Well, here you are, going through it all over again. The receptionist is as sympathetic as always, though you detect a tone in her voice implying you ought to know better than to ask for a cut and highlight appointment any time after 5pm the week of the 18th. What are you going to do? The company Christmas Party is Friday and your roots are already a centimeter past what any person would still consider roots. Your split ends have split ends and your stylist can’t see you until the New Year. Don’t panic, there is still hope, and you can knock off some last minute shopping while you’re at it.

Ask your stylist to squeeze you in, but be flexible. Chances are we have time somewhere in our day that we can make it work; while a colour is processing, maybe when we may have planned on eating our…