I now completely understand why Cortello has gotten such mixed reviews. I have had 3 haircuts at Cortello over the past 2 years, 2 of them were with a "master stylist" and 1 with a "stylist". They showed VASTLY different levels of competency.
I originally had my 3rd appt scheduled with Kaitland, a master stylist who in the past 2 appointments had really done a beautiful job. When I called to confirm in June, I was told that due to COVID-19, all previously scheduled appointments had been canceled and that they were reopening with limited availability. I wish I had been notified, but given the circumstances, it's understandable.
With nothing readily available, months pass and I asked to be added to Kaitland's waitlist. Unfortunately, our availabilities didn't coincide, so I asked if there was someone else with availability. (This is where things went wrong.) My assumption was that if I've only ever had a "master stylist" cut my hair, the stylist recommended would be at similar or equal caliber as the previous. I shouldn't have made that assumption.
I was scheduled with Maddie, a "stylist". She seemed pleasant and eager to get started. I explained that I had a wedding coming up and I just wanted to reshape the cut. I showed her a picture of a "V" shaped cut and said, I'd like this shape with wispy ends. She asked me how much length I'd like cut and I literally said "none", I just wanted what was necessary to reshape. I also had a few grays popping up to which she offered a glaze to help hide them.
First sign for concern came while she was applying the glaze, she had completely missed my left crown and the nape of my hair with her brush. It was easy to notice because she had used the brush forcefully during application making it somewhat uncomfortable but very easy to discern where the bristles were hitting my scalp. I thought, it's no big deal, it'll all be massaged in at the end and it won't be noticeable, which she did and the glaze came out ok.
Next was the cut. She asked where I liked my hair parted, I said "the center, but it always ends up off-center somehow". She proceeded to part my hair to the side. Thinking to myself, that's odd, I've never seen anyone cut my hair with a side part. She didn't seem confident with the way she held her scissors or handled hair, it was clear she wasn't experienced. Then, she brought my hair to the back and took a blunt inch off. Clearly, not what I wanted, but I didn't realize it until I saw the length of hair on the floor, and once it was done it couldn't be undone. I also noticed her method was different than what I was used to when asking for this style. Typically, sections are pulled to the front and point cut on an angle. She seemed to just eyeball it and trim out a "V" shape from the back. Honestly, other than it being shorter than I asked for, the shape seemed fine.
She moved onto styling. I said, "I liked natural loose waves". She dried my hair as if I had naturally fine straight hair, which I don't, leaving it slightly frizzy. She used a curling iron and proceeded to curl each side away from my face with no alternating directions, which looked good from the front, but bad from the back.
In the end, I left thinking, it turned out okay for a novice, but I won't be scheduling an appointment with her again.
Now out of town, after showering and quickly drying my hair I had gotten a better view of the cut. It was not good. She had clearly missed a section of hair in the front and the face framing layers were not cut on an even angle front to back. Some pieces underneath were significantly shorter than others on top. It just looked messy.
I took a few pictures that night. The next morning, I called Cortello and asked to speak to a manager. The person I spoke to asked if there was any way she could help me instead. I explained to her my experience and suggested that perhaps Maddie should just receive more training or guidance since she did have very good potential. She asked me to send photos and apologized for the mishap. She never offered me a refund or a complimentary appt to rectify the situation, but I felt comfortable that the situation would be handled. Then I see that a week later, Maddie's work is being advertised on their Instagram page. I hope that means that in the course of a week they have taken my concerns into consideration and she has vastly improved. In which case, I'm happy for her.
Unfortunately, I cannot personally recommend Maddie and now I question the capabilities of anyone there that doesn't boast higher ranks.
On the other hand, Kaitland is a perfectionist and as long as you clearly communicate what you want, you will leave ecstatic with your hair. I highly recommend Kaitland and hope to return myself when I'm back in town to fix this current cut. read more