Before actually coming to the salon, I did a ton of research; It's not everyday you find a curl specialist near Syracuse! It's about a 20 minute drive from Syracuse University so this appointment was very special, since I do not have a car at school. Also, I had to budget this into my modest allowance. Kelly, the receptionist, helped me find a last minute appointment that I unfortunately had to cancel. She and I rescheduled for the following week for a DevaCut and Pintura Highlights. This was my first positive experience with MLO Salon. I called back three times and she was just as patient and sweet as each time before.
The full service salon is cute, hip, and CLEAN! I walked in to a coffee and tea bar, with light refreshments. Every stylist (and even the customers) were so nice. About ten minutes after my scheduled appointment time, Maria called me over and we started chatting about my hair ideas. Maria is so attentive and while quieter than most stylists, so kind and humble. Let it be known that I've got crazy curls that are not the easiest to work with. I've had at least ten stylists turn me down and ask that I never come back! But Maria was confident and qualified so I told her what I wanted and we got cookin'.
When she cut my hair, at first, I thought it was cute. After struggling (for literally six hours) to dye my hair the color I wanted, we settled on just covering up the myriad of colors that my hair DID actually take, with black. My hair fought Maria with everything it had. After we washed it again and styled it, I was so beat that I thanked her and left. She did everything she could to get my hair to the color I envisioned, however, it just wasn't working out. Maria did literally everything she could to help me get to the right color but it just wasn't sticking. Alas, it wasn't until I walked outside that I noticed the back was so chopped up and gnarly. Once again, my curls are VERY difficult to work with so I do not blame Maria at all. I started crying and felt horribly so I called my mother (big baby, I know). I didn't want to say anything to Maria because she has worked so hard and long to help me achieve the color I wanted. The last thing I wanted to do was tell her I was dissatisfied with the haircut as well. My mom called Maria and she offered to refund me for the haircut and color. Maria felt terrible.
While I may not go back for DevaCut, if I ever wanted to do the Brazilian Blowout again, I would go back in a heartbeat. Maria displayed exemplary customer service, not only by refunding me, but also by doing EVERYTHING in her power to fix it. Also, Maria had three customers in between "The Great Dye Debacle of 2016 (AKA my defiant hair protesting color)" and did an amazing job with their cuts and color. She's a rockstar. I kept complimenting the ladies as they left because everyone looked so darn good!
In summary, MLO may not be the salon for my dense thicket of multicultural locks I have learned to love, but I would still recommend her for folks with a little less texture. Please, do not get me wrong: Maria is a DevaCurl Specialist among other talents! But sadly my curls weren't a perfect match to her scissors.
Ratings:
I sit between a 3-star and 4-star rating because it is exactly what I would want in a salon aesthetically, staff-wise, and comfort-wise but I was unhappy with my haircut.
Would recommend- yes, depending on the service required. read more