11 Things Hairstylists Rarely Share With Their Clients

A good hairdo can significantly improve a woman’s self-esteem and make her whole day. However, an appointment with a hairstylist doesn’t always guarantee a good outcome. Mainly because every stylist has their own secrets and they aren’t always aimed at making your hair look beautiful and healthy.

Bright Side gathered 11 secrets hairstylists keep to themselves that you should know about before transforming your look.

1. Show your hairstylist not only examples of hairdos that you like but also the ones that you don’t like.

Before your next salon appointment, find and screenshot several hairstyles that you like and a couple absolutely unacceptable variants. It would be great if you could show them exactly what you want as a final result. It’s hard to implement something that looks “exactly like this but a bit shorter” (because everyone has their own understanding of “shorter”). It will help your hairstylist understand what exactly you want to see on your head.

2. It’s impossible to get your dream color after just one coloration.

If you’ve been dyeing your hair with a dark color for many years in a row and now all you can think about is going platinum blond, prepare to spend quite a sum of money and many days to reach the desired result. High-quality hair lightening is an expensive and long process. If a hairstylist offers to transform you from a burning brunette to a bombshell blonde, don’t say yes that easily: you risk having a yellow-ish shade of hair or even no hair at all.

3. A hairstylist should know the history of your hair colorations.

Before having your hair dyed, a hairstylist should find out everything they can about your hair: how many times you’ve changed colors and what dyes you’ve used. This information is especially important if you decide to change your hair color completely. All these details are necessary for choosing the right approach to hair coloration.

4. Find out what percentage of hydrogen peroxide (oxidant) a hairstylist uses.

If you decide to change your hair color and make it lighter, ask your stylist what percentage of oxidant they are going to use. If it’s 9% or higher, there is indeed a considerable risk that the protein in your hair will get pigmented which will turn your hair yellow, unable to become any lighter.

5. Curls hide stylists’ mistakes.

A stylist can use a simple trick to hide small mistakes made during coloring or cutting your hair — they curl it. To evaluate the stylist’s work, ask them to straighten your hair using a blowdryer. Smooth silky hair makes all the mistakes clearly visible.

6. Expensive professional hair products could be replaced with drugstore products or diluted with water.

Unfortunately, this is true. If a salon is trying to save money on everything, hair products won’t be an exception. Expensive shampoos and balms could be mixed with drugstore products or diluted with water. As a result, the pH level of the product changes and it becomes pretty useless or even harmful. For example, a shampoo for dyed or weak hair has pH 4.5–5.5 and a shampoo for natural or oily hair has pH 7–8.

7. A perm is only good for healthy hair.

Many women with smooth, silky hair have thought about getting a perm at least once in their lives. However, it’s not recommended for certain hair types. Thin, weak or bleached hair could be damaged by the contents of the product used for a perm. Besides, it might not even work for certain hair types.

8. Remember your hair structure when choosing a haircut.

When you choose your next haircut, pay attention not only to your face shape but also to your hair structure. For example, soft puffy hair is reluctant to stay in shape. That’s why women with such hair types aren’t recommended to have geometric haircuts. Look at the haircuts celebs choose, especially those who have the same hair structure as you.

9. Not all hair types should be feathered.

Thin, puffy, or curly hair shouldn’t be cut with thinning scissors. Curly hair has a porous structure; feathering such hair would make it even puffier and the ends will become more fragile and split.

10. Keratin hair straightening doesn’t repair hair.

Keratin is a protein that human hair consists of. During keratin straightening, hairstylists apply the product to the hair and it fills cracks and hollows. Most of the straightening products contain artificial keratin. It doesn’t repair or treat damaged hair but instead, it creates a beautiful “cover” on them.

When the effect of such a procedure wears off, your hair will become fragile and coarse. The products based on natural keratin contain formaldehyde that has a harmful effect on the lungs and breathing passages.

11. Most of the salon treatments are pretty useless.

Most of the salon procedures are aimed at making more money off each client, but not on proper treatment and care of your hair. The reason for having thin, fragile, split hair lies much deeper in your body health. Such useless procedures are haircuts with hot scissors, botox, and hair polishing.

Do you know any secrets hairstylists are keeping from us? Share them with us in the comments.