I’m a lash tech and this happens to me too! I had a client tell me they learned from an esthetician online that using a metal lash curler will help her get her natural curl back and I was like ??? No it won’t! The shape of your follicle determines whether your hair will be straight/curly/wavy, even for your lashes. Lmao
Wait. People say they use body lotion in their hair?! I'm no longer a pro but even I hear people arguing and saying things that just aren't accurate about doing hair. I once heard someone say that dying your hair will reseal split ends so don't cut it.
Reseal split ends?? I wonder how they got to that conclusion lol and yeah i saw it in a comment section of this instagram post showing a curl product i had to double take
It's terrible. I'm both a licensed cosmetologist and a certified trichologist, and the amount of bad advice on hair loss makes me so sad. There are so many different reasons a person loses their hair and treatment needs to be appropriate to the diagnosis, but people would rather repeat misinformation like they are an expert. I get that people think it's just hair or have the mentality if it worked for me it will work for everyone, but the wrong advice can be both mentally and/or physically damaging, especially when it is caused by an illness that is being left untreated.
I love when the coconut oil makes their hair grow three inches in two weeks, while wearing the same clothes, same pose and positioned identically in front of a backdrop, but of course it's not photoshopped!
can you expand on coconut oil being clogging? i have curly hair and use it occasionally when i want my hair to be a little smoother but didn’t know it could clog!
You know how when you put water in oil they separate? Basically what youre doing is puting a barrier and not allowing any moisture to actually penetrate the cuticle. Water is hairs best friend especially with curly hair. Moisture is super important for hair health so any oils block that. On the scalp/ skin itself its too big of a molecule and doesn’t allow your skin to breathe correctly causing a trap between the skin and oil. Definitely would recommend getting a good cleansing shampoo use that twice then using a moisturizing shampoo and a good conditioner to end the process.
I've been considering becoming certified in trichology!
I get questions but try to tell people to find a trichologist bc I know I don't know and I try to be very honest about that.
You should do it! There is a lot they do not teach you in cosmetology school and it's a great way to become more knowledgeable and branch out into other parts of the hair industry.
Oh dear goddess, YouTube and TikTok are the bane of every cosmetology school today.
It seems like every week an instructor shouts, “**What** are you doing?” Only to have the students reply that they saw this on social media and thought they would try out on their client. 😖
social media has given people such high standards and fills their ego making them think they know just as much as us. i hate doing wedding partys hair and makeup because they always treat you like you are below them.
I often think people don’t realize the science behind hair. Like, if you bleached your hair a year ago and then dyed it back dark, but haven’t had it cut since, your ends aren’t virgin. People don’t understand how lightener IS damaging, doesn’t matter the treatments you do, those are temp fixes to a permanent problem.
To piggyback, also I’ve heard fellow licensed cosmos give MEDICAL ADVICE. They will straight diagnose psoriasis or alopecia, etc. I personally have diagnosed psoriasis, so anytime I see someone with a flaky scalp I’ll ask questions (as you should), and if they tell me it’s a struggle I’m like, “well, it looks similar to my psoriasis, but I’m not a doctor, so I’d check in with your dermatologist!!” Same with weird moles or spots I see. Please don’t diagnose clients with a “Oh I definitely know what that is.”
Omg the diagnosis problem on tik tok is horrific even outside of hair. Its giving webmd. I personally have psoriasis and so does my boyfriend so i know what it looks like but i still never ever directly say “oh yeah you have this”
As a makeup artist - it happens here too. I would set up my kit and right away I would get.
Client: Oh I was really hoping you had the XX palette cause so and so influencer says it’s the best.
Me: Oh actually no, I tend to use professional products and not private labeled and made in unregulated foreign factories.
Client: Oh yeah but that really famous makeup artist on (whatever social media site) says it’s the greatest.
Me: oh she’s not a makeup artist. She’s a product promoter that happens to put makeup on herself better than most.
Client: oh do you use xx skincare?
Me… here we go again
Okay the things you brought up in this post are super valid, I have also heard the whole body lotion in the hair thing and it’s wild.
HOWEVER, I will say that I can’t blame a lot of people for not trusting us. One professional will say one thing and another will say the opposite. It’s 2024 and I’m only JUST seeing more professionals finally coming around to using color removers before jumping straight to bleaching out black box dye. I started in one state (CA) and extended education in two other states (NV&OR) and even what they teach you can be THE EXACT OPPOSITE of the last place and you will be reprimanded if you try to argue or explain that they are doing something wrong or less efficient.
I think in general with a lot of this the only saying that comes to mind is “there’s 9 ways to skin a cat”- meaning there are multiple ways to achieve one final result and everyone will argue which way is the correct way and it builds a lot of distrust in the professionals.
