Hairstylists are kind of like magicians: They make us look like a million bucks and are often great listeners to boot—no one can hear a story about your nightmare ex quite like your hairstylist. But are they mind readers? Of course not.
“The three worst words you could say to a hairstylist are ‘I trust you,’” says one stylist, who shall remain nameless because of their high-profile clientele. “I appreciate the sentiment, but nine times out of ten, my clients who tell me this end up unhappy with the results because they realize they wanted something different after all.”
No matter how long you’ve been going to your person or how skilled they are, they can’t know exactly what you’re envisioning unless you tell them what you want. “It’s much more helpful when a client comes in prepared with at least an idea of what changes they’d like me to make. It’s even better when they show me photos of what they want, so I can work with them to figure out what’s possible without damaging their hair,” he adds.
As Los Angeles-based stylist, Sienree Du previously explained to us, “Everyone’s interpretation of colors, tones and placement is so different. Starting the appointment with a number of reference images as examples is helpful. This way you can specifically point out things you absolutely love and things you don't want. Most [stylists] are quite visual people, so this helps us a lot.” says Du.
