Beauty, Business, communication, Hair Care, health and wellness, That girl in the red coat, Uncategorized, Women, writing

Full Moon Monthly

1 Comment

The full moon has come and gone this month, and as September draws to a close, I thought, why not end it on a high note with  a few smirks and giggles. Again, these events are based on real events, with real people that come into my shop…again, I wish I was making this up.

– The shop opens at 9:30 a.m.. It isn’t even 9:31 a.m. “Hey…do you ever worry someone is gonna drive through your front window?” – I guess I missed the memo that this is the new morning greeting.

– The phone rings. I answer with my go to greeting only to hear “Yeah, whatever. I am trying to find the number of the auto body place down the street. Can you look it up for me…I am kind of in a hurry”. Now, I know the shop’s number has the #4 in it, unfortunately it is not followed with 1-1 …wait for it…there you go.

– “My daughter has colored her hair and now it looks horrible. What hair color will fix it?”. I kindly let the mother know that without seeing her daughter’s hair I wouldn’t even know where to begin to help her. “Well her hair looks like pumpkin pie with a mix of orange and a little bit of caramel with chocolate pieces in it.”….oh yes…now I know what color her hair is.

– FYI – “out the door” top coat is the name of the quick dry top coat. It doesn’t mean you have to apply it while going out the door.

– A customer came in to tell me she was not pleased with the product she had purchased. I looked up her file in the computer and saw her last purchase was OPI Avolplex Cuticle Oil. “What was it about the oil that you weren’t happy with?” I asked, to which she answered “Well…look at my hair! It is so greasy! My stylist told me that my hair’s cuticles were fried and that I need some oil for the cuticles, so I bought the OPI oil and now LOOK!!!!”. I silently remind myself “Do not smirk. Do not show it on your face.” and proceed to let her know that the oil she purchased was for the cuticles on her hands, not her hair. After further discussion and explanation and a giggle or two, she ended up buying Kpak Revitaluxe and SOMA Solace – a cuticle sealer – for her hair.

– I have a dish of candies at the front counter. Everyday I am asked how much for a candy. When I tell people they are free, some stare at me and say “Come on! Really?”. Some say thank you. Some take 10 pieces of candy and some dig through the dish and then sigh “Why don’t you have any lemon candies? They are my favorite. These others are gross. What a waste.”. – about the latter – my thoughts exactly.

– I hear the chirp of the Salon door chime and as I look up from my purchase order, there she is. A complete stranger standing at the front desk with her shirt lifted up asking me “do have anything for these stretch marks?”. …enough said.

– A woman came into the shop and asked if her son could come behind the counter and see our computer because “he loves computer’s”. The child was no more than 3 years of age and had something that I could only hope was peanut butter all over his shirt. I let her know that children weren’t allowed behind the counter. She didn’t seem too impressed that she had to mind her own child while in a store. …imagine.

– A woman came in the shop and as I came around the counter to greet her I was told “Leave me alone. I am not a thief. I do not like people talking to me.”, then she walked over to the brushes, reached up, took one of the shelf and began to brush her hair. I went over to her and shook my head side to side. She looked at me and asked me what I was doing. I told her “I am telling you no to using the brushes. Now you have to purchase it because you used it. As the sign says – Please do not use the brushes. You Brush. You Buy.”. When she asked me why I didn’t tell her, I said “Well, you told me you don’t like people talking to you.”.  …not my finest moment, I know, but come on…she left that one wide open.

Beauty, Hair Care, health and wellness, Uncategorized, Women

Gonna Moroccanoil your world

Leave a comment

At least ten times a day I have the same question posed to me “Do you sell Moroccanoil?”. The answer is always yes. Moroccanoil is a beautiful product and it sells itself – a perfect blend for any Salon’s retail shelves. Moroccanoil has an array of products for every hair type and hair woe. I have found that many of my customer’s have been using the wrong product, so they aren’t getting the results they had hoped for, so being me, I have compiled a little list of the best sellers (at our shop) and a little ditty explaining their features and benefits.

Curl Defining Cream – brings definition to curly/wavy hair. It’s heat activated technology provides intense conditioning and activates curl memory. *Keeps hair bouncy and helps to control frizz.

Curl Control Mousse – AWESOME for curly and tightly spiraled hair. A lightweight hold that seals in moisture and keeps out the frizz. *Control without crunch – looks soft and natural.

