted her hair. She wanted to use no product and no toolsò€”just a blow dryer when she absolutely had to. She wanted the hair very blunt and inverted (shorter in the back longer on the sides) with face-framing layers. She had had her haircut like that years ago ò€œin New Yorkò€ and had never again found another stylist able to duplicate it.
What she didnò€™t seem to grasp was that her hair had become wavier over the years. The gray hair around the temples was wiry, and some alterations of her expectations (such as use of a flat iron to straighten out the disobedient areas and products to add softness) were in order.
As she showed me her etchings, giving me precise directions as to how she wanted the look to be created, I realized I wasnò€™t the right stylist for her. I am sure there is someone out there who could recreate her vision but it wasnò€™t me. Finding the right hairdresser is more than just communication and cutting itò€™s also about chemistry.
How to make photos work when consulting your hairdresser: Ò Ò Ò
*Choose photos of hair texture like yours and a hairline similar to yours.
*Choose photos of real women rather than airbrushed and enhanced celebrities.
*Realize most celebrity shots are after theyò€™ve had a stylist spend much time on them.
*Donò€™t expect an exact replica of the cut in the photo, but a general feel of that look.
*Avoid trying to show a cut, but add exceptions (i.e. like this, but with bangs, or like this, only longer).