This was a very odd experience for me, and I've really struggled with how to review it.
I've been looking for a salon close to home - when I saw one of the stylists from this salon post a promo on one of my neighbourhood facebook pages. The deal was amazing - $100 for a cut and colour. There were two stylists specifically named in the post, so it was unclear if everyone was offering this deal or just the two named.
I called the salon and the person on the other end of the phone wasn't really interested in listening to me. I had to repeat myself a few times and clarify what I was saying. He booked me with somebody else, so I asked him to confirm if everyone was participating in the promotion, he said "I think so". I confirmed the booking, but was left feeling uneasy. I decided to reach out directly to the stylist who made the post to ask if everyone was offering the promo, or just the two of them. She didn't answer that question, but did move me to her.
Ok great - it was confusing, but I was excited to be booked in. I was going for a solid colour and a trim. She was excited with what I wanted, but suggested a couple of "money pieces" at the front, which she would lighten and then use a toner on to "pop". She was so excited, so I said go for it!
The stylist I saw seems to know what he's doing. The end result was really nice, HOWEVER - the process itself was confusing and frustrating. She worked soooo slowly as she applied the colour. I'm not sure if she was hungover, or not feeling well or what, but I swear to god, it almost seemed like she was falling asleep a few times. She also was incredibly rough as she worked. She used a foil board to apply the lightener around my face, but she kept pushing it into my forehead and moving it around - I'm surprised I didn't end up with bruises. She was also constantly removing dye from my face (not just near my hairline, but also from my cheek, my eyebrow, and near my mouth somehow), and her glove made contact with my lip more than once (they ask you to remove your mask once you're in the chair).
At one point, she admitted that she had forgotten what she was doing in respect to the "money pieces", and had wasted time trying to "perfect the blonde", when we were in fact actually adding colour to them, not leaving them blonde.
In the end, my 2 hour appointment took 3 hours. The "money pieces" don't really look any different than the rest of my hair, unless in very specific light and were a waste of time in my opinion. And we didn't even have time for the trim because her next client had to wait while we finished. Other stylists offered to step in to help her catch up, but she was reluctant to let them.
Here's the kicker - While the price was good and the colour turned out nice, once I got to my car I discovered that there were GLOBS of purple dye in my ears. I'll post some pictures, but it's hard to see - there was a lot of dye in there.
2 stars because the salon is clean and the colour turned out nice enough, but I won't be back. The whole experience was just weird.
**EDIT TO ADD**: Kudos to the owner, Kelly for reaching out to me and apologizing for my experience. He did offer to do my trim for free as well, but I really don't want to go back there and risk running into the original stylist. Also - within 3 weeks of my appointment, my hair has faded into a pretty disappointing brassy colour. Nothing like the photos I posted at all. read more