does/should your hairstylist work on 2 clients at once?

[misse336]

In this case I would definitely go to someone else. Not because she works on two people at once but because 2 out of the 3 times you have been unhappy. If you are paying $125 get someone who does a good job. My stylist does another person while doing my color but I have never been unhappy with the job. Just like all professions there are some that are great at their job and some that just get by. It took me years to find a stylist that I was happy with.

I agree. The problem doesn't seem to be that she's doing other services while your hair is processing. The problem seems to be that you aren't happy with the service. I'd find someone else to do your hair so that you are happy with it. I once went to a hairdresser that a friend used (whose hair always looked beautiful) and had the same service that my friend usually had done and I was very unsatisfied with the job that she did. My hair looked terrible and the highlights were very chunky/noticable even though she did my friends highlights flawlessly. Needless to say I never returned to her and found someone else.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My guess is SHE probably shouldn't based on your experiences.

My hairstylist does work on 2 people at once.
Those 2 people are always my mother and myself or my sister and myself.
She puts color on one person's hair then has them sit while she puts color on the other person's hair.
She leaves the color on for about 30 minutes which gives plenty of time to put color on the other person and she has time left over to chat before the first person has to be rinsed.
She rinses the first person and cuts/styles their hair. IF its taking a bit longer than expected to do the first person's hair then she'll stop and rinse the second person but that's usually not a problem unless the first person wanted a dramatic hairstyle change.
Then she rinses the second person and does their cut/style.

And yeah $125 each time is so crazy to me but that's salon prices for ya!
My hairstylist has a full time job and does hair in her mother's small shop.
She charges $45 for one color and a trim, $55 for 2 colors and a trim, $60 for one color and a dramatic cut, and $70 for 2 colors and a dramatic cut.
When I got my hair colored and trimmed this past weekend we were talking about a possible perm next time I come but I forgot to ask about a price. I'm sure its not going to be the $200 I paid when I got a perm about 10 years ago from someone else.

 

[morgan98]

I would echo the thoughts of others that it is fairly normal for the stylist to work on two people at once. I know mine does. I am a haircut only, so I am usually fit in during the "wait time" for someone who is having their hair colored. I love my stylist and she works limited hours, so she has to be as efficient as she can be when she is working on order to fit her clients in.

That being said, I am sure there are stylists who are very good at multi-tasking and it does not compromise the quality of service. However, I am also sure that there are some stylists who are not good at it and results suffer.

If you are not happy, I would look for another stylist. However, your new stylist will probably be working on more than one customer at once as well.

 

[smiths02]

I have been going to the same stylist for a very long time, she does color and highlights on my hair. In the past couple years she has cut down her work schedule and sometimes she is doing color/highlights on me and another client at the same time, like puts mine on and as I sit with the color and she starts doing another persons color than comes back to me and rinses me when she done. I only have gone three times this year and two times now I have been unhappy one time I think she left the highlights on too long and it was super ashy almost green looking to me. She corrected that the next time, but now this past time I feel like I still have a bunch of dark roots that she missed. I cant help wondering if this is because she is working on two people at once and I was wondering if this is commonplace. Im thinking about switching to someone else if I can find someone who is recommended. I would really like a bit more consistency in how I look coming out of the salon. Plus its 125 bucks a pop just for the color. It seems to me that would warrant her undivided attention!!

I know nothing about hair color, but when I did it myself as a teenager and young adult, I would get the ashy/green look. I was told by a stylist that the problem is the mix of colors, for my hair, for example, they have to add a little purple to stop from getting the green look. Anyway, again I'm no expert, but I wonder if the problem the first time wasn't sitting too long but mixing the color/shade. The second time sounds like she was rushing.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I used to go to a stylist who worked on multiple clients while my color processed. She had an assistant who washed her clients and often blew out my hair as well. My appointment would take 3-4 hours. It was crazy how much time I sat around waiting.

After a couple of years I moved my business to a stylist closer to me. I've gone to her for 3 years and only once or twice has she worked on another client while I was processing (once was a man once was a rescheduled appt). I'm done in less than 2 hours. It's a very small salon with 3 stylists and only 4 chairs. They focus on quality instead of quantity. I pay a little more, maybe 10%, and an thrilled with the results and personal attention.

 

[goofy !]

