The Big Mac of haircolor
2008.11.30 @ 16:40Older sister (Chicago resident): “What? You’re getting your hair done in Indiana?”
Gay friend (LA / Paris / London / NYC): “You’re trusting someone in Indiana to do your hair?”
I spotted angry gray hairs poking up a few weeks ago through my brunette hair forest and knew I needed a color touch-up. I ran out of time, though, but knew I’d have some hours to kill while home in Indiana (I’m still here).
Fortunately, Redken has a stringent certification process that allows certain colorists to become Redken certified. Think of it as the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for colorists. I’m not sure if the certification process involves
- Jumping through literal hoops
- Scaling walls
- Making a knockout menu with Thanksgiving leftovers
but I have been present for at least some of their education seminars and must say: they do not mess around. Stylists and colorists all over the nation attend their continuing education seminars and the information imparted is top-notch. I’ve learned so much simply as an occasional interloper and am very impressed by their educators’ ability to own a room.
Plus, let’s be honest: my regular colorist and stylist are from outside Detroit and outside Columbus, Ohio respectively, so let’s not pretend that New Yorkers have some kind of monopoly on the ability to create great hair. How many Miss Americas have come from New York state, anyway?
Anyway, Redken’s website has a salonfinder tool that allows you to punch in a zip code and search for certified stylists, elite salons, the whole works. Which is how I found First Impressions Hair Design at 105 N. Fifth Street in Goshen, Indiana ((574) 534-1806).
I won’t belabor this point but
- My colorist turned out to be a high school classmate of my younger sister and also knows my little brother. She did an awesome job and I’m glad I said, “Do whatever you think is best; I trust you.” Thank you, Maria J. Picco! Move to New York!
- Color costs in the $200 range in NYC before tip but even including tip and some product (Redken’s Smooth Down Sleek Obedience, which helps keep the fuzzy strays at my hairline off my forehead), I was only out $160.
- I feel like Redken’s certification process is the equivalent of the Big Mac. A Big Mac tastes the same whether you’re at O’Hare or Penn Station and there’s something comforting about that (see also: Howard Johnson; the suburbanization of America). If a colorist in the sticks (quote unquote) can do a bang-up job on my color (IMHO; true test is when my friend Rachel inspects), then I feel confident that any colorist certified by Redken is going to rock.
This reminds me, as I type, of the Bar Exam for Marketers. It would be interesting if one could take a diagnostic that not only assessed tactical skills for marketers but also biases and approaches, so that you could know the temperament of the marketer you’re about to hire.
In a world fragmented by mobility and decreasing strong ties, third-party badges a la Good Housekeeping, Redken, and the like seem to have increasing importance. These certification mechanisms seem to have supplanted the kind of information that one would’ve gathered over apple pie and tea with the unofficial town mayors circa 1956.
Or circa 2008 in small town Indiana. But, then again, not every town has a family as cool as the Eberly’s.