Awkward Beauty Moment? How To Deal

“She messed up my birthday mani,” a friend lamented during a choppy cell call from across the country. Ryann had traveled from New York to Los Angeles for a big birthday bash and found a local manicurist to execute what she’d deemed simple, yet Bday-worthy, nail-art design. She’d noticed the ombré glitter job going wrong but was too shy to say anything. “I didn’t want to seem bitchy,” she said. So, she let it go — and ended up crestfallen when she didn’t get the mani she’d imagined.

Admit it. You’ve been there: too shy to let the manicurist know she’d painted the wrong accent finger or delivered vertical stripes when all you really wanted was diagonal. Too nervous to speak up when your freshly cut bangs were too long or too thick. We know it’s tough to pipe up, but we think it’s time you start getting exactly what you want from your manis, cuts, and color — you are paying for them, after all. With that in mind, we enlisted the help of four top beauty pros to tell you just how to deliver feedback, without coming off like a curmudgeon.