kimr10•15d ago

Okay, I'm going against the grain here. My $80 flat iron from the supply house died mid-client yesterday, and I just grabbed my backup from the drugstore.

It was a 2pm color correction. The iron just went cold. No warning. I had a client in the chair and waves to finish. My backup is some Revlon thing I bought for $25 three years ago. It worked fine. Not as fast, but it got the job done. Everyone says you need pro-grade tools for everything, but sometimes the cheap stuff saves you. What's your actual emergency backup plan when something breaks during an appointment?

3 comments

3 Comments

finleyw5815d ago

Wait, your backup iron was three years old and it still worked? I've had cheap ones start smoking or just stop heating after a year. You got lucky with that Revlon. My backup plan is a total mess, I usually just run to the supply store down the street and overpay for whatever they have. It's a panic move. What do you do to test your backups so they don't fail you too?

hunt.quinn15d ago

Honestly, the trick is to just use your backup gear for a normal job every few months. That old Revlon gets plugged in when I'm doing a simple touch-up, so it's not a total surprise when the main iron dies. Rotating them out keeps everything working and you learn its little quirks. What's the last thing you used your backup for?

emery_lopez15d ago

Honestly that whole rotation system sounds like extra work for no real payoff. If a backup is just sitting there, it's fine. My old clippers from beauty school still work fine after five years in a box. Testing gear constantly just wears it out faster. I'd rather have a brand new backup stay sealed up until my main tool actually breaks.