Hair by Jen

Before lockdown, access to training was pretty limited for freelancers. Costing £100s and only being available in person, in places that were miles away!

Being a mum and business owner meant I didn’t have the time or money to be travelling all over the country to get access to training.

The lockdown happened and online training went viral!! RESULT! Now I could learn from the comfort of my sofa, in my own time AND it was affordable!!

I’ve tried many online courses and signed up to many training subscriptions, some amazing, some that didn’t quite tick the box for me. So here’s my top recommendations that have helped me up my skills, learn more about running a successful business and get my head around the minefield of social media 🤯

:great in depth tutorials for colour application, photo editing, formulas, how to create content.

: social media genius and business guru!

: colour theory, business coach and tutorials. She’s the only one I’ve found on instagram that uses and teaches about it.

SAVE MONEY 💰 STOP WASTAGE 🚮 AND NEVER FORGET A FORMULA 🧪

was one of the best things I started using! Every colour client and their colour formulas all stored and saved on the app.

If I ever mix too much colour for a clients application, it remembers for the next time, giving me the exact amount I need for future appointments, meaning I don’t get any colour wastage! Wastage = money down the drain 😩

It prices up as you mix meaning you know exactly how much it’s costing to do that colour service, meaning you can charge accordingly.

You know when your brain isn’t quite functioning fully and your trying to work out measurements of colour in ratios???? No need to even work it out with Vish! Vish does it for you! ⭐️

She really is one of the best tools in my kit!!

Removing level 4 permanent colour is hard enough but to grey blend as well was a task and a half.

My client Lou, didn’t want to totally embrace the grey, she just wanted to be able to go longer than 4 weeks before having to touch up her roots.

After many lightening sessions, trying out different tones on those lighter pieces, we settled on a warmer softer bronze colour.

Not every client who wants to grey blend, suits an ashy tone and Lou was one of those (and yes we did try it just to be sure)

I used Demi permanent to blend the greys which I have to say, did a perfect job!! Just adding enough tone to those grey hairs to give her a beautiful blend. Think of it as a tinted lip gloss instead of a matte lipstick.

We are now at the point where we no longer need any form of lighting as her greys are now mimicking highlights and by painting over a demi colour, adds that warm bronde tone.

I use a darker formulation for the back part of her hair as there aren’t as many greys there and a lighter one for where she is more solid grey. This gives that multi tonal look to her hair like if I had highlighter her.

Finally, she is now able to go double the amount of weeks between her appointment and we no longer need to bleach her hair. WIN, WIN!

FORMULA DROP⬇️

Lightener : blondor with 4%
Root melt : gloss tones 7M & 8N
Toner : gloss tones 10BC, 10BN and clear

Hair colour formula | Goldwell gloss tones | honey beige blonde

Hairdressers,

Ever had a client booked in for a traditional highlight service, only to find out at the consultation that what they really want is a lived-in colour with a bold face frame??

This has happened to me many times, and it’s not because the client is trying to pull one over on me and get a bespoke blonding service for the price of a traditional one. It’s down to the fact that they don’t actually know the difference between the two. 🤷🏼‍♀️

In the past, I’ve just done what the client wanted but only charged them for what they had originally booked in for (traditional highlights), because I was too embarrassed to explain that what they really needed was a lived-in service—and that this was going to cost more.

I felt that because I’d quoted them the price of a traditional highlight when they called to book in, I couldn’t possibly ask them to pay more when I realised that what they actually wanted was a lived-in colour.

Don’t be like Jen was. Jen was a t**t! 🙋🏼‍♀️ Doing twice as much work, using twice as much colour (if not more), for the same price as a set of traditional highlights!!

Jen now asks for inspo pics when clients are booking in, so she can see what their expectations are and can quote accordingly.

If Jen has a client in her chair who is booked for a traditional highlight but then decides they want a lived-in colour, Jen says, “That’s not going to be the same price as I’ve quoted, as it’s not the same service.” Jen is happy to do that lived-in colour (if time allows), but now charges the correct price.

Jen has grown some balls!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Highlight service | lived in colour | undercharging | hair pricing

Big foiling appointments would stress me out!!

You’ve put all the back foils in and you’re half way through the front when the back ones need to come out 🤯

I would normally start pulling one foil at a time, struggling to get the other foils clipped out the way so I could wipe off the excess bleach, some times knocking foils that weren’t ready to be pulled or missing tiny bits of bleach which then lead to bleed marks 🤦🏼‍♀️

So I tried just rinsing the back sections but found that the foils at the sides got on the way and I’d get water on them and that too would cause bleed marks 🤦🏼‍♀️🤯.

I dreaded doing large foil applications for all those reasons. I even changed up my developer strengths to try buy me some time but that didn’t always work out, especially if I had a client who’s have lifted fast!

Then I saw was applying her foils to one side of the head first (back and front) so that if they needed pulling at any point whilst doing the opposite side, she just pulled them all with out wiping off the bleach and took her client to the basin straight away and rinsed them off. Getting her client to turn her head slightly to the side so that the water stayed away from the other foils…..GENIUS!!! Why had I not thought of this before🤦🏼‍♀️

So this is what I now do. I’m not under pressure, I’m not getting bleed marks, I’m not covered in bleach from wiping each individual foil. I will NEVER go back to doing my big foiling application like I use to. THIS IS DEFINITELY THE WAY FORWARD 😌

Have you tried this method or do you have your own genius way for managing these issues?? Let me know in the comments ⬇️

Foiling application | hairstylist struggles | blonding tip

Hairdressers, if you are like me and don’t like every aspect of hairdressing, then this is for you 🫵🏻

Stop doing the hair services you hate - start doing only what you love ❤️

Make sure your social media feed is full of what you love to do. This will attract those types of clients.

Your page is your advert. Make sure it’s clear as to what you love to do.

If you get a client ask you to do a service you don’t like doing, be honest and upfront.

If you’re asked to do something you’re not confident in doing, be honest about it and say “I don’t think I’m the best hairdresser for this job”. They would rather you be straight up with them, than do it and f**k it up!

Freelance hairdresser | hair salon growth | hairdresser education