After spending many years hairdressing, haircutting and blow drying the hair, I am sure my hearing is not what it was.  Deafness must be rife, not only within my industry but in other industries that produce “White noise”. If you know of any ways that I can reduce this background or white noise, please let me know.

I do not know what the exact figures are, but the decibel noise level of my professional hairdryer must be very high, as it omits a high whistling sound, this is because of the fan speed in the hairdryer, I have even been reduced to try and use ear plugs to block out the background noise or any high frequencies in a vain attempt to keep the hearing I have.

The noise of the hairdryer, together with the radio or cd players in the salon, and people chatting, create a white noise level that creates a wall of noise and must be damaging to my hearing.  

I find that I now miss parts of conversations if there is any background noise.  Over the years I have learned to compensate for my lack of hearing, when I talk to clients, I instinctively know when to nod in agreement, say, Ooh in a far off way, or to give that quizzical look, it amazes me sometimes that a client thinks I can hear every word they are saying with all the noise that is created in the salon environment.

I am sure I am not on my own in the quest for a silent hairdryer, so if you have created a silent hairdryer or know of one please, please contact me with the details, as I would love to buy one.

Learning opportunities in Hairdressing can be time consuming and costly, choosing the best way to learn your new career may not be as easy as you think.

Take the time out to research which methods will be of benefit to you, and make the most of your time and money.

I have always found hairdressing a sure way to get you through hard-times and recessions.  This is mainly due to the fact that hairdressing is a cash rich business and it carries a feel-good factor for the person having their hair done.

I have seen many friends in different trades loose their businesses, and in some cases their houses, when the harder time come. 

Double glassing firms and car sale can take a real hit when money gets tight, some of the worst cases I have seen are those in the building trade, where companies go bust on you and can leave you thousands of pounds

Hairdressing offers you a way out from this I believe, because you need only a little equipment, and of course your skills, to earn good money and earn this quickly.

John Mcloughlin 

I watch a student the other day, she was cutting a one length haircut, a simple haircut that I have seen this particular student complete and do it very well. This time however she seemed to just not get it right, whether this was down to a large amount of lack of concentration, I think this would have contributed a large amount, but what was interesting was was two areas that came to light, these were the students positioning and perception.   Positioning of a client, there head and yourself will play a part in getting a good haircut. You may have heard about clients who cross there legs and sit at a slant, there shoulders being at different heights, to correct this simply ask your client to uncross their legs. Head positioning is something crucial to a good haircut as you can eliminate unwanted graduation through the back of the haircut, if the head is placed forward you will end up with a crisp line in the cut. The other part of the positioning is the position or posture of yourself as a hairdresser. If you stand crooked there is a good chance the haircut you do will be crooked. if you stand squarely in the centre of a client, at the back of a one length haircut and plant your feet, do not move them, and work in the centre and to each of the sides of your one length haircut, your posture will be correct to make a straight haircut. I see students who have not yet built the stamina to work through a full day haircutting, they lack the concentration and physical presents to stand correctly, they invariably stand with their weight on one foot making their hips slant, and this effects the plain that there arms can move on, it is this lack of posture that make you complete a poor haircut. Another area is perception, try thinking that if you hold a broom handle, level across the line you want to cut on a one length haircut, this may help you with the over all perception of your haircut, it may help you visualise the line on which you will be cutting. Enjoy your hairdressing. John Mcloughlin   

Having the skills to cut hair, are only part of the art of creating a great hairstyle, here some of the hidden skills that will help you become a top hairstylist are listed below. One of the skills that I was encouraged to develop was “Seeing the haircut”. This was fun when I was a junior and mainly washing hair and sweeping up, and of course making the tea’s for clients and staff.As a client would come in for their appointment, I would study their hair, taking notice of how thick the hair was, and what was the texture and length like. Then I would imagine the haircut I would give to a client and how I would dry and finish the haircut. The interesting thing was seeing the difference that another stylist would make on the actual haircut, the style that was given to the client and the one that I had imagined could be very varied, once I found myself more in tune with the stylist, I could almost predict the style they would create.By doing this it gave me a good inside knowledge of how each stylist worked, and the difference between the stylist. When I could see that I would have a style of cutting of my own, when I started to cut hair, I knew I was on the right track.Another discipline to make you a top stylist, is not to do just what is easiest on a client, this is where the “Work” comes into the job, trying to bring the best out of a clients hair, even if it is 3.0′Clock your sugar levels are low you feel tired and you have just started to think about going home. This is where you have to dig deep and put your client before you or your needs. Think, what is the best way to achieve the look your client wants.Sometimes it is hard working with a client when they have very fixed views on how they want their hair and are unwilling to move with any trends that are up and coming. As a Stylist we can only offer the advice, is it up to the client if they want to go with your recommendations.If you put your client first you will do the right thing, and don’t just think about the haircut, can you help the shape look better with the addition of hair colour.Seeing the haircut and working at your craft will stand you in good stead while you develop a strong and loyal clientele making you a top hair stylist.

I see many potential employees turning up for their interview with a beautiful array of qualifications, displayed in various ways.

The fact is, as an employer, I want to know about the person behind the qualifications, what drives them to get up in a morning, what do they do on their day off or weekend. These insights to what a person is really like, will help me as an employer, understanding how ambitious and motivated they are to finish their training. If you can portray how serious you are about not only learning your hairdressing skills but perfecting them, these are some of the terms I want to hear from potential employees.

The main thing that has driven my hairdressing career, is to be the best I possibly can with my field of expertise.

Hairdressing is a great career because as soon as you think you have perfected one aspect of hairdressing you can move on to another part of hairdressing, becoming not just a good all rounder but an expert in all the fields of hairdressing can take a lifetime, but if you have the yearning to do that, I can’t recommend a better profession.

The absolute passion I have for hairdressing, is the same if not greater now than when I first set off at sixteen. Hairdressing has given me a life I could have only dreamed of when I was at school, it has given me the finical rewards for my hard work, and a social standing within my community, and a respected from my professional peers.

I recently interviewed a young girl for a vacancy, and when asked about her ambitions, she said that she would like to own her own salon, I don’t know if she understood the amount of work that it takes to open a salon, but, I remember replying to that same question in an interview within a large hairdressing company, and my answer was, I wanted to be the best hairdresser that ever lived, it may have been an OTT answer, but it was how I felt, and I got the job.

It is easy to lose focus when running a salon, but the only thing I think we really sell as hairdressers is not what the latest offer is in the salon, 10% or 20% off perms or colours, but it is the quality of service, how good are the haircuts you give, and hair colours and other services you provide set you apart from the rest.

Setting your own standards and reappraise them, keeping them as high as possible is our ultimate goal. Whatever helps motivate you, whether it is additional training, going to shows, photo shoots or competitions work, it is all out there.

Sometimes being the best you can is used as a flippant remark, but if you can be the very best you can, you will have a long and lustrous hairdressing career.