Christopher and I met after I finally decided to switch hair care professionals. I swear – getting into a salon, not being required to wait, and efficient service was IMPOSSIBLE. Enter Christopher. Christopher worked with another friend of mine at the time, Esthetician Layne Coston (read her interview), and he’s the only person I let take care of my hair.
More than Jedi Stylist skills Christopher is a musician, he’s currently outpacing me on book reading in 2019, and he shared a phrase with me I now repeat to others regarding family being less than cooperative: “Never forget, they’re just people.”
The one thing you’ll notice with Christopher as a friend and stylist is his honesty and groundedness. So, let’s hear it from him, 10 Questions with Stylist Christopher Aremeno.
Everyone is chatting, chatting, chatting, is it really that common for clients to overshare? Are you even listening?
All the time! I find that people are willing to overshare even during their first appointment! I think people already have a level of trust for their hairstylist that right away there is something comforting about sitting down in the chair and just spilling their whole life story. I’m naturally a listener, so I enjoy when people are chatty in my chair because it gives me a better sense of who they are.
Excluding me, do you have a “Favorite Client”? If yes, why are they the favorite?
All of my clients are my favorite! My job is so much more than doing hair. I become a part of my clients’ lives in a sense. I get to spend time with people anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours and I get to hear about their days, their travels, shows they love, book they’re reading, their ups and downs, and it makes me feel like I’m connected to each one in their own way.
Okay, there is ALWAYS a trend. A style everyone wants, what it is right now?
Classic haircuts with a spin seem to be trending right now. Pixies, bobs, and long layered cuts are always in style, but lately I’ve been chopping long hair into “lobs” or long bobs, giving my long haired and long layered clients bangs, and turning my pixies into edgy mullets. Yep those mullets of the 80’s and 90’s is starting to make a comeback. Mullets are definitely reserved for the edgiest of clients who want something different and funky. As far as color goes the trends seem to be opposite ends of the spectrum with low maintenance color like balayage or extremely high maintenance color like bright colors of the rainbow. Balayage, which is a hand painted highlight, is supposed to mimic what the sun would do had you spent it at the beach all summer. It’s maintained its popularity due to the fact that it is low maintenance and the grow out is seamless. The bright funky colors have also been popular for quite some time and although silver and gray were popular for a while, pink, violet and blue seem to be making a comeback.
I’ve heard stories of numerous clients falling asleep in the chair, does it really happen that often?!
All the time! Some client’s lives are so busy that they reserve their appointments for their time to relax. Many people fall asleep during the shampoo and blow dry portions. I even have clients who snore like crazy while their color is processing and while they’re being shampooed!
We suspect you have numerous funny/nightmare/interesting client stories, bring it on, tell us one!
I luckily don’t have too many of these stories, but I do have one nightmare and thanks to Yelp, I constantly have to relive it. This client spent almost an hour consulting with me (a consultation shouldn’t be ANY more than 15 minutes) and was very indecisive about exactly what she wanted. Usually that is a sign of an underlying issue and an appointment should be rescheduled when they have a clearer idea of what they are looking for. This client settled on what she wanted because the price was the cheapest we could get away with for what she wanted. She ended up having to know what exactly I was doing throughout the appointment, had to hold up a mirror while I was shampooing her, and second guessed everything I did. After being at the salon until almost 10pm, 5 hours later she was not happy. She called the next day and with every attempt to reschedule her to correct the issues she had she declined and then took her frustration to Yelp. I am constantly reliving her nightmare, because as fate would have it I run into her all over town whether it’s at a coffee shop, or retail stores, etc. and every single time I see her out and about she goes straight to Yelp and updates her review…even though her one appointment was almost four years ago. Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up!
What’s the best part of being a stylist?
The best part is hands down making people feel beautiful! Knowing that people trust you with something that they have to wear everyday. It’s still pretty humbling to read the positive yelp reviews of people that you helped in some way by just giving them beautiful hair.
If there is a worst, what’s the worst part of being a stylist?
The worst part about being a stylist is the physical aspect. Anything from arthritis to back pain to even respiratory issues due to being around chemicals all day. We are constantly having to remind ourselves and each other to stretch and use proper posture while cutting to avoid twisting our bodies in unnatural ways. I luckily try to use more natural products to avoid the respiratory issues that could potentially be in my future. One friend of mine even developed such extreme dermatitis that he had to quit doing hair!
What’s something most people don’t realize about the industry?
Maybe people realize this thanks to social media hairstylists constantly trying to educate the masses, but so changing your hair color is not an easy task, unless its virgin hair. For example women with dark hair, especially artificially colored dark hair is almost impossible to achieve the icy and ashy blonde that is so often desired. I think people have high expectations about our abilities because celebrities seem to wake up with completely different hair colors, but what they may not see is that the celebrity had multiple stylists working on them, spent hours, or sometimes days, or in some cases months over several appointments in the chair achieving that perfect silvery blonde (I’m looking at you Kim Kardashian!!) I’ve had many clients expect the picture in one appointment and sometimes it’s just not possible.
Do you or other stylists take client “defections” personally?
I used to when I was a younger stylist. I took a lot of things personally, but as I’ve grown in the industry I’ve realized that you can’t take this personally because sometimes circumstances change whether it’s financial or that they just moved away. It happens and sometimes they come back!
That look you just gave across the room, are you judging people’s hair when you’re out and about?!
Of course!!! I try not to judge, but am constantly wondering why stylists do certain things, or I’m thinking about how I would do someones hair differently, or how I would achieve their color, etc. Hazard of the trade for sure!
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