Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Kathy Blumenstock. Kathy currently writes Animal Planet’s “The Mole” blog http://blogs.discovery.com/the_mole. A career journalist, she has been a reporter and writer for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, NBC News and Entertainment Tonight. Kathy also contributes feature stories to Knitchmagazine.com and Knit ‘N Style magazine.
We’ve all had them, the hair stylings that are A Mistake. Too short, too teased, too flat, too blond, too 80s. Oh please, let it start growing out right now, and in the meantime, I’ll wear a hat, a hood, a paper bag! Every one of the Bad Hair Styles comes down to someone wielding scissors who didn’t listen. Or maybe, who didn’t hear the message behind the bland words “Just a trim.” Meaning, “if you take more I’ll look like a fuzzy microphone!” No stylist would deliberately inflict such pain (I hope!) Imagine my amazement when I encountered the polar opposite with my latest cut.
I’d decided to try a new salon before I ended up trimming my hair with pinking shears. Armed with magazine photos of Cameron Diaz—hoping her ‘do would flatter me as it did her—I was about to beg for Not Too Much Off The Sides when both a stylist and the salon manager sat me down and began asking questions, lots of them. When I looked in the mirror an hour later, I beheld the perfect cut, the start of a Very Good Hair Day. The manager said she’d realized every customer needed to be heard individually. “Half the job of a stylist is to listen,” she said. “And then you ask detailed questions so you get real answers.” Forget the pictures of Cameron Diaz’s bangs . Be grateful for those who ASK the right questions before trying to deliver to you as an individual. Especially when they’re brandishing sharp instruments!
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