UPDATE:
I received a call from Avalon, I believe the manager's name is Melissa, and she carefully listened as I vented and understood my points, stating that she is trying to get more training on working with textured hair etc. I sincerely hope that they do, since we are entering an era of awareness and inclusivity which in the hair world includes people of color, people with textured hair etc.
Melissa set up an appt with a sr stylist and educator named Sam, who is also extremely professional and understanding of my situation and put the correct toner all over my hair to turn it a smoky ash color and remove the brassiness. I believe his highlights aren't too much more expensive, so I'd recommend either Sam or Melissa if she still does hair.
I do appreciate the effort from Melissa and Sam to address my concerns, and both exhibited professionalism to rectify the situation. Hair is always an experiment of sorts, from breakage to brassiness, but a stylist should acknowledge those, transparency in pricing and accept and encourage training in areas of improvement. I'll try and upload my hair post toner so you can judge for yourselves.
Previous Post:
Let me first start off by saying if you have curly or textured hair, go see Ana Colunga instagram handle hair_byana
She does an amazing job and is reasonably priced.
Now for the chaos.
I have coarse, curly, black, but healthy hair which I've been taking care of during the pandemic, not using heat, following the curly girl method etc. So far I've seen two different stylists for highlights and both times, left very disappointed. I won't mention their names, but I will say I do believe this salon mainly focuses on blondes, or non curly, ethnic hair since every time I've been in there watching women come out with their beautiful highlights or fashion colors, none of them were people of color.
I felt compelled to write this review because they will claim "you have difficult hair to color," but I've been to so many salons that got it right on the first time. Perhaps, they should take ownership that they don't know how to deal with curly, coarse hair that many ethnicities have and need more training. They are simply not experienced in this area, and I should have taken a hint by looking at the demographic that goes here. I've been getting my hair done for 30+ years and trust me, its not me, its them.
I've been greying and dying my greys since 16, and have had many amazing hairdressers that achieved the right ash shades with no brassiness at a fraction of the cost of this salon.
My first color experience here, my hair pulled red, and the stylist proceeded to cover it with dark ash toner so I looked like I had low lights rather then highlights. When my husband saw my hair, he literally said, "I thought you went for highlights, doesn't even look like you had anything done?" This is also one of their top, color stylists who claims to have dark hair and knows how to lift it.
The second time, I left with hot roots and lots of breakage, which they refunded me some of the charges and then I had to pay for toner which they only did at the roots, so I still look like an orangutan.
Every time they step away to mix a new bowl of any product you will be charged for it, and they will not be transparent of the additional charges. Below is my itemized receipt.
I was charged 3 times for color balance, 3 times for toner and treatment, and left with horrible hair.
$115.00 Full Highlight / Lowlight
$40.00 CbxlColor Balance Xl
$40.00 CbxlColor Balance Xl
$40.00 CbxlColor Balance Xl
$25.00 Toner
$25.00 Toner
$25.00 Toner
$0 Complimentary Blow-dry Color
$25.00 BotRepair Botanical Trmt No Blowdry
Tax:$0.00Gratuity Total:$25.00Ticket Total:$362.50Payments:$362.50Change:$0.00
After this visit, they refunded me roughly $100 because there was no disclosure about additional product charges, but then proceeded to charge me $30 for root toner to try and remedy the problem. I'm still orange and brassy, having to attend my niece's wedding like this. I've giving my hair a week break, before I get toner and try to fix this again myself.
My hair is still breaking, orange, and I just don't want anyone to feel as crappy as I do right now. I asked my friends for their opinion, after showing them my hair inperson, and they were shocked. They all have similar hair types and encouraged me to warn others.
Pictures attached. Make your own judgement, this is what they consider $362.50 worth, would you go here? read more