The Budget Fashionista

For me, finding a hair stylist has always been a little hit or miss - I’ve moved a lot and have sometimes been super lucky to find a great hairstylist right away, and other times have suffered through some unfortunate haircuts/colors before finding success. Mostly, I’ve found word of mouth to be the best method, but when you go somewhere new and don’t know anyone, how do you pick a hairstylist?

I just went through this!  I was born and raised in California and lived there until I was 37 when I moved to Texas to be with my boyfriend.  In CA, I had a good friend (a licensed cosmetologist) who did my hair but it didn’t require much as it was long (down to my butt) and straight with just some simple bangs.  So when I moved here, I just went to wherever to have the ends and bangs trimmed.

But then after I lost my weight, started buying clothes and decided that 15 years with the same hairstyle was long enough, I wanted to get my hair done and didn’t have a clue who to go to!  I talked to a few people around me, but none of them had a really good solid hair stylist that they trusted to recommend, or if they did, I wasn’t too impressed with their results.

I found a place in our local mall called Visible Changes.  They have several shops here in Texas and I really liked how they had their system set up.  They put a big emphasis on training and continuing education is required for all their stylists.  When you book an appointment, they have levels of experience that have different prices - Haircutter, Senior Cutter, Master Cutter, Style Director and Art Director.  Each level indicates a certain amount of training and experience and is priced accordingly.  Then they have colorists set up the same way.

So since I was making a pretty big change (at least to me), I made an appointment with an Art Director, thinking that a really experienced stylist could help me get where I wanted to go.  I brought in a few pictures of what I was thinking about and she did a stellar job!  Exactly what I was imagining and much easier to style than I had thought it would be.  She showed me how to “kick it up a notch” if I take some extra time to make it look really special, but even for just quick day to day, it’s easy to do, works perfectly with my hair type and looks great! 

I wasn’t sure I wanted to do color or not, and spoke to her about it and I really felt like she gave me an honest answer.  I ended up doing some subtle highlights and lowlights just to give me a little more oomph.

Overall, super happy! I’ll be going back there when it’s time for maintenance.

My cousin had a girlfriend who’s hair was always cute. So one day I just asked her who does her hair and she told me it was actually a man…So I tried him out one day and I love him

My mother has gone up to random women and asked who does their hair.  She has gotten great stylists that way, and the women she asks are always flattered.

I just moved to L.A. about 8 months ago and I haven’t found a good stylist… I ended up getting my hair done back in my hometown in MA over the holidays. I am pretty picky and usually ask friends/ co workers where they suggest going. It’s hard to find a reasonably priced stylist who does a good job….

It’s usually been a cost driven choice.  I did stay with a gal for two years at a low budget place and had a great time trying different short styles and colors because she really knew me.  I typically bring in a number of photos and even my sketches to be very clear about what I want in my hairstyle.  If you arm yourself, even low-budget places can give great results.

I usually go for the one who has good recommendations.