 Testing, testing, one, two, three. Hey guys, welcome back to my channel or welcome if you're new. If you don't already know me, my name is Sam. I am a licensed hairdresser. I filmed a video here once before. Whenever I have friends over, the kitchen island in my apartment is just where we all congregate. We gather around the island, we make ourselves some drinks, we play music, we just talk. So I thought this would be a fun place to record like my more chill laid back videos because it really just feels like you are here hanging out with me, you know? Like just one of my friends. And I know a lot of you guys really liked that last video I had did here. So I thought let's do another, make ourselves a drink and share some stories. I've done tons of story time videos in the past on my channel, sharing bad experiences that I've had with hair clients in the past. And I know that some people interpret these videos as like a negative thing, like, oh, you're talking your clients. That is not the case. That's not the purpose of these videos. I just know from personal experience when you are in a situation with a client where either you messed up their hair and it's your fault or there was just some kind of miscommunication or maybe they're just like a problematic client for whatever reason. It can completely ruin your day or your entire week. So in the moment when it's happening to you, it's a terrible feeling and you feel very alone. And you can have 100 amazing positive appointments that go really well and then you have that one negative one that makes you question everything. So I like to share these experiences so that you know you're not alone if this ever happens to you. It happens to everyone. And hopefully by hearing about my experiences and how I handled the situation and what things I learned moving forward from that, it can kind of help you learn a little bit as well. So learn from my mistakes. I'm gonna make myself a drink first. I don't know why. I thought having an alcoholic beverage would just lighten the mood and I don't know, make this more fun. By the way, I am recording with my external microphone so I'm hoping that the audio is better because I know it can be kind of echo-y in here. So let me know if you notice the difference with the audio, what you think. We're just doing Hornitos tequila with some Sprite. If you know me, you know I love a good espresso martini. But I didn't feel like making one of those because I've had a lot. It's a little ASMR of caffeine already today. And the last thing I need is an espresso martini, so. One thing to know about me as a hairstylist is I definitely am a people pleaser. Like I want to give you the hair that you want. And I also really like to educate people. So whenever a client would come in for an appointment, I like to also teach them about their hair. Teach them how to take care of it, how to style it. And if they're interested, you know, I'll explain to them what I'm doing and why I'm doing it that way. And I feel like it just really shows your client that not only do you really care about what you're doing, you're passionate about what you're doing, but you know what you're talking about. You're educated in this field. So this client had reached out to me on Instagram. She saw a photo on my page of a color correction that I had done. I specialize in color, but particularly blonding and color corrections. That's what I love doing. Normally for a color correction appointment, I would have the client come in and do a consultation so that I can take a look at their hair, possibly do a test strand if needed. And a test strand is when I would just take like a piece of hair from the back and I would lighten it just to see what happens. See if the hair is healthy and strong enough to handle lightning. Because if someone's coming in with natural virgin hair that has never had a chemical process done to it before, then usually you can color it no problem. And you can predict pretty closely what the results are gonna be. It's much more straightforward. But when someone has previous color in their hair or any kind of previous chemical treatment to their hair, you know, at that point then it's considered more of a color correction. More has to be taken into consideration. More goes into it. It's not as straightforward of an appointment. Sometimes it can take a lot longer. It requires more steps and more skill. But this client for whatever reason wasn't able to come in for a consultation. I can't remember if she lived kind of far or what the situation was, but she sent me photos of her hair. Her hair naturally was a dark blonde to begin with. And then her ends were like warm yellowy golden blonde. And she wanted to bring everything up higher. She basically wanted her hair to look exactly like the photo of my other client. That should have already kind of been a little bit of a red flag to me. It's one thing, I mean, I always recommend everyone to bring in inspiration photos. If you are looking to go get your hair done, bring a photo, bring multiple photos. As inspiration to help you communicate with your stylist what it is that you are looking for. Because you can say that you want to be a particular tone of blonde, but the way that you envision or interpret that tone could be totally different from the next person or from how your stylist interprets that