Up until yesterday, I was all about this place. I was stupid for this place, a total convert for…read moreall-natural dyes. Again, until yesterday.
Previously, I had gone darker. I went in July to have chemically lightened hair darkened with henna. I made the appointment relatively last-minute (the morning of the day I wanted to go). Even still, the stylist, Jen, called to tell me that she was running late for our 6-something appointment. She was later than warned, but I was comped a brow wax for it, so I wasn't upset. The henna turned my hair green so to make it right, Jen put natural dye on top to give me the dark brown I wanted. However, it was so late by the time that dye went on that I drove home with it on my hair (and a cap) and rinsed it off in my own shower... I'm glad it was only $75.
By September, the color had faded somewhat to show faintly green ends and my roots had grown out a little. So I called on a Saturday morning to go in and do more natural dye. Everything went well that day. I did have dye on my forehead afterwards, but at least I got my hair blown dry at the salon. Again, about $75.
So, time goes on. I'm enjoying my hair growing past my shoulders and I'm deciding what to do with my color next. I'm fickle. It's ONLY hair. Then my roots start to get out of control. People who NEVER say anything start to say something. So I text Jen to see if she's available for the 30th, as I'm using as a personal day for some appointments. We arrange a time.
Over the weekend, I got my confirmation call from the girl at the front desk. Everything is good. I spend my time choosing a haircut, choosing a color. I knew I wanted to go lighter, closer to my natural shade. But still, so many decisions...
By yesterday morning, I had decided. I wanted a shoulder-grazing angled cut that would work with the wavy texture of my air-dried hair, in a mousy brown Jennifer Aniston kinda color. I took SUCH specific pictures. She had quoted me $125 for the whole thing - a double-process color and the cut.
Things started to go wrong before I left my apartment. She sent me a text around 9:00 to see if we could move the appointment to noon. I'm driving from Cobb to Dekalb County to have you do my hair on a personal day. And I have other appointments. Recognize that and don't monopolize my time. I told her it wasn't possible.
When I got into the shop, I showed her ALL of the pictures, color and cut. She draped me and put on the color stripper. I sat under the dryer and then we rinsed it. All of the old brown came off and it was back to the blonde with green tint from the henna. Then she put the color on and we waited.
She washed it out and started the cut. Right off the bat, it was all wrong. And I had a 360* view of the haircut I wanted from a salon's blog. But I looked like a bloodhound with all this thickness around my head and it was barely angled. She asked me to look at it. I told her...it's not right. She agreed it needed more texture. It's now graduated from my CHIN to the NAPE OF MY NECK. And my friends say it's uneven in the back.
But forget the cut. If the cut were the worst part, I would thank God and be done with it. My true upset comes from my blue hair and brassy roots. In the salon, she said, "When I finish drying it, tell me if you think it looks kind of green." I looked at pieces that fell away from the ends and they just looked like an ash blonde. But this salon is SO dark. The lights are dim, the windows are shaded and the walls are lime green. So I couldn't really have known either way. She told me to let her know if I noticed anything after I left and she would fix it.
I went to my car and absorbed the cut... The short, short cut... Then I got back to my apartment and looked in the mirror in my bathroom and thought I was going to throw up. The first two inches of my hair are streaked with brassiness. From there to the ends was this odd blue shadow. I sent her a text IMMEDIATELY. She told me it would be Friday. Okay, I work. In an office. So A) I look like a mental patient and B) I can't take off for a hair emergency. I told her Saturday was the soonest I could be there. She told me she was only working half a day that day and I needed to let her know ASAP if I'd be there or not.
I've been through EVERY emotion about this hair disaster in the past 24 hours. I'm embarrassed, angry, I've accepted it. But she seems relatively nonchalant. She should be scrambling to make this right! The people in the Sally Beauty Supply store couldn't believe a professional had done this to me. So now I'm out $125 plus the tip and frankly, I'd rather chance it with a box of dye than go back.
I would call the service lackluster if I could call it service at all. All I can do is put it in perspective that some people don't even have hair to complain about and mine can grow out. But I'm not going back to Eco Colors... I'll risk the eternal damnation of my follicles for a good dye job.
