Let me preface this review by saying that everyone at Selfie Style was nothing short of polite and accommodating. I wish that I could give a higher rating but, in truth, I was left with a hair color that makes me want to cry when I see myself in the mirror.
I came in on Saturday the 28th with a mission: I wanted to get my bleached, highlighted blonde hair in line with my root color ("A dirty ash blonde," the stylist asserted looking at my roots. This surprised me because my natural hair has always been a light/medium brown, but I figured, they're the experts) I showed a couple of photos to my stylist, Camilo, of hair color I liked. They were all light to medium brown and had a balayage-y, soft highlight effect going on. I also showed a photo of what I absolutely did NOT want: chunks of blonde left over pooling at the ends, like an ombre. I said, "I want hair that is undoubtedly brown, not half brown half blonde, just brown with some highlight."
Here is probably where we went wrong: I said, "I just want it like this but not sure whether to go warm or cool, and I don't want it to look weird with my roots growing out." Camilo said we're going to do a chocolate-y color because it'll add warmth without looking coppery. We were going to leave some of the highlight in.
Satisfied with the game plan, he applied the dye and we chatted away. When it came time to wash out the color and style the hair, I was getting nervous. I had to remove my glasses for the entire process and was just now seeing how dark the result was, but told myself it was probably because my hair was wet. Camilo styled it into a beautiful, bouncy bob. It was so very soft and full of life, but all I could say was, "Why is it black?" He assured me it wasn't black, it was a brown that blended in with my roots. He handed me a mirror to take a look at the back. The cut was great, much better than what I had walked in with, but I thought I saw a blonde chunk on the back of the head. When I pointed it out, Camilo assured me it was just because of how the hair was laying. "Okay," I figured. Maybe it was just the lighting. The sun had already gone down. I felt the swift pang of disappointment in the pit of my stomach but paid ($120 for the haircut, dye, Olaplex, and tax for using a credit card) and left a tip. I caught an Uber home.
The first thing my legally blind mother said to me was, "Why is your hair BLACK?? What is on the back of your head?" I ran to inspect in my room. Sure enough, among very dark tresses, was a very obvious, very random blonde chunk. I called the salon back and said that I was coming back because I needed this chunk removed. "Of course, come right back in." Camilo was polite as ever, without a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I will make time for you."
I returned to the salon and he fixed up the chunk at the sink. I said I didn't want another blow-out because I was just going straight home, but he insisted to at least dry without styling because it was raining outside and he didn't want me to get sick. I was offered coffee multiple times during each visit. All in all, the staff was great and so kind. I was happy that he devoted time to me, but, the more I look at my hair, the more horrified I am at how dark it turned out. I don't understand how such a miscommunication could have happened when I came prepared with so many photos. I know that blonde hair really drinks in the dye, which is why I went to a professional salon instead of dyeing it out of the box myself. But the result that I got, well ... I haven't had hair this dark since a fourteen year old "goth" me decided to dye my own hair blue-black.
I feel devastated every time I see myself and it's not because I was previously blonde (I only had the blonde for about two months after having my natural color the majority of my life). It's just so stark against my skin, so different from what I had envisioned going in, and I feel really dumb for paying so much for something so different from what I had wanted. I feel like I'm stuck with this hair and can't even begin to think of how to fix it without completely frying it.
The roundup: Wonderful, considerate staff; extremely personable stylist; end result of hair makes me want to die inside. read more