I really hate to leave bad reviews but my experience last week at Bubbles was bad enough that I really feel like the situation warrants it. I have long fine straight hair cut into long layers and I realized summer wedding season had taken a beating on it- so many split ends! I wasn't looking for anything drastic, just a trim to keep it looking healthy so I figured I didn't need to drop a lot of $$$ and I'd had an ok experience at the Bethesda Row Bubbles location and this location was closer. I read the reviews and while Anakin seemed like the clear choice for stylist, I needed to book something last minute so let them know my hair type over the phone and I said I'd be fine with whoever. That was probably my bad but again...just a trim! I had a morning appointment with Bill and I woke up with a raging migraine- they were very accommodating to make it a bit later (again, I said whoever was fine and was again assigned Bill- maybe the first red flag since his day seemed pretty wide open). Bill was polite, offered me a drink and gave a good scalp massage during the shampoo but that's pretty much the only good thing that happened during my appointment. He made no attempt to part my hair my usual way initially, saying it wasn't important at first- I don't know how to cut hair, but I feel like that's typically one of the first things a stylist does. I decided to just trust the process and let him do his thing at first since I feel like being overbearing can make a stylist nervous or rush. He finished cleaning up the length and gave me hands down the worst blow-out I've ever gotten, which he then flat ironed- kind of defeats the blow-out, especially for fine hair that needs volume. Again, whatever- I was going to work out later in the afternoon so no big deal. I saw steam (smoke?!?) as he flat ironed my hair and I was hoping it was just whatever product he used.
The major problem started when he tried to cut layers on my dry hair- it became abundantly clear that this was going to be a really bad haircut. The layers were grossly uneven and he seemed to just be eyeballing and hacking away at it. I let him go on a few minutes hoping it would get better but the more he got, the worse it looked and eventually, it got to the point where I had to say something about them being uneven. I probably have walked around with mildly uneven layers for a large percentage of my life because I just don't care that much to notice, but this was GLARING. He didn't really see the problem despite at least a 1.5 inch difference between the shortest layers on each side of my face. He again started unmethodically chopping away but the situation wasn't getting any better. I had to ask him to stop cutting a couple more times and requested that he please get someone else to look but he kept saying he wasn't done. I have NEVER been in a situation like that before at a hair salon and seriously was at a loss for what to do- the thought of yelling for help crossed my mind more than once. I finally turned to the stylist in the chair next to me who wasn't with a client and asked if she could please take a look at it. She jumped in and spent the next few minutes redoing the layers around my face the way I'm used to- pulling them down and comparing them for eveness- and then she "double checked" my whole head, doing a lot of snip-snipping, even making me stand up (?) because my hair is pretty long. I didn't leave with a great haircut but she did make it at least presentable enough to leave the salon and I was grateful for her help since I wasn't her client and I probably shortened her break.
The second major problem came up when I got in my car and was hit with the awful, strong scent of burned hair. I've burned my hair many times at home, either being careless or rushed but never in my life have I walked out of a salon REEKING of burned hair- he used product, so my guess is he flat ironed still damp hair. And YUP- about 40% of my split ends were still there- not acceptable! I had to do a coconut oil mask that evening and skip hot yoga because you could have seriously smelled my hair from a few mats away and I didn't want to be that girl.
Not for nothing, but while the salon is open and bright, the floor was COVERED in hair like wall to wall despite what seemed to be a lot of idle employees. Gross. I did see other clients who appeared to be regulars leaving visibly happy with their hair with other stylists but...my experience was bad, really really bad. Never again. read more