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The Messy Hairstylist
Whether you are a mess literally OR figuratively we are here to help you take imperfect action to find your success as a hairstylist. Each week we deep dive in to tough topics to address the struggles we face in our industry. We push the boundaries, break the stereotypes and go hard against the "norms" that make us feel inferior.
The Messy Hairstylist
Embarrassing Salon Moments We’ve All Had!
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This episode dives into the hilarious and embarrassing moments that happen in salons, highlighting the messy side of hairstyling that stylists often never talk about. Kelsey and Abbey share personal stories while encouraging listeners to find humor in their own salon blunders.
• Discussing embarrassing salon mishaps
• Unpacking the awkwardness of minor injuries
• The challenge of unexpected bathroom breaks
• Stories of clients falling asleep during appointments
• Encouragement to share personal salon stories
Follow Abby on Instagram and TikTok at @theabbywarther
Follow Kelsey on Instagram at @kelseymorrishair
Welcome to the Messy Hairstylist Podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Kelsey Morris and I'm Abbey Warther. Whether you are a mess, literally or figuratively, we are here to help you take imperfect action to find your success as a hairstylist.
Speaker 1:So this week's episode we are talking about the embarrassing things that happen in the salon and I just thought to start this one out. I would start out with a little laugh. Abby titles all of our episodes when she sends them to us. So that we can know which ones we're going to, we need to edit them and, embarrassingly enough, abby titled it Massey, and she always calls messy something messy, messy maternity leave, messy strategic placement. This time she titled it Massey, embarrassing.
Speaker 2:Okay, here's what's so funny about that, because when I was writing the word embarrassing, I'm like I don't know how to spell embarrassing. I'm so focused.
Speaker 1:You spelled embarrassing right, but you definitely called it Massey.
Speaker 2:I was really focusing on how to spell the word embarrassing.
Speaker 1:So today we're going to focus on Massey embarrassing things that happen in the salon and I this is going to be a funny episode because we all know that weird things happen in the salon all the time and I mean maybe they're not talked about enough and I feel like we should just get real Massey and do it, let's get Massey.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay All right. Massey hairstylist.
Speaker 1:That's it. We need to rebrand. Everything is Massey. Yes, okay, so the other day, oh, I broke this. Okay, so the other day, oh, I broke. This isn't that embarrassing. This is more like annoying and awkward. But I was playing volleyball with my daughter and I completely, I had these long fingernails, which they're not for me. I can't do that. I do too many things and I ruin them. Well, anyways, the volleyball hit me in the right spot and it ripped my nail completely off the bed, and so I had to wear a finger condom. Have you ever worn a finger?
Speaker 2:condom, no, but I feel like that's the thing you always see in, like the hair salon, like first aid kit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Okay. So number one you know what's embarrassing is bringing your finger condom out in front of your client and rolling it onto your finger. It's literally looks like a condom Okay, Just a very minuscule one and you roll it down my finger and then to top it off. It doesn't even freaking work because hair gets stuck in it the whole time and it's uncomfortable, but it did the trick. I mean I had to have something there because I couldn't have water touching it or air or really anything, because it hurts so bad. Oh my gosh, that's embarrassing. That is embarrassing. It's not as embarrassing as things we're going to get into in a little bit.
Speaker 2:Okay, do you have a list of some things?
Speaker 1:No, I just have them in my brain.
Speaker 2:They're stored there, oh okay, well, then you go first, while I think of some. You go first.
Speaker 1:Okay. So I mean, this isn't the thing about it is, people might get embarrassed about certain things and others might not. So this might not be embarrassing to you, but how many times have you cut yourself and you're trying to wipe? You don't want to stop because you're already behind. You're like I know, this isn't that bad. This is a small flesh wound, I can move on. It's going to stop bleeding. The worst, though, is when you have a blonde.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you bleed in their hair? Oh yes, have you seen some people make those reels or TikToks where it's like you, you cut yourself, but you want to pretend like you did it. And then it flashes to the next scene where the client is like, covered in, like red.