Intense Curl Cream – an ideal leave in conditioner to keep natural curl/wave. *No sticky residue

Restorative Hair Mask (orange lid) – a 5 -7 minute conditioning treatment that infuses protein back into the weakened hair shaft. *Awesome for thermal/chemically damaged hair.

Intense Hydrating Mask (brown lid) – a conditioning treatment that deeply hydrates and conditions. Dramatically improves the texture of the hair and improves the elasticity and shine. * Ideal for thick hair

Weightless Hydrating Mask (white lid) – much like the Intense Hydrating Mask (above) * Ideal for fine hair

Moroccanoil Treatment – an alcohol free and residue free oil that blends beautifully with other products. Helps to speed up drying time and reduce the look of flyaways and frizz. Morocannoil Treatment absorbs instantly to fill the gaps created by heat styling and environmental damage. * can be used on towel dried hair and after styling to seal ends and add some shine and smoothness to the hair. * Also available – Moroccanoil light for very fine hair.

Frizz Control Spray – a weightless spray that is humidity resistant. This gem is great for all hair types and all seasons – eliminates frizz in the summer and eliminates static in the winter!

Luminous Hairspray – A medium hold hairspray that adds shine and blocks out the humidity with it’s humidity resistant formula. Also available in a Strong hold factor.

Moroccanoil offers an array of shampoos and conditioners for every hair type, from fine to thick, damaged to dry. All are Color safe and sulfate, phosphate and paraben free.  Check out their website http://www.moroccanoil.com for more info. and great styling tips. Once you have smelled this product, like most clients and customers,you will want to have it, it’s a done deal. You will be holding the bottle in your hand and find yourself saying, in the infamous words of Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire “You had me at hello.”.

Beauty, Business, communication, Hair Care, health and wellness, Uncategorized, Women

Fear of Heights

Leave a comment

We all have fears. Some have a fear of spiders, some a fear of germs and some of us, for some reason, many of us in the beauty industry, have a fear of heights…not the looking down from the penthouse patio kind of heights. The “what if no one buys it” fear of heights. Taking your Salon and your customer service to the next level.

I manage a retail shop/salon- that is not a franchise. We are locally owned and operated. In our shop we carry over 25 professional hair care lines…which , by the way, is not the norm. Most Salons retail one or two lines…well, the product is on their shelves. Unfortunately, not much selling is taking place. For some unknown reason, most stylists have no problem charging $150.00 for a color service, but cannot ask their client if they need any product for at home.  Everyday, I mean EVERYDAY, I have at least five women come into my shop who have just left their stylist’s chair at another Salon, to buy product, from me. Four out of the five said women, when asked what product the stylist used, have no idea. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the business and am more than happy to help anyone keep their hair looking great. What I cannot begin to fathom is why would their stylist not want to help their client with their new cut and why wouldn’t the stylist want the client to protect their investment. Yeah – I said investment. People work hard for their money and $150.00 is an investment. More importantly – clients are our billboards, our free advertising. Why in the hell wouldn’t the stylist want their walking portrait to be as beautiful as possible?

What I have come to realize over the years in my beloved industry is this. Most Salon owners and stylists are afraid. They are afraid to invest in themselves and in their Salons. Afraid that the customer won’t buy the product and they will lose money. Guess what sunshine? You can’t sell what isn’t there. What Salon owners and stylists should be fearing is not that their clients won’t buy the retail they bring in, they should fear their clients not returning because of the lack of customer service. Getting your client an expresso and a magazine while their color is processing won’t always be enough. Without explaining the importance of using professional salon products at home and how to use them, sooner or later, your client is going to start thinking it is you that is ruining their hair – because they can never get their hair to look as good as the day it was done. More often than not, people will start feeling they were played the fool.Trust me, I hear it everyday. Think about it…when you bought your cell phone the salesperson didn’t hand it over to you and say “Thanks again! Best of luck!”. We shouldn’t do that to our clients or our customers.

Before you start to think “if my client can make their hair look as good at home they won’t come back” or “no one will buy shampoo from me!” – give your head a shake and calm down. Of course they will come back. They need you to help with the cut and the color, and of course they will buy shampoo from you, they spend $150.00 for you. They trust you with their hair, I am sure they will trust your advice about shampoo. What will begin to happen is you will find they come back on a regular basis ( we will cover re booking another day…one lesson at a time eh?), and may even bring you more clientele…because you have given them 100% of your time and attention, you have given them the best form of customer service. You are helping them look good, feel good, and protect their most important investment, themselves. Not so scary now, is it?