SALON OF HORRORS!! DONT BE FOOLED BY GOOGLE, THEY CENSOR REVIEWS LIKE MINE…read more
Balayage gone botched!
Shame on any of you giving 5 stars, I was mislead into thinking this was a legitimate salon.
I'm heartbroken to be writing this, but I had an absolutely disastrous experience at this salon. I walked in with virgin hair which was fine, healthy brown hair that had been untouched for the last 7 years (even Locks of Love confirmed it as virgin when I donated). I was excited to get a soft, blended balayage that would grow out naturally without damaging my roots. I explained my goals clearly, and Iva assured me she could deliver.
What followed was a complete nightmare.
She began by applying 30-volume bleach on my fine, untreated hair- far too harsh for my hair type. I immediately felt uneasy with her technique. Instead of the typical balayage brush blending I expected, she backcombed my hair aggressively, causing huge knots at the top, then applied bleach over that, with sloppy sectioning and no real precision.
After leaving the bleach on for a full hour, she removed the foils and then proceeded to rip through my tangled, fragile, bleach-soaked hair with a brush, from top to bottom. Anyone who knows anything about hair knows that:
1) You never brush hair from top to bottom, you start at the ends and work your way up.
2) You never brush through hair while bleach is processing, it's in its most vulnerable, elastic state and prone to breakage.
This step alone caused severe breakage, especially at the crown where she teased the most. Despite this, she rinsed and admitted she "took it out too early and didn't let it develop long enough." She didn't even plan to fix it until I asked her directly to correct the patchiness.
The bleach job itself was highly inconsistent. She tried to tell me my hair wasn't virgin and that's why it didn't lift evenly- which was completely false and clearly a deflection of responsibility. The uneven, blocky, chunky result looked nothing like the reference photo I provided. I voiced my concern and was brushed off with "it'll look fine once you get home." Spoiler alert: it didn't!
To make matters worse, the session was messy and uncomfortable. Bleach was splattered on my apron, my hands, and even got on my face and eyebrows, which I had to wipe off myself. My eyes were burning from the fumes. There was zero regard for cleanliness or safety.
On top of the physical mishandling of my hair, the environment was incredibly unprofessional. During the session, inappropriate and offensive conversations took place, specifically targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. While I'm not transgender, it was disturbing to hear staff gossip about trans clients, look up past clients in the system to find their deadnames, and mock young clients for their identities. Regardless of political beliefs, this is completely unacceptable in a professional setting and incredibly disrespectful to paying clients, especially young children who are just trying to navigate their identities.
When it came time to pay, I was quoted $210 online and over the phone. At checkout, I was suddenly charged $250 with no explanation, plus an extra $45 for toner-which was only needed to correct her own botched bleach job. Despite everything, I still gave her a $40 cash tip (I am a people pleaser, to a fault) signed the receipt, and left feeling utterly defeated.
The next morning, I cried. I held it together in the salon, but when I saw my hair in the mirror, the damage was undeniable. I had to go home and cut off about 7 inches just to make it manageable. My once-healthy virgin hair was now fried, full of breakage, and emotionally triggering to look at. I struggle with body dysmorphia, and this made everything so much worse. What was supposed to be a fun, confidence-boosting experience turned into a source of deep distress.
I trusted this salon. I was respectful, clear about my expectations, and still tried to remain polite throughout. But the lack of professionalism, both technical and personal, was unacceptable. I don't know how a licensed stylist could treat someone's hair this way and not understand the consequences.
This experience left me feeling violated, humiliated, and heartbroken. I will never return and I sincerely hope no one else has to go through what I did.
