Cheating on Your Stylist

Dear Ask a Stylist,

If I cheat on my stylist and then go back to see her if the new stylist doesn’t work out, will she be mad?

–JK

Dear JK,

Thinking of cheating? This is a tough one. Stylists consider themselves artists, and they think of your hair as their canvas. So when you allow other artists to alter their artwork, they may be frustrated.

Why do you want to see a new stylist? If you’re not getting what you want from your current stylist, make sure you both are communicating clearly. Ask your stylist to have a full consultation with you. Discuss your entire hair plan together. Tell her what’s working for you and what’s not. Look at photos if you need to, bring photos of yourself from when you liked your hair, talk about your styling routine.

Ask yourself a couple of questions to try to figure out why your hair is no longer working for you. Has your hair changed and you are still expecting it to act like the hair you used to have? Are you styling properly? Are you using the right products? Are you asking for something unrealistic?

If you’ve tried everything I’ve mentioned so far, and you feel more like a Jackson Pollock painting than a Michelangelo masterpiece, maybe it is time to visit a new artist. A new stylist will listen with a fresh ear, will see you with a fresh eye, and may have exciting, new ideas for you. Realize that it may take a couple of visits to create your perfect look. The Sistine Chapel was not painted in a day.

So, you’ve been painted, smoothed, sculpted, and styled by your new artist and didn’t love it. You’re ready to go back to your tried and true stylist. Awkward? A little. Like any great artist, she’ll most likely feel some embarrassment at not being able to give you what you wanted in the first place, but because she’s a professional, she’ll most likely get over it if you’re honest with her. She may strive harder than ever to come up with new ideas or to work on giving you what you felt you were missing in the first place. Above all else, just remember to be kind. Remember that stylist’s tools of the trade happen to be very sharp!