Hairstylists' and dreads...

Okay so I wasn't sure where to put this thread so I hope the one I put it in is okay.. I just feel like I have to say something.

Hairstyling is a career just as almost every other field out in the adult world. We do work VERY hard (most days I can't even move when I get home from work). Most stylists I know have extremely reasonable prices, but this is our career, we have to make money to have a home and feed our children. Just the same as anyone else with a job. I am a hairstylist, NOT for the money, but because I LOVE making people feel good about themselves. When someone sits in my chair and tells me they just aren't happy, it's my job to make them leave and feel like a movie star. I get so much satisfaction from my job, and I truly LOVE what I do. Hairstylists are not bad people. Most of us do not aim to rip anyone off. I'm sure there some are WAY over-priced, but aren't there over-priced people and business' everywhere these days? I personally do quite a bit of free work for women's shelter's and foster homes because I know just because someone doesn't have money, doesn't mean they don't want to feel good about themselves. All this said, I enjoy this forum very much, but it is honestly kind of depressing seeing all of this animosity towards hairstylists here. I almost feel stereotyped. Please take a minute to think about how upsetting it is when someone thinks you are dirty, stinky and uneducated, just because you have dreadlocks. I can't say I've ever known anyone to think less of me for being a stylist until I joined this forum. It kind of makes me sad . Please know that I am not trying to start an argument, or upset anyone here, I just keep seeing things being said. It kind of makes me feel as if I'm not wanted because of my profession. I hope you all can understand where I'm coming from, and look past whatever angst you have toward hairstylists' in general. Not all of us are evil doers.

updated by @stephani: 02/14/15 09:46:06AM

me too haha

Rebecca said:

i have known some pretty cool hair stylists : )

theres no anger at hair stylists theres anger over the things they do to dra=eads that are very destructive thats all

the fact that they do things all wrong cant you imagine what its like if you say wanted dreads for 10..or 15 years? maybe even longer some of our members wanted dreads from age 6 and didnt dread tikll age 50! or close to it then your told all these stories about how dreads are high maintenence and you have to go to a loctician every 3 weeks and you still want your dreads so you shell out 8000 dollars and have your hair twu[-=isted caked in wax crochetted interlocked or worse..1 freind had liquid latex poured over her head and called it dreads, so then your told you cant get it wet for a year you cant wash you have to come back and have your scalp cleaned for a fee so you go home cover yor pillows in wax your "dreads" poke your partner in the eye they get pissed off and leave you (these are all actual experiences of members but its a composite priofile many members experiences jumbled into 1) you go back in 3 weeks they w]twist your hair till its pulling out of yor scalp they add more wax and crochet they root flip and add yarn and glue they wipe your itchy burning scalp with alcahol and witcgh hazle anjd send u home with another appountment

so 3 weeks later and again the same thing then 3 more and this time they decide its not dreading (because of all the wax ofcourse its n=not) so they break out the dread perm and 'fry the shit" out of your hair cause its "too healthy to dread so needs ti be damaged" by now youve spent about 1400 you get home look in the mirror and see pointy twisty spiky tyhings that look nothing like dreads but worse your forehead covered in zitys your whole body breaking out in hives sores everywhere cause the dread perm chems are still in the wax burning your skin

finaly your fed up and you cant take it anymore so you wah your hairt your drain clogs from wax but at least the burning itchings ended tho clumps of hair fell out

you still have waxy twu]iusty spiky thingies but not dreading really at all

so your 2 1/2-3 months in out 1400 bucks and yea your stylist was very nice made you feel good while she worked but stil your dready dream is a disaster your furniture ruined with wax caked everywhere..your plumbing too

wouldnt you have a lil anger/ not at stylists for being stylists but at the way they do dreadsin such harmful ways?

nobody hates stylists for doing a job..just we have to recomend ppl not go to them for dreads till they stop using such harmful methods

and we do try to teach them better ways

we offered a certified organic trwining program

theres been a few who have stopped using wadx or crochet..but not many

hell many of those who do do the salon dread thing end up with balding as a result

i woiuld love love love to be able to recomend saklons to ppl ..but the problem is ..finding 1 worth recomending

id love if you wre 1 of the 1st

(i dont doubt theres more then 1 out there but 99% should be avoided so its really hard to find even just 1)

so..what do u say? are ya up for being 1 of the 1t worth recomending?

