“My hairdresser cut my hair too short!” How Hairdressers Handle Cutting Too Much Hair Off

“My hairdresser cut my hair too short!”

“Does anyone know what to do with a bad haircut that’s too short?”

“Any advice on how to fix a too-short haircut?”

If you’ve never accidentally cut hair too short, you don’t know the gut-wrenching, heart-sinking feeling. But many of your clients have experienced this before.

Like one TikTok user, who mistrusted hair salons and avoided them for years. Then, one day, her husband encouraged her to treat herself to a professional cut and color. She walked into her appointment at a 5-star salon with hair that reached down to the middle of her back. When she left, her hair was cut too short: four inches shorter than the inspo picture.

“It looks so bad. Think of bad, it’s worse. She cut all my hair off,” she said. 

Accidents happen. But to your clients, cutting hair too short is  never just an accident or misunderstanding. They’re an attack on someone’s identity. Some will yell. Some will cry. Some will ghost you. Others will tell you they “love” the new look, then go home and post a nasty review. Some will even spread rumors that stylists “butcher” people’s hair on purpose because they’re jealous. For evidence, see the comments section:

“This is why I’m so scared to go get my hair cut,” a user commented on the video.

“That was not an accident,” another commenter said. “I find this happens a lot to pretty ladies with beautiful hair.”

“I’m pretty, so I can’t go to salons,” someone else said. “Unfortunately, there are too many pick-me females intimidated by pretty girls with long hair so they will cut it off out of spite.”

“Name and shame,” yet another user replied. “Sue them.”

Don’t let too-short haircuts stop you. Learn from them.

We understand how crushing it is to be the hairdresser who cut hair too short. But don’t let too-short haircuts crush your confidence or stop you from doing what you love. 

Instead, learn from them—or from a friend who’s experienced similar trials. 

To guide you, we’ve compiled stories from real hairstylists. See how they handled accidentally cutting hair too short—and how they stopped their clients from cutting ties, too.

Stories From the Hairdressers Who Cut Hair Too Short

The Squirmy Child

Cutting a small child’s hair isn’t easy. More anxious and easily distracted than your adult clients, children tend to move around. Performing a precise trim is no small feat.

That’s exactly what Tasha experienced when working with a child who couldn’t sit still. The child wanted bangs. Unfortunately, they moved right as Tasha was about to make the first cut. The bangs were too short.

Luckily, Tasha stayed calm. Instead of panicking about cutting too much hair off, she talked things through until the child and their mother were happy with the solution. Although the bangs were still short, the mother still loved the end result.

The Lesson: When your client complains or has a bad experience, don’t let them leave without making things right. Keep them calm and correct the cut as best as possible. Not fixing bad haircuts and letting them leave angry, sad, or silently displeased may result in negative reviews or comments on social media.

Even if your clients lose more length than desired, offering a free second cut or style can fix whatever they didn’t like about the first cut, Ashley Rubell writes for Byrdie. Plus, it gives you another opportunity to mend the relationship. 

If you or an employed hairdresser cuts hair too short, you might also recommend what to do with a bad haircut that’s too short. Consider offering extensions, give tips for styling the too-short hair, or recommend styling products until it grows back out.

The Fallen Clip Guard

Vince gave a haircut way too short a year out of hair school. While clipping a client’s hair, the clip guard fell off, suddenly creating a zero gap.

“I felt so bad,” Vince said. “I tried to blend everything up to make his skin fade. And that was the first time and last time it ever happened. I’ve made sure that guard was on tight [ever since].”

The Lesson: Take care of your tools. Improper tool maintenance and use can cause problems like the “Thinning Scissors Effect,” uneven cuts, and viruses or infections.

The Miffed Mothers

James has learned the hard way that clients aren’t the only people he needs to set expectations with. To avoid becoming the hairdresser who cuts hair too short, he also needs to clear the air with his clients’ mothers.

“They want the best for their child. They’re paying a lot of money for their child’s hair cut,” James said. “But I’ve had a lot of mothers come in and tell me that I’ve taken way too much hair off. [It gets] almost personal when they start swearing at you and giving a finger outside the window, and stuff like that.” 

One of his solutions? He got a tattoo that illustrates one perfect inch on his finger. Using his finger, he can point out the length before he makes the cut.

“I learned from it. You try to learn from every experience you have,” he said. “I’m like, ‘This is an inch exactly. I’m gonna cut this much off.’”

The Lesson: Whether you’re meeting this client for the first time or the 500th time, make time for a consultation. 

As Lisa Asher says in a Quora feed: “Short but not too short” is not a unit of measurement.

Use a comb, a ruler, or, like James, even a tattoo to physically show the length you would cut. Ask what “too short” would be. Ask about their lifestyle, the products they use at home, and any inspo photos they have.

If the client seems nervous, avoid cutting the hair too short all at once. Instead, cut in small increments first. This allows you to check in before you’ve surpassed the point of no return.

By setting expectations and reaching a mutual agreement before the scissors come out, you can prevent bad haircuts and bad hair dye jobs.

Client “snippy” after a hairdresser cut their hair too short? Prepare with WellnessPro.

Try as you might, you can’t make every client happy. You might accidentally cut too much hair off. You could damage their hair from overprocessing it, or style Type 4 Coils like Type 1 Straight Hair. Whatever hair salon horrors befall you, having insurance gives you the peace of mind that your career is protected.

“Some people, you just can’t please,” James said. “Mistakes happen all the time. You never know when things get into the courts and stuff. You gotta be prepared.”

When the haircut isn’t quite “growing” on your customer, WellnessPro stands a cut above the rest. Learn how our team protects barbers and hairstylists here.