I have been going to the same stylist for a very long time, she does color and highlights on my hair. In the past couple years she has cut down her work schedule and sometimes she is doing color/highlights on me and another client at the same time, like puts mine on and as I sit with the color and she starts doing another persons color than comes back to me and rinses me when she done. I only have gone three times this year and two times now I have been unhappy one time I think she left the highlights on too long and it was super ashy almost green looking to me. She corrected that the next time, but now this past time I feel like I still have a bunch of dark roots that she missed. I cant help wondering if this is because she is working on two people at once and I was wondering if this is commonplace. Im thinking about switching to someone else if I can find someone who is recommended. I would really like a bit more consistency in how I look coming out of the salon. Plus its 125 bucks a pop just for the color. It seems to me that would warrant her undivided attention!!

I love my hairdresser. I have been going to her for over 25 years. In those years, her reputation has grown so that she is now exclusive and is not taking new clients.

She always works on two people at one time. She puts in my foils and then I retire to another room with my refreshments. She returns to her spot and will do a hair cut on somebody else. She doesn't do two colors/highlights at a time, but she will fit a cut in between my appointment. She comes back numerous times while I am sitting there to check my progress, so I never feel like it is over processed. I don't mind. If she had to sit there and twiddle her thumbs while my hair processed, my appointment would be even more expensive.

 

[MataHari22]

My base color stays on a long time, like an hour, so there are times where she will cut a person's hair or apply dye on someone else while I'm just sitting there with the dye on my head.

 

[aristocatz]

I don't mind, as long as its timed right (ie. if she did a haircut while my highlights/color was setting).

 

[Mirielle]

I might think twice about the skills of a stylist who has time to work on only one client at a time.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

While I'm sitting letting my color or highlight process she sometimes cuts someone or does a blowout. No big deal. It's 30 minutes of free time.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Yes, mine does sometimes. Not all the time.

 

[cluvsdisney]

This happened to me This last Saturday. I had a 10:00 appointment for a single process color and a cut. She finished putting color in around 10:30. Stood there not saying anything for half an hour. At 11:00 they wash out my color which took 5-8 Minutes? At 11:00 she started working on another customer. I sat there until almost 12 for her to finish so I can get my hair cut. Oh but wait...they threw in a free deep conditioning treatment to pacify me while I got stuck waiting all that time. How about saying we double booked by mistake, you can wait or someone else can cut your hair instead of handling me? I did wait because I needed a cut, another place nearby was closed on sunday and I didn't have another time to go before I went on vacation but I was so angry. I could have been done by the time she started cutting my hair.

I asked the front desk why she was double booked like that and they explained the timing but I said it didn't make sense for the stylist to start on someone just as I was done with color. The extra hour there threw off my schedule and I had to rearrange a chunk of my afternoon. I'm all for the stylist working and making money, but not by wasting my time. There was a perfect window for her to take another customer but they missed it at my expense.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My hair stylist only works on one client at a time. If he's waiting for color to process, he cleans up, checks his schedule, does his ordering (he's the owner) answers the phones, etc. The only time he double-booked me was when my sister really needed her hair done and had a limited schedule. He put her appt during mine so he didn't have to bother anyone else. While her color processed, he did my cut. He doesn't normally
schedule like that. When he does my keratin and cut, it takes about two hours and I pay him $175. I think he makes plenty in those two hours without double-booking.

 

[ez]

Yeah its interesting to think about how much the service cost and the time you are at the salon. Apparently my stylist has written down what stuff she uses on me so you would think it would come out the same everytime. So Im thinking the color part that she leaves on isnt a problem but I think the highlights she does on me are like a bleach type thing with no color. She is foiling both of these on my head at the same time. So, I want buttery highlights and that one time she did so many highlights and it got so white looking and as I said almost greenish looking to me. And then other times I have gone and my hair has come out gorgeous and I get so many compliments. But this year has been an especially bad year as I said two out of three times I have been dissatisfied. But if I am at the salon for an hour and 15 minutes and it cost 125 bucks and I also leave a 25 dollar tip it doesnt seem wrong to me to want her attention at least thru the coloring part it is only supposed to be on there for 15-20 minutes. So when it is done there is no one else to shampoo and I have to wait. On the other hand as I said this time my hair is dark in so many places on the roots where she didnt even color at all. As she was foiling me her next client came in and sot down next to me. So it does make me think maybe she was rushing. I think as someone said some people are better at multitasking that others idk. Its just disappointing to pay that money get home look in the mirror and like your hair less than before you went.