Speaker 1:I mean, I've done that, I have done that. And so my bright blondes, I'm like well, now what? Yeah?
Speaker 2:Because, okay, why is this? It is so embarrassing when you nick yourself. It's so embarrassing, and why?
Speaker 1:It shouldn't be. I know it shouldn't be embarrassing, but you feel very like it's humiliating.
Speaker 2:You're like no, I just cut myself. I just cut myself.
Speaker 1:I need to take a break. I need to cut myself. I don't know, and everybody does it. I mean, we've been doing hair for almost 20 years and we still cut ourselves.
Speaker 2:So like, I don't know why it feels like I don't grow out of the embarrassment of cutting yourself. Or like, when you do cut yourself and you do that flinch and you stop and then your client's like did you cut yourself? That's so embarrassing it is. And then you look and even if you are bleeding and you cut yourself, you're like nope, I'm good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you're trying to wipe it on your cape.
Speaker 2:So I have a move I'm sure we all have a move Like if I do actually cut myself, I just and I try to hide it like I did it I just say, oh, I got to go grab something in the back really quick, and I go back there for a couple minutes, I come out with this whole bandage on my hand and you have to make sure that you grab like a clip or something else, Because what did you have to go to the back room for?
Speaker 1:Is that really what you do? You make an excuse.
Speaker 2:Totally.
Speaker 1:Totally. You know they didn't buy it. You're in mid haircut and you're like, oh, there's something in the back and suddenly needs my attention. What? No, they're not buying that.
Speaker 2:I love it, though I've totally done it. It's my move, um and it. You know it makes me feel better.
Speaker 1:I just call myself out. I'm like I'm profusely bleeding. I need to get some super glue. Yeah, I don't even mess with band, it's just a little one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here's what it is. I just don't want the attention of are you okay? Did you cut yourself? Oh my gosh, I don't know. I don't like that attention. I don't either. And then I'm just like. It's just like a paper cut, it's fine, it just won't stop bleeding.
Speaker 1:Oh, I got something to go to the bathroom. The restroom's calling no, no that's embarrassing.
Speaker 2:That would be even worse.
Speaker 1:There's another one.
Speaker 2:There's another one. Yes, you gotta go and we're not talking about you. Gotta tinkle.
Speaker 1:No, you gotta go. You gotta go. Number two Sweats are coming on, it's taking you down. You got that poop cramp.
Speaker 2:It is like almost going to bring you to your knees, yeah, and I don't want one hairstylist to tell me that's never happened to them. Don't you ever say this never happened to you, it's happened to everybody.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, it's so bad and I always felt like it used to be, like when I worked Saturday mornings in the salon. And it's quiet in the salon and all of a sudden you're like I got to go and this is that type of client. This is like what we talked about in the last episode, that quiet client that has RBF. Right, that's not it. You can't. What do you do?
Speaker 2:You just excuse yourself to go to the restroom? No, I don't, no way I do. Are you kidding me? I know I like it. You know what I do and you squeeze your butt cheeks the whole time. I work real fast, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, Listen, we have two bathrooms in the salon. And listen, there's nothing worse than like when you go to the bathroom and you have to go number two and someone is like waiting for you outside the door to go in. Well, I can one up this all day long.
Speaker 2:We were I can't believe we're talking about this. I love it.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, this is so great there there's one bathroom that we did like kind of designated for like us, like stylists and employees, and so poop room, yeah, it's like the poop room. Yeah, it's you. Just go in there, you take your time. There's no mcdeal. The other one is always open, whatever shame.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, no judging, so I come out and I'm just like chilling in the back room and one of my stylists walks back. She's like what is that smell Like? I think there's something rotting in the trash. I was like no, no, nothing is rotting in the trash. I had to go to the bathroom, okay. She's like well, light a candle or something. Do some spraying. It was so embarrassing. I'm like that's awful. So she did call you out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she did. There is the secondhand embarrassment of we have three bathrooms on one on each level, and so we have our basement bathroom, which is just stylists, you know, no clients or anybody goes down there, but the main one is on the main floor, where all the stations are, and we've got the poopery in there. It's in there for clients, you know, because that happens, um, but there is that second hand embarrassment of when they do come out and you smell poopery. See, I almost feel like that's worse. I do too. You know what. Here's what's so funny.