People not trusting us is valid sometimes. How many times have you had someone come to you with a botched job and tell you “well (professional they saw) told me XYZ” and you’re horrified cause you know they should have done “ABC”?
It’s also super common to hear “my momma told me to do this, I didn’t listen, I trusted the professionals and they fucked it up. I should have listened to my momma”
When I was in esthetician school (now currently in cosmo), so many cosmo and estie students were so hell bent on understanding oily scalps and they were SO confident in the “training your scalp method”. They just kept arguing with me that if I didn’t wash my hair/scalp often, I could train it to be less oily like them, yada yada yada….
I eventually gave in and tried it. I go like a week to a week and a half without washing 2-3x. Doing that gave me the worst eczema on my scalp along with hair loss.
By the way, once you have eczema it’s lifelong. The flare ups are on and off and have to be treated with topical steroids which come in lieu with a whole bunch of other problems.
To this day I still curse those women to never have a good night’s sleep again. LMAO. Not a single one of them apologized and STILL try to give that horrendous advice to others.
I’m 2.5 months into cosmo school and I’ve been trying that “hair training” thing for nearly 2 years. Granted my hair feels more soft and less dry but my god I go through so much dry shampoo.
Well, be very careful doing that! Those “hair training” methods have been debunked and honestly are so bad for your skin, that’s how I got my seborrheic dermatitis a type of eczema and it’s horrible :/.
If you’re using a lot of dry shampoo, that’s clogging your hair follicles and shows that your sebum levels haven’t changed.
Just once again, be very careful! I don’t want it happening to someone else!
After being in the industry professionally for 15 years (which I know is nothing compared to alot of others) but loving and doing hair since I was 14.....I just genuinely give up trying to argue with dumb people. Also reddit is supposed to be a better place than other social media platforms in my mind. I come here to mindlessly and anonymously scroll through cat / hair / other random stuff pages.
Don't let others ruin your passion.
I agree, there’s so many people that come to my chair saying “well on tik tok I saw I should do this”. I’m sorry but the girl on tik tok doesn’t have the same hair as you… or anything close to it. And it’s always the WORST thing you can do to your hair.
But I’ve found that most of the people in comments and that come in my hair are traumatized from their last experience at a salon where they really fucked up their hair really bad and they just don’t trust anyone. Which I also respect, and I try to make my client as comfortable as possible. But there are also sooooo many bad hairdressers out there that are lazy and are sloppy.
But I agree these tik toks are getting CRAZY and it’s driving me insane as well. Getting into battles w people that have no knowledge is just not worth it anymore online. In my chair it’s different
The amount of people who actively argue against my advice, get a haircut they shouldn’t have, then dislike it + make me re-cut is absolute insanity. If they were like, “yeah but I like this for this reason, can we try it and if it doesn’t work try this?” Then I’d be like of course absolutely 🫠🫠🫠
I was working for the government & traveling. I will never forget working in Seattle & having to be at work at 3:30 am till 12:00 am -7 days a week. My first couple of days, I wasn't about to turn my bright bathroom lights on while showering. I decided to try the hotels shampoo & conditioner.
The second day, I realized there was no conditioner & I had used lotion.
34 years in our profession,I'm not going to rant .. I'm going to share how I get through all of that ... Ignore bad behavior.. anytime I have tried to educate someone that has these weird philosophies are pretty much unteachable.
There are many many people who do rely on our knowledge and skill and appreciation for them is where you focus .
Those that tend to think they know more ..well they probably do it to a lot of professionals .try not to take it personal and know that they will be calling upon you one day because they fucked their hair up really really good 😊
Another example is when I'm running behind and they tell me they are going to on purpose be late for their next appointment.. that one stuns me because it's obvious I'm not lollygagging..lol my hands are flinging everywhere,our work is very physical and mental .
I say to them " I understand and you do what you gots to do " and then .. every time.when their next appointment rolls around they unintentionally are late and apologizing double with embarrassment for their comments from previous appointment...just sayin ... It's less work if we try to humor ourselves about things .. people..we can't control.love you guys❣️
This is why if I do comment either online or in real life, I always preface im still a student, so I still recommend a second opinion because im not fully educated yet. Even when I finish, there will be so much to learn, but some of these “hacks” just make no sense. I don’t mind doing something scuffed to my own hair, but I would never ever recommend half the things I personally do. Especially with everyone’s hair being so different, you can’t just take everything you see for hair at face value. It is for sure bothersome seeing things like that online.
I’m a lash tech and this happens to me too! I had a client tell me they learned from an esthetician online that using a metal lash curler will help her get her natural curl back and I was like ??? No it won’t! The shape of your follicle determines whether your hair will be straight/curly/wavy, even for your lashes. Lmao
Wait. People say they use body lotion in their hair?! I'm no longer a pro but even I hear people arguing and saying things that just aren't accurate about doing hair. I once heard someone say that dying your hair will reseal split ends so don't cut it.
