I'll be totally honest, I have gone back and forth on writing this review for over a year, but it's gotten to the point that the health of my hair has plummeted so badly thanks to this salon that I though I needed to make others aware. For preface the reason I waited so long was because I didn't want to publish an emotionally fuel review but time and again my self confidence has been impacted by the mess I was left with.
Anyway, last year I went to this salon and was scheduled with Sam (for the record, I think Sam is a lovely person and personally treated me well). I wanted to go from a lighter brown color (my natural hair with light blonde highlights) to a warmer dimensional blonde. I brought in pictures, had my consultation, thought we were on a similar page when it came to what color I was going for. The appointment itself took a lot longer than expected for having collarbone-length hair (like 9 hours, when the longest I've been in the chair was maybe 7 for the exact same process at a different salon), but it's a full color change so I won't ding anyone for that; I'd prefer a thorough job than slapping on some bleach and calling it a day. But it was irritating when i was left sitting in the wash bowl for around two hours with nobody to talk to, nothing to do, and an emptying salon.
Its also irritating that the appointment too sooooooo long that Sam and I were the last ones in the salon (past closing) and I was asked to pay before my hair was done so the receptionist could leave (if I hadn't felt bad for the receptionist I wouldn't have paid early but it was maybe 9:00 at night by that point on a Sunday, so ya, I felt bad)
To pile on the irritating I also left with wet hair because again it was 9:00 at night so I paid for a blow dry and get one
Now those are all minor issues compared to the color process that was done. Like I said I went in brownish (and made Sam VERYYYY aware that my hair lifts very easily. I know from prior experiences going blonde that my hair takes color and lightener very very very well, so I told them to keep an eye on it) and brought a picture of a dimensional blonde. One, when I heard (after sitting in the wash bowl for about two hours, mind you) "omg you're in your Draco Malfoy era now haha" I panic laughed. I showed a golden dimensional blonde...and I am being told I look like the kid from Harry Potter...IMMEDIATE PANIC. I walked from the bowl to the chair with a towel on and when Sam took it off my heart dropped. I kid you not I had overcooked pasta noodles for hair. So I said "hey, this looks a little light....is this going to warm up at all". Also, there was literally no dimension, none. I should have noticed while I was in the chair but I thought I am not the professional so I'll let them do their job.
So what we ended up doing was retoning my hair. After being there for 9 hours and, honestly, kind of being pushed to pay early I decided to cut my losses and leave the salon. I asked if we could blow dry and Sam look at the time so I just cut in and said "even if it's just the front pieces of my hair".
As soon as I stepped out of the salon I started bawling my eyes out. When I got home I was panicking because I needed to go to work, give presentations, ya know...live life and my hair (dried) looked like dry spaghetti noodles. I kid you not I too a piece of spaghetti and put it in my hair and it blended in seamlessly because it was YELLOW and one color.
I decided maybe I need to some time to adjust and maybe in a couple days I'll be fine. The next morning I woke up and noticed that not only was my hair yellow but my roots were ORANGE. I tried to rationalize that too to being irritation from the lighter on my skin, but nope, it was orange. I had to cover my hair with hats when I could, clip it up and hope the lighting wouldn't make my hair look weird, or just explain to people why I looked, honestly, freakish.
After maybe 3 weeks of having that hair color I went to a different salon (I am from DC by the way and drove out of my way to come to circle square because I saw the reviews were phenomenal) and the first thing the cultist said after explaining my hair was "oh my god I am so sorry" she couldn't even understand how we got from the picture I showed to the color I got. She said "I don't know what this other stylist thought but there is literally no dimension in your hair besides the orange at your root".
Edit: (I deleted some to make room) After I posted this review, Heather, one of the owners, personally reached out to have an honest, thoughtful conversation with me. She genuinely wanted to hear what happened, understand my experience, and learn from it. She also refunded me, over a year later, which I think speaks volumes about their customer service. While the damage to my hair can't be undone, I do want to acknowledge how seriously they took my feedback. read more