I write about this topic today because I have once again gotten a bad haircut. (Story of my life.)
I asked for a ‘Jennifer Aniston’, and … I didn’t get it. It’s horrible and definitely not what I asked for – now I shall go through the 6 months grieving period! However, most haircuts tend to grow out after 2 to 3 months, so it’s not too long if you think about it, although very painful at first! Here’s what you do when you have get a terrible haircut.
Complain
I don’t like to do this – but sometimes it’s needed. If you are truly unhappy and it’s completely different than what you asked for, you as a customer has the right to voice your concern and get what you actually asked for. None of the, ‘B*TCH, OH NO YOU DID-N’T’ and finger wagging, just politely go up to the hairdresser and try not to make a scene. Chances are they will be more than happy to fix it for you – it is a business and they want happy customers.
Find another hairdresser
This is pretty risky as well, but if the haircut is so horrible and you fear that if you talk to the hairdresser you might strangle her, go somewhere else. Find photos of what you want – and don’t want – and ask them if there is anyway your awful cut can be saved. Find a place that has a good reputation or ask a friend to recommend her hairdresser.
Hair Extensions
Most (by most I mean all) of my disaster haircuts were that they cut off too much. I’d always ask for a 2 inch trim, and get 6 inches instead. Why does that always happen?! Either way, you can bet I have spent my fair share of money on hair extensions. There are many options available: clip ins, weaves, glue, braided in, you name it. The best I’d recommend are the braided in ones – it’s not damaging to the hair like those crazy glue ones. Also, clip ins are the most convenient, you can always take them off before bed (hair extensions are really annoying to sleep with).
Play around with new looks
This is a good time to get your creative juices flowing. Also, it could be good to get a new ‘look’, especially if you’ve had the same hair for years. You might even find a look you like! Sometimes, a bad haircut can look better styled differently. For example, my God-awful cut looks decent curled, so I’ll be bringing out the hot rollers for the next few months! Try changing the style – it might look better straight/wavy/curly. For example, if you have curly hair and it was cut too much, straightening it will make it look longer. You can also try to change the parting to play around with the lengths. Tie it up, pin it back, twist it around, curl it, crimp it; anything. Hopefully something will look acceptable.
I won’t suggest wearing a ponytail everyday for the next 6 months (although you could), but there are plenty of awesome hairstyles that are updos.
Accessories
Bring out the hats, scarves, wigs; everything. If you’re that ashamed, I guess a face mask would solve everything. Hair will grow out after 2 months and your haircut could look surprisingly OK after that. Meanwhile, you could always use accessories to hide it.
Hair Vitamins
I have never tried any before but I do hear that some may work. I have heard prenatal tablets also do wonders for hair growth. HOWEVER please do your research and ask your doctor before you take anything. Hopefully no one is that desperate or has that bad a haircut – I really hate screwing up with your body just for the sake of ‘beauty’!
Shave it off
My friend (who is male and doesn’t understand our pain, obviously) says the only way to save yourself from a horrible haircut is to shave it all off. Yeah, right.
… Or, just accept it
So the shaving thing didn’t sound so appealing, did it? But really, what can you do? After the millionth bad haircut (like me) you learn to accept it. It’s only hair after all. In the meantime, it’s always good to take care of the hair you do have right now. Avoid harsh heat and chemicals, and deep condition regulary. That way, your hair will grow out nice and healthy.
Those are my tips on surviving a bad haircut. At the end of the day, like I said, as horrible as it looks – it’s only hair. I would say the best tips that have helped me the most were tying my hair in updos (which I do most of the time anyway so I think I’m safe) and hair extensions. However, most of my problems were lopsided and too short cuts; it could be way different for you! What do you do when you get a bad haircut? I’d love to hear any added tips and any horror stories! 
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Vitamins absolutely work for hair growth, but prenatals or “hair and nail” vitamin formulas usually aren’t the best route for effectiveness and price. Several years ago, I started a regimen I found online written by a member of a hair care forum. I cleared it with my doctor, who nearly jumped for joy at the prospect of someone wanting to supplement.
