I made someone cry today

[AllanJudge]

My cousin, who tbh, is a bit of a drama queen.

But I take full blame for this.

I always have to clarify this in my forum posts just so people understand. I'm doing my level 3, finished my level 2 in 2009. Since then i've done about 6 heads of highlights with bleach.

Today was the 2nd time i've highlighted my cousins hair, she gets full head highlights. I hate highlights, I think theyre so out of fashion. But it's what the client wants.

I took nearly 2 hours doing the whole head, tiny sections. When I was taking them off (water spray and towel to the first foils I applied) I noticed they'd bled loads, Leopard spots in places. But none of it was visible as it was all underneath, not good enough though.

I cut it, dried it, then done the fringe. I took her fringe way too short and she got upset and started crying. I never cut peoples hair too short, cutting is what I love most and it's something I despise getting wrong.

I've made this thread for 2 reasons, I need to confess my sins to a bunch of Hairdressers lol, and I need to know the best sectioning patterns/hints/tips for doing foils. Youtube videos etc.
i'm in college and will ask my tutor tomorrow, but the more advice the better.

I feel so s**t. When you're a fully qualified stylist, one client who hates their hair can completely damage your career. I don't want to be 'That' hairdresser. I struggle so much with colour and don't understand why ai can't pick it up.

 

[ColourgeniusMrH]

Don't let it get you down! These things happen to all of us, we have all made mistakes - even those at the top of their game!

So to address the bleeds issue, the best advice I can offer, which has worked really well for me, is to make sure you're not saturating the hair with too much bleach. Bleach swells and if you've got a lovely fine section with lots of product on there's a good chance it will just swell and bubble out of the top of your foil. I would recommend trying to feather your brush on the side when you come to the top of the packet.

I've cut several people's fringes short in the past and fringes scared me for a long time! But I'm ok now and it's just practice - one tip I can offer is while you're building confidence up, perhaps wait and cut the fringe last after blow drying and styling - cut it in the comb without tension and then it will be pretty hard to go too short

Hope this has been of some help to you. Chin up x

 

[Lauren121]

Don't get yourself worked up it takes ages to grasp certain things sometimes and there will be a day when everything just clicks into place and you will be like why did I ever get myself so worked up about that! there is still things I go back to my workbook for to double check I was doing it right! But doing your level 3 it should come to you as they go Into more depth with your colour!

As for your cut you know where you went wrong yes it can't be rectified now but within a week or two it will be the length she wants it at and she won't feel it's too long as quick as usual!

Take everything as a learning curve and don't get yourself so worked up as you don't want to start judging yourself and hating what you love! X

 

[cassies97]

You don't have to do foils if you don't want to.

You can transition foils into a balayage any day, in half the time! Not only does it benefit you but it benefits the client too, it'll grow out much nicer.
Its about the end product, not how you got there (to an extent), clients don't know the full extent of what we can do to their hair so its not up to them what method we use, we're the one that has to be confident and comfortable doing it.

Ah don't worry it'll grow back, just always take tiny bits at a time with fringes, hate cutting fringes to be honest though.

I don't think there's any way you'll actually get faster at doing foils other than practice, if you want a nice result, there's no cheats way.

For the bleeding, as everyone else has said, super skinny sections! Get the foil nice and tight.

One day you might get colour, or you might not... But thats fine because you can just be a stylist.

 

[AcidPerm]

Don't beat yourself up, at least it was a family member.
I've done both those things on different people when I was training so I know how it seriously saps your confidence.

Chin up chuck. Tomorrow's another day!

 

[AcidPerm]

Oh, and if you've not already done so, get yourself a subscription.

http://www.mhdacademy.com

 

[AllanJudge]

Thank you all so much for these lovely comments.

I know its all a learning curve but it just feels horrible when it happens. She cried and put it up in a ponytail, it was a horrible situation.
I do highlights where I don't section anything off, just do a radial section from ear to ear, start at the nape and work my way up in horizontal sections, doing however many foils I think will fit the head. (2 at the bottome usually, working up to 3). But I find this a messy application, its awkward, but its how I was taught.

The fringe thing isnt even because I dont know what to do, I think I was just tired after a long day and just werent concentrating. I knew as soon as i'd done it exactly what I done wrong.

It's just not been a good day.

 

[domz85]

For full heads u start at the nape do 2 horizontal then on either side i do angles following the hairline then horizontal until the nape is done i then start at the front in an angle following the hairline all the way around then i diagonal along the top this works for me i find the angle helps with the curve of the head ..

 

[RED STAR]

Dear Allan judge........
I must have a sick sense of humour, because your 'situation' has made me smile
MANY MANY mistakes will be made along the way......on your road to PERFECTION.
We've ALL done similar, I wouldn't believe anyone who claims they have not!

Make sure your using a good quality bleach
Mix well - not too runny, 'creamy/paste' is good
Don't weave your sections too 'deep'.
Apply your product half way down mech, and then work up towards the root,
thus avoiding the dreaded ooze
DO NOT GO BEYOND THE EDGE OF YOUR FOIL/FILM/FOAM, (whatever the medium is you are using).

