Being a successful stylist and truly taking your career to the next level is actually easy. But it requires that you do a few very important things right.
With each and every client, you are going to bring the product over to your client and tell them why you’ve picked it and why you love it for them. Then show the client how much you put in your hands and how to emulsify it. You are going to teach them where to run their hands through their hair first so they don’t put the bulk of the product into the wrong area.. For example, dimethicone products should be started from underneath at the back so the front doesn’t get too much oil.
But don’t make the client apply it themselves unless this is something you already do. It can come off as very forced and maybe a bit cheesy if not done absolutely perfectly. I personally advise against it.
And do not layer and cocktail more than two products on one head. Try to find one product that can do it all for the client if possible. Your goal is to make things seem easy, not impossible or overly expensive.
You are going to leave the product you are using in front of the client and then show them how to blowdry. Rough dry first, then with a brush etc. And you are going to start your blowout at the front and work your way back. Why? Because your client can’t nor should they waste their time working the back first. They will run out of time and their shoulders will get sore long before they get to the important stuff; what hangs around their pretty face. So teach them to do what people see first. Everything else is less important.
I do believe in handing a wand and coaching the client in this way if they aren’t good with the tool. But just for a couple of sections, then you take over.
Make it sexy, and when your client says, “I’ll never be able to make it look like this,” they are right. If they can make it look just as good as you can, you aren’t working hard enough. But you should be able to teach them how in less than 10 minutes and with one or two products they can get it looking pretty close.
Our job is to solve our clients’ hair problems, and many of them are solved through finishing. So kill the small talk and empower your clients to make themselves look amazing. They will thank you for it, maybe buy a product or two, and they will definitely tell their friends.
About: Michael Levine has been a hairdresser since 1993. Having had the luxury of being trained by incredible mentors and learning from some of hairdressing's icons from very early on, Michael has been featured on stages across North America almost from the beginning of his career. Opening his first salon, called Statik in 1998 with his wife and no other staff, Michael Levine has built a multi-award winning salon company through developing new talent and rather than by hiring stylists with a clientele. Michael currently has 50 employees, a product company, 3 salon locations and 2 academies in Vancouver British Columbia.