I got a question from reader Stephanie who asks “So, for all of us who don’t live in Portland and have to accept the fact that you can’t cut our hair, how can we find a really good stylist/colorist? I mean really good. And, don’t tell us to find someone whose haircut you like and ask them who does it because it doesn’t work in Indiana.”
Stephanie no one thing can tell you, for certain, that someone is good unless you are working in a salon with that person and you know what you are doing. There are exceptions to every rule. I have taught students that come right out of beauty school that have amazing natural talent and I have seen people who have been very uncoordinated work hard and eventually become great. There are, however, a combination of things to look for when trying to find someone new to do your hair. The more of these items you can check off, the more likely you are to find a good stylist. Orlando Pita, for example, has done Madonna, Gweneth Paltrow, half of Hollywood and probably every Supermodel working has never had any formal training. I sat in on two classes with him and he is just a natural artist. If you listen to rule number one as gospel you would lose an amazing talent so consider this a rough draft.
1. Your stylist should have formal training. You can always inquire about your stylist’s education. Someone who attends the local beauty academy and does not continue his/her education will often leave you disappointed. Look for hair cutting education from: Toni & Guy, Vidal Sasoon, Bumble & Bumble, Aveda, Jamison Shaw, Paul Mitchell etc. If your stylist travels to attend classes it generally means they are serious about their craft and are willing to keep their skills honed. Someone who came from a formal apprenticeship can also be good since they learned more hands on.
2. Your stylist works in a salon that has a website. On that website the mission statement of the salon details something to do with education. If the focus of the salon is education related find someone in that salon that teaches the education. They are the technical and creative engine that keeps a staff fresh. Chances are they are going to know what the hell they are doing.
3. Find a salon that carries a high end product line. Kerastase, Bumble and Bumble, and Shu Uemura usually will only partner with top salons. You can check their website and find out if anyone near you carries those lines.
4. Your hairstylist should have some personal style.
5. Your stylist has had at least a few years behind the chair.
6. When having a consultation look for someone who shows interest, asks you questions about your hair (not just “so what color?”), and has a few ideas of their own.
7. Without risking your hair you can always book a blowout or just have a consultation with someone before they cut/color you. From there you can ask them lots of questions. Most stylists provide free consultations to new clients. If you don’t feel it’s a good match thank them, take a card, go home and try someone else.
8. You can read reviews on yelp.com. Yelp is a cult for beauty lovers.
9. It might take a few bad stylists to find a good one. When I was an apprentice, my mentor sat me down and told me that if I was going to be sucessful and charge 100 bucks for a haircut I was going to have to be better than 4 out of 5 stylists.
10. Find someone from L.A. who left clients so that he could to move to Portland to start over from scratch, charge half as much and blog about it (okay I guess that requires a plane flight for most of you…)
Good luck on your search
For more about me www.jeffdavidsonhairstylist.com
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