I moved to where I am 7 years ago and tried several places/hairstylists. When I got my hair cut pretty short…I didn’t love it but it was ok. She also took 3 hours to do it. Then jacked up her rates which included just trimming which with short styles …it’s often needed.
Main question is….I kinda feel like maybe I should just go to a barber shop. Which I’m white and all the ones I know of around here are entirely black…but maybe it would work? Or should I just keep trying to find a random woman at a normal salon?
Edit: I guess if anyone happens to see this that’s in the Phoenix area, lemme know? Lol
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I’ve always felt welcome in a black barber shop (as a white girl who gets butch haircuts) but not all of them will take women.
This might be a better question for a local subreddit, but personally I haven’t been to a “normal” salon in a decade or more. Mostly barbershops. Sometimes queer ones. Lots of Super Cuts style places when I traveled for work but I only allowed women with short hair to touch my head.
Where I live, the barbershops would not be a good fit. Maybe if there were a hipster barber? But we only have old white men running old man barbers.
What has worked for several of my friends is just looking through various salon’s social media. Do they have stylists with short hair, undercuts, cool colors? Do they post customer pics with the kind of hair you’d like? If you see someone with hair you like, you can also just ask them where they go.
My first though was a barber shop, but you seem to be ruling it out? I mean, you can ask if they’d like to try cutting your hair and let them know that the women working on you haven’t been able to quite get the gist. They can say yes or no or maybe just say they may not have the experience with your type of hair and leave the option to you to let them try. I’ve known some black folks who have appreciated the heads up and the option when going to a white hairstylist. If you don’t like it any better than you’ve had so far, it will grow out again and you can look further. You may be surprised and find yourself welcomed if you don’t you just walk away. You’d certainly give them something new to talk about if nothing else. No harm, no foul depending on your comfort level.
white woman with several severe chronic illnesses including chronic migraines here- I have some interesting hair issues (thick, curly hair with at least 6 cowlicks (I know, weird af spelling and I checked Google and Wikipedia was the first result). I get my hair cut at the local beauty school and request a barber student and clipper haircut every time. Most of the students who end up cutting my hair are black. If they are white, then they have a kid who is on the Autism spectrum. They are also all males.
It’s what works best for me. Prior to using the beauty school, I’d get my hair cut by a white guy who ran the local barber shop but he had to close after breaking his back in early 2020.
A stylist who truly understands your aesthetic can be hard to find. I’d recommend visiting 3-5 local salons with diverse atmospheres and stylists. Bring images of the cuts you admire and express your preferences candidly
It’s perfectly fine to continue your search until you discover someone who gets it just right for you. You deserve a stylist who intuitively grasps your personal style, after all
Best way is to find your personal barber TBH, rather than finding your salon and the best way to find one is via word of mouth. Go out and find someone with a haircut in a style you like and ask them who cut it. It’s an easy way to start up a conversation and it can help you find one who will cut your hair the way you like it.
I second the suggestion to post in the sub for your city. If you happen to live in Atlanta, I can recommend a stylist who’s a lesbian who cuts her wife’s hair, and their lesbian friends’ hair. She’s also a colorist, and amazing!
Probably be better served by a local sub or Facebook group — especially one for queer folk cause you might find yourself very well served by barbers with a lot of gay men as clientele — but I went to a black barbershop for a long while as a white woman with short curly hair (think Disney’s Merida when I grow the mess out). Just call ahead and be frank, and they’ll book you with the right person.
Omg. I wish you were in Okc. I randomly stumbled on a lady that manages to make every haircut I choose a raging lesbian cut… The problem is, I’m not gay.
Great clips. I don’t think they give a fuck.
Barber shops can feel intimidating but they are usually very welcoming places.
My stylist advertises herself as doing “gender neutral” styling and pricing, so maybe look for that?
I go to a queer focused salon. They have a big ole pride flag and gender neutral bathrooms and half the staff are gender nonconforming in one way or another. Absolutely fantastic pixie cut experience.