San Diego Balayage – What is a Silent Hair Appointment?

A ‘silent’ or ‘quiet’ hair appointment is where the stylist (Me) does not talk for the entirety of the appointment. Other than the first 10-20 minutes where we go over what needs to be done with your hair – I don’t talk. Whether your appointment is a quickie root touch, or a 4Hr ‘Painted Hair’ appointment – I avoid conversation. This allows me to conserve my energy so that I can give it my all when it comes to your final hair design. Most of my clients bring their computers and work, or play on their phone, while they get their hair done. Silent appointments, allow you to relax, and enjoy some quality alone time. Not to say that I don’t like a little chit-chat here and there, but in my salon – I will never ‘over-talk’ you.

What does a silent appointment look like?

“Come in Rebecca! Sit down, great to see you again!” She’s one of my lovely long-time balayage clients. Rebecca sits down, and we go over her hair plan for the day. Once we have agreed upon what she’d like done, I say: ” OK, I’m going to go back and mix your pretty colors, and when I come back I can’t talk. Feel free to play on your phone (no loud videos), read, rest or just have some quality alone time.” What this means is that you are free to not feel pressured, to actively listen or make conversation with me, like in a traditional salon setting. Most of my clients are busy Moms, working professionals or students – and they never get a chance to sit – alone – unbothered by their to-do list. I like to provide that quiet-study-hall type atmosphere, so they leave my chair envigorated with pretty hair – ready to start their day, versus completely drained having had to listen to me scream talk, and trauma dump on them, for the past three hours, about the latest boyfriend problem or drunk night out. With Mishawna Romero Hair – you can expect a level of professionalsim, you won’t find in the average salon.

I play quiet soft jazz. Think of the most elegant New York City restaurant – Marcel comes to mind. That type of music is what I play – On very low volume. So my space is peaceful and inviting. If nearby work colleagues start to get a little louder, it’s no bother because, I can shut my suite door, and away goes the noise. The doors are virtually sound proof. That’s why I like working at My Salon Suite in Santee – It’s made so well and solid. I have one client who hates the door open, she will shut it for me if I forgot and left it open. It doesn’t bother me, I just chuckle. It makes me like her more.

What are the benefits of a silent appointment?

Clients don’t know how technical our formulas are. In the hair industry its common place for the stylist to blather on and on while she stirs bowl after bowl of color hoping she’s getting it right. Or for the client to continually chatter. Years ago I put a stop to this extra talking because I found I was making mistakes and having to throw out entire bowls of color because I was too busy concentrating on what Alissa was saying versus doing my job. And I was setting myself up for a re-do. A re-do is where a client has to come back for a second appointment, because the stylist messed up. Think of it like making a highly technical recipe, like Mexican mole – you have to be silent while measuring or you will F— up. Period. So, it is my responsiblity to set the expectations of the hair visit. You are paying me for beautiful hair, not to be a counselor. Apologies if that sounds harsh. That’s just the way I prefer to run my business.

Interesting things my clients have done while in my signature “silent appointments”:

• Watch a pulmonology webinar for nursing contunuing education (this one I had to block off my ears because I was getting queasy listening to the details).
• Surfing dementia videos on TikTok, my client’s mother has dementia and she has her living in her home with her and cares for her 100% of the time.
• Reading a hardcover book during an entire bob haircut. Boy this client was awesome! She kept her head exactly where I needed it to be, for the entire cut and style – no ‘spaghetti neck’ either. Spaghetti neck is where a client is unable to keep a firm neck during her service. This results in wasted time of me having to give gentle reminders during the entire visit, and often times, a crooked haircut because the neck was wobbly for the whole cut.
• Most of my clients bring their computers and work. Plug in your cords and phone chargers. I have plenty of outlets and purse hangers. I love saying: “Make yourself at home!”
• My photographer client editing on LightRoom for her 3Hr cut + color appointment, and making sales calls.
• Eat a full UberEats delivery from a Korean BBQ place with a delcious beverage and plenty of slurpping. Which this one doesn’t bother me at all, I’m actually happy my clients are relaxed having a good time and eating.
• Listened to a podcast about the ‘manosphere’.
• Fell fully asleep passed out so her head was parallel to the floor! I tried to make it work, I swear. I was foiling her with my board, and extra long foils, going for a double process blonde. Insert angry emoji here. That was a No-Go for me. My back started to hurt. So I woke her up, finished the job, and we picked a different day for her to come in so she wasn’t so tired.
• Worked her entire appointment as a patient scheduling coordinator for a major San Diego Hospital. She tackled so many calls!
• Got her family set-up on a new insurance plan while in my chair. This one took multiple phone calls and insurance cards. But she did it! She was there for a 4 hour balayage appointment.
• Listening with earbuds in (doesn’t bother me in the least!) the book: ‘Carl’s Doom’s Day Scenerio’.
  

A caveat about my silent hair appointments.

It is worth repeating: It is my responsiblity to set the expectations of the hair visit. You are paying me for beautiful hair, so I say this with peace and love: Pause on the talking and keep your head up when I’m applying color. If you are moving too much or have too many cords snaking around the chair, and it’s interfereling with me working – I will stop and ask that you realign your head and body so that I may work efficiently. No spaghetti neck ladies – or I will ask you to put your phone away – I run a tight ship here, and it’s all for your benefit. To get you in-out-and on your way. Thank you kindly.

You won’t find any scream talking stylists here.

Back to my story. I once worked at an open concept salon, where a co-worker had a massively loud level 11 (insert Spinal Tap reference here) scream talking voice. What became the norm was me having to wear earplugs for my entire shift to drown out her shrill voice. It became unbearable, I tried talking to her about it. It didn’t go well. After a year of scream talking PTSD, and frayed nerves, I ended up moving to a salon suite where I could work alone and preserve this ‘peaceful calm’ salon environment I was looking to offer. I really enjoy what I do, and working in a stress-free environment for both myself, and my clients is such a treat. Think of coming to my salon – it’s like coming to a really nice dental office. Quiet, clean and peaceful. Not a lot of extraneous chatter.

Ready to book your silent appointment hair appointment?

If a ‘silent/quiet’ hair appointment, sounds heavenly to you, I’d love to welcome you into my San Diego hair salon. You can start straight away by booking an appointment for the services you need. Or you can book a complimentary consultation here. Thank you for reading my blog.

I only offer three services in my business: Habit Hidden Extensions, Painted Hair Balayage, and Color.

Please site as: Research credit: ‘Mishawna Romero Hair, San Diego, California 2026′, if you use my content.