I've been going to Phillip for about 7 years. I followed him from his previous salon to Bellagio and every time I move or go out of town, I always regret going to a different stylist. I've read the reviews on here but I believe many of the outcome of dissatisfied customers are their own fault or the women whom used to work here.
I believe that in order to get the exact or close to the exact cut you want, you'd really have to go over every single detail you want with your stylist, not to mention pictures really do help. I'm a creature of habit and just love my long hair and get the same cut every time I see Phillip. Sometimes I ask for more layers and sometimes I ask for a shorter cut, but every time, I take my time to thoroughly explain what I want to Phillip to see if he's on the same page. People may not realize that we may explain something one way, but the stylist interprets it differently.
For instance, I used to ask Phillip for a "round V shape" for the back of my hair, but in his interpretation, a "round V shape" didn't make sense since there is no such thing as a round "V". A round "V" to him is actually a "U". So after not seeing him for a while since I moved to Florida, I came back on vacation to see him and he actually gave me a "U" cut in the back :(. So after explaining to him and showing him previous pictures of the past cuts he did for me, he told me what I wanted was a "pointier U shape". So there you go! One reason to always take lots of pictures of your favorite cut and be thorough with your stylist. I watch my stylist through the entirety of any of my cuts to make sure that they don't slip up. When I see them going for a chop that doesn't seem conducive to the style I'm going for, I immediately stop them and ask details about that particular execution they were about to perform. That in turn, more times than not, helped me get the style I wanted.
I also think it's important to know what a stylist's strong points are. Some are great with short hair such as bobs, and some are great with long hair and point cuts, like Phillip. I LOVE Phillips point cuts and I haven't found a hair dresser as of today that can work the shagged point cuts like he can.
Another factor I take into consideration is how comfortable a stylist is with their scissors. Sometimes I see older women, very daintily holding the scissors and comb while parting hair and that to me, is a good inclination that they aren't at "one" with the scissors. A great hair stylist feels at one with the scissors and gear and can move at lighting speed. Phillip is great with his scissors and sometimes he'll use two scissors, one in each hand, and cut my shagged point cuts, as if he's doing some Hibabchi show lol. But surprisingly, it turns out magnificent!
So don't shy away from this salon due to the outdated reviews you see and low ratings due to previous employees. Remember that it's also the customer's responsibility to be very detailed with their chosen and or NEW stylist and MAKE SURE your stylist is able to correctly interpret what you want them to do BEFORE you allow them to start chopping away! Once they know what you like, you'll get the same results when you return. read more