First off, this is a 100% honest and non-exaggerated review. My goal is not to vent anger or shame anyone - I am simply trying to save you from the kind of traumatic experience that I had because it still troubles me months later.
The service I came in for (October 2018) was a balayage root touch up booked via Salon Apprentice. Understandably we were dealing with a trainee, but licensed, junior stylist. I have used salon apprentice for over a decade in NYC and this experience was by far (times 1000) the worst I have ever had. The stylist was named Sarah. She is a very friendly and a sweet person, but that doesn't change the fact that the professional experience I had with her was abysmal.
In advance of the appointment, I sent her pictures of my naturally light brown hair and explained that I had had balayage that had grown out for a long time and that I was looking for a refresh and a root touchup. My hair is naturally straight and was in good condition, so it lifts very easily and has never been problematic for coloring or styling. I was simply looking for something to mask my grays and preferred balayage over foils for ease of maintenance. When I came in, Sarah did an assessment and confidently went to work. She consulted with her supervisor in private - this supervisor did not come by to do an assessment or to provide any advice, she simply proceeded on her own. This was the first red flag.
As she began, she started to foil my hair - the technique was not even a full foil because there were layers in between the foils that had color applied to them. Later I realized that this resulted in the bleeding and spotting of bleach between layers. I told her that I didn't want foils and that balayage is not normally done in this way, but her reply (after discussing with her supervisor) was that neither she nor they did the standard balayage technique and that she wouldn't be able to do it. Second red flag. I should have left right there but I was naïve.
Then she proceed with the rest of the foiling, but something seemed off in her technique and she wasn't able to get the foils even close to the root. Added to this, she worked very slowly so my hair predictably over processed and became damaged. This lasted for 4 hours and at the end of it I was exhausted and a little dazed from the fumes. The salon itself has very distorted lighting that doesn't allow you to see your hair properly due to all kinds of weird reflections and shadows - plus the way that she "styled" my hair was very deceiving. Her supervisor came over (finally) and quietly pointed out several things to her that she needs to be "careful about" the next time but I couldn't see what she was talking about. Then they smiled and saw me on my way out the salon - also I tipped her generously.
When I got home and saw what my hair looked like in the real light, I was so shocked that I cried. The actual pictures are real and unretouched. I called them back immediately and asked for my hair to be fixed because it looked unbelievably bad and I could not walk around looking like that. She said she would speak with her supervisor and that I could come back later that evening. When I came in calmly, the supervisor didn't acknowledge me at all and was not interested in helping in any way. Sarah proceeded to "fix" my hair while none of her supervisors so much as glanced over. After three hours of more over processing passed, she managed to improve the spots and stripes by about 10% but anything more was beyond her skill level. Most importantly the senior stylists and her supervisor didn't care or do ANYTHING to help either her or me. It was unbelievable that they could not only let me walk out like that but that they maintained a complete lack of concern or interest. It was all shocking and very wrong.
In the end, I paid another salon's senior stylist $500 for an extensive color correction and the quality of my long hair is now unfortunately severely compromised. Please be aware of my experience here if you are thinking about going to this place. I hope this review helps you avoid the same trauma I endured. read more