Miscelaney

It was a crisp, sunny, NW afternoon and I was on my way to meet my BFF for a pampering pedicure. She had given me a gift certificate for my birthday, so I was looking forward to a fun, posh, girlie afternoon. Our destination was a charming, relatively new, relaxingly eclectic spa with the perfect set up to accommodate the both of us, side-by-side. What could go wrong?

Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted that I would be dealing with a trained professional. Maybe I should have grilled the technician before she started on what she intened to do. But that’s the thing about an ambush. You don’t see it coming.

I left that day with completely butchered toes. She managed to cut every toe far beneath the nail bed to a point they looked horrid and, five days later, they still hurt. I’ve since made light of the toe massacre and went on to my next beauty debacle: my hair. Having experienced challenges with the salons here in lovely Kirkland (not delivering the service I asked for and then charging way more for said bait-and-switch) I decided to be super proactive and do fool-proof recon. I identified a new salon and in-person went and spoke to a hairstylist so we were on  the exact same page of what I wanted. My request? A simple, root touch up. Can you do it? Absolutely. The cost? Perfect.

The next day I rolled out of bed and into the salon for my simple, cost-effective fix. She confirmed the root touch up service when I arrived (and also talked me into a “trim”), but the short and long of it was it a) she didn’t do a “root touch-up”, she did an all over color with several added highlights which was NOT what I asked for and b) ended up costing me a fortune…and I went in with lovely blondish-red hair and left with a Cameron Diaz-goes dark brown look. And for the “trim”? Another beauty massacre. My trim with “subtle facial framing” ended up in a horrid, Kristin Stewart-does-Joan Jett shag (with matching color).

Not only was I ambushed this week (again) in terms of services (the old bait-and-switch with a quarter cup of NOT listening), I was massacred by poor quality services.

Lessons learned?

• If you are going to a new service provider (hair, nails, skin, etc) NEVER assume that your service provider is an expert. Ask them questions. State concerns.
• Even if you think it makes you sound like a jerk, be clear on both the service and the price beforehand (and even then, this may not be enough, but at least you’ve got something to fall back on).
•  Minimize miscommunication by also stating what you DON’T want. Your idea of facial framing or “a few layers” may be wildly different than your service prodivers.

My take is there seems to be an influx of new beauty service providers (resorting to a new profession due to a poor economy) or there are those who have returned back to a profession they once knew but aren’t necessarily  up to date with their skills or techniques. Leave nothing to chance and if you find a service provider you like, for God’s sake, stick with them, even if you move.