Cork mobile hairdresser: It’s more than just a cut...

AMANDA Gowers believes in the power of hair.

“Your hair is your crowning glory. It gives people such a lift to get it done. But my work is about more than that. I love my job because I get to care for people. It’s about having the chat. I sometimes see clients more often than they see their own family.”

Amanda runs a mobile hairdressing service called Amethyst Hair in Cork. If you live in Cork city, Kinsale, Cobh, Clonakilty and surrounding areas, Amanda will bring professional hair care to you. She can also travel to locations throughout Munster on request.

The Cork native has recently returned from working in the UK with some leading stylists and well-known magazines. Every style she creates is sure to be one of a kind and although she mostly advertises her wedding services online, her day-to-day work is with clients in their homes, a setting she believes offers an entirely different hairdressing experience. She is hugely passionate about this personal element of her work.

In the business for 18 years, she grew weary of the salon setting a few years back.

“Recently it has become a bit of a conveyor belt and you just don’t get the opportunity to provide care for the client. I really wanted to give more to people but it was hard to do that in a salon. It’s hard to be as personal as I like to be and to make people feel really relaxed.

The hairdresser details how some people can have confidence issues when entering a salon.

“For one thing, some people don’t like sitting in front of a mirror for hours. People may suffer from anxiety. They might be less confident about telling you what they really want because they are not in their comfort zone. 

When they are at home that changes because they trust you more. They are far more confident and at ease, surrounded by familiar things. You become a friend as well as a stylist.

“They feel free to tell you what they want and often, if it’s a big change, why they want it.”

To some extent, Amanda believes this is down to her service being more personal than commercial. Her mobile service charges the same for a cut, even if the client decides to take a little more off.

She doesn’t get any commission for the products she recommends, so clients know she is just trying to help them and isn’t chasing further income. She believes that sometimes clients can feel pressured to buy products in a salon. Often, hairdressers get commission for every sale so it can jar a little, affect the relationships somewhat.

SUPPORTING THOSE IN NEED

The passionate hairdresser is also irked by the lack of facilities for disabled clients in salons.

“I visit clients who simply can’t get to a salon. Even if the salon were accessible in terms of entry or parking or whatever, they might not have basins that can lower, or it might be that the client can’t get into the salon chair to wash their hair.

“Some salons won’t provide treatments unless they are working with washed hair, for hygiene reasons. So even if someone really loves the salon atmosphere, they just can’t get in there.

The number of people calling me who are disabled is massive. It really is shocking how big the demand is. I’d love to see more businesses like mine meeting that demand.

The idea of someone being denied the opportunity to get their hair done upsets her. She understands how much better people feel as a result and is appalled that somebody might be denied that feeling, simply because they are too old or disabled.

She is delighted to work with clients in their homes and laughs with one woman who gets her hair washed in her wheelchair in a wet room in her house.

“Sure, we both get a little wet but it’s brilliant to see the end result.”

Amanda clearly gets a lot from her work she does and beams as she describes how it feels to walk away from a house having really helped someone, lifted their mood, changed their day.

“It is hugely rewarding. It is such an amazing feeling to know you have really helped someone. Some of my clients don’t see that many people. They might see me more than their own family or closest friends.

“I have clients I have been working with for 18 years and even when I went to England I’d come back and see them. 

It’s not just about hair, it’s about having the chat, popping the kettle on, catching up. People really confide in you, tell you things they wouldn’t tell anyone else. It can be very special.

Amanda mentions how hard it can be when a client dies and explains that often the hairdresser is forgotten.

“A time comes when you don’t hear from them anymore. You might not get a call or anything but you are grieving a loss because the person has become a part of your life. It’s an unacknowledged relationship in many ways.”

SHARING WORRIES AND CONCERNS

One challenge, Amanda confides, is that people tend to talk about the hard stuff in their lives more often than the good things. She has learned over the years to toughen her skin a little bit, so that other people’s worries and problems don’t consume her.

“I got good advice from clients in the medical field. They told me that I should think deeply about the person on the journey home but then I must leave it there.

“I have small children, so I have to leave it outside for their sake. But it can be hard because people really do confide in you.

I know they wouldn’t like you to carry their burdens but they just need to get it out there, they need someone to listen.

HER OWN DOWNTIME

Amanda has learned to pay attention to herself and exercises and meditates to keep herself level.

She jokes that she got very used to giving self-care advice to her clients but too often neglected her own wellbeing. She’s getting better at that, and she certainly seems to have found an environment she loves.

She has recently returned to work following a maternity leave and is eager to get stuck in.

“Salons are great, but they are busy places where people come and go. If you change jobs your clients don’t necessarily follow you.

“With the work I do, I get an opportunity to create strong bonds. My clients know about my life, my children, and I know about theirs.”

HER INSPIRATION

Asked where the inspiration for her work comes from, Amanda explains that it all started with her great grandmother.

“She couldn’t get out, so I’d visit and do her hair once a week. I saw what it did for her and that gave me a fire in my belly to help other people too.

“Anyone who has someone in their life who can’t get out much will understand.”

She is happy to shine a light on the work she does and hopes more hairdressers out there begin to offer a similar service.