When someone receives highlights on a regular basis, they run the risk of having what's called "blonde build up" What is blonde build up, you might ask?? Well, it's when you continually highlight your hair until it's mostly blonde and next to nothing for your natural color left peeking through all those highlights. It happens, and it's easy to correct. The trick is to formulate correctly!
Example: Client came in yesterday for her highlights. She had never sat in my chair before and was very concerned about the work I would be doing in her hair. She had previously worked with Tina, a total of 3 times, and struggled with Tina to get across what she wanted, and how she wanted it done. What she wants is to have "beachy blonde highlights" without being turned into a "bleached blonde". What this means to me: She wants pale blonde highlights, all over her head, but her natural color still dominating her color.
What happened the first time: Kaleidocolors neutral & 10 volume in the back, same thing & 20 volume in the front. She's naturally a level 7. What this did for her is gave her slightly lighter color in her hair, almost a "breaking the base" color (I'll explain that one in a bit), which also means she couldn't see her highlights very well. So, she came back to get them fixed, and Kaleidocolors neutral with 30 volume in the back, Kaliedocolors neutral & 40 volume in the front. Which got her sort of where she wanted to go.
The (officially) 2nd time she came back (when they'd grown out), V-lights & 20 volume in the back, same & 40 volume in the front. So, she's back to "beachy blonde". That was in June.
Jump ahead to yesterday. I go through and highlight her hair again, using the V-lights formulas. What I noticed when she was done and dry is blonde buildup beginning to happen. So, I recommended the next time she comes in (and wrote it down, too!) that a few, "randomly" placed low lights, in either her natural color, or a color between natural and the blonde, be put back in so she doesn't wind up looking like a bleached blonde. And, she loved the idea as well as the job I had done for her yesterday. PHEW!!
Now..."Breaking the base": Sometimes, usually when you have someone with really dark hair that wants really pale highlights, it can work in their favor to "break the base" to give them a more flattering color, over all. If you're not careful, and you don't break the base, you can take that dark haired person and make them look like they have a ton of grey hair with all those highlights!
What "breaking the base" does: lighten the hair 1/2 to one full level lighter than the natural without bringing the warm tones through. It comes in handy, but it has to be done right, or there's corrective color hell to pay. If you've got virgin hair, using the correct level of hair color with 10 volume should do the job. If not, a "soap cap" (lightener, developer & shampoo mixture) should also do the trick. The hardest part is watching the product to make sure it doesn't take the color too far in the wrong direction! Once the desired shade is reached, you can rinse it out, wash it up, dry it, then highlight over the top of it, and you'll get a beautiful color.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
"You're not hearing me"
Black Friday is typically a dead day in the salon. Everyone is far too busy shopping for those "deals" to get their hair done. (as evidenced by the client that blew me off for the mall yesterday). So, I was standing at the desk, doing mindless paperwork when a potential client walked up to me, asking me questions about her hair color.
The scenario: She's older (maybe late 40's-early 50"s), long hair, gold at the top, white blonde from about the ears down to the middle of her back. She's been coloring her hair at home for YEARS and totally "knows" what she's doing.
Her question: Why isn't the color taking on the ends? And why is it doing this at the top.
"Do you run the color through the ends of your hair?" (by the looks of things, the answer is yes) "Oh, no. The last two times, I didn't do that." "But, you've done it in the past?" "Not recently." "Okay. By my looking at your ends, you've applied the color to your entire head, a lot". "But not recently. You're not hearing me." SIGH.
So, I start my scientific speech about what hair color does to the hair. I get the "You're not listening to me" comment again. To which I politely reply "But, you're not letting me finish. I'm getting there". Then, she lets me finish. And what I'm saying somewhat makes sense. I never specifically use an accusatory tone when I'm talking about applying hair color, so I don't offend any one. And, I'm quick to point out it's never their fault, they're just following the directions on the box.
When she mentioned grey hair, I also told her that grey hair is different from pigmented hair, so it will take the color differently. And that as we age, our hair gets darker, so it doesn't cooperate like it used to. Which is why her regrowth area is gold and her ends are WHITE. If she wants her regrowth to match her ends, bleach needs to be involved.