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

btw wouldnt reffer so many ppl to panterra for help if i didnt respect her knowledge as a hairdresser

but these days u get those who are in cosmo school not even grat]duated anjd they think they know everythung about dreads and will tell you "you cant wash them and you have to use wax" and they wont believe you if yu say otherwise

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I really do feel terrible for what has happened to the people that happened to. If I could find a way to educate other stylists, not just with dreadlocking, but other hair related issues, I would travel the world to do so. Unfortunately, that is not possible. So many are stuck in their ways of doing hair, and can't possibly see how what they are doing could be harmful. Honestly though, most of them are just doing as they're told, and not thinking twice about it. As I've told you before, that is what they teach us in school. Although, I've never heard of a dread perm before. I contacted my old just today. They told me a while back I could come teach a lesson on how to properly start dreadlocks, today they told me differently. Something to do with the teaching laws in my state. I would have to go back to school for close to 1000 hours and get my instructing license. One day I will get my instructing license and educate, but for now it's not possible. I would have no time for my family.

As for becoming a salon you recommend, I would totally be up for that! Although I do start dreads completely naturally, and just by twist and rip. I do other things as far as coloring and highlighting, "old lady" perming. I will admit those things are not natural, but I can not stop performing them. I would lose 90% of my clientele, and unfortunately I can not afford to do that. So if becoming a recommended salon would mean not giving those things up then you can count me in.

Again I feel the need to apologize to all of the people who were put through hell because of what a stylist did to them. It really does break my heart for them.

soaring eagle said:

theres no anger at hair stylists theres anger over the things they do to dra=eads that are very destructive thats all

the fact that they do things all wrong cant you imagine what its like if you say wanted dreads for 10..or 15 years? maybe even longer some of our members wanted dreads from age 6 and didnt dread tikll age 50! or close to it then your told all these stories about how dreads are high maintenence and you have to go to a loctician every 3 weeks and you still want your dreads so you shell out 8000 dollars and have your hair twu[-=isted caked in wax crochetted interlocked or worse..1 freind had liquid latex poured over her head and called it dreads, so then your told you cant get it wet for a year you cant wash you have to come back and have your scalp cleaned for a fee so you go home cover yor pillows in wax your "dreads" poke your partner in the eye they get pissed off and leave you (these are all actual experiences of members but its a composite priofile many members experiences jumbled into 1) you go back in 3 weeks they w]twist your hair till its pulling out of yor scalp they add more wax and crochet they root flip and add yarn and glue they wipe your itchy burning scalp with alcahol and witcgh hazle anjd send u home with another appountment

so 3 weeks later and again the same thing then 3 more and this time they decide its not dreading (because of all the wax ofcourse its n=not) so they break out the dread perm and 'fry the shit" out of your hair cause its "too healthy to dread so needs ti be damaged" by now youve spent about 1400 you get home look in the mirror and see pointy twisty spiky tyhings that look nothing like dreads but worse your forehead covered in zitys your whole body breaking out in hives sores everywhere cause the dread perm chems are still in the wax burning your skin

finaly your fed up and you cant take it anymore so you wah your hairt your drain clogs from wax but at least the burning itchings ended tho clumps of hair fell out

you still have waxy twu]iusty spiky thingies but not dreading really at all

so your 2 1/2-3 months in out 1400 bucks and yea your stylist was very nice made you feel good while she worked but stil your dready dream is a disaster your furniture ruined with wax caked everywhere..your plumbing too

wouldnt you have a lil anger/ not at stylists for being stylists but at the way they do dreadsin such harmful ways?

nobody hates stylists for doing a job..just we have to recomend ppl not go to them for dreads till they stop using such harmful methods

and we do try to teach them better ways

we offered a certified organic trwining program

theres been a few who have stopped using wadx or crochet..but not many

hell many of those who do do the salon dread thing end up with balding as a result

i woiuld love love love to be able to recomend saklons to ppl ..but the problem is ..finding 1 worth recomending

id love if you wre 1 of the 1st

(i dont doubt theres more then 1 out there but 99% should be avoided so its really hard to find even just 1)

so..what do u say? are ya up for being 1 of the 1t worth recomending?

