Money Woes: Color Wasters- It's Time For CHANGE!!!

!!!DON'T LET MONEY GO TO WASTE!!!

When you are a salon owner you see day to day where the money goes- it is on your mind all the time: leaky toilet, broken washer/dryer, need new tools? Electric bill a little higher this month? You may not be able to control every dollar that comes in and out- but there are a few little things that you and your staff could be more aware of that may help with the budget.

Today- lets talk about a simple solution:

Measuring the proper amount of color for our guests.

HAIR DRESSERS- I AM TALKING TO YOU!

You need to be aware of this. You may not think that mixing up an extra half ounce of color ain't no thang- but it all adds up- just like your $4 coffee's every day- it adds up!

Math lesson: Let's say an average bottle of 2oz of color costs the salon $7.

Say you do 10 color guests this week.

Each guest has a minimum of an extra half ounce of color after their color service.

At the end of the week that is about 6 ounces of extra color you used...

which is about $21 in color down the drain.

...Now lets say you have a staff of 5 people with this same scenario...

You've just wasted about $105 worth of color that has been wasted.

All that money could have gone to either buying actual color to be used

....and not just down the sink.

STYLISTS- LISTEN UP:

It's easy to say "oh well" when it isn't your money.

But salon's are usually self-owed- which means the owner ain't got pennies from heaven to be dropping on whatever. Help them out a little bit.

Every dollar matters. Do your part by being consciously aware of how much color you are using.

Here are some habits to start getting into:

1) Start off on the low side- mix up about 2oz of color (plus developer would be 4oz) for base retouch- this is usually the average.

2) Write down how much color you used- make a note if you needed more or less for the next visit.

3) Measure correctly using a scale- do not "eyeball" it. If a drug dealer doesn't even eyeball it- neither should you. (Probably not the best comparison). Let's face it- eye balling does not work unless you are Rain Man.

Works smart, be aware, be prepared. Small steps make a HUGE difference.

You Can Do It! Growing Your Hair Out: The Awkward Stages

Ok. Here is the deal. We cut our hair super short and look amazing with it. But after a while we let it go because we haven't made time for ourselves and are like, "Well- I'll just keep going and see where I end up." Usually one of two things will happen at this point- 

1) Your hair is at this weird stage where you look like a not so chic chick from the 1920s or a mean little elf and so you just chop it all off again 

or 

2) You live through this state somehow and make it to the other side!!!! (Below your ears and/or chin). 

Now some people no doubt can pull of that look- take every woman with a perfect oval shape face and cute little pixie features....but most people can't. So we deal. We throw on headbands, use bobby pins in ways we never imagined, or resort to our preteens and wear animal barrettes...or maybe you don't. Anyways- here are some celebs that have lived to tell the tale of the journey to long luscious locks. 

MICHELLE WILLIAMS:

(WEIRD MIDDLE STAGE...C'MON, MICHELLE...YOU CAN DO IT!!!)

HOORAY!

NATALIE PORTMAN: Starting from scratch:

(if you guessed this as the awkward stage- you are CORRECT!!!)

(AND SHE MADE IT!)

KERIA KNIGHTLY:

(BINGO- "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR HAIR STAGE?")

Now, I don't really know at what times these hairstyles occurred in the actual celebrities life, I just thought they were pretty good examples of the stages of growing their hair out. You can always tell the weird growing out phases- like you know something is wrong, you just can't put your finger on it. But in order to grow it out- you must hold steady and brace yourself. 

Just do what we all do- pin it, clip it, bear with it, wear a hat, tuck it behind your ears, wear little pig tails, throw a headband in it...work with it. Also, an actual word of advice- look for pictures of people with hair at similar lengths as yours- even having it shaped up a little will give you somewhat of a style other than just letting it go completely. You still need to have it "de-bulked" and cleaned up. Don't worry, kiddo- you will get there in time. May the Hair Gods be with you!

New Website Coming Very Soon!! (January 15th)

First of all we apologize for the lack of content over these last few weeks as we have mostly been putting together a new format for the site and! working on some new how to videos for some great hair cutting techniques (especially for beginners and intermediate levels!).

But, we have been working hard... well mostly our good friend over at www.luckystonemedia.com has been working hard. Please take the time to visit her site!

Our new site will be similar but easier to follow and much more fun to read.... and there will be a few more bells and whistles added to it.

We are switching to a much easier and more useful way to follow our blog. We will be showcasing a lot more stylists from around the country. My personal favorite, we will have an ask the expert section; where your questions will be answered by some of the expert contributors to THSB! Tons more videos! Tons more categories and so so soooo much more!

So in the meantime bare with us as our content will be very slim for the next two weeks. 

The new site is launching on JANUARY 15th!

We look forwarding to keeping up with you then!!