How to Find a Good Hair Stylist

Top: Madewell | Watch: Michele, band here | Hair Spray: R+Co

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I got my hair done over the weekend and it go be thinking about how to find a good hair stylist. But before we get into it, I want to share my story with you. Call me dramatic but my hair means so much to me! I have a lot of hair. Not necessarily thick but there is a lot of it. Hair stylists don’t realize how much I actually have until they really get in there. I use to spend every morning washing and blowing drying my hair. And not just any quick blow dry. I use a round brush to get that bounce and volume. Eventually I’ve wised up a little and now it’s an every other day occurrence. My hair is my pride and joy. And I swear I have a better day when my hair looks good.

Before I was born, my dad was a hair stylist, so hair was always important in our family. I mean, I started to get highlights at the age of 13 and haven’t looked back since. I’ve been all colors of the rainbow- super dark (almost black), red highlights, blonde blonde and even super short. I’ve always had fun with my hair especially when I was younger. These days I’m kind of boring and I don’t change up my color or cut too often.

When I first moved to Chicago, I would plan my highlight appointments around the time when I would be back home for the weekend. I had been going to my hair stylist since my teenage years and the thought of someone else touching my hair made me quiver. Eventually Kurt moved to Chicago which was amazing, but not so good for my hair haha. I couldn’t justify driving five hours just for the perfect blonde highlights and a cut. It was time for a new stylist.

At the time I worked with a ton of trendy girls and one girl had a sister who did hair. A lot of the girls went to her sister and all of their hair looked amazing. So I decided to give her a try. And I was hooked! My hair had never looked better and I had the best blonde. I went to her religiously every eight weeks for years.

And then it all changed! My hair stylist had always loved LA and traveled their frequently. And one session she broke it to me that she was moving their. I was excited for her but heartbroken for my hair. She was still planning on traveling back to Chicago every six weeks to maintain her best clients. Honestly, I don’t regret a lot in life, but I made the decision to part ways with her and have regretted that decision ever since. I didn’t like the fact that I had to be on such a strict schedule. And then what if I needed an updo or a blowout? She wouldn’t be there to do that for me.

I asked some of my friends on who they go to and my one friend goes to a salon just up the street from me in the West Loop. It was perfect! I could go after work and walk there and not have to worry about parking, etc. Next thing I knew, I had booked an appointment and was all set.

I went into my appointment never meeting the stylist, but I had a sense of trust in her because my friends hair always looked amazing! At the time I had short hair to about my shoulders and it was all pretty much one length. I went into the appointment wanting to make a change. My hair felt heavy on the ends (remember I have thick hair) and I badly needed my roots touched up. When I tell my old hair stylist this, she just knew exactly what to do! Yes she would go in to thin out my hair, but just enough so I wouldn’t’ feel that thickness and I could dry my hair more easily. Oh and I forgot to mention, I told the new hair stylist I didn’t want to cut too much off because I was growing it out. I was kind of over my short hair and I was longing for my long, lush locks I had at my wedding.

I was expecting a good trim and the same hair color, just brighter. And what I came home with was nothing like that. It was a very short layered bob. And don’t even get me started on the color. I had never seen anything like it. When you have highlights like myself you are used to a lot of different colors and variations in your hair. She did highlights on me but what I came home with was basically one color. And a horrible color at that.

I immediately hated the color, but to be truthful I liked the cut. It was so much lighter and way easier to dry. At the time I was still styling it every day so this was a huge time saver for me. I wasn’t slaving under my blow dryer anymore.

And then my hair started to grow and it got really bad! I soon realized she went in and hacked up my hair big time! The color could be fixed, but the cut was just awful. She added a million layers to my hair and they were all so short. My dreams of my long lush hair at my wedding were beginning to look like it would never happen again. I look back at pictures of myself around this time and I look completely different. It’s funny how a hairstyle can completely change your face.

After this horrible experience, I tried a couple other hair stylists. I even went to the same one for a good six months (until she made my cut even worse). She basically gave me bangs on my already awful haircut. After that, I was done. I just wanted to get back to at least my old shoulder length hair that I had.

One morning I woke myself up out of sleep and had an epiphany. I had to go back to my old hair stylist! It was time to get my old color back and also a decent hair cut from someone I could trust.

My hair is no where near where I would ideally want it to be at- but let me tell you it has come a LONG way. There were mornings I would well up with tears in my eyes because I hated my hair cut so bad. I know how silly it sounds, but my hair is so important to me! I WILL never go thru this again. And when my currently hair stylist decides to no longer travel back and forth from LA to Chicago every six weeks I’m following my advice below on how to find a new one!

How to Find a Good Hair Stylist

Get a consultation. Go in and meet the person and see what their thoughts are. If you don’t like what they have to say you can move on to the next.
Ask around. See who your girlfriends go to and then go in for a consultation.
Stick with a hair stylist who specializes in your hair color. Blonds can be tricky and finding one who does it well can be like a needle in a hay stack. If you have a girlfriend who has amazing blonde hair, but yours is brown, I would pass on her stylist. Not saying that hair stylists don’t know all colors, but stick with what they are good at.
Communicate. I left way too much in the hands of the stylists when I got that bad hair cut. If I would have asked her what her plans were I would have had a better idea what she was going to do. I let her do her thing and I should have been more cautious.
Turn to social media. These days a lot of stylists have Instagram pages. So you can get a feel for their work and aesthetic before you even get behind their chair.

And since I am still in the process of growing out my hair, here are my tips for growing it out.

Tips for Growing Your Hair Out

Get a trim every six to eight weeks. This might seem counter intuitive, but trust me it helps so much! Tell your stylist to just take the tiniest bit off. It makes your ends feel fresh and there is no breakage so it can continue to grow nice and strong!
Your curling iron will be your best friend. Your hair looks messier when it’s curled which is perfect if you have odd length layers or it is at the length where it is at your shoulders. This will help hide a lot of imperfections. I prefer to use a straightener to curl my hair (this is the one I use), but it can be tricky to get the hang of it.
Use good products. My newest obsession is Oribe products. I tried the shampoo and conditioner and although I can’t believe I spent that much- their products are amazing! This will help keep your hair strong, allowing it to grow out faster.
Give yourself a break. Short hair is super cute and it can be a fun process. Try new things and soak it up while you can because I guarantee one day you will look back and miss it!