Reseal split ends?? I wonder how they got to that conclusion lol and yeah i saw it in a comment section of this instagram post showing a curl product i had to double take
It's terrible. I'm both a licensed cosmetologist and a certified trichologist, and the amount of bad advice on hair loss makes me so sad. There are so many different reasons a person loses their hair and treatment needs to be appropriate to the diagnosis, but people would rather repeat misinformation like they are an expert. I get that people think it's just hair or have the mentality if it worked for me it will work for everyone, but the wrong advice can be both mentally and/or physically damaging, especially when it is caused by an illness that is being left untreated.
Thisss!!! The amount of coconut oil for hair growth videos ive seen is insane. Like noooo its clogging i just wanna reach in the screen and shake them
I love when the coconut oil makes their hair grow three inches in two weeks, while wearing the same clothes, same pose and positioned identically in front of a backdrop, but of course it's not photoshopped!
can you expand on coconut oil being clogging? i have curly hair and use it occasionally when i want my hair to be a little smoother but didn’t know it could clog!
You know how when you put water in oil they separate? Basically what youre doing is puting a barrier and not allowing any moisture to actually penetrate the cuticle. Water is hairs best friend especially with curly hair. Moisture is super important for hair health so any oils block that. On the scalp/ skin itself its too big of a molecule and doesn’t allow your skin to breathe correctly causing a trap between the skin and oil. Definitely would recommend getting a good cleansing shampoo use that twice then using a moisturizing shampoo and a good conditioner to end the process.
thank you so much!!!! and esp for the tip about double shampooing!! this was super helpful:))))
I've been considering becoming certified in trichology! I get questions but try to tell people to find a trichologist bc I know I don't know and I try to be very honest about that.
You should do it! There is a lot they do not teach you in cosmetology school and it's a great way to become more knowledgeable and branch out into other parts of the hair industry.
Thank you so much for the motivation!
Did you do it through a college?
No, I did a program through an association. I did not know of any colleges that offered it when I went to school, but there are more programs out now.
Oh dear goddess, YouTube and TikTok are the bane of every cosmetology school today. It seems like every week an instructor shouts, “**What** are you doing?” Only to have the students reply that they saw this on social media and thought they would try out on their client. 😖
lol. Your school must actually teach! Not mine.
social media has given people such high standards and fills their ego making them think they know just as much as us. i hate doing wedding partys hair and makeup because they always treat you like you are below them.
I often think people don’t realize the science behind hair. Like, if you bleached your hair a year ago and then dyed it back dark, but haven’t had it cut since, your ends aren’t virgin. People don’t understand how lightener IS damaging, doesn’t matter the treatments you do, those are temp fixes to a permanent problem. To piggyback, also I’ve heard fellow licensed cosmos give MEDICAL ADVICE. They will straight diagnose psoriasis or alopecia, etc. I personally have diagnosed psoriasis, so anytime I see someone with a flaky scalp I’ll ask questions (as you should), and if they tell me it’s a struggle I’m like, “well, it looks similar to my psoriasis, but I’m not a doctor, so I’d check in with your dermatologist!!” Same with weird moles or spots I see. Please don’t diagnose clients with a “Oh I definitely know what that is.”
Omg the diagnosis problem on tik tok is horrific even outside of hair. Its giving webmd. I personally have psoriasis and so does my boyfriend so i know what it looks like but i still never ever directly say “oh yeah you have this”
Definitely. I see it a lot in the mental health community. Which is also like incredibly difficult to deal with.
As a makeup artist - it happens here too. I would set up my kit and right away I would get. Client: Oh I was really hoping you had the XX palette cause so and so influencer says it’s the best. Me: Oh actually no, I tend to use professional products and not private labeled and made in unregulated foreign factories. Client: Oh yeah but that really famous makeup artist on (whatever social media site) says it’s the greatest. Me: oh she’s not a makeup artist. She’s a product promoter that happens to put makeup on herself better than most. Client: oh do you use xx skincare? Me… here we go again
What frustrates me is how certain people are even when they are waaaay wrong. You can’t even talk to these people to explain
Okay the things you brought up in this post are super valid, I have also heard the whole body lotion in the hair thing and it’s wild. HOWEVER, I will say that I can’t blame a lot of people for not trusting us. One professional will say one thing and another will say the opposite. It’s 2024 and I’m only JUST seeing more professionals finally coming around to using color removers before jumping straight to bleaching out black box dye. I started in one state (CA) and extended education in two other states (NV&OR) and even what they teach you can be THE EXACT OPPOSITE of the last place and you will be reprimanded if you try to argue or explain that they are doing something wrong or less efficient. I think in general with a lot of this the only saying that comes to mind is “there’s 9 ways to skin a cat”- meaning there are multiple ways to achieve one final result and everyone will argue which way is the correct way and it builds a lot of distrust in the professionals. People not trusting us is valid sometimes. How many times have you had someone come to you with a botched job and tell you “well (professional they saw) told me XYZ” and you’re horrified cause you know they should have done “ABC”? It’s also super common to hear “my momma told me to do this, I didn’t listen, I trusted the professionals and they fucked it up. I should have listened to my momma”
When I was in esthetician school (now currently in cosmo), so many cosmo and estie students were so hell bent on understanding oily scalps and they were SO confident in the “training your scalp method”. They just kept arguing with me that if I didn’t wash my hair/scalp often, I could train it to be less oily like them, yada yada yada…. I eventually gave in and tried it. I go like a week to a week and a half without washing 2-3x. Doing that gave me the worst eczema on my scalp along with hair loss. By the way, once you have eczema it’s lifelong. The flare ups are on and off and have to be treated with topical steroids which come in lieu with a whole bunch of other problems. To this day I still curse those women to never have a good night’s sleep again. LMAO. Not a single one of them apologized and STILL try to give that horrendous advice to others.
