My stylist is my FI's family friend, and I've been having her cut my hair for almost as long as I've known my FI (I was new to the area, needed a hair cut, he suggested my stylist, and the rest is history). At the time, I had been doing my own highlights, but once I graduated and starting taking interviews/got a "big girl" job, I decided it was time to have a professional do my highlights. I was extremely hesitant to let someone else color my hair, first out of fear of being gouged (my hair is nearly 24 inches long) and second out of fear of screwing it up. But she convinced me that she knew what she was doing and would offer me a special friends and family discount.
I've gone in every 10 wks for about a year now, and I'm starting to have repetitive issues with how my hair is turning out. She only colors the "new growth", which she says protects my hair from becoming over processed and damaged. Understandable, right? Well, she doesn't do a particularly good job of finding which strands have already been colored and kind of admits to coloring willy-nilly. The result: if I move through my hair, some strands will have what I call stripes of color (blonde, brown, blonde, brown, blonde all the way down). When I ask her why the striping is occurring she tells me that I shouldn't worry about it, because it's about the over-all look, not the specifics. Last time I had to go back for corrective coloring (to eliminate some striping) and after this last appointment, I'm afraid I might have to go in for corrective again.
My initial question is, is this normal or am I being forgiving because she's a family friend? And if not, then how do I get this problem fixed (either with her or a new stylist) before the big day?