Please do not go to this salon…read more
The reviewer who mentioned being treated differently and looked down upon due to not speaking Mandarin was 100% accurate. I experienced the same treatment. I was so hopeful this would be my new go-to salon for cuts & dyes, as Leo's IG was exactly what I was looking for.
I booked a hair cut with Leo, "Master" Stylist, for $88 last week, confirmed by their scheduler over Messenger, for a 7:30pm time slot (usually their closing time, but the scheduler assured me it was fine and preferred by Leo).
When I walked in, Leo warmly said, "bye bye" to the previous customer, who l heard speaking Mandarin with him. I walked up to greet him, introduced myself, and asked if he was Leo. He looked so bothered and disgusted(??), which completely threw me off. He said yes and pointed for me to sit in the seat, barely greeting me.
I said I wanted a trim, and he acknowledged that. Then I said I only wanted 1-2 inches off my long hair, as I wanted to keep my length. I asked for a couple of long layers for my main hair, and more layering for the bangs, citing a really subtle wolf cut or butterfly cut. I showed him photo examples for bangs & layers, he pointed out some were short compared to my hair length, and I confirmed they indeed were too short for me and that these photos were mainly for the layer examples and that I wanted longer.
We were the only ones in the salon at this point.
He tried to start cutting my hair without a hair wash by putting on the cape (a bit tightly at first), and I asked, "Are you going to wash my hair?" Then, he seemed aggravated and visibly upset by that question and said that my hair is so long that I'd have to pay extra to have a wash included with a cut. He took out his calculator and showed me it would be a bit over $100. I told him the scheduler confirmed it was a flat $88 for a hair cut with him, even when I stated I had long hair and asked about it. I offered to show him the messages, but then he huffed and said, "Fine, OK, $88." He was clearly agitated, roughly took off the cape, and threw it on the nearby chair. It was concerning that he seemed so pissed off... I felt so incredibly uncomfortable due to this behavior, and I contemplated leaving, but wanted to avoid any more negative reactions. So I just hoped for the best and went to the hair wash station.
The water he used was a little too hot, and he did not ask once if the temperature was okay, like other salons do. The entire wash was very rushed and rough, and he literally wrung my hair out like a wet towel!! I was shocked. Wringing wet hair causes damage, and no stylist has ever done that to my hair. Stylists normally bunch it in their hands and squeeze the water out gently to protect the hair from breakage. The shampoo and conditioner he used smelled awful, like a cleaning solution with musk. It was really so terrible that I had to wash out when I got home, and 5 shampoos that night didn't fully remove it.
Back at the salon chair, he put the cape back on (again, a bit too tightly at first), and used a small, loud hair dryer on maximum heat to dry my hair. He did not put any hair protectant or oil to protect my hair like salons normally do. He clearly was rushing as quickly as possible, yanking at my thin, tangly hair. The heat was too hot for my scalp and it hurt a bit after.
During the blow dry, my Asian boyfriend (he's Chinese, not that it's obvious or should even matter??) walked in after parking the car. I waved to him, Leo asked if he's with me, and I said yes. Suddenly, Leo's mood and tone changed when he spoke with me. He talked more in a friendly, gentle "customer service" voice (as used w/ the previous customer). I was shocked at the sudden switch. I wondered why he didn't think I should be treated this way from the beginning?
Leo very hastily dry cut my hair and only cut a tiny bit off (maybe less than or up to 1 inch) of the very center back section of hair, then essentially thinned random parts at an angle without trimming in full.
So he did not first trim all my hair before going to thin out edges and a bit of slide cutting only. He measured some of the layers to match, which was good, but then he left so much of my hair not cut at all, and I only noticed after getting home. He didn't show me the final back view with mirror like literally all other past stylists have done.
He also did not 1) first pull out all my bangs or 2) trim across first. He only made small sideway and slide cuts to thin the edges for some. I found completely missed strands when I got home, and it did not look good. I had to cut those bangs myself, it looked embarrassing to leave them.
The almost-45-min service was not worth $88, let alone w/ the rounded-up 15% tip I left, but I wanted to avoid issues and be out of there.
The only positive is my hair is still long; however, this felt like a "master" scam rather than a "master" cut. :'( I'm so sad.