"Oh, I can't use bleach. I'm allergic" (You can't be allergic to bleach if you're using strong hair color...it's not much different, and ammonia is involved. I don't say this) "Have you ever used bleach before?" "Oh, no." "Then, how do you know you're allergic to bleach?" "My mother told me I was allergic and to never use it, even in the laundry." (GA-DOINK) "Okay. While, in theory, hair bleach (or lightener) and fabric bleach work in much the same way: removing all pigment until it's gone, you cannot use fabric bleach on your hair. You need to come in sometime for a patch test, which is done either behind the ear or in the crook of your elbow, to see if you have an allergic reaction. If you don't, we can proceed from there."
Unfortunately, this is NOT the first time I've heard comments like this, thinking you can use household products to do what hair color or hair care products do. My own grandmother couldn't understand why you just couldn't use fabric softener on your hair. It does the same thing.
Absolutely. In THEORY, it does, in fact, do the same thing. And household chemicals have similar side effects when not used properly. However, putting fabric softener on your hair will not do what you want it to, and neither will putting household bleach on your hair give you highlights. And, while hair lightener, when splashed on your clothes, will lighten your clothing, conditioner in your laundry will NOT make your clothes softer.
ALSO: After you've trashed the living hell out of your hair, putting a box of your "natural" color over the top of the whole mess does NOT instantly cure your hair and bring it back to what it was before you started messing with it (even if I do it instead of you). I have explained this, numerous times, to a client of mine. I think she keeps hoping that I'm going to finally praise her for a job well done on her hair color. I would like to, really. However, she wants long hair. Her hair is fine. She continually applies permanent color to her hair, regrowth to ends, EVERY TIME. She doesn't like her natural dark color, and she freaks out about the random grey hairs she has, so she MUST color it. She will go out of her way to purchase "organic" products to care for her hair, thinking that will cure her ailment, yet not come in to receive a professional color service. because it's "too expensive". Lady, you just spent $45 on shampoo and conditioner, but you won't spend $45 on color??? How does this make sense?? I've explained hair color to her, hundreds of times. Falls on deaf ears.
I'm not going to lie. I got so frustrated with her that I told her I was buzzing her hair off next time so she has no choice but to start fresh and leave her hair alone. I did apologize for my frankness (some just cannot handle it), but also explained, yet again, that you can't keep doing this to your hair, on your own, and expect the results you're looking for. This is also the same woman who freaks out every time I cut her bangs, even though she asks me to do it, and I cut it exactly how she wants it done. The fun part?? When it comes to cutting her hair, she has difficulty making a decision and will even leave it to her 9 year old to decide...who, by the way, is very decisive. Thank god, because her mother sure isn't!
The scenario: She's older (maybe late 40's-early 50"s), long hair, gold at the top, white blonde from about the ears down to the middle of her back. She's been coloring her hair at home for YEARS and totally "knows" what she's doing.
Her question: Why isn't the color taking on the ends? And why is it doing this at the top.
"Do you run the color through the ends of your hair?" (by the looks of things, the answer is yes) "Oh, no. The last two times, I didn't do that." "But, you've done it in the past?" "Not recently." "Okay. By my looking at your ends, you've applied the color to your entire head, a lot". "But not recently. You're not hearing me." SIGH.
So, I start my scientific speech about what hair color does to the hair. I get the "You're not listening to me" comment again. To which I politely reply "But, you're not letting me finish. I'm getting there". Then, she lets me finish. And what I'm saying somewhat makes sense. I never specifically use an accusatory tone when I'm talking about applying hair color, so I don't offend any one. And, I'm quick to point out it's never their fault, they're just following the directions on the box.
When she mentioned grey hair, I also told her that grey hair is different from pigmented hair, so it will take the color differently. And that as we age, our hair gets darker, so it doesn't cooperate like it used to. Which is why her regrowth area is gold and her ends are WHITE. If she wants her regrowth to match her ends, bleach needs to be involved.
