Here are the top red flags to look out for, and how to find a good stylist instead.

1: Stylists Who Don’t Do Consultations

If your stylist isn’t doing a consultation, you should leave. The relationship with your stylist starts with a great consultation. A consultation allows you and your stylist to get to know each other, and gives you the opportunity to express your hair challenges and goals. It’s also important for your stylist to understand more about your lifestyle so that they can give you a cut or style that you can easily care for at home.

2: Stylists Who Don’t Focus On Hair Health

For any style you’re rocking, healthy hair is the foundation. Your appointment should start with a shampoo so the stylist can get to know your natural texture and assess your hair’s condition. A great stylist will know how to properly detangle, section, and take care of your hair and help teach you how to do it at home, too. Look out for stylists that don’t keep your hair health in mind as they are styling- like keeping the tension too tight on your braids or not using protection before heat styling. Even if they are good at styling, the lack of attention to hair health will have negative long-term effects on your hair.

3: Stylists Who Don’t Say No

In all relationships, effective communication and trust is critical. A good stylist will let you know when it’s time to give your hair a break, for example, when your hair may not be healthy enough for color. Although most stylists want their clients to be satisfied, a good stylist will ensure that you’re getting your desired style without damage, and reaching your long-term goals along the way.

4: Stylists Who Gatekeep and Don’t Share Tips

A sign of a great stylist is one who is an active listener and can help you create a haircare plan to maintain at home. They should be able to recommend an at-home care routine that takes your hair’s specific needs into account. Curl pattern, porosity, density and other lifestyle and environmental factors contribute to the right product regimen that will give your hair the care it deserves. Don’t be afraid to ask stylists for their opinion on how to care for the style or service you’re considering before even booking that appointment

How to Find a Great Stylist

At OurX, our goal is to help you achieve your strongest, healthiest hair through a daily care program personalized just for you. That is why we are so excited to partner with Swivel Beauty, a platform for booking vetted hairstylists you can trust with your kinks, coils, and curls.

OurX Partners with Swivel Beauty to Integrate Stylists Into Their Haircare Experience

We know that what happens in the salon goes hand-in-hand with what happens at home during wash day and throughout the course of everyday styling. A great hairstylist is one important part to reaching your hair goals.

Swivel Beauty is building the largest, global network of hairstylists who are pros at textured hair, natural or relaxed. By creating a best-in-class marketplace that serves both sides of the chair, Swivel helps talented stylists grow their business by connecting them with more clients, while also providing the experience women of color deserve when it comes to finding a stylist they can trust.

Swivel offers a lot for clients, including the ability to search for stylists who can work with their texture, read reviews (filtered by the hair type of the reviewer), manage different stylists for different services, and book all in one place. For stylists, they’re the perfect complement to back-office scheduling software, thanks to their new integrations with Square Appointments and Acuity/Squarespace Scheduling, which makes it easy for them to accept bookings directly from Swivel.

“We’re thrilled to see the Swivel experience integrated into OurX’s tools for their customers,” says Jihan Thompson, founder and CEO of Swivel. “We believe that everyone should have a great hairstylist as part of their haircare team so they can have their healthiest, happiest hair days.”