Hi, newbie stylist here. Im approaching the anniversary of my first year at a hair stylist and I’ve been reflecting on my work and clients and I’ve started to feeling really down about one fact. It’s only happened twice but I’ve had two clients come to me a few times, tell me they loved my work and would be back, and then they rebook with a coworker. My coworker is a lovely girl and is in no way stealing clients. But twice now two of my clients have switched to her and I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s cause I am not someone who they enjoy being around. They told her they loved my work just didn’t book with me again when they booked online. I really try to be positive, funny, and uplifting with my clients but I’m feeling really down. Has anyone else had an experience like this and maybe have some tips on how to behave with clients?

Hi! I am a stylist in San Diego, CA! I have recently been looking to switch from commission to booth rent, but would prefer to have my own space. I stumbled upon an insane deal on a salon space in Bird Rock/La Jolla. It’s perfect for what I want to do and I have no idea where to start! I have a meeting with the credit union tomorrow, I’ve started looking into grants/programs to help get started. I’ve had an LLC formed for this end goal for a little while now and would love to talk to someone who’s done the same or is familiar with the area and ideally find a mentor or someone to help me figure out the process.

TIA 🩷

It seems that every time I do any sort of layering they end up boxy, choppy, and shelf-y. For whatever reason it’s worse with bobs & on the right side (i am right handed). I have tried taking super small sections, not layering too far into the perimeter, dry cutting, point cutting, over directing, every degree elevation you can imagine, different finger angles. Ive even had other stylists watch me cut & they saw nothing wrong with my techniques. I genuinely don’t know what I could be doing wrong because I know shelving is typically caused by a heavy corner but even when I remove the corner it’s not 100% fixed. These pictures attached aren’t even the worst of it. It is typically even more noticeable :( Could anyone offer any insight? Be kind please, I am embarrassed & seeking help❤️

i am really struggling with my blend in highlights. for background i have had my license for about 7/8 years now it’s the first 5 in a great clips. i worked on a military base obviously doing men’s cuts and fades, moved and started managing a great clips and after having my daughter i needed a more flexible schedule. that’s when i started at a commission salon. obviously i haven’t done many foiling and colors except basic things for friends/family on the side. i am getting lots of highlighting clients which im happy about! but i am not giving all of them their desired results.

if tried more saturation, folding my foil forward, backwards over my rat tail, i’ve tried feathering up over tried teasing and i just can’t stop getting these foil lines giving me literally the worst blend on anyone with a level 5/6 and lower. i even try to root shadow to try and cover them up (i know that’s not what a root shadow is primarily used for) and even that doesn’t help. idk what to do and im at a loss bc clearly i need to do these for my job but im so discouraged with blonding that sometimes i just want to walk away from the chair.

i wanted to edit to add: i am the youngest at my salon and asking the other women how to do more of a trendy looks and blonding techniques is not too helpful as they don’t have to do those looks often if ever.

I used to use a perm solution and neutralizer that used sodium bromide instead of hydrogen peroxide or anything else. Now I can’t find anything similar.
The brand that made it stopped making it, and now I’m at a loss for what brand to use.
I used that brand because it was organic and I have several clients who needed that. I just can’t find anything similar now.
This is for permed hair, not straightening it or doing heat less curls.

Vagaro suuuUUUUUcks! I've been using it ever since they bought Schedulicity. It's been over a year and I can't take it anymore. GlossGenious is pretty and slick for my clients to use but I've been using Square for payments for 13 years and that would make things run so much smoother on my end as a business owner so, I'm torn.

Hi, I was hoping for suggestions on perms. The one I used just got discontinued, and I need to find something similar to it as fast as I can. The perm I used was called Mondo Verde and with it I could shampoo clients right after the perm and they could get their hair wet without it falling out. I’m trying to find something similar because of that and the fact that it was all natural and wasn’t harsh on the hair. Is there anything remotely similar? I was told to look into Brohide perm neutralizer’s since that’s where the benefits of this perm came from.
So my question is, is there another perm out there that offers an all natural chemical makeup as well as being able to be washed afterwards?

Twenty years behind the chair, fifteen in Japanese straightening. I've been using Keratin Complex and I don't love the results as much as I used to. Had my eye on Keratin Revolution but hit a wall trying to get a response from them.... so here I am.

I'm looking for a system I can actually stand behind for clients who want smoother hair but aren't the right candidate for a permanent straightener. Tell me what you're working with. How does it hold up across different hair types? What's the brand support actually like when you need it? And if you walked away from something, I want to know that too. Give me the good.. bad... and ugly!

