Breaking up is hard to do

This past Saturday I had an appointment with my hairdresser. Drastic cut and highlights were on the docket. It was an appointment I had been looking forward to for weeks! Since I went dark in December, I just didn't feel like me. I'm a blonde at heart and I was excited to get back to a brighter Ashley. Additionally, I'd been growing my hair for about a year. Much as I'm not a brunette, I'm really not one for long hair. Sure, I like the ease of a ponytail. Who doesn't? I just felt like the length was weighing me down and, even though it snowed today, I wanted a fresh cut for spring.

I was meeting with my stylist for the 3rd time. She took over my old stylist's clients when she decided not to return after maternity leave. That was a sad, sad day. I loved her. But, I also really like the salon that I've been going to for 5 years so I stuck with it and moved to this new person. The first cut went fine. The first color, not so much. She took me brown in December. I was there for 3 1/2 hours on a Wednesday night because she had to re-do something that looked crazy. I was not pleased. She also took a last minute client in the middle of my coloring. Typically this wouldn't bother me but I was shuffled around more than I care to be.

So, Saturday, in all my excitement, I get a phone call about an hour before my appointment asking if I can come 45 minutes late. She was running behind. Well, I had dinner reservations but I didn't want to miss my appointment so I said sure, already fuming. When I arrived, she said a client earlier in the day had not been happy with her color and they had to re-do a part of it. Hmmm, sounds familiar.

I gave her a very clear description of the color I was looking for. She said she knew exactly what I wanted. I expressed multiple times how excited I was to go back to blonde. She got to foiling and we chatted and had a normal stylist/client kind of time. When she washed out the color and sat me back in front of the mirror, I was already disappointed. It looked exactly the same color as it did when I walked in. If anything, it was MAYBE a light brown. Nowhere near blonde whatsoever. As she's drying she says, "Oh, there's not as much contrast as I wanted." Yeah, you think? There's NO contrast, honey. "It's probably because I didn't use bleach." Uh, why not? When you go from brown to blonde, you use bleach! I tried to reserve judgment until it was dry but I got a lot quieter and I'm sure I didn't look very happy. Not again.

The cut went well, thankfully, but as she dried it, my suspicions were confirmed. The color that I was about to pay a pretty penny for, was not really all that different than the color I had walked in there with. I wanted to cry. Later on, I did cry. I couldn't even muster up a smile. I just kept saying, "John's going to want it blonder than this." Hoping that would get me off the hook as the unhappy one. I don't care for confrontation. When I was checking out she said, "If you want it blonder, come back this week and I'll put some lighter foils in." I paid my small fortune and left.

Even now, I'm still so sad about it. I was really looking forward to a huge change and at dinner with friends that night, the only thing anyone noticed was the cut. Because the color looks the same! I'm annoyed that I have to waste time during the week when I should be working out to have her fix what she should have done correctly in the first place. And I had better not have to pay again. Do I have to tip again? I've never been in this situation before.

And so now, I'm torn. If she fixes it, do I give her one more chance? Or, regardless of if she fixes it, because it doesn't seem like anything is done right the first time, do I start shopping a new stylist, and subsequently a new salon, immediately? This is a tough call. John goes to her too but he could go anywhere. It's hard to screw up hair that short. Anyway, I guess we'll see what happens this week but, I'm not pleased.