Dana sounds like a legend. Partners who call you out are gold.

Blame yourself, not the landlord. You signed a binding lease and then sat on the space for four months without ever checking if a salon was even allowed there. That deposit was earned rent for a space you legally controlled, and a judge would laugh you out of court for trying to get it back. Do the homework before you sign next time and stop acting like the guy who rented to you did something wrong.

The part about your sections being more even when you go by feel makes total sense to me. When you're looking in a mirror you're seeing a flat picture of a round head, so your brain has to do this weird translation that messes with your spacing. Your hands just know where the last foil ended without any of that guessing. Going blind also kills the urge to stop and double check every five seconds, which is really what slows people down. I bet if you kept at it the time gap would close fast too. The mirror is a tool, not a rule, and your fingers already know the head better than your eyes do.