to qualify we had fair but specific requit[rements and this was only related to doing dreads

only officialy offer non or low harm techniques edi]ucucate on how dreads can foem naturaly but offer twist n rip as an alternative ..dont offer wax or crochet however if the client insisted on it then you still could if you provide a written pamphlet with info on why its not recomended and get a waer signed stating you advized againsyt]t it you wouldnt have to lose business you would howver have to educate the clients on whats better alternatives and recomend proper dread care like washing

as far as maintenence you can officialy offer help with seperating congos that were neglected too long coloring ..wax removal if they had gotten waxed in the past..styling pampering ..that sorta stuff

if they request harmful maintenance again provide written reasons why its not recomended and get a signed statement satying they read and undrstood the risks

Stephani said:

I really do feel terrible for what has happened to the people that happened to. If I could find a way to educate other stylists, not just with dreadlocking, but other hair related issues, I would travel the world to do so. Unfortunately, that is not possible. So many are stuck in their ways of doing hair, and can't possibly see how what they are doing could be harmful. Honestly though, most of them are just doing as they're told, and not thinking twice about it. As I've told you before, that is what they teach us in school. Although, I've never heard of a dread perm before. I contacted my old just today. They told me a while back I could come teach a lesson on how to properly start dreadlocks, today they told me differently. Something to do with the teaching laws in my state. I would have to go back to school for close to 1000 hours and get my instructing license. One day I will get my instructing license and educate, but for now it's not possible. I would have no time for my family.

As for becoming a salon you recommend, I would totally be up for that! Although I do start dreads completely naturally, and just by twist and rip. I do other things as far as coloring and highlighting, "old lady" perming. I will admit those things are not natural, but I can not stop performing them. I would lose 90% of my clientele, and unfortunately I can not afford to do that. So if becoming a recommended salon would mean not giving those things up then you can count me in.

Again I feel the need to apologize to all of the people who were put through hell because of what a stylist did to them. It really does break my heart for them.

soaring eagle said:

theres no anger at hair stylists theres anger over the things they do to dra=eads that are very destructive thats all

the fact that they do things all wrong cant you imagine what its like if you say wanted dreads for 10..or 15 years? maybe even longer some of our members wanted dreads from age 6 and didnt dread tikll age 50! or close to it then your told all these stories about how dreads are high maintenence and you have to go to a loctician every 3 weeks and you still want your dreads so you shell out 8000 dollars and have your hair twu[-=isted caked in wax crochetted interlocked or worse..1 freind had liquid latex poured over her head and called it dreads, so then your told you cant get it wet for a year you cant wash you have to come back and have your scalp cleaned for a fee so you go home cover yor pillows in wax your "dreads" poke your partner in the eye they get pissed off and leave you (these are all actual experiences of members but its a composite priofile many members experiences jumbled into 1) you go back in 3 weeks they w]twist your hair till its pulling out of yor scalp they add more wax and crochet they root flip and add yarn and glue they wipe your itchy burning scalp with alcahol and witcgh hazle anjd send u home with another appountment

so 3 weeks later and again the same thing then 3 more and this time they decide its not dreading (because of all the wax ofcourse its n=not) so they break out the dread perm and 'fry the shit" out of your hair cause its "too healthy to dread so needs ti be damaged" by now youve spent about 1400 you get home look in the mirror and see pointy twisty spiky tyhings that look nothing like dreads but worse your forehead covered in zitys your whole body breaking out in hives sores everywhere cause the dread perm chems are still in the wax burning your skin

finaly your fed up and you cant take it anymore so you wah your hairt your drain clogs from wax but at least the burning itchings ended tho clumps of hair fell out

you still have waxy twu]iusty spiky thingies but not dreading really at all

so your 2 1/2-3 months in out 1400 bucks and yea your stylist was very nice made you feel good while she worked but stil your dready dream is a disaster your furniture ruined with wax caked everywhere..your plumbing too

wouldnt you have a lil anger/ not at stylists for being stylists but at the way they do dreadsin such harmful ways?

nobody hates stylists for doing a job..just we have to recomend ppl not go to them for dreads till they stop using such harmful methods

and we do try to teach them better ways

we offered a certified organic trwining program

theres been a few who have stopped using wadx or crochet..but not many

hell many of those who do do the salon dread thing end up with balding as a result

i woiuld love love love to be able to recomend saklons to ppl ..but the problem is ..finding 1 worth recomending

id love if you wre 1 of the 1st

(i dont doubt theres more then 1 out there but 99% should be avoided so its really hard to find even just 1)

so..what do u say? are ya up for being 1 of the 1t worth recomending?