"Oh, I can't use bleach. I'm allergic" (You can't be allergic to bleach if you're using strong hair color...it's not much different, and ammonia is involved. I don't say this) "Have you ever used bleach before?" "Oh, no." "Then, how do you know you're allergic to bleach?" "My mother told me I was allergic and to never use it, even in the laundry." (GA-DOINK) "Okay. While, in theory, hair bleach (or lightener) and fabric bleach work in much the same way: removing all pigment until it's gone, you cannot use fabric bleach on your hair. You need to come in sometime for a patch test, which is done either behind the ear or in the crook of your elbow, to see if you have an allergic reaction. If you don't, we can proceed from there."
Unfortunately, this is NOT the first time I've heard comments like this, thinking you can use household products to do what hair color or hair care products do. My own grandmother couldn't understand why you just couldn't use fabric softener on your hair. It does the same thing.
Absolutely. In THEORY, it does, in fact, do the same thing. And household chemicals have similar side effects when not used properly. However, putting fabric softener on your hair will not do what you want it to, and neither will putting household bleach on your hair give you highlights. And, while hair lightener, when splashed on your clothes, will lighten your clothing, conditioner in your laundry will NOT make your clothes softer.
ALSO: After you've trashed the living hell out of your hair, putting a box of your "natural" color over the top of the whole mess does NOT instantly cure your hair and bring it back to what it was before you started messing with it (even if I do it instead of you). I have explained this, numerous times, to a client of mine. I think she keeps hoping that I'm going to finally praise her for a job well done on her hair color. I would like to, really. However, she wants long hair. Her hair is fine. She continually applies permanent color to her hair, regrowth to ends, EVERY TIME. She doesn't like her natural dark color, and she freaks out about the random grey hairs she has, so she MUST color it. She will go out of her way to purchase "organic" products to care for her hair, thinking that will cure her ailment, yet not come in to receive a professional color service. because it's "too expensive". Lady, you just spent $45 on shampoo and conditioner, but you won't spend $45 on color??? How does this make sense?? I've explained hair color to her, hundreds of times. Falls on deaf ears.
I'm not going to lie. I got so frustrated with her that I told her I was buzzing her hair off next time so she has no choice but to start fresh and leave her hair alone. I did apologize for my frankness (some just cannot handle it), but also explained, yet again, that you can't keep doing this to your hair, on your own, and expect the results you're looking for. This is also the same woman who freaks out every time I cut her bangs, even though she asks me to do it, and I cut it exactly how she wants it done. The fun part?? When it comes to cutting her hair, she has difficulty making a decision and will even leave it to her 9 year old to decide...who, by the way, is very decisive. Thank god, because her mother sure isn't!
Friday, November 16, 2012
when you're a newbie...
It's exciting when you're a new hairdresser. You finally get to practice your craft that your worked hard at when you were in school. And you want desperately to prove to your client that you know what the heck you're doing. HOWEVER. Take a deep breath. While you have to impress the heck out of them so they'll come back, don't go into over drive. Keep it simple, and remember to listen. Please.
Case in point: Tiffany had a Walmartian yesterday. The plan: Color, full foil, and haircut. They worked hard at getting the color down (which is fine), and Tiff's brain started formulating (get to that in a minute). However, she turned her hearing off at a crucial part : "I want quite a bit cut off." Had she cut the hair first, instead of last, she would have reduced the client in the chair time by a good hour and 10 minutes, by not fighting through all that hair.
The next panic: Client has level 4/5 hair, 1/2 color, 1/2 virgin. So, regrowth area was level 4-ish, ends were 6WG. Medium texture, fairly thick in density. And this is where Tiffany panicked and wanted to get very aggressive with her hair by using 40 volume on the client's scalp. (which, by the way, is a fairly big no no as it can cause serious chemical burns). She was just convinced that 40 volume was the way to go. She couldn't give me a good reason beyond "her hair is so dark. I'm afraid it won't lift." I finally convinced her to just use 20 volume with "You're going to burn her head if you use 40 volume. It's not meant for on the scalp processes. Just use the 20 volume" And thank GOD she did!
