How To Guarantee A Perfect Consultation At Your Hair Appointment

I know that we’ve all been here before. You have a hair appointment and you are SO excited! But when you get there, you freeze up. You don’t know how to explain what you want during the consultation. And then when you leave, you aren’t completely satisfied with your hair. UHG! Why does this happen?

This is a common problem and you are most definitely not alone. Fear not because you’ve come to the right place! This post will help you to better explain what you’re looking for to your hair stylist before, during, and after the consultation so that you can ensure you leave the salon 100% happy!

What should I ask for at my hair consultation?

Your hair consultation actually begins before your hair appointment, as well as after the service. There is a little homework you need to do beforehand and afterward to ensure success.

Step 1. Before the consultation

It’s super important that you do your homework BEFORE you even head to the salon. Otherwise, you will both be sitting there guessing at what you want on the spot, which isn’t the greatest scenario.

Rather than wasting either of your time, have some pictures on hand to show her what you want. A picture speaks 1000 words that you don’t know how to explain in the hair world.

Have inspiration photos

Having a number of inspiration photos to bring with you will be extremely helpful in explaining what you like as well as what you DON’T like. Let the pictures do most of the talking for you.

I recommend using Pinterest to find a number pictures that are similar to what you’re looking for, as well as what you DON’T want to see. This gives your stylist a better feel for your preference and ensures you won’t be unhappy with your outcome.

How to pick the best inspiration pictures for the consultation

When it comes to selecting your photos for the consultation, keep in mind that most of the pictures you’ll find on Pinterest, Instagram, and Google are all going to be edited and in perfect lighting.

Hair color looks extremely different outside vs. the yellow lighting in your bathroom. See my pictures above for a prime example of the impact lighting makes on your hair!

This is super important to remember after you leave your appointment. Your hair may appear warmer in your bathroom lighting, and ultimately we can’t really change that. The girls in the pictures don’t look like that in their bathroom lighting either!

Straight vs. curly

It’s also important to keep in mind how you wear your hair regularly. If you wear it straight 90% of the time, don’t bring 10 pictures of curled hair to the consultation.

Straight hair will have a bolder affect, while curled hair blends the colors together a little better.

Ultimate goals vs. realistic goals

Another consideration I want to point out is that your ultimate hair goal may not be achievable in one session. If you have dark hair, know that you probably can’t get to an icy blonde in one sitting.

Have a picture of your ultimate goal, as well as a few others that are more realistic for you to achieve at your first appointment. I also recommend asking your stylist what they think is achievable or realistic.

You may not be a good candidate for what you’re looking for. A good stylist will tell you this instead of doing it anyway. In my post here, I explain how not everyone is a good candidate for platinum blonde.

Hair type

Your hair type will play a huge role in what’s achievable for you. If you don’t know what hair type you have, check out my post here.

When selecting inspiration photos for your consultation, try to find similar hair types, face shapes, and skin tones as your own. This is important for selecting a hair color or cut that you can actually pull off.

Step 2. During the consultation

As I mentioned earlier, it’s very important to mention what you want vs. what you DON’T want. Keep in mind that your stylist cannot read your mind! You need to vocalize your desires as well as concerns.

Maintenance

If you are the type of person that does not want to do much maintenance whether at home or frequent visits to the salon, then you need to tell your stylist this during the consultation.

You cannot have an all around low maintenance icy blonde hair color. For example, here I have an entire blog post written to explain the maintenance and routines you need to know in order to have blonde hair. (Even if it’s lived-in and grows out well, your at home care is extremely high maintenance.)

Your stylist will be able to recommend something close to what you’re looking for with your desired level of maintenance and product use.

Product

You also need to listen to your stylist when they tell you what products you should be using on your hair. They aren’t just telling you this to make money off of you. I promise!!

It’s important to use the proper product/routine in order to keep your hair healthy and avoid fading. Don’t expect to keep a gorgeous icy blonde if you are going to use a Sallys purple shampoo (or no purple shampoo at all).

If you’re curious about the differences in professional vs. non-professional hair product lines, check out my post here.

Budget

It’s also important to explain your budget so that there are no surprises. You can’t go from from black to blonde for under $100. You should also mention your budget when you’re discussing maintenance.

Often times a color that will last you longer will be a little bit more expensive. Balayage is typically a natural looking highlighting technique that grows out seamlessly. But this service is more expensive than an all over hair color.

Step 3. After the service

After the service is over with and you have your final result, be open and honest about how you feel about it. I know this can be awkward and a strange feeling to say what you don’t like about it, but this is super important.

First, if you don’t like it, telling your stylist that you do like will give them the wrong idea of what you want. If you say you love it but you don’t, they won’t be able to know what you like for next time.

Second, if you are honest about not liking it, there may be a simple fix that they can do to make it perfect for you before you leave.

After time has passed

At your next appointment, it’s great to fill in your stylist on how you are enjoying your hair. Stating that the color seemed to fade quickly could be very helpful to the stylist while formulating or recommending products to you.

The more information you can give, the better. This all ensures that we can keep working at giving you the hair of your dreams!

All of this will help towards your next appointment to make sure you stay 100% satisfied.

Conclusion

Oftentimes when a client isn’t 100% happy with their hair after a service, the issue was due to miscommunication between the stylist and the client. In order to guarantee the best results during your hair consultation, you’ll need to do a little homework.

Before your hair appointment, gather a number of different photos of what hair styles you like, as well as what you don’t like. Gather pictures of people with similar hair types, wave patterns, and skin tones as you. This helps you ensure that you can pull off the style you’re asking for.

During the consultation, there are a few key factors you need to communicate to your stylist. They need to know your maintenance needs (this includes in-salon maintenance as well as at home maintenance), your budget, as well as ask what products you need to use for the hair style and color you’re asking for.

After the consultation, be completely honest about how you feel about your new hair style. If you aren’t, your stylist doesn’t learn what you like. It could also be a simple tweak to fix what you aren’t totally happy about.

I recommend giving your stylist updates either between appointments or at your next appointment about how you felt about your hair over time. This helps the stylist make it better and better after each appointment.

If you have any further questions for me, leave them in the comments! As always, Have A Good Hair Day!

Last updated: 01/02/2024