They’re stir crazy and about to snap. Here’s how to help them feel as good as they look.

The handsome fellow in the photo above is none other than Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts whether we’ll have an early spring or six more weeks of winter. Every February 2, Phil is pulled from his burrow in Gobbler’s Knob (seriously, that’s the town) to pronounce our fate. And he’s usually pretty peeved about it, to be honest.

It’s getting easier and easier to relate to Phil these days. Being stuck inside during the cold months is hard enough, but after several years of pandemic? More than one of your clients is probably pondering a major hairstyle change just so they can see something different every day.

Now is the time to save them from themselves.

Disaster 1: Technicolor trauma

Changing your hair color is a great way to express yourself and shake up your look, but going from natural color to something extreme in one fell swoop can lead to regret. It’s hard to blame anyone for wanting gorgeous lavender or mermaid hair, but the amount of processing it can take to achieve those looks can do serious damage — not to mention requiring a lot of time and upkeep. 

If your client has played with color before, then by all means, help them on their journey to rainbow nirvana, but for those new to the tinting game, perhaps try to talk them into trying a semi-permanent dye first, or just highlights. Those bursts of color can provide the pop they want to feel fresh without long-term impact on their scalp or hair.

Disaster 2: Gone, baby, gone

“Hey, if I don’t like it, it’ll grow back. It’s just hair!” Ah, the famous last words of someone about to regret their life choices. Of course, people know that hair grows back, but they often don’t realize just how long it really takes to replace those inches they were so swift to shear. If your client has plenty of length to work with, talk to them about exploring some intermediate steps before saying goodbye to everything. It’s easy to think in binary terms when it comes to hair  — long or short — but there’s plenty of room in between. Suggest your client take off enough length to feel different, then live in their new ‘do for a week or two. If they don’t love it, then it’s certainly easy enough to go the rest of the way.

Disaster 3: Bangs. ‘Nuff said.

Ok, let’s be thankful they’ve come to you for bangs instead of trying to do it themselves. That’s something, anyway. Bangs can be cute, for sure, but they’re not well suited for every face shape and they are a nightmare to grow out if and when you’re tired of them. You have a few moves here. The first is to create some faux bangs with creative styling, though your client has likely done something similar at home and come to the conclusion that bangs are the way to happiness. The second move is to have some clip-in bangs for purchase that you can cut and style right in the salon so the client can walk out ready for “bangs” or “no bangs” days. The final move is to just give them the most gorgeous bangs ever. If anyone can make them look good, it’s you!