The one star I'll give Suede for the stylist who cut my hair, who did such an incredible job and has made my life so much easier by giving me a cut that works with my hair's thickness and texture rather than against it.
The rest of my experience was nothing short of horrible.
I have been getting my hair highlighted for north of 10 years. I've tried different salons, different stylists, etc etc but I've always had really great color. I used to go to this incredible stylist in Philly but I was always late to my appointments because I never could find parking in NoLibs, so I decided to look in Jersey instead. Big mistake. I decided to make an appointment for a partial highlight. I just wanted some face framing highlights, in a cool blonde tone that would be forgiving to my rosy cheeks. I showed the colorist some pictures and she said it looked like I wanted more of a balayage look because I didn't want highlights up at my root. (That was NOT what the pictures looked like but whatever) I said "yeah? I think? I don't really know, I just want it to look a little light around my face." She put a few foils in, then one of the girls in the back rinsed me out. Fast forward to being blown out: the color looked horrible. It was a very definite golden blonde tone, and there were unblended spots all over the place. I was mortified. The colorist came right over and sat me down to put some more foils in to lighten it up and re-tone it, adding an hour to my initial appointment length.
Even after the correction, the color was pure amateur work. There were unblended splotches all over, the tone was totally off (she asked me if I had a purple shampoo because that would "help"), and the color was placed all around my head rather than around my face. I have since washed my hair with purple shampoo, and it did nothing to help. I have the honey blonde hair I always dreaded.
To add insult to injury, this salon tried to charge me $150 for the color. When I booked my appointment, I chose a partial highlight that goes for "$80+" on their website. I chose this specifically because it fit my budget. They charged me for balayage because they said the colorist told me she was doing balayage instead, and while she did MENTION balayage, she didn't make it clear that she'd be charging me ~$70 extra. And to be honest, even IF I went in for a balayage, I would literally never pay $150 for the terrible work she did. I mean, I've never been this embarrassed by a color job! Anyway.
The thing that REALLY REALLY sent me through the roof was they wouldn't honor the 20% off coupon I had. The manager said it didn't work for balayage services, even though the email clearly says that it works for everything except lash/hair extensions, makeup, and nails. So to summarize: I was being asked to pay $150 for shitty unblended highlights, and was then denied being able to use a coupon THEY sent me because there is some *mystery* balayage exception rule. Yeah. No thanks. This place is a JOKE.
After telling them I'd never come back, they dropped the balayage price and charged me $100 for the color and $60 for the cut. $100 is STILL too much. I could have gotten the same results with a bowl of bleach from Sally Beauty Supply.
Don't go here. Just don't. read more