 

[HM]

Years ago I had a hair stylist that I loved. She and her husband had a small practice in a building near a church. I had her undivided attention in the office whenever I was there. She was great with changing things up for me when I got bored of my current style. After about 12 years, the church decided to redevelop the property and they lost their spot. They bought into a larger outfit. From that time on, I felt like she was too busy checking to see what the other stylists were doing while I was there (since she was now managing others), the price of her services about doubled, I wasn't pleased with my time there, and I just felt like a cog in a wheel. And one time, she did work on another person's color while cutting my hair. I quit her.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My hair stylist only works on one client at a time. If he's waiting for color to process, he cleans up, checks his schedule, does his ordering (he's the owner) answers the phones, etc. The only time he double-booked me was when my sister really needed her hair done and had a limited schedule. He put her appt during mine so he didn't have to bother anyone else. While her color processed, he did my cut. He doesn't normally
schedule like that. When he does my keratin and cut, it takes about two hours and I pay him $175. I think he makes plenty in those two hours without double-booking.

My girl is also the owner so she usually doesn't do another client while I'm processing but she sometimes does. When I was with her before she owned her own place, she worked in between clients all the time. I guess it was pushed on her to squeeze in clients.

 

[MamaLema]

Mine does the same thing. If she is not busy and it is only me in the salon, I notice my she does my hair way better. I now schedule to get my hair done on like a Tuesday morning at 9

 

[Kellydelly]

I went to a new hairdresser last month and I was sitting in a chair for 3 hrs while she did a color and cut on someone else after she foiled my hair. My hair processes quickly and I should have been out of there within an hr and a half including cut and blowout! I was not happy to sit and wait around while she got another client in and out. I didn't think that was right. She told me she didn't realize how long it would take to foil me, after I had told her I had medium length, thin, fine hair on the phone, she thought it would take longer and therefore somehow fit in better with her fill in client. So I sat and waited with foils in longer than I should have, and then sat again twiddling my thumbs after she rinsed me out while she cut and blew out the other person! I could not wait to get out of there.

 

[scrapquitler]

I have been going to the same stylist for a very long time, she does color and highlights on my hair. In the past couple years she has cut down her work schedule and sometimes she is doing color/highlights on me and another client at the same time, like puts mine on and as I sit with the color and she starts doing another persons color than comes back to me and rinses me when she done. I only have gone three times this year and two times now I have been unhappy one time I think she left the highlights on too long and it was super ashy almost green looking to me. She corrected that the next time, but now this past time I feel like I still have a bunch of dark roots that she missed. I cant help wondering if this is because she is working on two people at once and I was wondering if this is commonplace. Im thinking about switching to someone else if I can find someone who is recommended. I would really like a bit more consistency in how I look coming out of the salon. Plus its 125 bucks a pop just for the color. It seems to me that would warrant her undivided attention!!

Do you think that she should just sit there twiddling her thumbs for the 20 minutes or however long it takes for you color to process?? I've never been to a hairdresser that didn't work on another client while one was under the dryer or waiting for the color to process. It would waste a lot of time otherwise. It would be like expecting a waiter to only wait on your table in a restaurant.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have been going to the same stylist for a very long time, she does color and highlights on my hair. In the past couple years she has cut down her work schedule and sometimes she is doing color/highlights on me and another client at the same time, like puts mine on and as I sit with the color and she starts doing another persons color than comes back to me and rinses me when she done. I only have gone three times this year and two times now I have been unhappy one time I think she left the highlights on too long and it was super ashy almost green looking to me. She corrected that the next time, but now this past time I feel like I still have a bunch of dark roots that she missed. I cant help wondering if this is because she is working on two people at once and I was wondering if this is commonplace. Im thinking about switching to someone else if I can find someone who is recommended. I would really like a bit more consistency in how I look coming out of the salon. Plus its 125 bucks a pop just for the color. It seems to me that would warrant her undivided attention!!

Sometimes my stylist will do a haircut, but she does not do 2 colors at once typically. Now she is a great colorist which is why I go to her.

If my results were crap, I would find a new stylist.