I've been to Pleasure Head (PH) four times now and had amazing experiences with Jennifer (who I…read morebelieve no longer works there, but you can see a photo from my last review!) and Shawna. They were incredibly personable and made sure to check in with me throughout every step of the haircut process. They both delivered amazing results. Jennifer gave me a super edgy look and Shawna later gave me the blunt cut of my dreams, hence why I had kept returning.
Now, there's A. I first went to her when my edgy look had grown out and wanted to get it refreshed. Everything was going pretty well, until the point where she accidentally used the wrong scissors and chopped off a section of my bangs. It was hard to recover from that but accidents happen and she expressed deep remorse and tried her best to fix it. It wasn't the best, haha, but it eventually grew out after several months, and I didn't want this experience to deter me from returning to my fave salon. :)
Then, I went to A for a chocolatey brown balayage. We had a consultation beforehand. My hair is virgin and very dark so what I was looking for was a very subtle change to add dimensionality to my hair since I had just gotten a blunt cut by Shawna.
But... what I got was not what I asked for. I have gotten balayages before and one key component is teasing the hair before applying bleach. Yes, it was being teased, but by the tiniest amount. This led to pretty much my hair being bleached solidly rather with the quintessential natural blending of the highlights which define a balayage. On top of that, the bleach application was all over the place. In some sections, it was applied so close to my roots. In others it was 3 inches away. And A decided to give me money pieces because she thought they would look cute. When I noticed the heavy bleaching, and pointed it out, she mentioned that it would become darker with the toner. I was anxious, but I wanted to trust the process.
When the hair was finally done, I was devastated. It was patchy, brassy, and bleached in such a way that doesn't even come close to the definition of a balayage. I told A that I would need some time to get used to it. After several days of staring at my hair in the mirror, I reached out to A. She agreed that it wasn't at all like the inspo pics and she was willing to redo it for me.
At that point, though, I was too anxious to go through another round with PH, especially after my previous experience. So, I made the decision to reach out to a hairstylist in Santa Cruz that is known for his balayages and I sent the pictures of my hair and he immediately took me in (thankfully!!) bc the hair had truly destroyed my self-esteem. After the botched hair, I literally canceled all my plans for the next week because I didn't want anyone to see me like that. He called it a hair emergency, haha. Well, that appointment went wonderfully, and he was able to color-correct the hair and achieve the results I wanted from the start.
One major pro about A is that she does a great job at maintaining the health of the hair during her work. It was actually really cool and impressive to see that when she was taking off the foils after the bleaching process, little to no hair came off with it. Even though she brought my natural hair color from one of the darkest shades to such a light color. That is definitely one of her incredible strengths!!
I let A know I went with another stylist and canceled my redo appointment. I also asked for a refund, considering the results were so far from what we discussed. She was completely respectful and remorseful and mentioned that she wished she had an opportunity to fix it herself. She reached out to her manager to ask about the refund, and the request was denied bc I went to another stylist and didn't let her redo it. I am not sure if that's a common policy, but I felt saddened that accountability by the salon wasn't taken in that regard. You wouldn't hire the same plumber again if their work caused your pipes to burst in the first place. Twice.
Honestly, I am deeply saddened by this and it pains me to even write this review because all of my other experiences at PH have been SO positive before this. I don't think I will be visiting again, unfortunately.
That being said, A is an amazing person (her hair is also SO cute!!! which already is a testament to her skills; also, she does a great job at matching the vibe, and I /STRONGLY/ believe that these were rare occurrences, especially considering all of her previous positive reviews. You can check out her work on her instagram page. Lots of people have had amazing results from her, especially with haircuts. So please don't let that deter you from hiring her. But maybe not for balayages, LOL.