tone. But every so often you'll get a client that like hyper fixates on one particular photo. And you can tell the difference usually between, hey, this is something that I like. I'm using this as inspiration, but I understand that it is just inspiration and that it's not a copy and paste. I understand that this is a still image and it's gonna look slightly different on me when I'm moving around because color looks different in different lighting. It's also gonna look different depending on your hair texture, depending on the way you have it styled, depending on the color of the clothing that you're wearing. Versus a client that's like, I want this exactly put it on my head right now. I want my hair to look exactly like this picture. And even if you deliver and you give them basically exactly what's in that picture, same process, same formula, same everything, they don't understand that this is a still image and it's gonna look a little bit different when you're looking at yourself in the mirror. So that should always be a red flag. When she came in and she even told me this when we were DMing when she booked her appointment, she told me that her hair was a little bit dry and damaged. And I had explained to her that, okay, depending on how damaged it is, when you come in in person, that's gonna limit what we're gonna be able to do with your hair. We'll see when you come in what we can do. Once she came in, her hair wasn't terrible. Most of the damage that she had was just on the ends and really just in the top layer, but because her hair was already previously bleached and because there was a little bit of damage, I wanted to be as gentle as possible. So I'm not gonna hit her with like super, super, strong high volume developer. I think I did maybe like 15 and 20 volume just so that we could minimize the damage as much as possible. Now I have to take some responsibility because I do remember on this particular day, I was just having a really, like it just was not a good day for me. The client that I had before her, I ended up running a little bit behind because her toner was not taking right. And it's just, it's amazing how you can have so many days in a row where every single appointment is going perfect. Everyone's color is taking right. It's just all going so smoothly. And then you'll have a day here and there where it's like every appointment that entire day just seems to be going wrong. And you're like, what, why, why is this happening to me? Like you just wanna go home and go back to bed so that you can just like do it all over, you know? So this was one of those days for me. I was just feeling like very flustered because like I said, I was running behind with the client that I had before her. Now I still killed it with the application and with everything that I did. I know I mentioned her hair was a little bit damaged. So you're probably thinking like, oh, you messed up and you fried the shit out of her hair. No, I did not. The application was beautiful if I do say so myself. Everything with that went perfectly. Her hair processed beautifully. There was no damage done. But where I did kind of mess up, which for me it's a mess up because I like to be very thorough with my clients. Like I said, I like to educate them as much as possible. I like to be very thorough with my consultations. I really wanna make sure that we are completely on the same page and they fully understand what they are agreeing to, especially when it comes to a color correction. They have to understand that I'm gonna do my best to give them what they want, but because it's a correction, there is no guarantee that I can give them exactly what they want in that one appointment. It might take multiple sessions, but because I was running behind and I was feeling kind of flustered, I wasn't as thorough with my consultation and I wasn't paying attention to all of the red flags. So like I mentioned before, she seemed very hyper fixated on this one photo, this one inspiration photo. She also was telling me how she's had a very hard time finding a hairstylist that she likes and that can do her hair right and the way she likes. That is always a red flag too. When I first started doing hair and I was more naive, I used to take that as a challenge. Like, oh, well she's never found the right stylist because she's never come to me before and I'm gonna blow her away because I'm gonna educate her and I'm gonna really be thorough and explain everything I'm doing and I'm really gonna listen and take my time and put care into it and yeah, that's great. But majority of the time when someone is telling you that they've been all over to so many different stylists and they just can't find anyone that can do their hair right, it's because there's something going on with them. It's not that they can't find a good stylist, it's that they are impossible to please. Like 95% of the time I would say that is the case. I have had some clients where after their appointment they're like, oh my God, that was amazing. I've never had someone explain to me what they're doing before or I've never had someone actually listen and take the time and da da da da. But if they from the beginning are saying, oh I've never found anyone that can do, usually that's the red flag. But yeah, I just wasn't picking up on these things. I did still do a consultation with her but