I’ve tweaked the regimen slightly for my own lifestyle, and using it I get one and a half to two inches of growth a month. (Yeah, I measure it. I’m pretty obsessed with my hair.) 
Not only is the growth amazing, the health of my hair increased tenfold. My hairdresser told me earlier this week that I have the healthiest hair she’s ever seen. Who doesn’t want to hear that?
Google “Bargello’s Vitamin Regimen”. It really does work! You’ll find lots of forum posts and blog entries of people who have tried it and love it.
But I’m sorry to hear you got a bad haircut.
Is the salon going to make it right?
Oh wow, thanks Amanda. I researched it and there is a lot of stuff to take! Are you taking all of that?! I’ll have to look into it though, I don’t know where to find half of the stuff, haha. That’s good you cleared it with your doctor though, and thank goodness I found someone as obsessed as hair like me
Nope, I’m not going back – EVER – because I’m scared she’ll make it worse. I’ll just wait for it to grow out
I’m taking most of it.
I swapped the flaxseed oil for krill oil, skip the protein shakes since I get a TON of protein in my diet, and take a few extra supplements for various things. I get all my vitamins at Puritan’s Pride (http://www.puritan.com/). My husband takes the same regimen, give or take a few, and we pay just over $90 a year. If we bought ours in expensive vitamin stores like GNC, we’d probably be bankrupt. 
Obsessing over hair is just one of the reasons it’s so fun to be female.
Is she the only stylist at that salon? What a shame. I hope you AT LEAST got your cash back.
Wow … dedication! I am using coconut oil to my roots because I hear it’s a good conditioner and makes hair grow faster… it seems to be working so far. Maybe you can try it as well? And yes, hair is so fun!
Can’t wait til I have long hair again (or something that looks sane).
And no she wasn’t the only one but she worked on me. And no to cash back – and it was pretty expensive! I was so angry i just wanted to leave the place then called my mom to VENT badly. And then I wrote this post LOL.
I love oils for my hair. I use coconut and jojoba, but my favorite hair oil is camellia. I wrote a post on my blog on natural hair treatments, and camellia oil took up most of the post!
It is AMAZING!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA I LOVED THE PICTURE!!!!
i think we all perfectlym undestand your situation, cuz i think we all have passed through it and its really frustrating!!!!
after the disaster with my hair and going to my way back home i’m just complaining about how horrible it was, about the hairdresser who’s ‘supposed’ to have a title of been ready for this challenge… the exigences of women!
seriously i think these people need to start again or quick the job.
It was very hard for me to find the right hairdresser i’ve got a lot of bad experience but now i’m really comfortable! and right now, i’m just waiting 4 my hair to grow long enough to make those crazy hairstyles
don’t worry Renee, 2 months come fast
and change hairdresser
xoxo
Ahahhaha isn’t the picture great?
I’ve had lots of bad experiences too. I think it has to do with me not wanting to spend a lot on my hair!
And yes, two months passes fast … but I think I will need at least 6 months/1 year for the top bit, it is cut so short
Totally feel your pain, girl! I had the worst hair last year… it was final exams time and I was stressed, so I decided to change my haircolor and maybe get a little trim. Well, the hair color part turned out perfect, so props to the colorist… but the haircut… OMG it was a disaster. The stylist was just supposed to trim off an inch or so and make sure the layers looked nice and proportionate, but she kept on cutting and cutting and cutting! At first I didn’t notice because I thought she was trimming my side-swept bangs, but next thing I know, she cut a HUGE chunk out of the top of my hair… I had a horrible thick layer all the way around my forehead. Imagine bangs-length but all the way around. The next layer started below my chin. I looked like a mushroom. I was fighting back tears and my friends being the great people that they are, told me the truth… that it looked hideous and i’ll probably have to wear a hat until it grows out. *Sigh*… so I suffered for about 6 months and then my hair finally grew out a little. I now have a paranoia of short layers! My hair has only long layers (and no bangs to avoid potential catastropher) from that day forward lol.
