Written in 7/22 but waited to post to see recovery.
This place deserves five stars. It does. Their atmosphere is really casual and laidback. You can tell the beauticians know they're knowledgable and have happy clientele. Everyone I saw who came in all left happier then they left and ALL looked great.
Most importantly, I was having a hair crisis from a different stylist and had done an SOS to all the salons in the area through Yelp. Chris and Evelyn were the only ones able to get back to me within 24 hours, and put me at ease. They were realistic, and their hair products they offer really do offer a visible difference.
They were understaffed on the day of my appointment, but no one was waiting or cranky at all. I came in at opening and the team were all surprisingly pretty upbeat. In general, the team seemed to be efficient and really communicative when the customers peaked.
Not going to lie, at first I thought I had immediately made Chris my enemy given how snarky he is, (and I'm awkward and fairly timid). but he's hilarious and really knows his stuff. Sia, Evelyn, Chris really were all pulling the nine yards to make sure everyone was taken care of and felt fine. Quick and effective. It's unlike any experience I've had when accompanying others to salons.
It makes me feel bad to dock a star, but I went with it because I had some chemical burns. Be that as it may, I probably might have been an outlier case hence - take this review with a grain of salt.
My hair is naturally very dark (Asian type) although lightened previously from a different stylist save for some grown out roots. I was shedding more then I'd like (like a dense baby's fist of hair a week, sometimes even two days if I washed it. I'd get up from my chair and it'd be like a few dogs had shed on it. Even sweeping twice a day would still see quite a few piles of hair on the ground like I had gone to cut my hair.
This started about a month after my bleach which while my hair felt physically not too bad, it was concerning because it only seemed to increase; I'm sure stressing out about it didn't help either. I assume it was a protein imbalance or an excess of moisture caused from a new harsh product-- which I immediately abandoned, but they didn't observe anything concerning when I dropped in for a hair consultation.) With some recommendations of new products, the shedding improved a little.
I thought I was prepared for the worst as I know that trying to go grey can be near impossible. Especially to deliver good results. I wasn't really expecting a life-changing hair style in one go. Honestly have had a meh experience in this lightning experience I've had so far, but everyone I've worked with in the past has warned me that it'd be "near impossible".
The bleaching itself was pretty even from what I could tell (matching my roots to my existing brassy blond). My concern after stress googling though is that 40 proof bleach on my roots for 35-40 minutes seems to be a faux pas. I had voiced my concerns when it first started to tingle and give me a migraine, but decided to bear with it after they told me my hair/scalp didn't show signs of breakage. We took off the foil after the first mention of it. It was hot, but not unbearable. The continued popping sounds was new, but otherwise I feel like this was probably pretty normal in most cases. I mentioned it a bit, but apparently this was all expected. I mentioned the discomfort a few times, but it looked fine from a hair integrity POV. None of them seemed concerned initially.
That said, I probably should have been more vocal to wash it off immediately.
The pain was relieved when my hair was rinsed out with cold water but felt WAY worse when we put toner in. (4/10 from bleach to about a 7/10 when toner was in.) Friends have warned me about burning with the toner but I feel like I would have passed out near the end end. (The fumes probably didn't help either.)
The staff started checking in on me near the end, and offering me water and stuff like that.
My hair integrity is fine, but scalp feels tight with pain if touched. When I came home, I could see red inflamed follicles(?). I slept off most of the day just to take it easy. Still have the slightest headache, but like less then a 1/10.
I should also note, this is my first time getting my hair bleached at a salon (with previous experiences only being at a hair school).
Two weeks later -
I'll survive. Even though my scalp is a bit shiny and scarred now, I still would say I'd do it again as the hair itself is better then where it was before.
Currently -
Even though the burning experience was super terrifying, I'm still kind of relieved I went. My hair has been able to keep the new colour well, and is no longer horrendously shedding. Many thanks to them for giving me a consult on such a later notice. read more