January 2023 by Gina D.
Can 0 stars be an option? After having "virgin" hair for decades, I decided to go big and get a balayage - the 1st time I've ever had any kind of bleaching on my dark hair, and only the 3rd time in my life I've ever dyed it (the last time w/ a demi-glaze was elsewhere like 5 years ago). I brought photos of exactly what I wanted to my consult last week: chestnut brown balayage highlights in my dark brown hair. The red flags were immediate: she was distracted by her 4 year old the whole consult. The confirmation they said I'd get before yesterday's appt never came, so I called at opening to confirm the time. Red flag. (When I'd called for the consult, I had to leave a message & they never responded, so I had to call again to catch someone live even then). Day of the coloring: I called several times and by the time I got someone - 2 hrs later, I learned my color appointment was in 5 minutes ... but I was 20 minutes away, so they offered an appointment for 2:30 pm that same day. Red flag. Great colorists are usually booked. She was running 45 mins late... unfortunately, since it was my first time getting anything like this, I had no idea you should NEVER get your hair dyed when it's going to be dark out, especially when it's rainy outside and the salon lighting is dim (big Red Flag). I was clear: I wanted my gray streak & a few locks "painted" with the balayage of rich chestnut colors over my dark brown natural color. She said she understood... she was just going to "warm up" my hair color. After she finished, I asked her to blow out my hair so I could better see the color (since my hair is curly). Thank God I did - it was so BRIGHT ORANGE and YELLOW! She saw look on my face and got quiet. Red Flag. I kept cool, especially considering what fresh hell I was looking at. It was clear she was hoping I'd just be ok because she wanted to go home, but when I just sat there stunned saying it was much brighter than we had discussed, she said she recommended she put glaze on it for 10-15 more minutes to soften the "contrast". She doused my whole head with brown glaze and I sat there with my eyes closed praying I wasn't seeing what I was seeing and trying not to cry. It was dark out by then, and they were closing up the salon. As I sat there head in goo, I realized she was gone! Red Flag. 30 mins later, she walks into the salon w/ her kid, who's distracting her, along w/the owner asking her to fix his music app. Red flags! She finally rinses the color off (too) quickly and blows it out.. in the dim lights of the closed salon, the streaks look like 90's manic panic red & orange. The owner says my hair looks great (?!?!) and leaves. Red Flag. It reeked of chemicals and I assumed it was normal. Red flag. She actually said what it looks like in the mirror isn't what she sees (?!) and it would look a lot different when I got home. Red Flag. She also said that it was meant to look good when I wore it curly... but of course, such a bad dye job would look better if it wasn't so easy to the mistakes. Red Flag. She said she would fix it again if I got home and didn't like it. Red Flag. I knew she was tired and had a young kid to get home with a long ride, and it must be a struggle juggling a job and small child, so on top of the $255 for this horror show hair, I also gave a $60 tip! If only I could've seen what I really looked like first! OMG in daylight!! Wide patches of orange, a straw like fried yellow lock, w/ random blotches of wine red dye. I should've screamed at her on the spot and refused to pay a single dime! My beautiful natural brown color locks were toned down to dingy grayish/black & the gray hairs I came in to cover up are still visible in the back and under my hair at the neckline (which I don't think got any color at all). I went back today to show the person at the desk the photos I'd brought and the fried yellow, orange, and red bits and the strands of gray on my head that weren'