LOL Omg, sorry to hear that, Jackie. That sounds awful. What is with them – you ask for a trim and they keep cutting and cutting! They love their job too much
Mine has awful layers too, like I wrote below for Rosa’s comment, it was cut all weird and it looks like a diamond shape. And I specifically asked for the back not to be cut in a straight line, NOT a ‘V’ shape, and you guessed it, that’s exactly what I got. Ughhh I was fuming when I left, so I FEEL your pain!
Hi Renee!
But I know how you feel, I think all girls have experienced that at least once and I think the best tip is to get creative and use different accesories. I almost never wear clips or hats unless my hair`s dirty or I`m not having a good hair day 
so having a bad haircut can be a good opportunity to spice it up a bit 
You should`ve posted a picture of you, I bet its not even that bad, everything looks good on pretty girls!
My dad has given me the shave it off advice several times…he says: ¨Go like me, you`d have no worries and it`s a lot cheaper….¨
He`s funny like that
Aw thanks Rosa, but it really is bad. I don’t know how to explain it but it was cut so short in the middle that it poofs out so much, so my hair looks like a diamond shape – thin at the top and bottom, crazy volume in the center. So weird!
HAHAH your dad is adorable. Ah, it’s so easy for men, just shave it off, in one month everything is back to normal
Give it three days! I think every haircut deserves three days. If it still looks horrible, murder the hairdresser.
I’d love to but I would go to jail and will not be able to blog from my cell
Yeah, been more than 3 days. Ugh, nah I won’t go back. I’ll just wait for it to grow and in the meantime tie it up. Sigh :’(
Hi there Renee, How’s your haircut now since October? I know exactly how you feel I had a terrible haircut last June, thinned out so much that there was barely anything there at all, I tied it up for 8 months til February of this year in the hope of a decent haircut and after 3 attempts now, I have messed up hair again!!! I’m back to a ponytail again after so badly wanting to wear it down. What is wrong with these hairdressers, they are all so scissor happy.
Hey beuatyfool, so sorry to hear about your haircut..good thing hair grows…but I think your male friend is onto something haha..SHAVE IT OFF..who knows..u might look HOT!
Great review..keep em coming
YOUR NO1 FAN DANIELLE
Exactly renee!! You’re hot as it is… who care bout your hair! Shave it off:)) or you can wear the tudung, like me! haha
NO I cannot shave it off! I like having hair, thank you! You silly girls!
Oh my gosh i know just what you mean, for christmas i asked to have my hair done really nicely – coloured and everything. I ask for a dark colour underneath and some reddy/brown bit through the top of my hair with a big fringe the tinnest bit of the length and a few soft layers. I got layers about 2 and a half inches long!!! i loved my long hair and now i hate it its awfull, i cant wait two months for it to grow back arghh “/ .I used to put big soft curls in and now all i can do is straighten it and that still looks pretty bad!
i’m really sorry to hear about your bad haircut Renee i feel your pain LOL!
x
Aww Imogen!
So we can feel each others pain now! Haha. Mine has grown a little bit, I think maybe 2 more months and this awful haircut will grow out and I can hopefully fix it. Hang in there … it really takes time and lots of ponytails! 
:L Thanks Renee. okay so i over reacted a little but still cant wait untill its all grown bakk.
much luck LOL! .x
Im sure its not as bad as you think honest!
ohh my goodness
) thanks you for this tip!
my hair has left me in despair and
) i really feel! angry or sad and shy! everytime i remembered my bangs! 
( and my mom really don’t understand what i feel now 
( i really can’t go to school like this! my bangs is sooo short! super! short! and i think it’s not a bangs anymore and now my hair looks like i have a Mohawk in the middle of my hair and the two other side have a long hair! i really! can’t stand my hair anymore! i tried all! my mom and me go to the salon and have a extension but nothings happen 
( its like the same!
but yeah! i realize it’s just a hair even its so hard for me co’z i really feel the pain but, now it’s just a hair sh*t happens so really thanks! for this tip! i love youuuuuu!