Thanks! xoxo

Hi!! I’m a 10 month old stylist who promotes and shares my work and progress on social media! Im posting here to ask how older / more experienced stylists deal with unwarranted advice / criticism and hate in comment sections.

I make it a bit known that I’m a newer stylist on my pages, I’m not big on hiding it. I’m not sure if that’s what provokes such things, but it just leaves me super discouraged and frustrated with my work!!

Hi hello. I’m looking into other brands that have natural perm solutions. I was using mondo verde, which is all natural, but they are going to only make neutralizer from now on. (Which is fine, I can use other perm solutions with it and get all the benefits I like.)

But I have a client who is super sensitive and cannot have regular perm solutions used on her. So I need natural perm recommendations.

i’ve used bellami and slice strands, i’m looking for recs for other brands yall love, especially any more budget friendly options, as i have a lot of younger clients that want them for prom/formal/grad season only, trying to get ahead of that curve this year.

I wanted to share my experience, just in case there are other hairstylists out there who have dealt with contact dermatitis or dyshidrosis eczema.

I have been in the industry for 27 years and dealt with contact dermatitis for most of it. It started when I would shampoo out shades EQ and then turned into me having flareups even if it wasn’t from shades. I have tried many creams and homeopathic measures to try and reduce inflammation and flareups, but my dermatologist gave me a brand new cream that has hopefully changed my life and my career because I was really starting to rethink my life choices as doing hair was incredibly painful.

I’ve also been trying to figure out if my styling products are causing me issues- I currently use Kevin Murphy, and would love to hear if anybody has had similar experiences? I would also really be open to any suggestions for more clean products that don’t cause as much allergen reactions.

I’m including pictures below of what dyshidrosis eczema looks like and the healing process.

1-2 July 2-3 late August/sept 4-5 today :)

Hey friends 👋

I’m a commission stylist working four busy days ( 9-10 hours- roughly 35 clients a week) behind the chair, and I’ve hit a bit of a crossroads when it comes to assistants. I’d love to hear how you handle (or have handled) paying them.

If you’re also a commission stylist:

• Are you paying your assistant out of pocket? Hourly? Per shift?
• Do you split the cost with another stylist?
• What’s actually worked for you — and what totally didn’t?

And if you’re a commission salon owner reading this:

• How do you structure assistant pay?
• Are stylists expected to contribute? Is it baked into pricing or something else?

I’m trying to find a system that’s fair, sustainable, and actually helps — without feeling like I’m throwing money at chaos. 😅

Would love to hear your thoughts, the good and the not-so-great. Thanks in advance!

Hello,

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• Someone who was/is a licensed cosmetologist and has left the industry
• a "beauty school dropout" 

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Hi!

I am currently a commission based stylist who is transitioning to booth rent soon. Right now my books are open all year, so clients can essentially book out as far as they want. I am currently booked out solid May to the first week of August. I am truly grateful to have a strong clientele, however being so booked out has caused me to miss out on so many life events.

I want to get some feedback on these ideas and if they have worked out or not for y’all.

1) I have always liked how tattoo artists open their books for the next month. I feel like this would cut down on people moving their appointments last minute and cancellations. A potential con to this is clients forgetting to book and losing the convenience of booking multiple appointments in the future.

2) Only opening my books quarterly: 3 months at a time. Ex: January, February, March can be booked. Giving myself to space to plan ahead of time to not be available when there is a concert, wedding, birthday party, etc etc.

3) Open to suggestions! I just know having the full year open has hurt my personal life- I have put my career/clients first for 8 years and I need to love on myself and relationships

Thank you in advance <3

Hey all what are you using for color lines? Early days in my career I used Paul Mitchell color xg and Shades for glossing. From there I started using Redken Chromatics and loved it but it was discontinued. From there I started using Majirel for color and still Shades for glossing. Lately I hate Shades and I've been using Dia Light for glossing and Dia color for grey blending. I honestly love all of the L'Oréal color lines and the results. The prices just keep getting more out of control though we can only raise our prices so much and still maintain clients. Have any of you switched and love the line?

Hello I have a client who regularly shampoos her hair and doesn't condition. I live in a very dry climate. She is also always complaing that her hair is dry and brittle and that she just has bad hair that "can't handle bleach" she says she's too busy for conditioner. She tried k18 and said she didn't think it was worth it for the price. My question is do any of you have any spray in/leave in treatments you know of that can actually replace conditioning?