Today I went to have my hair cut and coloured for the first time since I moved to the Los Angeles area. It was a disaster. I walked in there and the owner introduced my to my "hair stylist". In hindsight she must have been the trainee. I was not informed of this and they were going to charge me full price for it. :-(

I felt uneasy from the moment I started talking to her about what I'd like done. The haircut was no big deal since my hair is reasonably long and I just wanted any split ends trimmed off. Then I told her what I usually had done with my colour and asked her if she had any recommendations. In my experience, any good hairdresser will be able to make suggestions as to what will look good with your skin colouring etc. This girl didn't have a clue. I could see this so I just picked from the colour swatches and picked as close to what I usually had as I could.

She then started trying to persuade me to run bleach though it. I said, no way, bleach damages your hair. Looking back, I should have figured that she was useless and walked out then, but I just insisted she used the colours I asked for. I assumed she actually knew how to colour hair. Apparently not. The foil process seemed like it was being done by a clumsy 4 year old, but it was too late to stop it. However, about halfway through, I decided there was no way I was letting her loose on my hair with a pair of scissors. I was kind of chicken though. I told her I was going out that night and it was getting kind of late, so I would save the cut for another time. She said fine and after banging my hair with the dryer and burning my scalp, she washed my hair. Afterwards, she started scrubbing at my neck and face with some color remover and seemed kind of concerned. She then called over a colleague and he and the manager of the shop started suggesting crazy things like trying bleach and nail varnish remover! I have sensitive skin at the best of times so I said no to this.

I then insisted on looking for myself. I looked in the mirror and was incensed! There was chocolate brown dye all over the side of my face, the back of my neck and my ears. I asked her to get the owner and told them both that I could have done a better job myself at home for free, and that I would not be paying for it. Luckily then accepted this, or I may have totally blown my top. I still had some sort of control at this point. When I got home, in our desperation, Steve and I tried all kinds of stuff. In spite of the sensitive skin we used Hydrogen Peroxide, toothpaste, milk and even WD40! Any suggestions? It will not come off!

Also, the color is liveable, but they clearly did not use the red I requested for the lights. Therefore I need some repair work done. Hence the need to find a good salon in the area... I certainly won't be going back to that place again. Anyway, if you are thinking of visiting this establishment;

http://www.edenspaandsalon.com

Don't say you weren't warned!