Hair Appointment FAQs

Booking An Appointment At Our Oxfordshire Hair Salons?  All Your Questions Answered

Booking a hair appointment can sometimes feel a bit daunting and confusing.  What should you ask for?  What do all the different terms on the service list mean?   At Segais salon in Wantage, we want your experience to be as smooth and relaxing as possible, so in this article we’re making your life easier with answers to all the hairdressing questions you really wanted to ask.

How Can I Explain To My Hair Stylist What I Want?

A hair appointment at Segais always begins with a thorough consultation.  This is to allow you and your stylist to get to know each other, discuss your requirements and work together to get the best result.  We have the knowledge and experience to ask the right questions, really listen to your requirements and use our expert skills to create a bespoke style that will work perfectly for you.    At the consultation we’ll assess your hair type, talk about your lifestyle (how much time do you have to look after your hair?) your skin tone, budget, personal style and more.

If you have a picture of the style you’d like us to create, then please bring it in!  Whether it’s a favourite celebrity, magazine cutting, or perhaps a selfie of a style you’d like to recreate, we’ll do our best to make it work for you.

What Does Finishing Mean On Your Price List?

Finishing your hair comes at the end of your appointment, and it is when we blow-dry and style your new haircut exactly as you’d like it, so you’ve got a perfect finish.  We may use straighteners or tongs to style your new do, alongside the best products to add shine and to keep your new hairstyle looking fabulous for as long as possible after you’ve left the salon.

The phrase ‘finishing’ is rather old fashioned, but you’re likely to see it on many hair salon service lists, so it’s good to understand the lingo!

Can I Just Book In For A Trim?

Yes, and this is something we highly recommend! To maintain your hair and keep it looking & feeling healthy, it’s important to book in for regular appointments.   When you book a Cut & Finish with us we’re very happy to just trim off any split ends or stop your fringe from hanging over your eyes.   If you come in for regular trims, you’ll find these small adjustments can make a big difference to how good your hair looks, so there’s no need to wait until you need a lot chopped off to book an appointment!

Why Do I Need An Allergy Patch Test?

At Segais we’re a colour safe salon and we’re dedicated to ensuring your health and safety when you visit.  Allergic reactions to hair dye are rare, but they can happen, which is why it’s important that you follow our guidelines on patch testing.  We only use top quality hair care products from Joico, but to ensure your safety, we may require you to have an allergy patch test no later than 48 hours before your colour service.

Sensitivity to hair colour ingredients can change over time and may be affected by the use of other hair care products or illness.   In light of this, we will be allergy testing all our clients every three months ahead of their hair colour appointments.   It’s a quick and simple procedure and we’ll just need you to pop into the salon to have a small amount of hair colour product dabbed behind your ear.

Why Do Your Charges Vary Between Different Stylists?

All our stylists are highly skilled and trained, but, as you’d expect, some have more years’ experience than others.   This means that a service with a stylist who has been working in hairdressing for 10 years or more will be more expensive than with one who is newly qualified.   You can be assured that all of our stylists will offer you the same a great service – what’s most important is that you find someone who you feel comfortable with.   This is why we’d recommend booking in for a consultation with one of our team so you can get to know them and decide who’s the right fit for you.

Should I Get My Hair Cut Or Hair Colour Done First?

The first step is actually to book a free consultation with one of our team so we can assess your hair and help you plan your hair colour journey.   We can also give you a patch test there and then, so you’ll be ready to have your colour service and won’t have to pop back to the salon.

For best results, we’d recommend you book your cut and colour service for the same day.  That way we can make sure that your they work together to enhance each other.

What’s The Difference Between Traditional Highlights and Balayage?

Once there were just tints or highlights on the services menu, but in recent years names for hair colouring techniques have changed a lot and names like ombre, sombre and balayage have all made an appearance.   It can be difficult to fully understand what all these terms mean so here’s a quick summary:

Traditional highlights are applied using aluminium foil to wrap individual sections of the hair to which the hair colour product has been applied.   The foil keeps in the heat while the hair colour product saturates the hair, helping the highlights develop to the right level of brightness and intensity.   Traditional foil highlights are applied in a structured pattern across the head and offer a pronounced contrast between the lightened strands, making it a great technique to choose if you are looking to add depth and dimension throughout your hair.

By contrast, balayage is a more bespoke hair colour technique that involves your highlights being hand-painted into sections of your hair.   It produces a more natural sun-kissed look as your skilled Segais colour technician will apply lighter colour to those areas which would naturally be lifted if you’d been on holiday in the sunshine.  The colour is applied in small, thin strokes at the top of the hair & gradually gets thicker as it moves down your hair for a beautifully blended look.

At Segais we reckon we offer the best balayage in Wantage!   You can find out more about our balayage services here.  You can discover the meaning of ombré & colour melting too!

Ready To Book?

Book your appointment now by calling us on 01235 225522 (Wantage), or you can book online here.