The last question: "Should I just pull the color through all her hair??" This is instead of formulating demi color for her ends (which, ultimately, didn't need to be done for the entire head). My response "You can, but the color will wash away on those ends because there's nothing for the color to grab onto and she'll have two tone hair again". Had she paid attention to cutting the hair first, she would have only needed to color the ends on the front part of her hair (she did a diagonal forward hair cut).
End results: Color came out almost what she was looking for (color is always a crap shoot. It doesn't always do what you want, no matter how hard you try.). What we discovered is that "dialing back" the volume to 15 instead of 20 would have prevented the "hot roots" she wound up with. Highlights were beautiful, hair cut was beautiful, client was very happy.
The downside to this appointment for the client?? It took 5 HOURS to accomplish this. (I did a similar process on another client, same length hair, just different texture, and slightly less foils, got it done in 3, and I'm a bit pokey on my application)
Other things I've noticed about Tiffany: She's picked up some bad habits from Rita: SITTING instead of getting other stuff done. She had a PILE of 6 dirty color bowls in the sink, waiting patiently (because that's what dirty dishes do) to be washed, there was still laundry to be finished, etc. We've got days now where there are only two of us on. That will only increase when Lynn goes out on maternity leave. There's no room for leaving messes for other people. Totally not fair to the other person.
Case in point: Tiffany had a Walmartian yesterday. The plan: Color, full foil, and haircut. They worked hard at getting the color down (which is fine), and Tiff's brain started formulating (get to that in a minute). However, she turned her hearing off at a crucial part : "I want quite a bit cut off." Had she cut the hair first, instead of last, she would have reduced the client in the chair time by a good hour and 10 minutes, by not fighting through all that hair.
The next panic: Client has level 4/5 hair, 1/2 color, 1/2 virgin. So, regrowth area was level 4-ish, ends were 6WG. Medium texture, fairly thick in density. And this is where Tiffany panicked and wanted to get very aggressive with her hair by using 40 volume on the client's scalp. (which, by the way, is a fairly big no no as it can cause serious chemical burns). She was just convinced that 40 volume was the way to go. She couldn't give me a good reason beyond "her hair is so dark. I'm afraid it won't lift." I finally convinced her to just use 20 volume with "You're going to burn her head if you use 40 volume. It's not meant for on the scalp processes. Just use the 20 volume" And thank GOD she did!
The last question: "Should I just pull the color through all her hair??" This is instead of formulating demi color for her ends (which, ultimately, didn't need to be done for the entire head). My response "You can, but the color will wash away on those ends because there's nothing for the color to grab onto and she'll have two tone hair again". Had she paid attention to cutting the hair first, she would have only needed to color the ends on the front part of her hair (she did a diagonal forward hair cut).
End results: Color came out almost what she was looking for (color is always a crap shoot. It doesn't always do what you want, no matter how hard you try.). What we discovered is that "dialing back" the volume to 15 instead of 20 would have prevented the "hot roots" she wound up with. Highlights were beautiful, hair cut was beautiful, client was very happy.
The downside to this appointment for the client?? It took 5 HOURS to accomplish this. (I did a similar process on another client, same length hair, just different texture, and slightly less foils, got it done in 3, and I'm a bit pokey on my application)
Other things I've noticed about Tiffany: She's picked up some bad habits from Rita: SITTING instead of getting other stuff done. She had a PILE of 6 dirty color bowls in the sink, waiting patiently (because that's what dirty dishes do) to be washed, there was still laundry to be finished, etc. We've got days now where there are only two of us on. That will only increase when Lynn goes out on maternity leave. There's no room for leaving messes for other people. Totally not fair to the other person.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Celebrity Hair
A lot of my job, some days, is explaining to people that whatever celebrity photo they're showing me for how they want their hair done isn't even the celebrity's hair!! They have extensions, full wigs, extra pieces added on for fullness when their hair is up, you name it...they've got it. I hate bursting people's bubbles, but, COME ON, PEOPLE!!
The other thing I see, because I troll the gossip sites, is the god-awful color these people sometimes have. I get why they want their hair to have "hot" roots and cool ends...totally get it. Brittney Spears is a prime example of all of this. Not only does she have orange roots & white ends while trying to be platinum blonde, she's also got extensions because her hair is baby fine and on the thin side. (if you pull up her "Baby one more time" album cover, you'll see her real hair).