Fringe advice......always be conservative, less is more!
You can always go back in and make it a WEE bit shorter

 

[James294323]

Foils & Bleeding - just always keep in mind the salon/room and your clients temperature. Obviously if loads of people working in salon and its hot, you may find the pre lightener swelling more and hence bleeding. Same if your client has literally run in the door all flustered and really hot giving off lots of heat. Similarly if they are on their phones, moving about etc this can all affect the foils/bleeding. I wouldn't worry about patterns and stuff now just keep practicing the standard technique & perfect it. If it helps you section off the head into something like the 9 section for a perm. make sure sections are as wide or smaller than foils. Take your fine sections as you are doing, get your brush and wipe off excess on side of bowl then from middle of hair shaft work upwards towards the root so you don't have too much product at top of foil. Then work the brush down to ends (or where you want colour to stop). Close packet up and don't tap it or smooth with the comb too hard, be really gentle. Then afterwards get each corner of the foil (root area) and just rotate it a tiny bit (towards you, like 1mm) so it sits away from scalp a bit. I like to have my foils double folded (tiny) at the top and pre folded in the middle. I find the double fold makes the foil stronger and and the pre fold speeds you up so you get really close to the root. Always be careful around the front hairline and especially the crown for bleeding (not too much product at root). If you are using a high lift tint in there as well as a pre lightener even less product as these slip a lot more.

If you really hate foils, fine. Try maji mech packets now you are using L'Oreal (if you haven't already). They are not cheap, but you can paint up to top of blue line, take wider sections (as wide meches) and above all in a salon they are super quick. The bonus is you will be able to see exactly how the colour is developing and if they are bleeding as developing you can quickly fix this . They are great for colour placement with several shades so you can remember what colour you put where etc.

The fringe- you know what you did there, only thing I will add to everyone else's comments is make sure you are standing in correct position which im sure you know.

End of the day, its just hair, no one died and it grows. Keep practicing the foils over and over until you have it down. When you have such clean results all the hard work is worth it and you will enjoy it much more

 

[AllanJudge]

Red star - you're a very evil person for finding this funny haha. Reading it back today i'm finding it a bit funny just because in the grand scheme of things it's nothing, when you consider that even though it was a bad experience and it will grow and it's taught me a few thing.

Chris - Thanks for that very detailed comment. I did a lot of things wrong yesterday and when I seen the foils had bled I just lost all enthusiasm and wanted her to go, hence the fringe business.
I'm gonna look into Majimeche. We get L'Oreal product training next month so hopefully i'll learn loads from that.

......

She sent me a picture earlier saying she likes it today, which has made me feel better. I thought the cut was lovely yesterday, it suited her, but it's what they want. But just knowing she likes it has made me feel better. And if anyone asks about the bleeding foils i'll just say leopard print hair is back in fashion.

 

[Allies dream]

Red star - you're a very evil person for finding this funny haha. Reading it back today i'm finding it a bit funny just because in the grand scheme of things it's nothing, when you consider that even though it was a bad experience and it will grow and it's taught me a few thing.

Chris - Thanks for that very detailed comment. I did a lot of things wrong yesterday and when I seen the foils had bled I just lost all enthusiasm and wanted her to go, hence the fringe business.
I'm gonna look into Majimeche. We get L'Oreal product training next month so hopefully i'll learn loads from that.

......

She sent me a picture earlier saying she likes it today, which has made me feel better. I thought the cut was lovely yesterday, it suited her, but it's what they want. But just knowing she likes it has made me feel better. And if anyone asks about the bleeding foils i'll just say leopard print hair is back in fashion.

Haha leopard print,im glad your feeling better about it today.we all make mistakes its how we lear,trick is being able to put it right,and learning from it,April 101 had a good trick for bleeders use a cotton bud and put tiny bit of tint on it within 20 mins gone

 

[shypurdy81]

Don't let this set you back confidence comes over time. I think the main this to remember with foils is lower the peroxide rights down I actually use 1.5% on the back in a full head ( when using bleach) because I know I'm not a fast Foiler . And less is more bleach swells so you don't need loads xx before you know it your be confident x

 

[Joe96]

Aww bless you we all have bad days and we all have things were not good at mines dressing hair up! Try taking fine slices as you may find this easier if your having to do highlights also just use a nice basic sectioning pattern if you struggle with foiling don't over complicate things for yourself xx

 

[vividamnesia]

Sounds like your bleach mixture could be a little thicker (like pudding) and when you apply the bleach to foiled hair, put the first stroke from the brush further down the hair shaft to blob off excess color and brush stroke sweeping it upwards and downwards to even bleach out then go for the root area with just a light sweep with little color on the brush. You can get right to the root and not have bleeding if just a touch of color is applied to the roots.

As for the crying we all have had at least 1 whom is a cry queen I saw it in my last salon where a coworker was doing a blow dry and she cried so I stepped in threw a bunch of technical jargon at her and asked her what she was expecting for the outcome of the service. I did her blow dry and she was fine. At least your a hairdresser and can pretty much fix any color blunder. As for the too short fringe well things happen for a reason maybe she will meet the love of her life whom is first attracted to her by the way her hair frames her face! Don't dwell on it, just chalk it up to experience gained. We all will or have had deal hunters,drama queens,emotionally manipulative people etc. and are par for the course to experience these people through out our careers thankfully these types of folks are few and far between!