• Mood: disappointed
• Music: Choosing Dauntless - Junkie XL

First Choice Haircutters WTF

So, today I went in for my usual 4-6 week trim, and decided to do something a little different. I asked for a Miley Cyrus-style undercut pixie (which is clipper-cut short on the back and sides, and long on top). When I asked the stylist if it would look okay on me, she said that the hair on top of my head was too short for the style, so I asked to have my hair cut somewhat longer on the sides and back so I could get an idea of the cut and then, when the top part of my hair grew out, decide if I wanted it clipped short. I gave her four photos, and then sat back.



Stylist: So, you want the 0 or the 1 setting on the clipper, right?
Me: Er... What? I want it a bit longer than that.
Stylist: Well, that's not what's in the pictures - they have their hair buzzed right off!
Me: Well, I'd like mine a bit longer, please.
Stylist: Fine, but that's not what's in the picture. How about using the #2 setting?
Me: Okay...

At this point, I must break in and admit that this is where my fault comes in. I have had a #2 used on my hair before, and it is quite short. However, I had a brain fart and thought this would be okay. Not so much. I put on my glasses after she'd done a bit of work and looked in the mirror... as my stomach dropped. The shaved hair is almost 2/8 of an inch long - not at ALL what I wanted.

Me: Whoa. That's... that's short.
Stylist: Ah! So you want it shorter?
Me: No - I was thinking that it's too short. Oh, well - I guess I'm committed now. Next time I think I'll use a #3 or a #4.
Stylist: Well, you can TRY that, but I guarantee you'll want it shorter! Like in the pictures!

After she was finished, she asked me what I wanted done to the top of my head. I asked for it thinned, which she interpreted as "trimmed", and I had to tell her to stop twice (and I'm normally one to avoid confrontation, but by this point I was almost having a panic attack).

She puts the gel in my hair, I put on my glasses, look in the mirror... and almost burst into tears. I look like a skinhead! Meanwhile, the stylist is excitedly talking about how I'll really want to look like the pictures next time and do it even shorter. NO. Just... NO. She did say that my hair should start growing in about a week, and my hair does grow relatively quickly.

[For the record - here are the pictures I gave her:]



[And here's how my hair turned out:]



When I got home, my mum chewed me out and informed me that First Choice is where the "bottom of the barrel" stylists usually are, and that I should have known better, which, yeah, she has a point. I'm just annoyed that the stylist kept trying to convince me to go shorter, when I was obviously upset about how short it was in the first place, and that the cut wound up looking pretty weird.