At home hair..

Every hairstylist has their pet peeves.  I must be honest in admitting that I have a lot. A huge one for me is at home hair. Whether it be diy ombre, a home hackjob or the cheap thinning shears route, it drives me crazy! A client sat down in my chair and I immediately noticed the breakage everywhere and asked if she wore ponytails etc. She said she didnt so the whole cut, I'm left wondering why her hair is in shambles.. then she spills.  She has thinning shears at home and goes to town on what she thinks is thick. Part of me is relieved it's not something serious and the other part is in disbelief that this woman found thinning shears at ross and THOUGHT THAT WAS OKAY. I'm allowed to get heated over awful hair :) I spend hours thinking and writing and scribbling and typing post ideas and while this doesnt have pretty pictures, I believe it needed to be said :) getting it out there. Please leave these things to the professionals! We are professionals for a reason and went to school for this ;) seeing that breakage is a huge problem for a lot of people and one of my major pet peeves, this is just the first post addressing it. More to come :) hope this helped a little and caused you to put the shears down!!! Xx chels

Fellow hairdressers?

Are there any other hairdressers out there who don't have the heart to charge family? Am I the only one? When I first started it was understandable because I was learning but then you come to that point where this is now your career. Even my parents pay me. What don't they understand? My aunt and uncle just recently visited when I came home from Delaware. She was so hesitant but nicely asked if I could find the time to do her hair. Of course I did and it turned out beautiful! The problem is, when I go to visit them in March, everyone and their mom will be lined outside the door waiting for free services. Cousins I didn't even know I had. How do you guys deal with it? haha I don't want to be rude but they expect (in a 2 day trip) for me to do 3 haircuts and ombre color. Doesn't sound like much but they don't live near a cosmoprof and sally's is over 30 minutes away. Not to mention that I've never highlighted my cousin's hair so I have NO idea what she pulls and if I will need to tone her/ what toner I'll have to use. How do other stylists handle this? Advice please?

xo chels