Speaker 2:This is a real problem, people. So if you don't, if this is, if anyone that's not a hairstylist listening this is a real problem and it probably is a workplace problem. The one salon that I worked in years ago it was very tiny and there was the client bathroom, but then there was this tiny little backroom bathroom, so our lunchroom was back there. Oh no, lunchroom, dispensary bathroom, laundry, storage, everything in one tiny room, and they had a box of matches in there, and I learned that I didn't know that trick. Yeah, you light a match.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that oh yeah, come on, that's tales, but still it's the same thing. You light a match and everybody knows what you were doing and listen. You know the thing is poop happens and we shouldn't be embarrassed about bodily fluids, but it is embarrassing. So, oh gosh, it's so embarrassing it does suck okay. Oh, I've got another one. Okay, this one's awful okay absolutely well actually.
Speaker 1:No, I don't know which one's worse. I have two really good ones. This next one is um. Have you ever started your period when you were working and, and what are you going to do? Like you have a full day. You're like what, what's my move? I mean, that's so bad, that's so bad. So.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're wearing a client cape, apron, robe. You're wearing something that you didn't come into work with. That's so bad. Oh, you know what I did once. This was like post-baby I a thousand percent. Oh, this is so funny. I um door dashed, instacarted a new outfit. Yes, I did Listen to this. Okay, so what I did? That totally happened to me. Okay, so I'm like I can't. It was like I don't remember what I was wearing, but it was so bad I couldn't even work the rest of the day. I still had a full day and it's not. Sometimes it's like not just like let's cover it up, it's like you physically can't work. You are a wreck, right, a mess. Yeah, I got an Instacart and, like Dick's Sporting Goods, I was like what can I order? That's clothing, that's clothing. Dick's Sporting Goods was one of them at the time that was on there, and so I'm like all right. So I ordered a pair of leggings from there and a pack of underwear, which are my favorite underwear still to this day.
Speaker 2:It's Under Armour brand. Who knew they had underwear? Happy little accident and so I had them. I picked out what I wanted and then that was getting delivered. Great Well, the thing that got delivered the pants were not the ones that I picked out, but they were the best pants. I still have them to this day. They were the best leggings I own and I really wish I could remember it was a gentleman. It was a gentleman, shopper Of course it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he picked out my undies and I feel like I gained a new personal shopper that day.
Speaker 1:yeah you're like, sir, if you would like to do this for me on the regular, because you really seem to have nailed it. I wanted to hire him. Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 2:But that was embarrassing too, placing an instacart order to your job for underwear yeah, that's awful.
Speaker 1:That was embarrassing. It's really awful. It really is awful. Okay, have you ever been like styling at a client or foiling? Actually, better if you're styling and you.
Speaker 2:Are we still talking like poops and farts right now? Yeah, no. The next one is Okay.
Speaker 1:The next one's the worst. This is the worst and you accidentally we're going to say this in the nicest way possible pass gas, yeah, while you're doing a foil, or.
Speaker 2:You're stuck. You're right there. You're freaking stuck there's no air circulation.
Speaker 1:You can't blame it on anybody. There's no perms happening. They're like what are you going to do? Like? And so I remember this one stylist I used to work with God. She was so gassy and she would. Every time that she would do this, she would like get her blow dryer out and blow it the opposite way. It worked, so I adopted that. I had to do that a couple times and then you know also, I like to like.
Speaker 2:I'll randomly bust out my hairspray in abundance, just like that works, you know, yeah, yeah, I had a client once that it was so bad. It was something was going on, it was just constant.
Speaker 2:And I'm foiling her hair and I can't escape and I also have to pretend like I nothing's happening she just kept passing, guests kept passing, and later on in that conversation she then started to tell me how she's had this terrible I don't know if she had a parasite or a stomach bug for like the last month and has been having all these problems. I'm like, oh my God, it was terrible, it was awful.
