“Fried, dyed, and laid aside,” has been the ongoing salon joke for as long as I can remember. It refers to overly processed hair, and I first heard this phrase on an early episode of “Sanford and Son” as Fred sarcastically described Aunt Esther. I believe it ended with him getting hit over the head with her purse and called a “fish-eyed fool.”
It was done for comedic purposes on a sitcom, but no woman wants it as her reality. Not long ago, a hairdo in despair ran, not walked, into my salon for some emergency care just before dialing 911 or shaving her head. I do corrective work, and apparently her “beautician” had tossed aside all the knowledge she learned in beauty school about damaging hair and had been coloring and perming on the same day. As if this was not enough to warrant concern, this poor client had been scheduled every four weeks, which is far too often. The aftermath was a frizzy, fuzzy substance that once resembled hair.
It’s quite sad. Once so many harsh chemicals have been so carelessly and frequently administered resulting in severely dry, damaged, and overly processed hair, there are limits to what can be done to reverse the trauma. It’s not completely the professional’s fault in many cases, because I have had many women sit in my chair and “want what they want when they want it.” Well, the customer is always the customer and always gets treated with respect, but the customer is not always right. If I find any requested service to be potentially harmful to the client, I politely decline to provide it.
Instant gratification, despite the ongoing ritual of high lift blonde all over, highlights, lowlights, 20 minutes of permanent wave solution followed by a blowout of high heat topped off with even hotter curling iron devices, isn’t always the best way to go about it.
It’s crucial to listen when your stylist urges caution, perhaps choosing either the color service or the curls and coming back in a few weeks for the other. It’s also critical for clients to know when to pull the emergency brakes on an overly ambitious stylist who wants to compromise the integrity of your hair to achieve unrealistic goals.
I often counsel the guests in my salon on how to get from A to Z, maybe even pausing for a bit somewhere around L, M, N, O or P. The “mane” message (pun intended) is to listen to a trusted professional, preferably one who seeks continuing education in the industry for new, safe methods. Trust your own instincts.
But if you are several months into the process of overly processed hair and feeling less than beautiful, try the following things: Seek out a second opinion for a fresh perspective, give your overly attended locks a vacation from any chemicals or heat for a period of time, and invest in one of many hair care systems available (my favorite is Frederic Fekkai) which work hard to repair, replenish, and renew the damaged hair. After all, life is way too long not to love your locks.
Former Columbus resident David Creel owns Beautiful With David salon in Jackson, where he is the monthly “makeover guy” for FOX 40 television. Contact him at [email protected].
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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