Thursday, March 5, 2009

Green Hair Cuts

Some many years ago, CNA convinced me that I should try getting a fancy hair cut at Toni & Guy instead of the usual super cuts I'd been getting. I fell in love. The layers, the personalization. How had I ever lived with hair cuts that cost less than $50?

More recently, I moved on from just fancy hair cuts to fancy, eco-friendlier hair cuts at an Aveda salon in Albuquerque. Fantastic products, fantastic cuts, and a stylist who was not afraid to thin out my super thick hair. Loved it! One of the best things about the ABQ.

Then I came to San Francisco. It appeared that a hair cut at an Aveda salon might run up to close to around $100 including tips. (Have you ever been to a fancy salon? You have to either take who you can get and just pay however much they cost, or you have to feel cheap and ask for a stylist on the low end of the payscale. The low end was $65.)

So I went to a salon in my neighborhood that an independent website claimed was about 45% green. They at least hawk some type of organic hair products. Although they did have organic products on the shelves, I never did check them for the presence of parabens and SLSs. It didn't matter. My stylist used his own products, not the organic ones. The payscale went from $35 to $60. With my medium length hair, I was charged $60, the top end. The stylist never even got the personalization shears out. And convinced me he needed to keep my hair longer for his little style to work right, but it didn't help. So now I still have longish, super-thick hair, and it cost $72 and featured nasty products.

Next time I will probably toss out the cash and go to Aveda. Or at least not a salon in the Castro, where the stylists might be focusing on men's hair rather than women's.

Does anybody have a stylist who is not afraid to thin? Or a green salon? I may be willing to travel for these services.

Also check out the new info on these super green salons. Maybe there is one near you.

(My justification for spending this much money is that a good cut will last me 6 to 8 months or more. No need for the every six weeks payment.)

1 comment:

Ms. S said...

I *adore* CNA!!
My hairstylist just went into bookkeeping ~ stupid economy!!
In search of a new salon, I'm glad you mentioned green, I don't think I would have put the two together. My approach will have a new twist now.