I have always followed this procedure for most of my career. It came about with clients bringing in pictures and I modified these into my consultation so here goes...!

If I have the privilege to see a potential client before the initial appointment this is what I ask them to do before I begin. So this is what I want you to do before you go see your stylist, maybe before a style change or if you’re going to a new salon.

Go to your local news agent and gather a couple hair style magazines. Go for the magazines in plastic covers as nine times out of ten these will have a free hair book in them. But still get another title as it’s better for variation on styles.

Sit down alone or somewhere uninterrupted and be honest as you breeze through the magazine. Some styles are great but you know they won’t really suit you. Picking styles won’t take long ... but do be realistic here. Cut out six styles that you think would suit your face and hair type and put them away for a day. Then come back the next evening. Now this is where you need to be most decisive and get these style pictures down to three.

Take these along to your stylist! This is fantastic as you have done your homework and it will really impress your stylist. We love clients who bring pictures of the styles they want to have recreated on them. It really helps us get the best from the consultation and ultimately create the desired style. This method never fails.

And no wine, girls, during your style selections! This will get you romancing about wanting to have every style that may not suit you, and you will lose focus on your style goal. The wine comes after the style cut outs are done and is a reward well done for your hair home work. It feels like school maybe, but it’s a heck of a lot more fun than cutting out pictures of plankton and writing about photosynthesis!