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I can tell you from my 6 years in this industry, students are extremely cocky. They do think they know everything, until the day they step foot in a salon on their first day of work. That's when they become a "deer in head lights", and realize they really know nothing at all, and everything they were taught was dated and aged by about 30 years. One thing every Hairdresser has to learn is that, you will not ever get anywhere if you always do what you've always done. I will never claim to know everything there is to know about my profession. I do however strive to educate myself as best I can in every form of hair styling that there is. I believe there is so much to learn in this world and I will never settle for less. Any stylist that has a passion as strong as mine for this business would say the same thing. Education is my number 1 priority in everything that I do.

soaring eagle said:

btw wouldnt reffer so many ppl to panterra for help if i didnt respect her knowledge as a hairdresser

but these days u get those who are in cosmo school not even grat]duated anjd they think they know everythung about dreads and will tell you "you cant wash them and you have to use wax" and they wont believe you if yu say otherwise

gotta respect ya alot for that

its not only students that are cocky tho

i guess in dread salons its a lil different too cause manmy of em dont require cosmotology trainung just loctician traing andsome states dont even require any training others u need a braiders liscence so you really dont need any education on hair care at all just dreading techniques most of which are wrong

so you take your course.. a few hours training in a specific technique like sisterlocks traing you get your interlocking kit and think yu know everything there is to know about dreads..and they go into a salon or start 1 in their basement they dont lose the cockiness cause they arent in a full salon setting with far more experienced stylists to put thenm in their place

Stephani said:

I can tell you from my 6 years in this industry, students are extremely cocky. They do think they know everything, until the day they step foot in a salon on their first day of work. That's when they become a "deer in head lights", and realize they really know nothing at all, and everything they were taught was dated and aged by about 30 years. One thing every Hairdresser has to learn is that, you will not ever get anywhere if you always do what you've always done. I will never claim to know everything there is to know about my profession. I do however strive to educate myself as best I can in every form of hair styling that there is. I believe there is so much to learn in this world and I will never settle for less. Any stylist that has a passion as strong as mine for this business would say the same thing. Education is my number 1 priority in everything that I do.

soaring eagle said:

btw wouldnt reffer so many ppl to panterra for help if i didnt respect her knowledge as a hairdresser

but these days u get those who are in cosmo school not even grat]duated anjd they think they know everythung about dreads and will tell you "you cant wash them and you have to use wax" and they wont believe you if yu say otherwise

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I could do all of that. The only thing is dreads are not that popular in my area. I could totally offer all of that for the people that do come in though. I have never used wax on anyone's dreads and I promise I never will.

soaring eagle said:

to qualify we had fair but specific requit[rements and this was only related to doing dreads

only officialy offer non or low harm techniques edi]ucucate on how dreads can foem naturaly but offer twist n rip as an alternative ..dont offer wax or crochet however if the client insisted on it then you still could if you provide a written pamphlet with info on why its not recomended and get a waer signed stating you advized againsyt]t it you wouldnt have to lose business you would howver have to educate the clients on whats better alternatives and recomend proper dread care like washing

as far as maintenence you can officialy offer help with seperating congos that were neglected too long coloring ..wax removal if they had gotten waxed in the past..styling pampering ..that sorta stuff

if they request harmful maintenance again provide written reasons why its not recomended and get a signed statement satying they read and undrstood the risks

you offer dreas ..and doing them right and at a reasonable pro[ice and ppl will come to you..fromfar away

hell people will go to other countries and waste alotta money to have em screwed up badly..

and..if yur 1 of the only salons earning our seal of aproval that goes a long way to gain you credibility

where are u at?

Stephani said:

I could do all of that. The only thing is dreads are not that popular in my area. I could totally offer all of that for the people that do come in though. I have never used wax on anyone's dreads and I promise I never will.

soaring eagle said:

to qualify we had fair but specific requit[rements and this was only related to doing dreads

only officialy offer non or low harm techniques edi]ucucate on how dreads can foem naturaly but offer twist n rip as an alternative ..dont offer wax or crochet however if the client insisted on it then you still could if you provide a written pamphlet with info on why its not recomended and get a waer signed stating you advized againsyt]t it you wouldnt have to lose business you would howver have to educate the clients on whats better alternatives and recomend proper dread care like washing

as far as maintenence you can officialy offer help with seperating congos that were neglected too long coloring ..wax removal if they had gotten waxed in the past..styling pampering ..that sorta stuff

if they request harmful maintenance again provide written reasons why its not recomended and get a signed statement satying they read and undrstood the risks

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1