Why they want the hot roots: Brittney, currently, is on television. The stage lights that shine on her while she's sitting at the judges podium for X-Factor cast a "cool" shadow, therefore, when you see her hair, it looks reasonably even in color. When you get the random photo in the gossip rags of her in natural light, her regrowth is down right orange. I suppose her stylist/colorist is probably thinking it'll cause less damage to her hair by not taking the entire head of hair all the way to pale blonde.
Here's the thing. Using a lightener and 20 volume isn't any more damaging to your hair than using high lift color and double 40 volume. In fact, it's less damaging, because you're using a developer that's meant for your scalp, and a lower volume developer in the first place. Quite frankly, double 40 volume BURNS on your scalp. And, I don't know about you, but I'm not okay with my scalp getting chemical burns! While 40 volume lifts higher, it also sits longer on the hair to start with, opening the door for more damage, particularly in hands that have less experience that others.
The other thing about lightener & 20 volume VS high lift color & double 40....Both can expose that wonderful orange color. However, you stand a better chance of eliminating it with proper timing with the lightener. You can leave high lift color on FOREVER and it will still only expose the "warmth" in the hair, not eliminate it. Why?? Because, you have to have the "perfect" conditions for high lift color to work: nothing thicker than medium texture hair and nothing more than medium density hair. Anything beyond that, and it won't work...hence the orange. All hair color (as opposed to lighteners) are made to work with medium texture & medium density hair. Which, I'm here to tell you, you don't run into terribly often.
The other thing I see, because I troll the gossip sites, is the god-awful color these people sometimes have. I get why they want their hair to have "hot" roots and cool ends...totally get it. Brittney Spears is a prime example of all of this. Not only does she have orange roots & white ends while trying to be platinum blonde, she's also got extensions because her hair is baby fine and on the thin side. (if you pull up her "Baby one more time" album cover, you'll see her real hair).
Why they want the hot roots: Brittney, currently, is on television. The stage lights that shine on her while she's sitting at the judges podium for X-Factor cast a "cool" shadow, therefore, when you see her hair, it looks reasonably even in color. When you get the random photo in the gossip rags of her in natural light, her regrowth is down right orange. I suppose her stylist/colorist is probably thinking it'll cause less damage to her hair by not taking the entire head of hair all the way to pale blonde.
Here's the thing. Using a lightener and 20 volume isn't any more damaging to your hair than using high lift color and double 40 volume. In fact, it's less damaging, because you're using a developer that's meant for your scalp, and a lower volume developer in the first place. Quite frankly, double 40 volume BURNS on your scalp. And, I don't know about you, but I'm not okay with my scalp getting chemical burns! While 40 volume lifts higher, it also sits longer on the hair to start with, opening the door for more damage, particularly in hands that have less experience that others.
The other thing about lightener & 20 volume VS high lift color & double 40....Both can expose that wonderful orange color. However, you stand a better chance of eliminating it with proper timing with the lightener. You can leave high lift color on FOREVER and it will still only expose the "warmth" in the hair, not eliminate it. Why?? Because, you have to have the "perfect" conditions for high lift color to work: nothing thicker than medium texture hair and nothing more than medium density hair. Anything beyond that, and it won't work...hence the orange. All hair color (as opposed to lighteners) are made to work with medium texture & medium density hair. Which, I'm here to tell you, you don't run into terribly often.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Learning
Tiffany expects a lot from herself. Unfortunately, she's got that "thing" that all new hairdressers have: I just graduated from school, I know everything!! And, consequently, she's made a couple of colossal mistakes because of it.
When you're in beauty school, particularly the school we all went to, you're taught "to the test" so you can pass your state boards. Consequently, some of the education they receive is a bit outdated.
The other thing that tends to happen is that while we're taught to check the texture of a client's hair (fine, medium, coarse), we're not necessarily taught how to take that into consideration when formulating for someone.