Speaker 1:She probably had to say that because she was feeling like, okay, there's no more hiding this, maybe, but you know what?
Speaker 2:I did not let her know that I was on to anything that was happening, but it was awful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it took perseverance on my end. Sorry you had to deal with that.
Speaker 2:That's hard All right, let's get off of the farts and the poops.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, unless that's all you got.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's pretty much all I have, because that's the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a hairdresser. Okay, keep going. Here's something that's really embarrassing. That shouldn't be embarrassing. Well, it should be when you go up to that new client. You walk up to the new client Hi Kelly, my name's Abby, it's so nice to meet you. And then they say you did my hair last time. Oh gosh, yep, yeah, what do you do? How embarrassing is that. The whole salon heard it. Everyone heard you be an idiot.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, what do you even say? What's your play? Then Give us your play. Okay, yeah, my play there is.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I don't know what I was thinking. Of course, come on back. It's so good to see you, but then the second that happens, I remember that person. And then I try to throw out like oh, how was that vacation? You went on, oh, your hair the last. Because my fear is I don't want them to think I didn't remember them at all, right, and I have no idea what I did with their hair. Has that happened?
Speaker 1:before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, and I have no idea what I do with their hair. Has that happened before?
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh gosh, that is the worst there has been.
Speaker 2:Very embarrassing.
Speaker 1:Oh, that has happened to me. I can't even tell you how many times. So I got to the point now where if there's a client that I don't recognize the name of my schedule, like well, or I see someone sitting up there and I don't necessarily recognize their face, I'll send either a different stylist or my assistant up to go find out if they're for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yes, that's the plan.
Speaker 1:Always avoid saying nice to meet you. I mean, wait, no, I can't even say that. I can't say that. I can't say that I don't avoid saying nice to meet you. I guess sometimes you have to like introduce yourself Like I try not to do that very often, I try to just be like Kelly Hi, how are you today? Come on back and then try to feel it out a little bit before I say well, how did you find us? We're so happy you're here, blah, blah, blah, something like that, Because I've got myself in some really bad situations.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's true. I think that that is the experienced hairstylist hack of you never say nice to meet you. No, I know Just don't do it, because you never know. You never know. I agree, I agree.
Speaker 1:Or it's like I will be out with like people and I run into one of my clients I think I told you this before I have like I know their name, but I have a fear of blacking out and like saying the wrong name. So I always avoid people's names out in public, always, and so what I do I'm famous for this I'll be like oh hi, kelsey. I'm like oh hi, how are you? It's so nice to meet you. This is my best friend, michelle. Instead of being like this is so-and Michelle can say hi, I'm Michelle. And shake their hand and then they say their name.
Speaker 2:They say their name yes, thousand percent. Yes, yes, so good, okay, I have another one. Okay, when you accidentally bump the shampoo bowl and water sprays everywhere.
Speaker 1:That was one of mine. Yes, yeah, oh, I have lit the building up. One time we were in a suite. At this time, though, I mean, I lost hold of that hose and it fire hydrant sprayed like everywhere, like the entire room was soaked. My client was soaked, everything was awful.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and then you find water everywhere for the rest of the day. It's crazy how far it can go. Well, we've also had clients who are like I don't know what the circumstances are, but they go to like use the water like they want to rinse their hand off or something at our shampoo bowl and they don't know it. And then they said it's like see, don't touch, don't touch, don't touch our stuff. We did have my poor assistant, sadie, recently. It happened to her and two of my clients were chit-chatting right by the shampoo bowl and one of them was a little more like you wouldn't want to spray her type of personality and, oh yeah, she soaked them both and I heard it happening. I thought, oh my God, oh no, because they were standing there chatting. One of them was getting her hair shampooed, the other one wasn't, but they just started laughing and giggling. So I was like, oh God, thank God. Isn't it also embarrassing when a client falls asleep in your chair? Do you find that embarrassing? I'm embarrassed for them. So like secondhand embarrassment.
