Top 10 Lessons
From Veteran Curl Stylists

by Teri Evans on Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The life of a stylist is fraught with trials, triumphs and many tribulations, especially if you choose to specialize in textured tresses. Yes, some mistakes are inevitable no matter how savvy you are as a stylist— but you may be surprised how many common faux pas are avoidable. And you don’t need years of experience to figure it out, if you’re willing to learn from the wisdom of those who spent decades creating a brave (and curly) new world.

Here, we turn to leading curl experts, and asked: If they knew then what they know now, what nostalgic advice would they share with up-and-coming stylists? Read on for the top 10 lessons of curl-centric veterans—lessons they learned the hard way, so you don’t have to.

Lesson #1: Let go of your ego.

Christo

Arrogance ultimately never serves you, your colleagues or your clients, according to Christo of New York’s Christo Fifth Avenue salon.

“You should always be willing to learn from your surroundings, what you see and how other people do things,” Christo says. “You can be the best, but you can learn from someone who is not as good as you. You have to be very open minded.”

Diane DaCosta, curl expert and author of “Textured Tresses,” agrees. “Don’t think you know everything,” she warns. “Be confident and secure in your creativity and imagination, but your skills—like any other profession—need to be honed and perfected.”

Bottom line: Leave your arrogance behind, and be a little more humble. “You’ll become a lot stronger, and be a lot better stylist,” Christo says.

Lesson #2: Manage your expectations.

When Ouidad, the “Queen of Curls,” first started cutting curly hair, she acknowledges that her idealism took over.

“I wanted to change the world with the haircut that I gave them. I wanted to fix it all and change it all,” Ouidad says. “But it’s impossible to take a head of hair and change it all completely at once. What I learned is to really look at the hair, study all the curl patterns, and learn exactly how much curls shrink, each section, and how they fit within each other when you cut. It’s not like cutting straight hair, you can’t just change it all at once.”

So, instead of having an image of what you think you’re going to do with the client, like change their life, Ouidad encourages up-and-coming stylists to examine the different hair textures, really study them and understand them first.

Lesson #3: Listen more, talk less.

Ouidad

“Let the client talk, don’t talk over them. Just observe them,” says Denis DaSilva, co-owner of New York’s Devachan Salon. “You win over people when you agree with them. If you try to disagree, you’ll never win. Agree with them and then change them a little to the right or left according to what needs to be done, but never say no.”

No is not a word your clients are going to accept easily. So, experts say, be certain you understand what they want before you react. “You’re going to have to really listen,” adds Christo. “You’re going to have to analyze their hair, so you can give them options and ideas.”

Lesson #4: Practice patience.

Curl experts say you cannot treat curly clients the same way you treat clients with straight hair.

“Most of the time, people with straight hair will let you do whatever you want,” Christo says. “But with curly clients, you have to take into consideration she has already tried many things and ended up in your chair because you claim you specialize in curly hair. So you have to live up to those expectations.”

And that can mean a much longer consultation for new clients. For example, Christo blocks out an hour for new clients.

“We want to make sure that person is going to stay with us because we know we have all the solutions for them,” he says.

He suggests stylists ask themselves if they really know how to deal with curly hair. “Anyone can say they do curly hair, but can they really? Or, are they making disasters out there for us to fix?” Christo asks.

Diane DaCosta

Lesson #5: Find a mentor.

“Always look for a mentor who can guide you,” DaCosta says. “Nowadays, it’s easier because all the veteran stylists are writing books and making videos, so that’s one way, but there’s really nothing like hands-on experience with a mentor. That’s how you avoid a lot of mistakes.”

Even if you can’t afford to take classes with the nation’s top experts, DaCosta suggests seeking out a top curl stylist in your own town.

“If you don’t give them solutions, they won’t come back to you for a haircut,” adds Christo. “If you do, you’ll have a client for life.”

Lesson #6: Your client is not your friend.

“Young stylists sometimes think the client is their friend, but the client is paying you, so they’re not your friend,” DaSilva says.

He warns stylists to always be aware that the client is in your chair for a reason — not to make small talk, but to receive a service and leave as a satisfied customer.

“If you talk too much with the client and get too friendly, you make the client uncomfortable to come back to you,” DaSilva says. “The client may talk about their personal life and you talk about yours and, before you know it, you think the client is your friend. But the bottom line is a month from now she’s going to get her credit card bill and look in the mirror.”

It’s your job to make sure they like what they see.

Lesson #7: Be fearless.

Dennis DaSilva

Although you may feel fear when first approaching curly clients, don’t give in to it.

“The first 10 years as a stylist, you’re so afraid of clients. When they want what they want, they make you concerned about that. The second 10 years, you learn how to present what is better for them, but the end result is they will push you, even though you gave them whatever they wanted,” DaSilva says. “The third 10 years, now you’re smarter. You listen, but learn how strategically to put them in a spot where you can always give them more.”

Especially when it comes to color, DaSilva warns that if you give the client too much control, it will be hard to get it back.

“I don’t have confrontations with any clients, but if they say I want a lot of blonde highlights, I’ll put the blonde strategically in places where they will see more blonde, but not necessarily doing more blonde,” he explains. “If they say I want a little red, I may know that warm brown for them is red.”

DaSilva says it’s all about understanding how to interpret and balance a client’s wants and needs.

Lesson #8: Watch your words.

Curl experts say your words matter — a lot — when working with curly clients.

“If you say, ‘I know exactly what I need to do,’ it just blows up in your face. Even if you do know, it just puts [the curly client] on the defense,” Ouidad says. “It’s essential to talk about how you’re going to work with the hair, what kind of movement you want to put in the hair. You want to be able to verbalize and explain how it’s going to fit and how it’s going to look like when the hair is dry.”

Ouidad says you can ease a curly’s fear by saying things like, “I know layers would be too rough for your hair or it would shrink too much.” You really want to make sure curly clients know that you’re not going to give them ledges, a pyramid or some other shape they dread— and you do understand their texture.

“Make your client as comfortable and trusting as possible by saying things that resonate with them,” Ouidad says.

Lesson #9: Find a product line you believe in.

“A common mistake stylists make is they like to have two or three different lines of products for curly hair, but that’s misleading to clients,” Christo says. “Different lines have different philosophies. You can’t mix them, it never works.”

He suggests stylists decide which product line they believe in the most, and stick with it.

“When you believe in the products and the philosophy behind them, you become a better stylist,” he says. “Also make sure your station only has curly hair products there. The client will not tell you, but they will feel better already when they’re sitting in your chair and they see a curly product. They don’t care if your salon is fancy, if you have marble floors or beautiful ceiling fans or whatever, clients want answers and if you don’t give them answers you can kiss them goodbye.”

Lesson #10: Pay attention to a client’s emotions.

Gauge the emotions of a client. Never touch a client when they’re emotional or distraught — at all — ever — because they’re never going to be happy with a decision they make, if it’s based on emotion, especially when it comes to a drastic change in a haircut or color.

“You can explain to them all the styles and cuts that would look good on them, but offer them another service,” DaCosta says. “You can always give them a conditioning treatment, a gloss or even a demi-permanent color, until they’re ready for a major change.”