Case in point: Tiff had a client yesterday with thick, LONG curly, medium to coarse VIRGIN red hair, level 7. She wanted the underneath part of her hair (from occipital down) to be a bright gold color. So, Tiffany decided that 9G + gold booster + blonding creme + 30 volume would do the job. Didn't do a bloody thing. Here's why:
The higher the level of hair color, the less pigment the color actually has. Therefore, the deposit of color won't be there. Which is why she put the gold booster in, to try to give the color some depth. The blonding creme was to give it additional boost to make her hair lift.
When she called me to ask for help, she was quite irritated with the whole process. She did the first formula, nothing. Then, she did 9A (have no idea why she chose ash) and 40 volume, still nothing. And she couldn't understand why. So, I asked her, again, for the level, texture, condition of her hair. What happened is that she expected hair color to do the job of bleach, which it's NOT designed to do. Then, adding the second hair color formula did lift it a bit more, but still not enough. Again, she couldn't figure out why. "Tiff---you're asking hair color to do the job of bleach. Not only that, but color doesn't lift color predictably". You could almost hear her smack her forehead.
Here's the formula that actually worked: Lightener + 40 volume, 1:2 ratio. (which the manufacturer will tell you is a big no no...the only way I know of to keep the product pliable) Separate the entire section into two parts, mix one batch for the first section, then mix a second batch for the second section, same formula (to keep the product fresh and effective). Cap it to keep it from drying out, and put her under the dryer (which, normally, I don't encourage) for 30 minutes (warming up the dryer before hand), checking it every 5 to 10 minutes, wiping away a small bit in a different place each time to check the lift. Make sure to note on her card exactly how long it took to lift, so we'll know for next time. Worked like a charm!
What I also explained to Tiffany: When the hair is not fine or baby fine (her hair & my hair), the cuticle is thicker, therefore harder to break through. You've also got virgin hair, which has an even tighter cuticle to try & break through. Therefore, you need to use a stronger product to get the job done. Using a product meant to lift 1 or 2 levels (which would have been fine, under optimal conditions) on hair that isn't medium to fine in texture just will not work. Period.
I've started sharing some of my education (the books) with the girls, to help them along. Unfortunately, neither Tiffany nor Lynn are big on reading. I asked Tiffany last night if she'd read any of the last bunch of stuff I gave her. It took her a minute to say "I've read little bits". Darling, you need to read the whole thing. Break it up and read it in bits, but READ IT. I'm also going to make copies of the exposed pigment chart that I have and post it in the dispensary so these issues (hopefully) quit happening.
While you need to learn to walk before you can run, jumping in over your head is NEVER a good idea. Tiffany found this out, the hard way.
When you're in beauty school, particularly the school we all went to, you're taught "to the test" so you can pass your state boards. Consequently, some of the education they receive is a bit outdated.
The other thing that tends to happen is that while we're taught to check the texture of a client's hair (fine, medium, coarse), we're not necessarily taught how to take that into consideration when formulating for someone.
Case in point: Tiff had a client yesterday with thick, LONG curly, medium to coarse VIRGIN red hair, level 7. She wanted the underneath part of her hair (from occipital down) to be a bright gold color. So, Tiffany decided that 9G + gold booster + blonding creme + 30 volume would do the job. Didn't do a bloody thing. Here's why:
The higher the level of hair color, the less pigment the color actually has. Therefore, the deposit of color won't be there. Which is why she put the gold booster in, to try to give the color some depth. The blonding creme was to give it additional boost to make her hair lift.
When she called me to ask for help, she was quite irritated with the whole process. She did the first formula, nothing. Then, she did 9A (have no idea why she chose ash) and 40 volume, still nothing. And she couldn't understand why. So, I asked her, again, for the level, texture, condition of her hair. What happened is that she expected hair color to do the job of bleach, which it's NOT designed to do. Then, adding the second hair color formula did lift it a bit more, but still not enough. Again, she couldn't figure out why. "Tiff---you're asking hair color to do the job of bleach. Not only that, but color doesn't lift color predictably". You could almost hear her smack her forehead.
