Answer Angel: Help with 'hairdresser speak'

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Hoping you can help me with “hairdresser speak.” It seems I don’t speak the language, and I feel it is impeding what I get in a haircut. How do I approach a haircutter to say what I want? My hair is a weather vane — it flops when there is low humidity, and goes all wavy when it rains and shrinks in length. A cut that looks good when it rains doesn’t necessarily work in the dry weather and vice versa.

Recently, I’ve been going to a stylist who has a good eye and is talented, artistic and sweet. She says I have great hair but she invariably cuts the top shorter than I like and I really feel that minimal layers would work better for me. And I can never do what she (or others) do with the blow dryer.

--Melanie R.

Dear Melanie: Let’s start with the easier issue: blow-drying. It is awfully hard to blow out your own hair as well as a stylist does. Tell her you’d love step-by-step tips so that you can try to achieve the look at home and can you please take phone photos (or a video or both).

As for working up the nerve to tell her specifically What You Want!? Why do we have such trouble talking to these folks who we entrust with our hair? I’m the same way. Here’s what you keep telling yourself: Nobody knows your hair better than you. In the nicest possible tone, here goes a script for your next stylist conversation: “I think you are so talented, but I absolutely need to have the top of my hair longer than you cut it the last time. And pleeeze, fewer layers too! I know we can work together and you can help me this way so I can style it better between visits.” Let me know how it goes. And show her this column if you think it would help.

And another hair problem…

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I’m growing my hair longer and it is a beautiful color mix of dark...