Update: Had to choose between a big color correction or a full cut on a client's fried ends...

A client came in with hair so damaged from box dye, it was breaking off in sections... I had to pick between trying a deep conditioning treatment and hoping for the best, or just cutting off the worst four inches right away. I went with the cut, even though she was really attached to the length. It was the right call, the hair left is so much healthier and we can actually work with it now. Has anyone else faced a choice like that and how did you explain it to the client?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan18424d ago

My last big correction like that, I spent three hours on a color melt only to watch the ends drink it up and turn a weird greenish gray. I learned the hard way what robing67 said about building on cracked concrete. Now I just show clients the snap test with a dry piece of their own hair. When it breaks with zero stretch, the conversation about cutting four inches writes itself. It's always a relief when they see the bounce in what's left.

taylor_garcia24d ago

Last year I had a client with six inches of hair that would literally crumble if you touched it. I keep a few of those broken pieces in a drawer now to show people, like robing67 said, you can't style dust. The cut is always the hardest sell but once they feel the weight of the healthy hair left, they get it.

robing6724d ago

That four inch cut you did is the foundation for everything else. I've had to explain that keeping those broken ends is like trying to build a house on cracked concrete. The color won't hold evenly, the style won't have any shape, and it keeps splitting upward. Showing them a dry strand and how it snaps versus the healthy hair left after the cut usually makes it click. It's not about losing length, it's about gaining hair you can actually do something with.