You’ve probably heard more haircut horror stories than success stories. A bad haircut can feel frustrating, disappointing, and hard to fix. The good news? Most haircut mishaps don’t stem from a lack of skill; they stem from miscommunication.

Learning how to talk to your hairstylist clearly and confidently can make all the difference between walking out thrilled or wishing you’d worn a hat. With the right approach, you can avoid confusion, manage expectations, and get a cut that suits you.

Consult Your Hairstylist Before Shampooing

Before your hair is shampooed, a detailed consultation is essential. This is when clear communication happens and expectations are set.

Your hairstylist needs to see your hair in its natural state to assess texture, growth patterns, density, and existing shape. Avoid arriving with hair pulled into a tight ponytail or heavily styled, as this can hide how your hair naturally falls.

If you’re booking a color service such as highlights, be clear about your goals when scheduling your appointment. This allows enough time for the right techniques to be used.

If you’re still unsure about what haircut to choose, this is the perfect moment to ask questions, share concerns, and explore options together.

5 Tips on How to Talk to Your Hairstylist

Knowing how to talk to your hair stylist before, during, and even after your consultation is the key to a successful haircut.

Your hairstylist isn’t just performing a service, they’re your partner in creating a look that works for your lifestyle, hair type, and maintenance level.

These tips will help ensure you both stay aligned throughout the appointment.

1. Bring Reference Photos (And How to Use Them Correctly)

Bringing photos is one of the most effective ways to communicate what you like. Choose a few images rather than just one, and explain what you like about each photo, the length, the shape, the texture, or the fringe.

Pinterest and Instagram are great starting points, but remember that your hair type, density, and face shape matter just as much as the inspiration photo.

2. Be Honest About Your Styling Habits

How you style your hair day to day matters more than you might think. Let your stylist know if you blow-dry daily, air-dry most days, or only style your hair for special occasions.

This allows your stylist to recommend a haircut that looks good even when you don’t style it perfectly.

3. Talk About Your Hair Texture

Discuss whether your hair is curly, wavy, straight, thick, fine, or prone to frizz. A haircut that looks effortless on one texture can behave very differently on another.

Being clear about your natural texture helps ensure the cut enhances what your hair already does best.

4. Be Specific About Length

Avoid vague phrases like “short” or “long.” Instead, physically show your stylist where you want your hair to fall by using your hands.

This removes guesswork and ensures you both have the same visual reference before any cutting begins.

5. Speak Up — Even During the Cut

Your stylist can’t read your mind. If something feels off, say something early rather than waiting until the end.

After the consultation, it’s perfectly okay to reconfirm the plan before the scissors come out. Open communication leads to better results.

What to Say to Your Hairstylist

If you’re learning how to talk to your hairstylist and struggle to put your ideas into words, these examples can help:

• “I want to keep the length here, but add movement through the ends.”
• “I don’t style my hair every day, so I need something low maintenance.”
• “I like this shape, but not the volume on top.”
• “I want layers, but I still want my hair to feel full.”

Using clear, practical language helps your stylist translate your vision.

Know The Haircut Terms

Another great way to communicate with your hairstylist is to learn some basic styling terms, ensuring you are both on the same page.

Calligraphy Cut

Haste Hair is a salon trained in this cut. It is a new hair-cutting technique that uses special tools to cut your hair. It creates body, volume, and movement to help minimize the blow-dry time. It is also lighter yet softer.

Weight Removal

If you prefer a lighter, looser, flowing hairstyle, ask your stylist to remove some weight. The hairstylist uses razors or scissors to carve out some of the hair.

Dusting

If you only want a trim, choose dusting, which involves cutting only your broken and split ends.

Point Cutting

The technique involves using scissors with a vertical point to add a light texture to the ends of your hair, giving it a softer edge.

Razor

When your stylist uses the razor, they can remove a lot of volume, creating texture without adding any layers.

Bangs

One thing is sure: not all bangs are the same. You can have blunt & heavy, straight across, light & wispy, and side-swept bangs. So, ensure to explain what type of bang you want.

Layers

When you ask for layers, your hairstyle will create short pieces that seamlessly blend with your longer hair. This adds volume and dimension, helping to indicate where you would like the shortest layer.

Bob

A bob is when the weight line, usually a cut in an area holding the most weight, is done around the chin or below your ears. For a more extended version, known as the lob cut, the hair will graze your collarbone.

Blunt Cut

The blunt cut is also a heavy or solid cut without layers. The stylist will cut your hair straight to create a sharp yet graphical line.

Pixie Haircut

The haircut is done close to the scalp but can vary in style and length. So, it helps to bring pictures along to get what you want.

Overdirecting

A haircut is when hair is lifted and cut over the head to add body and volume, often with excessive layers.

Brazilian Blowout

The Brazilian blowout also adds volume to your body and hair. To learn more about this technique, check out the difference between a hair botox and a Brazilian blowout.

Coloring Terms

While learning how to communicate effectively with your hairstylist and understanding the various terms is essential for the best cut, some coloring terms can also be helpful.

• Balayage: This technique involves hand-painting highlights, where the sun naturally brightens the hair.
• Highlights: Your stylist will add lightening strands using a hair lightener or color with tinfoil wraps or a cap.
• Root Touchups: Your stylist will add a color to match your existing color.
• Ombré: It only colors the ends to contrast with your hair.
• Single Process: You can choose any color in a single step, like with permanent coloring.
• Color Melt: Your stylist will combine multiple shades to blend them without visible lines.
• Sombré: Color the ends subtly to contrast with the rest of your hair.
• Corrective Color: Changing your color or correcting an over-the-counter coloring can require two or more steps.
• Glaze: It can comprise a demi- or semi-permanent color to help enrich, tone down, or intensify your color-treated hair.

Are You Ready to Talk to Your Stylist?

Once you understand how to talk to your hairstylist clearly and confidently, getting a haircut you love becomes much easier.

Clear communication is the key to a haircut you’ll love. By sharing reference photos, being honest about your habits, and speaking up when needed, you give your stylist everything they need to create the right look for you.

At Haste Hair, our experienced stylists take a holistic approach and use high-quality products to ensure you leave feeling confident. If you’re unsure about what style suits you best, we’re here to guide you.

Book an appointment and take the first step toward the hairstyle you’ve been dreaming about.

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