you get what you pay for

(or, why my new attempts at frugality suck)

I was LONG overdue for a haircut. I had been stalling because my old stylist had been out on maternity leave (I kept hoping that she was contagious as she cut my hair in her very pregnant state, but no such luck) and she was scheduled to be back in February. Except that she’s back at a different branch of the salon (the fancy downtown one, which apparently has on-site day care -- how cool is that?) and it’s further away and costs more. So I kept stalling. I had planned to make an appointment to check the place out at least once before deciding I’m not cool enough to be there, but hadn’t gotten around to it. And it’s such a production. And meanwhile my hair is getting shaggier and harder to manage and I finally had to just break down and do something, anything, right now.

So I went to El Cheapo, no-appointment-necessary salon ($14 student rate!) and hoped for the best. The stylist seemed to be squeezing me in while her other client’s highlights set up. (I know it’s SO MUCH cheaper, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to get highlights done there. Though I was there at all, which says something about my desperation.) I sat down in the chair, and she said “How much do you want cut?” And then I had to try to explain that just taking off an inch wouldn’t really help my curly, but not too curly, hair. We went back and forth about length for about a minute (certainly no longer) before she bustled me off for the fastest shampoo I’ve ever had. I don’t think my scalp even got wet. Then back to the chair where she trimmed the bottom and looked pleased with herself, as I sat there trying to explain that I didn’t want her to cut too much from the upper layers, but that the bottom was shaggy and didn’t curl as well, so it should be shorter. And she trimmed and snipped and started in on the layers and kept telling me how she was doing what I wanted. You know where this is going, right?

It’s not really what I wanted. The top layers are too short, and the bottom is just sitting there (as I said it would). BUT... the middle is okay, I think. And it only cost $14. I guess I knew what I was getting into, and I’m sure it could be a lot worse. Hell, the last stylist I tried (before the pregnant one who understood curly hair) did an equally mediocre, if not worse, job and charged way more.

Now to go play with it and see if I can get it to curl more and frizz less. Wish me luck.