)
)
sorry for my bad english
Yuki I feel your pain
i just got a really bad haircut too and tried extension but they didnt work either, thats how bad the cut it 
Oh gosh, don’t get me started on horrible haircuts. I requested that my hair would be cut short, but not to my ear lobes. Devastating. That was just this morning too. What a good start to a crazy day.
When I usually have a bad haircut, I usually just tend to exaggerate other things (clothing articles, accessories, handbags) to keep people’s attention away from the short black strands I actually call my hair.
I have a horrible boWl cut I now how have to wait 4 months so I can tie everything back and wear bangs.
Yea I got this cut ( i like my hair short ) but I don’t know what the people did but I look like a nerdy guy! It is so horrible clips and extensions didn’t work. I tried different ways of geling it and stuff, but it is just bad and I can’t fix it. I can’t go to school like this!
The hairdresser that I like the best canceled on me. I didn’t want to wait,because I’ve been wanting a haircut for soo long…wish I would’ve waited. I had mid-back hair,now it’s to my shoulders! I asked for razored hair only and some thinning because I (sadly) have thick hair. She told me if I wanted more layers,then she’ll have to cut more of my hair. It was like this much: | | of my hair,just GONE! Argh! Anyways,I asked for my shortest layer to be underneath my earlobe. Nope,it was like above eye level. Now,my ‘wonderful thick hair’ looks like a freakin’ mushroom top. It’s thin on the bottom,but all those short layers I told her not to do,poofed up my hair. I’ve never had a good haircut. Not once. I told myself ‘It looks fine,you’ll love,just get use to it’ but really I wanted to ram my Mum’s car into their store window. I told my parents I liked it and all. When my brother and Dad told me I looked like a mushroom. So I flipped out,ran downstairs,and went to bed like 4 hours earlier. I’m now considering shaving it off. My Dad always says ‘If you don’t like it,we can shave it off.’ when I say I hate my thick hair. I swear the hairstylist was trying to make me have a ‘model’ hairstyle that you see on those mannq. heads. It’s all flipping out and stuff like that. She did okay on my bangs. I’m just going to wait next time…
Agh! It didn’t show how much. Well,it was like 4-5 inches off.
I’ve had enough bad hair days and I finally had enough when a very expensive en exclusive stylist messed up my hair. He cut it awfully and colored it a neon-orange! From that day on I have cut my own hair. It has been trial and error (it DOES always end up shorter than you intend), but I finally found a style that works. I have wavy hair that looks bouncy when it is cut in layers. Through numerous youtube videos and hours spent in the mirror cutting strand by strand I learned what worked for me and what didn’t. Surprising thing is this: I could get the same perfect hair in 5 minutes. All I have to do is comb my hair into a ponytail on top of my head, then feather cut the hair off at the elastic. I positioned the ponytail close to the front of my head as this gives me a semi-bang. The top layer is quite short, but that’s the way I like it. By varying the position of the ponytail you can choose how long you want to make your layers. If I had to stick with a style, this would be it!
Ughh… I just got a HORRIBLE haircut. Well, maybe thats a bit exaggerated, but I hate it. I went to the hairdresser i always go to, and I asked for my bangs to be trimmed a bit shorter and my hair between my chest and my shoulders…. well i got too short of bangs, well for my liking and they look retarded when I put it in a ponytail because it it cut pretty much straight across with no slant ( i had side bangs) , and my hair is too short with the layers. It looks stupid in the back and it’s really difficult to straighten. I haven’t tried curling it yet, but I think it’ll be too short and with look like I have an afro. I don’t think I’ll ever go to that stylist again, unless my mom makes me. I just feel like crying.
Oh well I’ll find a way to make it look good for tommorow at school…. I hope.