How To Be More Assertive In Salons

Read this if you want to stop coming out of your next beauty parlour appointment in the UAE with a manicure you hate...

Posted on

25 January 2023

All Credits: PA

It’s an altogether too familiar situation for many of us: Your hairstylist or nail technician finishes up, asks you how you like your new look – and you squeak, “Great!”, before running away.

But deep down, you want to scream: “What have you done?!” Only, you don’t quite have the courage to do anything other than pay the salon (often with a tip, too) and thank them profusely. This is by no means an infrequent occurrence either, so if you’re smart you’ll have a hat in your bag.

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Now, we’re not saying you should be rude to the beauty professional and tell them they’ve done a rubbish job, but something’s clearly gone wrong if you’ve paid good money and aren’t too thrilled with the result.

Particularly for women, it’s usually a confidence thing – society has conditioned us to be meek and mild, and at the end of the day, it feels easier to be demur than ‘kick up a fuss’. And even if you’re not normally a tongue-tied type of person, there’s something about the salon that can render you inexplicably speechless.

How to be more assertive in UAE beauty salons

Too long have we been cursed with eyebrows or hairdos we don’t like at all, or aren’t really what we asked for – so here are some tips to be a bit more assertive in the salon. It won’t come easily, but it will be worth it in the long run…

Try Not To Say Sorry

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There’s a difference between being polite and over apologising. Of course, you should say “please” and “thank you” to whoever’s doing your nails or hair, but there’s really no need to say sorry if you’re asking for a change.

Don’t want that colour polish even though they’ve done one nail? It’s better to say after one nail than five, six or more. Chances are the beauty technician will appreciate the feedback and be more than happy to adjust accordingly – that’s their job after all.

Be Specific

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There’s no point being upset with your hairstyle or the shape of your nails if you weren’t specific with what you wanted. Instead of vaguely saying you like or don’t like something, giving a concrete answer or request will help guide the professional and get you the result you want.

And if you’re not too sure, open up a dialogue with the person who’s working on you – they’re the expert after all, so ask them for suggestions of what might suit you.

Remind Yourself Why You’re There

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Why is it that we go to the salon? For many of us, it’s an opportunity to practice self-care, and feel pampered and just a bit more relaxed than we were before.

As such, you shouldn’t be stressed out or hating anything about yourself during the experience – you’re there to feel good about yourself, and directing the expert towards this goal is only going to help things.

Be Patient

Unfortunately, assertiveness isn’t something you can nail overnight. Chances are, you’ll need to practise until you really feel confident telling people what you want.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it sounds like another excuse to get your nails done, if you ask us.