I started seeing Katie at Escape-n-Style in January 2016. I have very thin, fine, long dark brown hair. I work in a very professional setting, so my hair has to look presentable and professional every day. When working with previous hairdressers, I had experimented with highlights and different hair colors. I was always disappointed. I would leave the hairstylist's chair and my hair would look amazing, but I could never replicate that salon look on my own! I was also frustrated that my very expensive highlights would inevitably start turning orange 2-3 weeks after the hair session. Before Katie, I wore my hair in a ponytail about 5-6 times a week.
Well, all of that has changed since I started seeing Katie for my hairstyling needs! My hair is the best it has ever looked. Katie is extremely talented, creative, and a genuinely kind person. Katie helped transform my hair from boring dark brown to a high-end subtle ombre look that is both professional and on trend. In the past, I was always told by others that my hair was too thin to look good at a length past my shoulders. Boy were those people wrong!
Katie helped find a beautiful modern color for my hair which was applied with a really cool hair painting technique. Katie also shaped my hair with a wonderful cut that made it look full and healthy, even at a longer length. She also spent a lot of time with me, explaining best practices for keeping long hair looking shiny, strong and vibrant. She is extremely knowledgeable about the latest hair trends and she knows which products and styling tools will best work for you. Katie is the first stylist I have worked with who really focused on bringing out my individual beauty and didn't try to sell me a bunch of really expensive products.
Katie is also great at suggesting styling solutions for your hair needs. I told Katie that I needed some options for the days when I don't wash my hair. Basically I wanted to learn to style my hair in a way other than a ponytail. Katie thought of three different options for me and showed me how to do it myself. I was never ever good at "doing my hair" ... until I started working with Katie!
Katie also taught me how to properly curl my hair. I always wanted the beautiful loose curl or beach wave look that you see in the magazines. Katie taught me three different techniques on how to achieve variations of that look, quickly and easily. It took a bit of practice on my end, but I can now achieve the desired hair look in less than 20 minutes, and that includes blow drying time.
For the first time in my entire life, I consistently get compliments from people (even strangers!) about my hair. I see Katie every 4-6 weeks, and I continue to get compliments on my hair even during the week before I see her again. That is truly a testament to her work. The color still looks great (not orange) a month after she does it. The cut still has shape and movement weeks after my visit.
I've also seen Katie provide excellent hair styling services for men, kids, and older ladies. I saw her give a really sharp-looking haircut to a little boy who was about 5 or 6 years old. The kid ended up looking like a mini James Dean. It was very cute. Katie has a really great way with kids, so I would highly recommend her for kids cuts. Customer service is her strong suit. She really knows how to interact with people to bring out everyone's individual beauty. She makes each person feel special when sitting in her chair.
Katie is also amazing at achieving fun, unusual hair colors. Unfortunately, due to my profession, I cannot experiment with the really fun colors. But I have seen her do unique hair colors like lilac, teal, and white-platinum blonde. If you have a teen who wants to dye their hair a crazy color, have them see Katie to do it the right way without ruining their hair.
Katie also likes to have fun with her own hair. So far, I have seen her hair brown, blonde, peach, pink, and magenta. She is so cute and bubbly that every color looks amazing on her. She totally inspires me to have more fun with my own personal style, even though magenta hair is not really an option for me.
Katie's services are also reasonably priced. Katie provides the services and creativity of a big-name Beverly Hills hairstylist at a price point that most can afford. I highly recommend Katie for all of your family's hairstyling needs!
As an aside, the salon itself is also great. It is located in a quiet business-park area close to UCR. There is plenty of parking. The salon is not that big, but it has an open layout with large windows. I believe the salon offers massage and nail services too, but I have only utilized the hair services. Modern pop music plays through the speakers, which I prefer over the "forced relaxation" Zen-type weird tunes other salons play. The salon is not pretentious or fussy. It's a great place you can swing by at your leisure on a day full of errands. read more