What hairdressers say about themselves

Press, 6 July 1985, Page 14

What hairdressers say about themselves

Margaret Yates, of Yates Professional Salons: “Good hairdressers must be good all-rounders. They need some artistic ability, but that’s not the be-all and end-all. “They need a very good personality: the public can’t discriminate between a good hairdo and a perfect hairdo, so they will always come back to the place where they enjoyed their salon experience. “They must have the ability to communicate well, and have a reasonable academic ability in order to understand the modern technologies of colouring and perming.

“They need a hardy constitution: hairdressing is not the glamorous job other people perceive it to be — the glamour goes out of the door with the customer.” Grahame Davis and Chris Jones of Paul Davis: “A hairdresser is first of all a P.R. person. Rather like no animal-hater joins the S.P.C.A., no people-hater should be a hairdresser. Sometimes an artistic person creates a hairstyle, but forgets there’s a person underneath. “A good haircut should be an extension of the person. It should be modem, but it doesn’t have to be extreme or bizarre. A lot of people

don’t know their potential. “It’s good to fantasise, to change your hairstyle and look completely different. A good hairdresser shows people the potential that’s there. The quiet, conservative person can have a personality change, and go out looking a million dollars. “They say clothes can change a person, but we say if the hair and makeup aren’t right in tune with the clothes, the look fails. We show them what can be done.” Julie Armstrong formerly of the Ritz, now of Jules Hair Design: “A good hairdresser helps people project an image of themselves, but doesn’t project their own image on the client. You listen to them say their piece, then you suggest a compromise. It’s part’ of our job to encourage people to go as far as they can with their hair. “The person’s profile, the face shape, the shape of the body are all important. You must talk to the client before she gets to the basin — once she’s got the cape on, you’ve lost her total image. “If you just look at the hair, you could think it would look good cut really short, only to find when she stands up at the end that she’s quite the wrong shape to take it. I’ve seen it happen!” Joro Yambasef, formerly of Trimmers, currently at lan Nicholson’s: “Anybody can learn the skills of hairdressing, it’s what you are as a person that counts. The talent is to make people ■ relax, basically to pander to the sort of people they are. If I have 10 clients in a day, I will be 10 different people. “A good hairdresser puts a little piece of themselves into each client’s hairstyle. “You’ve got to assess the client and give them what they really need — not necessarily what they want. There are several ways of looking at it: for the boss, it’s the money, for the young star, it’s enthusiasm

for the style and who cares if the client’s oh the dole. “I don’t want to be a star any more, with my name in ‘Vogue.’ If I want a new washing machine, I must keep the clients coming to me. “The image of the salon is one of the most important things. Hairdressing is a service industry, and part of the service is your surroundings, the comfort. It’s all part of the experience.: “One of the failings of hairdressers is high pressure selling, when the client goes in for a haircut and comes out with a perm and colour. Her bill has jumped from $l6 to $BO. She won’t come back unless she’s been persuaded it’s what she really needed. “But a hairdresser who spends all day just cutting clients, can’t stay in business.” David Bradford, of David Bradford’s Hairdressing College: “A lot of hairdressers are

not in tune with what the public wants. Their work is gauged to impress other hairdressers, not the public. “It’s partly to do with the youth of people in the industry: they’re influenced mainly by fashion, and their own peer group. “In my 25 years in hairdressing there has been a perpetual shortage of good, skilled hairdressers. They leave because they can’t earn enough. “The biggest failing in the industry is the lack of understanding of adhering to good business principles, both in owning salons and in training. You cannot call yourself a good hairdresser if you don’t have a full book and are not earning a bet-ter-than-average income. “Just because you can do the latest hairstyle, or copy the latest fashion well, or even be original, unless you have public appeal, you won’t be commercially successful. “It takes a long time for some hairdressers to find that out.”