I finally had time to process what happened to my hair a couple weeks back and am able to sit down and write this review. This is the first time ever in my life I left a review on a business so please bear with me! I was just going to stay silent about my experience at Pera as I usually do when I am not satisfied with a product or a service, but as I reflected on it these past days, this experience was definitely something I think needs to be shared. I am not bashing on the other hair stylists as I read their reviews and they seem to be good. I am only writing about my own experience with a particular hairstylist. So I read a lot of promising reviews and I came out of here almost in tears. I'm moving closer to the area and wanted to find my new go to hair salon. I tried my best not to show at the end (it was the first time a haircut actually made me want to cry) but how did Nikky get my hair cut so bad? I showed a picture of exactly the haircut I want ( mind you it's FROM PERA SALON ITSELF) and she completely missed the mark. She thinned my hair out into oblivion (I will say to this, I didn't mind her thinning it out. I told her it was okay. I just didn't expected SO MUCH OF IT would have been thinned out. So in a way, I guess I did ask for it? But definitely not to the extent of what I was left with. ) and added so many layers that I TRULY NEVER asked for. Not to mention, she cut strands of my hair FROM MY ROOTS. It now sticks up in a weird place and makes my roots look frizzy all the time. I have moderately thick, wavy hair as you'll see. It was down to my chest with very minimal layers so there wasn't anything complicated with my hair before my haircut. After my appointment and before getting it fixed at another place, whenever I grab my hair like I'm putting it in a ponytail, it was half the width it was before the haircut. I have never been so disappointed with a haircut appointment before in my life. I understand that the original hair stylist who cut the haircut in the reference picture was not Nikky, but if you could not do it, you should have just be upfront with me. I would have appreciated the honesty and I would have asked for something else or reschedule all together. I gave this salon a chance and it was so bad. When I asked for it to be styled differently, she pointed to her hair straightener and said that I could style it the way I want while setting up for her next client. I get it that she wanted to start on her next appt. after me (which mind you, was my friend who also tried this salon for the first time and got bangs that she didn't even ask for...) but that seemed so unprofessional to me. And when I asked my friend later if I went over time, she said no I was within the time allotted. I asked after my friend's appointment if she could just cut the length off to make it more of a blunt bob to get rid of some of the layers I wasn't happy about ( a few inches off my shoulder and shorter than the reference pic) and she had a dismissive tone and said tomorrow, not today. Which again, I understand being fully booked and truly not being able to squeeze me in. But why put on a dismissive tone?
I actually did schedule another appointment with her the next day but when I left, I just couldn't bring myself to drive all the way back there without any reassurance that things would go differently the next time. Maybe things could have been different if I was more vocal about how my haircut was different from the photo I showed. But, I was just so shaken up that I wanted to leave as soon as possible after the whole ordeal. So I did end up cancelling that appointment and ended up going to my usual hair salon in my old city where they did their best to salvage my butchered hair. I added pics of the reference and my hair before I got it fixed at the second salon. It was to the point where the hairdresser at the 2nd salon said that if she didn't see the reference photo I brought in to Pera , she would have assumed that I asked for a jellyfish- mullet haircut.
I wish I had pics right after the appointment the way she styled it (a blowout) but I have to admit I was too embarrassed to be keep mementos of it. There was a lot of volume on top and not a lot of it at the bottom. I also understand that my hair texture is different from the girl in the photo/ instagram video and her hair was styled so the haircut in the picture wouldn't look identical on me but the haircut itself just way too different from what I wanted vs what I got.
The actual salon was nice and Nikki herself was nice enough to chat here and there during the appointment. I just am so disappointed still with the professionalism and actual skill of the hairdresser herself, which at the end day, is what you look for in a good hair salon and hairstylist.
EDIT: Sorry if the photos got mixed up! I thought I uploaded them in order but I guess not lol hopefully the flow of events is still easy to follow along read more