I didn't explain, hey, I just wanna make sure you understand that this is a photo and especially when we're talking about super light blonde hair, whenever you have a client that wants to be like a white blonde, you have to have the lighting conversation with them. Sometimes it's gonna look super, super white. Other times it's gonna look a little bit more of a like natural yellow blonde. You can have super white hair and then go stand under an orange light bulb and guess what, your hair is gonna look orange. If you're wearing all black, it's gonna look a lot brighter and lighter as opposed to if you're wearing all white, then it's not gonna look as bright. I should have had that conversation with her but like I said, I'm just kind of rushing, I just didn't really have the time. I didn't even think to have that conversation because with some clients, you don't have to break all those things down because for some people that stuff is common sense but for others it's not and you need to explain that to them. She was one of those clients clearly that I needed to explain that to. After her hair was done processing, I brought her over to the sink, pulled out all of her foils, shampooed her hair and then I told her to stay at the sink that I was gonna go get her toner mixed up in the back and that I was gonna be right back. So I'm mixing up her toner, I come back out to the sink and I see her laying back in the sink and she's using her phone, like the camera on her phone as a mirror and she's trying to look at her hair. Bind you, her hair is all pulled back in the sink, it's sopping wet and untoned and she's sitting there trying to look at it which should have also been a red flag to me. I mean, I understand it was her first time coming to me so I understand that you're not gonna automatically trust someone and you're gonna be curious, you wanna see what's going on throughout the process but for future reference, your hair is probably gonna look crazy throughout the process until it's actually finished. So I mean, if you wanna take a look at a curiosity, fine but I wouldn't start panicking until the stylus is starting to blow out your hair and you can see the finished product dry. So yeah, she's sitting there looking at her pulled back, sopping wet, untoned hair and she's saying that it still looks the same. Also, I did some little tiny baby lights around her face, that's what she had asked for and baby lights are very, very, very fine highlights. When they're wet, they pretty much disappear and you can't even see them because that's how soft and fine and teeny tiny they are. But once you dry the hair, it's super bright and you can see them. So she's laying back there, she's telling me that her roots still look very, very dark and that her hair doesn't look any different. Mind you, this is a picture of what her hair looked like during the process. I did not leave a single strand of hair out of foils. I foiled her entire head and it took me, did I say in this picture? Oh, I didn't say. Sometimes in my posts, I would say how long the entire process took. It probably took about four hours because normally when I do a full head application like that from start to finish, the entire appointment would be about four hours. So it's usually like, depending on how much hair they have, it's like a full hour at least of me just straight up foiling, like just applying the product. That's how much I'm using. And I went back and I like remixed multiple times. Like she saw, I was using a lot of product on her hair. So she saw me busting my ass, standing there doing this, painting on all that bleach for an hour at least. She saw how many foils were on her head. She saw that nothing was left out and she thinks her hair doesn't look any different. You think after I did all of that, it was all for nothing? And I think like all hairstylists or even just cosmetologists out there, I know you can relate to this and I know you understand when you have clients that are like questioning things that you're doing, it's like on one hand, I'm totally, like I said, I love to educate, I love to be thorough and take my time and really like I care about my clients but it's like there's the difference between someone just like asking because they're genuinely curious and they, or you know, they're not sure about something, they're having doubts or a little worried about something versus someone that's like asking almost with an attitude or they're like doubting you and questioning your ability and your skill, your professionalism, it can be very frustrating and it's like you hear questions like that or comments like that and it's like you wanna roll your eyes so badly but I kept my composure, I kept my cool, I stayed super professional and friendly even though on the inside I was like, is this bitch serious? But you know, I was explaining to her what I had just said about the baby lights. Trust me, we did a lot of product, it sat for a long time, it doesn't look different to you now from this angle because your hair's wet, we haven't toned it yet, you have to kind of trust the process. So I applied the toner, I let it sit for the full amount of time, then I bring her over to the chair and I just started blow-drying like one section in the front so that she could see the color. That is a tip to all of my colorists out there. I do this with