11 Scary Requests from Color Clients

Sometimes client expectations don't align with reality. MODERN's Instagram followers (more than 700,000 of you!) share their most intimidating and bizarre requests from color clients.

NOT TOO BEYONCE
“‘Copper. But not too orange, and I don’t want to see gold. And I hate red hair.’ And, ‘Not too Beyonce.’ Still trying to figure that one out.” 
@bluesdos_mbs

NO BLONDE FOR YOU!
“Platinum tones over super dry hair. I was like, ‘No! You can have brown.’”
@monnvicious

RED ZONE
“‘I want to cover the red, but I don’t want to go dark, and I don’t want bleach. Can you do that?’ So you want to stay red?”
@scissorhappy_momma

THE IMPOSSSIBLE
“Guest box-colored her hair jet black for six years and came to me wanting to be a cool level nine for her wedding day—in three weeks.”
@holli_damensalonspa

WHAT WAS SHE PINKING?
“I once had a client come in with long, long black hair—a combination of at-home and in-salon color. She wanted the tips of her hair baby pink. I explained this was probably never going to happen, and if it did happen, it was going to be very expensive and would take many visits to the salon. I suggested alternatives like extensions. She was adamant that no, she didn’t need extensions and that of course it could be done—I was just lazy and didn’t want the money. I turned her down and warned her before she left that I really didn’t believe any salon would be able to give her baby pink that day with no cut and no damage. I just hope she listened!”
@juliedanielhair

THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE
“‘My hair started on fire when I was bleaching it at home and added a blow-dryer to it. Now it’s yellow and burnt to my scalp. Can you add extensions to fix it??’ There was no hair there. I handled it by explaining with an open wound, there’s not much we can do.”
@shearartsalonmissoula

YOU CAN’T JUST BLEACH IT?
“Scariest and most popular request has to be going from red to blonde. I had a redheaded client sit in my chair who wanted to go blonde. I told her how long of process it would be, and she explained she drove six hours to come see me, and I could see the disappointment in her face when she said, ‘You can’t just bleach it and it’ll turn blonde?’ It was my duty as a professional to educate and share some knowledge as to why exactly you can’t go from red to blonde in one appointment. Once I explained the ‘why,’ she was completely mind-blown. I realized that educating and telling clients about the process is important. She made the commitment to drive six hours every time, and at her  fth visit, she is a level-8 blonde. I also sent her home with a good hair care regimen each time.”
@danielmbeauty

YOU’RE TRIPPIN’
“Any new client who walks in with level 1-4 hair that is so fragile and over-processed and requests to be blonde. That’s when I sit them down and tell them, ‘You’re trippin.’”
@jeni_does_ham

PIECE BY PIECE
“When anyone asks for the Kelly Clarkson stripes, I panic.”
@jordischon

CHEAP TRICK
“‘My color is going to be $75, right?’ Hands-down the scariest and most disrespectful question I ever got!”
@c_diorhair

BUT KEEP THE LENGTH
“The scariest request over the years is a lady who has waist-length hair with jet-black permanent color over previous highlighted blonde and doesn’t want to go shorter—but wants platinum hair in one sitting while maintaining long, healthy hair!”
@metrochicnc