I love my Stylist!

Hair style before meeting Scott

Prior to meeting Scott, I went to Great Clips or any place in the mall that had a short wait and took walk ins.  I never had a stylist that I saw regularly, but I never thought I needed one.  Long hair, parted down the middle, cut the junky ends.  I'd box color to my desire, so no need for someone to do that for me...Except for the fact that box color made blow drying my hair and styling it a pain in the butt!  I didn't realize that I was causing the styling issues, but over time, I realized what Scott was telling me at the first appointment I made with his company, Vital Image.

My hair might look fine in this pic, but I couldn't blow dry my hair without it being 80's style poofy.  Then I would spend even more time separating my hair into four to five layers to straighten it.  Straightening would sometimes take 30 minutes, which is why I opted for the pony tail.  In addition, if I didn't wash my hair daily, it was very greasy looking. I had no idea that box color was causing the problem.  I went from one color to the next, which I blame my mom's influence.  Growing up, my friends would joke about what her color would be, and in most cases, it was different than the last time they saw her.  But hey, it's hair, you can be any color you want.  In fact, my  most extreme colors were purple and green.  I don't think I have any pictures of those wonderful choices.

I wish I had the picture I brought to Scott, but what I did was go on to iVillage, uploaded a photo of my face, and tried on many hairstyles until I found one I really liked.  I printed it off, went by his shop, and made an appointment with the first available stylist.  It wasn't until the morning of my appointment, when the stylist was consulting Scott, that Scott told me I needed to come back so he could personally cut my hair.  He swears to this day that had he not done that, I would have never returned and would have continued on my unhealthy, boring hair ways.  And I couldn't agree more, I am so happy Scott took over.

I chose Vital Image because I passed it daily on my way home, and he constantly changed the message displayed on his sign board.  His message were hilarious, and I looked forward to the new one each week.  I felt like he wouldn't be a frumpy salon, which is what I assume most salons are in Aiken.  Hah, as if I actually know since I was going to the cheapo walk in places...But his sayings are what attracted me to his salon, seemed like a wise choice.

So Scott couldn't do much with my color without risking damage to my hair because of all the box color I used, so he was only able to cut and style it.  The picture I brought in was a shorter style, but it had highlights, and Scott felt we need to take one step at a time. He also knew that I was wanting significant change, but probably read my body language to know I was very hesitant. 

Scott instructed me to buy what I call an old lady hair dryer.  Blow drying would still cause the volume issue, so I needed to use something else.  Sure, it was a pain to sit under the hair dryer, but at least I could multi task while doing so.  I used this for machine for a long while and found it reduced the time I spent straightening my hair.  So as I did what Scott instructed me to, I gained confidence and faith in him as my stylist.  I allowed him more freedom and became  brave with hair styles.  I looked forward to my visits because the cut was always great, and while it was somewhat similar, there was always a different twist, especially due to Scott cutting my hair with a razor and not scissors.

I went from short redish hair to allowing Scott to add highlights, at first a few, but then a lot more.  We began highlighting when my natural hair had grown out, so that we had a healthy base.  By this point, my hair could be easily blow dried and straightened.  Then Scott convinced me that I could grow my hair out, and it would look great.  So I took his advice.

And as I grew it out, Scott would cut my hair differently, and always, I loved it.  I even went for a color change instead of just highlights.  It was almost a year ago that I went for a strawberry blond look.  I don't know what it is, but I like a tint of red in my hair.  The bottom right picture was the last time I was blond...then I went for a bold change and went dark.  Due to being busy (always planning day trips for my days off), I decided I needed a lower maintenance color that didn't tell on me anymore.  So back in December, I changed the color.

 I went several months, instead of several weeks in between visits, which with the holidays and running around, it fit well in my schedule.  I only went in because my split ends were driving me nuts and the razor cut style was fading.  So I went in for a hair cut only.  Though Scott says the next time I will need to do something about my roots.  Who knows what I will end up with...

It's crazy, in December, my new hair color seemed so dark, but now the color has lightened and my roots are again DARKER than the color I received at the salon.  However, I think being outside in the sun more will help the visible roots, but I do think I have a decision to make.

Most Recent Cut

Over the past 6 years, I have been going to Scott.  He has changed locations three times, and I can't blame him for the first two changes.  The first place, where he had the awesome sign, constantly had a flooded parking lot and the AC barely worked.  However, he was suddenly gone without notice, and I freaked out.  I just new I was going back to the long, straight, part down the middle hair and a meeting with a box color.  Fortunately, I have Scott's cell and sent him a text; he happened to be in the process of contacting his clients.  The second venue was...to put it nicely, stuck up and frumpy.  The music was horrible, the conversation was puke worthy, and poor Scott seemed out of place.  So he searched for his own place and now has set up shop in wonderful downtown Aiken.  In addition to styling hair, he now writes a beauty column for The Aiken Standard.  To say he is awesome is an understatement. Not only is he a great stylist, but a fun conversationalist, and I can't wait to see where my hair goes next.