all clients, no matter what but especially if you have a client that's like, you know, kind of doubting you or not really sure or whatever or even if you are not totally sure if the color is what they wanted. Just blow-dry one section in the front so that they can see what the color looks like while it's dry and they can see it, you know, in front of their face. That way you're not wasting all that time blow-drying their entire head only for them to, you know, need to be re-toned or say they don't like something or whatever. It'll save you a lot of time and work. And then she proceeded to say that it still looked yellow and ugly because she kept saying before that, you know, the color she was starting with it was an ugly yellow. She didn't like the yellow. It was very ugly, ugly, yellow, yellow, ugly over and over and over. And I can't remember what toner I used on her originally but normally when someone wants to be a really bright blonde I don't like to go too ashy because ash can sometimes look a little bit too dark and, you know, can pull a little bit silvery sometimes. So I like to mix in a little bit of like beige in my formula just so that it will stay bright. Like I said, I can't remember exactly what my formula was but it doesn't really matter. Either way, it was not yellow, okay? Also, I am a very honest stylist. I know I'm like, I'm the best hair stylist in the whole world. Obviously not, okay? You know, like obviously I make mistakes too and I'm not perfect and, you know, everyone can always improve and get better but I genuinely try my best to be the best that I can. And I always try to be super honest because I really take a lot of pride in my work and in my appointments and like the experiences that I have with my clients like I want them to feel good when they come to me. I want them to feel like they can really trust me. So I'm always honest. And there have been multiple times where I'm blow-drying a client and I notice something that's not looking right. And a lot of the times the client doesn't even notice it themselves but I notice it and it bothers me. And I'm not gonna just let them leave if I feel like there's something that needs to be fixed. So there's been multiple times where I will point something out and I'll be like, ooh, I think we should re-tone or oh, I think we should do a little bit of a root smudge here, this one little spot isn't as blended as I would like it to be or whatever. Like I very much am a perfectionist when it comes to my work. So I'm blow-drying her hair. I think it looks beautiful. It's a very nice light, beautiful blonde, very similar to the client in the photo that she originally had liked but she's telling me that no, it looks yellow. So I gave her a hand mirror and I was like, okay, let's step outside and look at it in natural lighting. We had like overhead fluorescent lights in that salon. It was not the best. So she goes outside with the mirror and she's looking at it and she's just like, no, it's ugly yellow. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I asked for. It doesn't even look different. So I'm like, okay, I totally understand. That's no problem at all. We can re-tone it. I'll just make the toner a little bit cooler, a little bit ashier and we can knock out any bit of that yellow that you're still seeing. I go to the back to remix my second toner. When I come out, she's holding up the picture of my client from my Instagram page, her inspiration picture. And she's asking if what I did on her is the same thing that I did on the client in the picture. And I'm like, yes, it's the exact same process, very, very similar formula. Then she's asking me if it would have been better if I didn't use foils. If her hair would have got lighter, if I didn't use foil, maybe I shouldn't have used foil on her hair, she said to me. And again, I still throughout all of this, I kept my cool, I kept it super professional. But oh my God, let me tell you at this point, I was like, I wanted to, first of all, if you know anything about hair and hair color, when you put hair in foils, it insulates it. It keeps the product from drying out so that it continues working. It also helps keep it nice and warm. It conducts heat so that the hair can process more. Hair is going to process more and it's going to get lighter in foil than if you let it process in open air because the open air, it's gonna do the opposite. It's gonna dry it out, it's gonna get cold. It's not gonna work as well. And I did really, really thin foils. Like that is just like my go-to technique. That's like what I'm known for. That's how I am able to do these big transformations in one session is by doing very, very, very thin, fine pieces in the foils, which is what's gonna get you like the most lift, the cleanest, most even lift. I do this for a living, don't you think? Like she just said it to me as if like, oh, wow, duh, why did I think of that? You're so right. I should have did it that way instead, like no. So anyway, I do the second toner on her. I blow out her hair. And then she asked if I could style it the way that I style majority of my clients' hair in all of my Instagram pictures, which is like, you know, just the typical like loose, soft waves. So I do that and what I'm doing the style I curl each section and I leave it curled and then I hairspray it, I wait for it to cool and