As a belated birthday gift to my mom, I decided I wanted us to have a girls day that included getting our hair done at a nice studio. I'd read the reviews here on Yelp and decided Caleb was the right choice.
The studio was a bit hard to find, especially since he just gave us the address but failed to mention it was inside the Reed Opera House. We finally found it, and were a bit put off that his studio was located down in the unfinished basement. Honestly, had I gone alone, I likely would have left. I don't mind if a business looks a bit rundown (the best seamstress in town lives in a craphole), but had I gone alone I wouldn't have felt safe waiting in such an isolated part of the building and would have probably left.
Caleb was on time, however, so I won't begrudge him that. We went in and his one chair studio was pretty decent, if not a bit dirty (the floor had a light dusting of hair from previous clients).
We decided my mother would go first. She told him that she wanted her hair colored to get rid of the grey and to have it trimmed/styled. He ended up giving her a very flattering and complex color that is close to what her natural hair looked like when she was younger. He also styled and trimmed it as well, which looked okay but really looks better now that she's started styling it the way she usually does.
As for my hair, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted, other than for something different since my hair was all one length except for the awkwardly cut bangs I did myself. He decided to layer my hair with deep purple lowlights to enrich my natural brunette color which is really very beautiful. As for the styling, he ended up thinning it a bit and creating layers, as well as fixing my bangs so they blend in a bit more with the rest of my hair. He also diffused my hair which I've never done before, and it really brought out my natural curls. I loved it so much I went out and bought my own blowdryer/diffuser.
In the end, it cost me $478 including the $58 tip (which I had no say in since I paid with my card and his phone only gave 3 options) and the $30 serum I got for my mom and I to split.
We were very happy with our experience at first, especially since Caleb was a pretty good conversationalist (my adorable mother even gave him a hug). However, now that a few days have passed, we've both started to question whether the cost was worth the results. I believe my mother's was worth it, but mine... not so much. Had I been able to see a drastic change in my hairstyle I wouldn't have minded paying so much, but at this point I genuinely don't notice much of a difference in my hair other than the color. He told us we should go in for a maintenance appointment in about two months, and guesstimated the cost would be around $110 for each of us. We were initially excited to go back, but at this point, we've both decided we're likely going to find someplace else.
Overall, I'd say the experience itself wasn't bad but the cost weighed with the results could have been better. read more
