Thinning Gone Wrong

Scissors to thin hair out
Photo: Maryusgmc/Shutterstock
Q: Thanks in advance for answering. I'm in quite a fix! I went to a new cosmetologist to get a cut. I've always had thick dark (Italian) natural curly hair. It was short when I went to the new cosmetologist. I told her I liked "wispy" hair. She said she'd cut it on an angle and thin it a little. I questioned the thinning. She assured me just a little. I was turned away from the mirror the entire time, so I really don't know what tool she may have used. After she styled and applied gel to my hair she showed it to me in the mirror. It looked fine.
 
About a week to ten days after though, I knew something wasn't right. My hair felt different and laid different, exactly the way she styled it. When I trimmed it later on (I've cut my own hair on and off for 25 years) it wouldn't lay right unless I cut it exactly the way she had it styled! When I started to really look at my hair, I was horrified to see that my hair was basically clumps of thin hair that had points on the ends and WOULD ONLY LAY THE WAY SHE CUT AND STYLED IT.
 
Two other cosmetologists said my hair was thinned to the scalp and thinned too much! When I questioned the woman who did the cut (in person), she gave excuses such as cowlicks, our hair changes as we age, you cut your own hair. When I said she knew exactly what she did to my hair, her response was: your head is round! That's it, your head is round! My magnifying glass and I have discovered that she literally made my hair go in circles! My hair goes in a huge circle at the nape. The entire back of my head is a circle and three circles are at the crown extending to the top. And there's more!
 
There are small circles of hair throughout my head with jagged edges that connect to each other. My hair tightens as if a band is around my head and it is painful. I can not figure out how she did this or how to undo it. It sticks to my head downward. This isn't the way my hair was before she cut it. I'm so devastated and frustrated! Is there a texturing tool that could do this? I know she put the large areas of circles in by cutting but the small circles of hair, two strands of hair in the middle that extend out to the next circle. It actually looks like a clock! I know this sounds incredible I've never heard of such a thing or seen it, but that's what I'm wearing. If you can give me some answers, please help!
 
By the way, I spoke with the owner of the salon, he said there is nothing anyone can do to change the way your hair grows and that I have to realize they are "artists" there! All I know is I walked in with my hair and walked out with what I've described. I'd appreciate your help.

 
A: It sounds to me like she did remove too much hair in the thinning process and that the hair she removed was cut too short. However, it also sounds like your hair has some growth patterns that are combining with the too-short cut and making problems.
 
I'm afraid the only thing to do about your hair is to let it grow until it is long enough for you to style it in a different way. The stylist was correct in that the hair can change as you get older, and one of the best ways to make those changes appear dramatic is by cutting the hair very short all at once.
 
Cutting the hair will not change the hair's texture or wave pattern, so as it grows out, if it is behaving differently, you cannot blame the stylist who cut your hair. This is possibly just a matter of the hair having changed as you age.
 
As for the salon owner's comment of "there is nothing anyone can do to change the way your hair grows" and that you have "to realize they are "artists" there", he should realize that one of his "artists" has left a client very dissatisfied, which means that he is unlikely to see repeat business.
 
He should also remember that there may not be anything that can be done to change the way hair grows, a stylist is SUPPOSED to be trained to recognize growth patterns in the hair and to avoid making cuts that will cause problems for the client.
 
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See also:
 
Scissor happy hairdressers and unhappy clients
 
How to report salons that continually do not honor the patron's request
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