Speaker 1:I don't even know if I'm like that embarrassed it's. It's like, yeah, I'm embarrassed for them. I'm embarrassed for them. It's also. It's more of like. I think it's awkward is the word I'm looking for. I had a client one time I was foiling her hair and she was nodding, which is nearly impossible to foil someone when their head is just dipping down every five seconds. That's just awkward. I was like listen, she had longer hair. So I grabbed onto the. Oh my God, what'd you do? You pulled her hair. Yes, not like hard. Listen, I like she had longer hair, so I grabbed onto the like what?
Speaker 2:Oh my God, What'd you do? You pulled her hair? Yes, not like hard.
Speaker 1:Wow, a little tug-tug. I was holding it in place, okay.
Speaker 2:All right. I actually feel embarrassed for them because I know that they don't. I mean because there is nothing more embarrassing when you are in somewhere in public and you're dozing off and the head like goes you know what I mean. Or like you have the jolt, like it happens to me on airplanes. If I fall asleep, I have like the big jolt that happened to me once when I was flying alone last year and I was so embarrassed I like told my husband about it immediately after I got off the plane. I'm like I did the jolt.
Speaker 1:See I about it immediately after golf play.
Speaker 2:I'm like I did the the jolt and see I don't get embarrassed.
Speaker 1:I get so embarrassed by that, I don't, I don't. I also have convinced myself I'm narcolaptic because I can fall asleep anywhere and like no problems, I have no issue. I could legitimately lay down, fall asleep in the middle of the salon within three seconds there and not think twice about it, like I have no fear of that. But I was one time getting my lashes done and I fell asleep and woke up to myself snoring, like I snored myself awake, like one of these.
Speaker 2:When your snore wakes you up. Yes, that was awful. Love that All right. What else is embarrassing?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I mean I think we nailed the big ones. I can't think of any other ones that are really top of mind. I mean, we've been through bodily fluids, we've been through sleeping, we've been through awkward conversations, but yeah, I don't know. Can you think of any other ones?
Speaker 2:Because I'm no, I feel like that's pretty much it. I will say that I typed it into our little chatty GPT just to see what kind of ideas they came up with. That might be embarrassing, but funny for hairstylists.
Speaker 1:And some of them are funny. Like I don't know if this actually has happened.
Speaker 2:This would be terrible. This one's called the accidental kiss. What the situation is while blow drying or leaning in to check a section, you and the client actually headbutt or brush faces. God no, don't be so close to your client if you're doing that. Bad, bad, that would scare me. And then one of them does say the sneaky fart. That's what they called it.
Speaker 1:It's the worst. Wait here's one. Have you ever oh, this is bad, this is not just embarrassing, it's bad. Have you ever been waxing someone's eyebrows and dripped wax in their actual hair?
Speaker 2:Oh God, no, I don't wax, but that is a fear. That would be a fear.
Speaker 1:I have a very serious love-hate relationship with wax because I love what wax does, but if I get it on my fingers or like anywhere near me, essentially like the texture freaks me out and I one point like someone had turned our wax up too high, so it was super liquidy and I got it on the stick. I very rarely wax people because I have a fear of it and sure enough, I was trying to get over to her face and just gigantic glob drips in her hair.
Speaker 2:So now you got to put like all this oil in the hair to get it out right which you can get it out.
Speaker 1:So like, thank God you can get it out, but it's still embarrassing, like I'm sorry, yeah, so I just dropped wax in your hair.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you gotta tell them yeah, that's pretty bad, totally. Yeah. I mean I think that it's just safe to say there's a lot of embarrassing moments and, lucky for us, we have a mirror in front of us the whole time, so we can see every embarrassing move that we make. Um. But I think it's pretty equal, like we can do embarrassing things and clients can do embarrassing things. Um, either you can be slick like me and play it off and not fool a person, or own it. Own it like Kelsey does.
Speaker 1:I just chopped my finger off. I need to go find a band-aid, some super glue, a gorilla glue and duct tape.
Speaker 2:I gotta go poop. I'll be right back.
Speaker 1:I need to drop it. I need to go do a number two. I will be back. I'm gonna wash my hands, though.
