Turn scribbled color formulas into clean notes

The prompt

Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Salon owners, stylists and whoever keeps the client records.

Copy prompt

I run a salon. My stylists write color formulas fast, in their own shorthand, and the notes do not always make it into the client record. When a stylist is out, nobody else can read them. I want every formula written up the same way.

What I have:
- Today's formula notes as the stylists wrote them, with each client's first name and last initial only: [FORMULA NOTES]
- The format I want in the client record, in the order I want it: [MY FORMAT]
- Our shorthand and what it means: [OUR SHORTHAND]

What I want:
1. Rewrite each note in my format, one client at a time.
2. Keep every amount, shade, developer and timing exactly as written. Spell out shorthand using my list.
3. Where something is missing or you cannot read it, write MISSING in that spot instead of filling it in.
4. End with a short list, by stylist, of what each one needs to fill in.

Rules:
- Write a draft for me to check. Do not send anything or change any record.
- Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing.
- Never change a formula, guess an amount or claim anything I did not give you.
- If a note mentions anything about a client's health, such as an allergy or a sore scalp, leave it out and tell me there was one so I can handle it myself.
- Leave out clients' full names and card details.

Give me back:
- The clean notes, ready to copy into the client records
- The list of what each stylist still needs to fill in

When to use it

At the end of the day the formulas are on the back of tickets, sticky notes and phone notes, and they need to go into the client records the same way every time.

When not to

Do not use it to work out a new formula or to fill in an amount nobody wrote down. That is the stylist's call.

What to paste in

• [FORMULA NOTES]: The day's formula notes as written, with first name and last initial only, and the stylist for each.
• [MY FORMAT]: The fields you want in every record, in order, such as date, stylist, formula, developer, time and result.
• [OUR SHORTHAND]: The abbreviations your stylists use and what each one means.

Never paste

• Clients' full names, phone numbers or card details
• Allergy notes, scalp conditions or anything else about a client's health

A filled-in example

FORMULA NOTES: Oct 9. Rosa M. (Jess): roots 6N + 6G 1:1, 20v, 35 min; gloss 9V on ends 20 min. Tara K. (Maya): bal, lightener + 20v, toned w/ 9T, time? Ben S. (Rae): gray blend 5NA 10v 15 min.
MY FORMAT: Date, stylist, service, formula with amounts, developer, processing time, result.
OUR SHORTHAND: bal = balayage. v = volume developer. w/ = with. 1:1 = equal parts.

What you should get back

• Each formula rewritten in your format, amounts and timings kept exactly
• MISSING marked wherever a note left something out
• A list of what each stylist needs to fill in
• A flag, with no details, if any note mentioned a client's health

What stays with you

The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a client until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.

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