What matters the most is that you’re personally happy with your style. If you think your hair and make-up and clothes look fabulous, then ignore all the haters. The fact of the matter is that it’s impossible to make everyone happy. No matter how trendy or avant-garde you are, there will always be someone out there who’ll have something bad to say. So it’s best to ignore the critics and be honest with yourself: the only person you have to impress is you.

However, the main issue is when there’s total miscommunication between you and the people working at your local beauty salon. The odds are that if you’re at a salon, then you’re either getting ready for an important event or you want to completely change your look. So you want to look beautiful, fresh, and stylish. And if the results don’t match your expectations, you might feel frustrated, and embarrassed, and your day might genuinely be ruined.

There are a few possible ways to deal with those utter salon disasters. The path you choose will depend on who you are as a person. For instance, you could embrace the awful, utterly horrible situation and decide that you will not let this define you and you will not have your day ruined by the epic fail that is your make-up and hair. Instead, you can choose to accept the funky new style and rock it as best as you can. This takes a very mature mindset, high emotional intelligence, and an aptitude for comedy. Heck, this’ll be a story to tell all your friends.

Alternatively, you can confront the salon worker about what the heck just happened. No matter how upset you are, try to remain calm. Be as friendly and diplomatic as you can. Screaming and yelling at someone who’s trying to do the best they can (or has a poor understanding of style) is not going to make the situation any better. Instead, try to explain what you expected. Look for a path out of this disaster together with the stylist. Maybe they could even get some of their coworkers’ advice on how best to proceed.

However, if you’re feeling emotionally drained by this whole debacle, you could simply smile and pretend that everything is all right. Then, after you leave, either head to another salon to fix the fiasco, or get in touch with your friends to figure out what the heck you should do. It never feels good to throw away money and feel like you got utterly ripped off. But you should only confront the stylists if you feel comfortable doing so. 

As you go through life, you’ll inevitably face embarrassment and failure. Developing emotional resilience, embracing those uncomfortable feelings, and moving past them is a useful skill to develop. No matter if we’re talking about beauty salon fails, bad days at work, or arguments with the people you love, you’re in control of how you react to these situations.

Often, we feel bad because things happen differently than we envisioned. Or hoped! Sky-high expectations can motivate us to strive to reach our goals (and, let’s be real, they’re fun to daydream about). However, they can set you up for disappointment. It’s better to set realistic expectations.

According to Verywell Mind, the most essential thing when it comes to getting out of the expectations versus reality trap is awareness. The first step is becoming aware of your own expectations. Try to think about where these expectations came from and how (un)realistic they were, to begin with. If your stylist genuinely messes up, it’s on them. But if you wanted VIP tier services from someone new to the business, then you’re in for a sad awakening.

If you’re ever disappointed by the results, sit down and have an open chat with yourself about what you truly value in life, and what makes you happy. Perhaps the situation isn’t as dire as you think it is. So long as you’re not constantly comparing yourself to other people (from friends and coworkers to e-celebs) and being grateful for all the things you do have in your life, you should be fine.

In the meantime, it can save you a ton of headaches if you’re able to spot poor stylists before you even sit down in their chairs. You should probably consider seeking another person’s services if the employee you’re talking to is rude and unprofessional, and is clearly disinterested in what you want or need. Similarly, if your stylist appears to be incredibly nervous, you may want to consider asking for their more composed colleague to take over. 

Though everyone makes mistakes from time to time, it’s best to look at your stylist’s track record if you’ve worked with them before. If they’re clearly lacking the necessary skills, constantly botching up your requests, and are unwilling to apologize and improve, you should take your business elsewhere. Meanwhile, if they’re also gossiping about their other clients behind their backs, you might become their next target for criticism the moment another customer walks through the door.

Which of these fashion disasters did you think was the worst of the bunch, Pandas? Have you ever had to deal with any serious make-up or hairstyle fails? Swing on by the comment section and share your experiences.

In the meantime, if you’re still hungry for some legendary beauty salon mess-ups, feel free to check out Bored Panda’s earlier features right here and over here.