Salon Chemical Waiver: Fill & Download for Free

Multiple times! As a stylist it’s my job to ensure that you and your hair are in the best care it possibly can be, and to keep you safe. First time I ever turned someone down was for highlights. This lovely young woman sat in my chair and told me they were going through transition with hormones and wanted to feel as beautiful as possible by having Long, light blonde hair. Unfortunately their hair was so fine and porous that any lightener would have fried off the length they achieved so far. I explained in a kind voice that if they want to have beautiful hair, it needs to be healthy, and I can’t guarantee that the hair will be healthy or even there at all anymore if I apply chemicals. Again, they just wanted to feel as beautiful as possible… so I reminded them how long it probably took them to get their hair to the length it’s at, and all that work might be for nothing, and they will be left feeling very upset and angry with me if I have to cut their hair off to chin length or worse case, it fries off at the scalp. Luckily she listened and understood and I offered to show her ways to style her hair to make her feel beautiful. We also agreed on doing hair treatments to help the process of growing it and I told her as soon as I feel comfortable with it, we can do highlights.Another time, a woman came in and wanted a perm. Perms, regardless, are VERY damaging. The healthiest hair will be left dry and frizzy, that’s just what perms do. I try to steer anyone who isn’t 60+ away from perms, but if they want it and their hair can handle it, I’ll still do it.But not this day.A woman came in to get a perm, and I noticed she was platinum blonde. She insisted that she used to get perms all the time and her hair is okay it’ll be fine just do it. I explained to her that perming over Pre-lightened hair will absolutely cause damage and I’m worried that her beautiful blonde hair will end up having to be a pixie cut. I also took the time to ask why she wanted a perm and she showed me pictures of all these beautiful curled heads of hair…. but they weren’t permed hair. It was all hair that was curled with a curling iron. I explained to her that if she likes the curls in these pictures, she won’t get it from a perm. She will have a curly frizzy un-uniform pattern that will be even harder for her to manage and style. I offered instead to show her how to curl her hair to look like those pictures and she was ALL FOR IT!!! Woohoo crisis averted!This last one is not is not my own personal experience, but one of my favorite stories I’ve heard from the salon owner and educators:A woman came in for a perm, whose hair was way way way way way too unhealthy for it. Guaranteed mass breakage no question about it. The stylist informed the client that she couldn’t under good conscious, perform the service today but could do treatments for health instead. The client refused to listen and said she would sign a waiver saying if damage happens it’s not our fault. We don’t do that. The stylist knew the client wouldn’t listen, so she grabbed the salon owner, a big man with a lot of power behind his voice, and he stated: “I understand you want a perm today, and I’ll tell you, someone will definitely perm your hair today but it won’t be us. When you do get your perm, please feel free to come back to us and we will help you fix the damage done.” So the woman left, got her perm elsewhere, and came back a week later for her treatments.I have more, but they’re all basically like these. Stylists, if they’re professional, will only refuse service if it is a danger to perform said service.

Following manufacturers instructions for use are required to be legally compliant. A salon policy isn't a legal policy unless it directly quotes from cosmetology regulations. Otherwise it's just something the salon wants to do. It won't stand up in court if it's counter to regulations by the state board regulations. For example age restrictions on chemical services and requiring parent permission. Why are these important? Do you like having your cosmetology license? Because you can lose it. If you lose it in one state another won't issue you one. No one wants to hire a stylist who could get the salon sued because they don't follow instructions. A manufacturer is only liable if you followed exactly what they listed. If you don't? You're on your own in a lawsuit. Lawsuits are time consuming and expensive. They are also terrible press. You do not want your salon out there as a place that ruins hair. Mistakes happen. Clients don't tell you things. That's why waivers for chemicals are important.

If you cut your own hair but then go to a hairdresser to get it trimmed/neatened up, how do you explain it to the hairdresser without being embarrassed?You don’t need to explain. They know what you did. Almost everyone does it. It’s your hair. If you don’t mind walking around with hair you obviously chopped up yourself, why should your stylist care? If they are reprimanding you for it, it’s likely because you screwed it up and home haircuts (and colors and perms) can be difficult for stylists to fix. And the stylist knows that if you are asked after they did their best who cuts your hair (or colors or whatever) your hair, you’re going to blame them for something you did and they did their best to fix but it may have been beyond fixing. I’ve even been blamed for screwing someone’s hair up when they lied to me about what was on their hair, I warned them that doing what they wanted could severely damage their hair, had them sign a waiver stating that they were warned, and it was still my fault in their opinion. I could have lost my job over that and they refused to take any responsibility for it, but were pitching a fit because I didn’t want to do it.The thing is, stylists go to school to learn their craft. They have to do continuing training at nearly every salon they work for throughout their career. They have to pay for new licensing every so often (Louisiana is annually, I think North Carolina was every two or three years, other states have different laws). What they do isn’t easy. Not every stylist is going to be good at it, some people never really get it. Yes, you can wind up going to someone who screws your hair up… usually someone just out of school who will either learn from their mistakes or not last in the industry for very long. But even those people know more about how to cut and chemically alter hair than you do. So why are you cutting your own hair? Especially when you think you’ll have to explain it to your stylist when you go back to them (and you will go back to them) and you know it’s going to be embarrassing for you to do that?