3-hour tour
So I had my much needed hair appointment today. As I mentioned in that last post I went to the Aveda Institutes (aka salon school), which just so happens to have a brand-new branch opened up 13 minutes from my house. It was GREAT. First let me start off with: It was $12. But that was not a “i look like i got a $12 haircut” $12. I’ve had PLENTY of haircuts under $20 in my lifetime. VERY rarely was I completely satisfied with them or the experience. In fact, until 3 years ago when my sweet husband set me up with an appoint with Mary Jo (seriously…HOW do they not have a website?? I find this phenomenon odd if not irritating more & more lately **update, turns out they do have one: www.imagohair.com **). Previous to this i typically went somewhere different each time, often falling for the Great Clips annual $5 sale (i once had to return to get a $5 sale-cut fixed as it literally looked like a 5yo hacked at it)…and what I’ve discovered is that when it comes to nice hair…you need an “artist” not just someone who cuts hair. I usually walked in with a picture or a detailed verbal image of what I wanted. Often the stylists would either come very close to imitating it or imitated it right on…but it just wasn’t right. What was awesome about Mary Jo was that I would sit in her chair (as she looked over her notes she took from my previous visits) and tell her what I wanted. Then she would tell me what she was going to do. It was always loosely BASED on what i asked for, but tailored to my face, style & need for a non-complicated morning routine (& fear of having to buy “product”).
The woman had a 1-2 month waiting list (I would just pre-book for every 3 months at each appt.) but it was worth the wait. So now i’ve been spoiled. That was a bit of a rabbit trail. Back to ‘derek’ at Aveda.
Ok, so what could be a very long story short(ish): I really like the haircut. Not sure i LOVE it just yet, still getting used to it (i fried it good, had to cut off about 1.5 inches), as it’s a bit more edgy & ‘modern’ (i.e. not as soft & flowy) than i am used to, but I do definitely like it. I like change.
As I sat down & he was getting my cape-thingy situated around me, i had the thought, “I wonder if I’m his first client…this is some long-takin’ awkward cape putting on going on here”. When we were almost through he did admit I was his first head of hair attached to a body. But what was so great was that it was sooo apparent that he was taking care to do a good job, and to back it up, he had instructors that had to approve each “checkpoint” before we proceeded, where they would give him tips, correct any mistakes (very very few, mostly just missed hairs i think) and consult on taking the next step. So really I had 4 stylists collaborating on my haircut. It was pretty sweet. it also included the typical Aveda salon scalp massage followed by shampoo & then styling after the cut was finished.
The funny thing was it took…might want to sit down for this…3hrs & 15min. HA! For a (glorified) trim!! I’m laughing even as I type. I had NO IDEA that would be the case. In retrospect it kinda makes sense. Luckily ryan was home with the kids & it wasn’t incredibly detrimental for him to have the afternoon shot…and we ended up hitting up chick-fil-a for dinner when i got home (at 5:30). Though to defend poor Derek, yes, he was incredibly slow (..careful..?), but he also had to take steps that ‘trained’ stylists do not, like sectioning the hair & clipping it up & cutting each section individually. That & the time spent waiting for an instructor to come over to check us off. he did it all right, it was just obvious that he wasn’t quite comfortable with the techniques yet. I’m glad to have offered the practice time for him. I’d definitely go back…just probably on a saturday or some other planned ‘rest’ day that we can be prepared to have me gone for hours on end. 
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No photo of the new edgier cut? I am eager to see it!
i thought about it today, but i should’ve done it yesterday when it still looked ‘cool & edgy’. of course today i went to fix it & it’s weird & i can’t figure out how he got it to lay the way it did. ..arg. i think i needed shorter layers in the back. mental note for next time.
Ah, the common dilemma….to get your hair to look like a professional did it when you are not one. Every woman’s burden. I love how we agonize about this….
See you Sunday (I hope)