There is some racist comments made during the visit on top of the hair situation. Those comments will be at the bottom.
I have "money pieces" in my hair that are a white blonde & the rest of my head is my natural color (brown). Last time I touched up my hair I grazed some pieces which caused them to be a gold color. I asked Gregory if he could fix those pieces while he bleached my roots. He told me he didn't think we should & he wanted to leave them. That was the first red flag..
While he was bleaching my roots he asked who did my hair before, I told him me. He complimented me, asked why I'm even there which was my second red flag. After he applied the bleach, there was spots on my forehead that had some on it. I thought it was weird he didn't wipe it, but I figured he was the professional. After her rinsed me & cut my hair (kept saying he hates cutting wet hair) he asked if I wanted a blow dry. I said no, it costs extra, I don't mind it wet. I know he heard me because he said, "it's so hot out it's nice to have wet hair in the heat." After he brushed my hair out & cut it HE decided to blow dry it. Said he wanted to see the color.. once it was dry I noticed it was yellow. Like. Yellow, yellow. I asked if we should tone it & he said "it looks nice." He took me outside & showed me in the light. I said okay, but felt uneasy. I had to drive home to get my card & on the way back decided I needed it toned. I got back to the salon, paid, he had someone else in the chair.. I said I wanted it toned, he told me to come back in an hour or so.
When I got back I showed him be burned my forehead & I had sores all over my scalp. I gave the go ahead for the toner anyways because I had a wedding to go to.. the pictures are the blisters BEFORE the toner. He kept mentioning someone named Patricia & how she never got burned by bleach, he couldn't believe I did.
Bleach & toner is usually not charged separately. The toner comes with the bleach everywhere I've gone.. when he toned my hair HE decided to blow dry my hair again, I did not ask for it. The first time I paid he charged me for the blow dry, even though I said no. I didn't say anything because I hate confrontation. He tried to charge me for a SECOND blow dry & the toner. I didn't end up paying for it because I didn't bring my purse back the second time I came in. He lost his damn mind if be thought I was gonna pay him more than I already had..
Now for the comments he made..
While he was bleaching my hair, he had mentioned that he wasn't a cat person, but when he bought his house, there was a cat that came with the house. He then said when his cat had passed, he went to a shelter and sought out a black cat because people don't like black cats. I told him the story about my cat and how I got him and then he proceeded to tell me the story about his. When he got this cat her name was "Zsa Zsa," he said he had to rename her because she was black & that was the "whitest name ever". He said her name was Shaniqua (& a bunch of other "stereotypical poc names) I was shocked.. I'm white passing & I am gonna assume that's why he felt comfortable saying it to me. I didn't say anything, at all about the name or cat after he said it. I honestly sat there in shock. He continued to go on & say the cat was his negra princess.. amongst other comments I thought were uncalled for. I wanted to address it in that moment, but had bleach in my hair & was unsure of what to say or do.
When someone is giving a service I don't think race, politics or anything controversial should be talked about. As the customer I feel like I'm stuck not saying what I believe because I need my service finished, but also felt like I was enabling this type of behavior & it was so wrong.
He asked if I had ever been to hair focus & I said no. He mentioned it either being Asian ran, or that he worked with someone Asian there. I can't remember exactly because I was still shocked about the cat. He mentioned Asian people not knowing how to do hair/being unattractive. I said back, "attraction is up to people individually. I don't think any race is just unattractive & I think most people would agree." & he said he begged to differ.
It took me months to decide to write this review. I felt complacent by not speaking up to the things he said so the shame honestly stopped me. But after talking to my family I decided others should know who they're giving their money to. read more