STEER CLEAR OF THIS PLACE IF YOU WANT BALAYAGE/OMBRE.
I normally get my hair cut in Manhattan and have always had great results there. This time I didn't feel like travelling an hour to Chinatown so I decided to research salons within the neighborhood of Bensonhurst that received high ratings. (Because when people rate an establishment 5-stars...it's gotta be good right?) That's when I stumbled upon the page of 'Salon de Anna' which only has 8 reviews but also has an average of 4.5 rating. After reading the reviews, I was completely sold and wanted to go to Anna. Thanks to a couple of the reviewers that said she actually closed her salon and is working at a different salon called 'Hair Station' So I visited her on Thursday and she was really sweet during our first encounter. She asked me how did I find out about her and I told her that I read reviews about her on Yelp...she was so appreciative the entire time because of this. After my hair was washed, I showed her pictures of a long bob (lob) hair cut that I wanted and she was able to replicate it, but because the girl didn't have layers my hair ended up looking really flat. I asked her if she can give me a little layers...and only a little because my hair hates layers since it's always the part that becomes dry and frizzy. The hair cut turned out great, but honestly I would rather go back to my other stylist in Manhattan because she understands what I want. Another thing I liked about Anna is that she is not super chatty nor nosy, not the type that wants to know what you do for a living, where you work, where you attend school, etc. After I paid for my haircut and tipped, I asked her about hair coloring because I'd always wanted to do ombre. I showed her a picture of a girl with light brown ombre and black hair, and she said she would be able to do it for me if I'm willing to bleach my ends and it should be around $50. At that moment I was skeptical because I didn't want bleach to ruin my virgin black hair so I just told her I'll think about it.
Fast forward 2 days, I came back to the salon because I was so tempted to get my hair colored after lurking at Instagram pictures of girls with the Balayage/Ombre hair. I showed her pictures of the Balayage hair style and I also specifically warned her that I don't want any red/orange tones because I think it looks tacky. She told me it's inevitable for Asian hair to turn a little red/orange after coloring, but she'll make it work by applying a little bleach on certain areas. From there, she adjusted the pricing from $50 to $90 because she has to use 2-3 colors to achieve the look I wanted especially since I have really black hair. I was fine with this because it's still affordable compared to the prices in Manhattan (-ahem- Hair something something) I was so scared when she started applying color and foiling my hair because with Balayage, you're supposed to paint or sweep the color on the hair while creating a gradient effect..instead of foiling one shade at a time. At this point, I already feel like I made a terrible mistake coming in thinking I would receive the Balayage that I want at a fraction of what it typically costs. Then 4 hours later, after they washed out the after-color treatment, Anna was finally ready to blow dry and style my hair. I finally got to see how it looks like, and boy I was disappointed. It wasn't what I anticipated! The top of my head had streaky, orangey-brown highlights. The inner-bottom portion was bleached which she didn't even tell me she was going to do during our consultation and the pictures I showed her didn't even have that part bleached. While she was styling my hair, I asked if she knew about the Balayage technique which I had to repeat it to her a few times and clearly this is already a telltale sign that she doesn't know or was probably never ever trained or attempted to do Balayage. (It's absolutely my fault for not asking her during the consultation because I assumed she knows of the technique, just not the term, given that she used to own her own salon.) Lesson learned.
I don't mean to bash Anna by any means because she really did take her time cutting my hair. But I can't help but feel pissed off that the top layer of my hair has streaky orange strands and a bunch of yellowy-blonde hair on the inner-bottom portion (which I'll eventually have to dye over/do color correction when it grows out.) She said the streaky mess will eventually fade to a lighter shade, so we'll see about that. After I'm done writing this review, I can't wait to wash my hair.
Definitely go to Anna for an affordable $20 haircut, but DO NOT ASK FOR BALAYAGE/OMBRE. This is not the place! I finally understand what they mean "You get what you pay for." Don't shy away from higher-end, modern-looking salons because the stylists and colorists there certainly do invest in their craft. I won't be returning! (Really wished I blew that $178 (gratitude included) elsewhere.) read more