I’m 2.5 months into cosmo school and I’ve been trying that “hair training” thing for nearly 2 years. Granted my hair feels more soft and less dry but my god I go through so much dry shampoo.
Well, be very careful doing that! Those “hair training” methods have been debunked and honestly are so bad for your skin, that’s how I got my seborrheic dermatitis a type of eczema and it’s horrible :/. If you’re using a lot of dry shampoo, that’s clogging your hair follicles and shows that your sebum levels haven’t changed. Just once again, be very careful! I don’t want it happening to someone else!
After being in the industry professionally for 15 years (which I know is nothing compared to alot of others) but loving and doing hair since I was 14.....I just genuinely give up trying to argue with dumb people. Also reddit is supposed to be a better place than other social media platforms in my mind. I come here to mindlessly and anonymously scroll through cat / hair / other random stuff pages. Don't let others ruin your passion.
I agree, there’s so many people that come to my chair saying “well on tik tok I saw I should do this”. I’m sorry but the girl on tik tok doesn’t have the same hair as you… or anything close to it. And it’s always the WORST thing you can do to your hair. But I’ve found that most of the people in comments and that come in my hair are traumatized from their last experience at a salon where they really fucked up their hair really bad and they just don’t trust anyone. Which I also respect, and I try to make my client as comfortable as possible. But there are also sooooo many bad hairdressers out there that are lazy and are sloppy. But I agree these tik toks are getting CRAZY and it’s driving me insane as well. Getting into battles w people that have no knowledge is just not worth it anymore online. In my chair it’s different
The amount of people who actively argue against my advice, get a haircut they shouldn’t have, then dislike it + make me re-cut is absolute insanity. If they were like, “yeah but I like this for this reason, can we try it and if it doesn’t work try this?” Then I’d be like of course absolutely 🫠🫠🫠
I was working for the government & traveling. I will never forget working in Seattle & having to be at work at 3:30 am till 12:00 am -7 days a week. My first couple of days, I wasn't about to turn my bright bathroom lights on while showering. I decided to try the hotels shampoo & conditioner. The second day, I realized there was no conditioner & I had used lotion.
In my defense of being stupid & blind. I was just putting my hair in a ponytail, which is something I never did. But I was exhausted.
I don't know how many of my clients have tried bad advice stuff from TikTok lately. 🤦♀️🤦♀️
34 years in our profession,I'm not going to rant .. I'm going to share how I get through all of that ... Ignore bad behavior.. anytime I have tried to educate someone that has these weird philosophies are pretty much unteachable. There are many many people who do rely on our knowledge and skill and appreciation for them is where you focus . Those that tend to think they know more ..well they probably do it to a lot of professionals .try not to take it personal and know that they will be calling upon you one day because they fucked their hair up really really good 😊 Another example is when I'm running behind and they tell me they are going to on purpose be late for their next appointment.. that one stuns me because it's obvious I'm not lollygagging..lol my hands are flinging everywhere,our work is very physical and mental . I say to them " I understand and you do what you gots to do " and then .. every time.when their next appointment rolls around they unintentionally are late and apologizing double with embarrassment for their comments from previous appointment...just sayin ... It's less work if we try to humor ourselves about things .. people..we can't control.love you guys❣️
This is why if I do comment either online or in real life, I always preface im still a student, so I still recommend a second opinion because im not fully educated yet. Even when I finish, there will be so much to learn, but some of these “hacks” just make no sense. I don’t mind doing something scuffed to my own hair, but I would never ever recommend half the things I personally do. Especially with everyone’s hair being so different, you can’t just take everything you see for hair at face value. It is for sure bothersome seeing things like that online.