Confessions of a Hair Stylist

“Indians have dark hair. To make it light or blonde is hard work. We don’t like clients with henna… It makes your hair brittle, flat and dirty…”

There is a lot of psychology at play in this profession. Our job is to mould ourselves according to the client’s personality so that they return. Building a client base is most important for a young stylist like me. Major hair product brands sponsor client care training for hair stylists. I attended one where they introduced us to the concept of colour coding your clients.  A yellow client is outgoing, jovial, young at heart, experimental with hair cuts. If I don’t talk to her, even if I give her the best haircut, she won’t return. A red client is demanding, knows what she wants and won’t rest till she gets it. She expects professional behaviour. A green client is methodical, feminine, nice. In opposition to yellow, she likes commercial, conventional hair styles. Blue is corporate. Serious and composed, she wants sharp, neat haircuts.

Empathy is the buzzword. It’s not what you say but how you say it. For example, if someone’s hair is thin, I say it has less density and blame it on hormones.

Indians have dark hair. To make it light or blonde is hard work. We don’t like clients with henna. In the old days, it was natural. Now, it’s full of lead particles and other chemicals. It makes your hair brittle, flat, dirty and coats it, so colouring becomes difficult.

Most technicals, that is, chemical service, are money making. Hence stylists push it, irrespective of whether the hair can take it as they get a cut.
Appearance is very important in this field, which is why we put so much effort into our own clothes and hair. The job of a hair stylist is to make you look pretty. Would you go to a fat dietician?

Everyone notices white hair, even one strand. People are paranoid about their grey hair being visible. And they ape celebrities. Until now, no girl with long hair would go for a bob cut. But after Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra went short, many girls want the same. It is important for an elite parlour to have celebrity and socialite clients. This means bearing their tantrums too.

A big part of my job is counselling. Some girls want haircuts that will straighten their curly hair, or make this face look thin. We have to cajole them to love their hair and bodies, as hairstylists can’t work magic.

(She has been in the profession for three years and works  for a celebrity hair salon in Mumbai) 

(As told to Shubhangi Swarup)

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