then I go through and I comb through it with a wide tooth comb to soften it and make it, you know, the soft, loose waves. As I'm curling her hair, she's saying to me, can you make it softer? This isn't what I asked for. These aren't the same as in your pictures. Lady, I'm not done. I'm literally in the middle of curling your hair. Again, this is what I do for a living every day. Talk about not trusting the process at all. So I finish, she was, I guess, pretty happy with it, but she still did not understand the whole concept of like, your hair is not gonna look beaming white in all kinds of lighting. And at this point, after I had to do the second toner to like tone it down and make it a little more ashy, like I said, ashy tones aren't as bright. They don't like radiate light as much. So they look a little bit darker almost and like a little silver as I'm adding everything up, which again, even with prices, I'm very thorough about that. And I discussed price during my consultation at the beginning before we start anything. So I had explained to her, okay, we are doing a full head of foils. This is what the starting price is. And then for any additional bowls of product that we need, it's gonna cost, you know, this much more. So I gave her a range, because you never really know 100% how much product you're gonna end up needing by the end. The price at the end was within that range that I had originally told her at the beginning during the consultation. And I did not charge her for the second toner. So then she's like looking at everything added up and she's questioning the price and asking me, what's the extra product charge for? Like, oh hell no, I'm sorry, after all of this, you wanna question me about the foil and about the toner and about the curls, whatever. But come on now, we literally discussed the price at the beginning before we started. And the reason I do that is so that people in the end won't be surprised and they can't try to act like, oh, that's more than I was expecting or oh, I can't afford that or whatever, whatever, you know? I wanna make sure that they're comfortable and that I'm not gonna do all this work for nothing, you know? Like we have to be on the same page fully and agree to, this is what you want, this is what it's gonna take to get you there and this is how much all that work is gonna cost you. Also, mind you, she pulled up in a super fancy luxury car. I don't remember exactly what it was. A Range Rover maybe, I don't remember now, but I do remember thinking like she literally had an expensive luxury car. Why isn't always the people that pull up in expensive cars with designer bags that are heckling you over the price and being cheap with the tip and stuff? I guess that's how the rich stay rich, I don't know, but yeah. After all of that, she was trying to give me a hard time about the price, but I was like, you know, this is what we discussed at the beginning. The extra product charge was for all of those extra bowls of bleach, which you saw me go back and have to remix. And every time I will say, I need to remix, we need an extra bowl. I'm gonna go mix up some more. So that way they can keep track and they know I'm not just like, just trying to raise the price for no reason. Oh my God, that was so frustrating. But in the end, I mean, I think that her hair came out really nice, especially considering that she had previous damage. It was the best we could do, the lightest that we could do in one session. You know, sometimes you have to realize as a client, it's sometimes gonna take multiple appointments for you to really like get into a groove with your stylist. And before they really start delivering the hair that you want because it takes time to get to know someone, get to know their hair, get to know their preferences. And especially if you're coming in with a correction situation, I'm not starting from scratch. You know, I have to fix something that was done already by someone else. So really the result you're getting after that first appointment is not even really fully like my best work because it's a combination of what you already had from someone else, plus what I was able to do to try to fix it. So you have to like, you know, sometimes it takes a few sessions before you can really like get on track. These kinds of situations are like few and far between, like they're not the majority of clients. Most clients are super sweet, super understanding. It usually goes very smoothly, but then every so often you'll have someone like this and it's just very draining. I always say the hardest part about doing hair is not actually doing the hair, it's dealing with the people. If you're interested in getting into this field, I hope this doesn't discourage you, but I think it's good to just be aware and kind of like be prepared for these things. Know what to look out for. It's gonna suck no matter what, but at least this way you won't be like I was caught off guard and you know that it's just, it's bound to happen. But yeah, that is my little story time. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. It really helps my channel out a lot. I still have quite a few client stories to share. So if you like these videos and you want me to share more, let me know, give this video a thumbs up and I can share some more soon. I'll see you guys really soon in my next video. Bye.