Here's the formula that actually worked: Lightener + 40 volume, 1:2 ratio. (which the manufacturer will tell you is a big no no...the only way I know of to keep the product pliable) Separate the entire section into two parts, mix one batch for the first section, then mix a second batch for the second section, same formula (to keep the product fresh and effective). Cap it to keep it from drying out, and put her under the dryer (which, normally, I don't encourage) for 30 minutes (warming up the dryer before hand), checking it every 5 to 10 minutes, wiping away a small bit in a different place each time to check the lift. Make sure to note on her card exactly how long it took to lift, so we'll know for next time. Worked like a charm!
What I also explained to Tiffany: When the hair is not fine or baby fine (her hair & my hair), the cuticle is thicker, therefore harder to break through. You've also got virgin hair, which has an even tighter cuticle to try & break through. Therefore, you need to use a stronger product to get the job done. Using a product meant to lift 1 or 2 levels (which would have been fine, under optimal conditions) on hair that isn't medium to fine in texture just will not work. Period.
I've started sharing some of my education (the books) with the girls, to help them along. Unfortunately, neither Tiffany nor Lynn are big on reading. I asked Tiffany last night if she'd read any of the last bunch of stuff I gave her. It took her a minute to say "I've read little bits". Darling, you need to read the whole thing. Break it up and read it in bits, but READ IT. I'm also going to make copies of the exposed pigment chart that I have and post it in the dispensary so these issues (hopefully) quit happening.
While you need to learn to walk before you can run, jumping in over your head is NEVER a good idea. Tiffany found this out, the hard way.
The beginning of a new era??
At the end of September, unbeknownst to me, Rita called Coral to give her notice. This is the second time she's given her notice and the second time she's been talked out of it (more than likely has to do with turn over numbers--certainly not her stellar job performance). The solution?? To transfer her to another store an hour away (side note: Rita had difficulty getting to our store on time, a mere 15 minutes away from her home). I do not believe that she was aware all of her disciplinary actions would be following her...but I digress.
I found out this information during a weekly conference call-- "Oh, by the way..." and asked Coral to call me directly after the meeting to give me the details, which weren't much. Just that Rita wanted to quit and chose to transfer to the other store instead. I was led to believe she was going willingly. However, Rita told everyone she had no choice in the matter. Well, sunshine, you DID have a choice--you could have insisted on quitting---cut your losses and GO.
Me, being the sneaky jerk that I am, I made sure we had a little good-bye celebration for her---cake, flowers, card. However, me also being me, I couldn't totally be fake with her--"Bye, Rita. Good luck!" no long, drawn out speech, no phoniness. The other girls each wrote a paragraph in her card about "come back & see us--we'll miss you!" blah blah blah. I wrote "Good luck--Change is good! Embrace the change!" Cold?? Sure. But HONEST.
Since she's been gone, it's been fairly calm. Tina has been up to some shenanigans (ultimately stemming from her break up with her boyfriend and not wanting to be "ousted" by the two new girls), but, over all, CALM. We're starting to gel as a team--which is nice.
My primary focus is on making sure the two new girls make commission. Tina can handle herself--she's got a client base (albeit a small one)
I found out this information during a weekly conference call-- "Oh, by the way..." and asked Coral to call me directly after the meeting to give me the details, which weren't much. Just that Rita wanted to quit and chose to transfer to the other store instead. I was led to believe she was going willingly. However, Rita told everyone she had no choice in the matter. Well, sunshine, you DID have a choice--you could have insisted on quitting---cut your losses and GO.
Me, being the sneaky jerk that I am, I made sure we had a little good-bye celebration for her---cake, flowers, card. However, me also being me, I couldn't totally be fake with her--"Bye, Rita. Good luck!" no long, drawn out speech, no phoniness. The other girls each wrote a paragraph in her card about "come back & see us--we'll miss you!" blah blah blah. I wrote "Good luck--Change is good! Embrace the change!" Cold?? Sure. But HONEST.
Since she's been gone, it's been fairly calm. Tina has been up to some shenanigans (ultimately stemming from her break up with her boyfriend and not wanting to be "ousted" by the two new girls), but, over all, CALM. We're starting to gel as a team--which is nice.
My primary focus is on making sure the two new girls make commission. Tina can handle herself--she's got a client base (albeit a small one)
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