This review is about my experience getting my hair done by Garvin this past weekend and why I won't be returning ever. This is unfortunate because Lily is hands down the best manicurist I've been to and I have always loved her professionalism.
How my visit went:
My natural hair is black, coarse, extremely coily (a 4c if you need a type), and my sides are shaved. I called in advance because I wanted to dye my hair lavender; Garvin said I'd need to come in for a consult for a price quote because he needed to see my hair in person. Fair enough. When I arrived, the "consult" consisted of me reminding him that I called about the lavender hair, him looking at it once and saying, "Yeah, I got you, no problem, I'm gonna hook it up for you, it's gonna look fire." That's in no way specific and I asked again, if he could dye my hair lavender; he confirmed. Several times while multi-tasking on entirely too many heads at once, I continued asking him what each step was and reiterating that I wanted it medium to light lavender, showing him picture references multiple times.
As my hair is dark and coarse, I am aware that it would need to be lightened first in order for color to come through. While sitting there with a head that smelled dank and a scalp that was slowly sizzling, I repeatedly told him my scalp was burning and Garvin casually told me to 'relax because no pain no gain, it was fine, it will 'cool down in a bit' It did not and every time he asked me how it was, my response was 'it's still burning'. This paternalistic attitude is the same one he had when he cut my hair a few years ago and it was the worst, most uneven cut, cut so short, all I could do was wait for it to grow out and go to a barber to correct it. He loves telling the customer he knows what's best for them and does not listen to what the customer wants.
Eventually when the burning was peaking, and I was on the verge of screaming, I demanded his attention because it was legit BURNING. His advice was 'no pain, no gain, sweetie'. In 2019, we're still assuming beauty has to hurt, and that a customer's concerns aren't valid? Ok. Once he eventually rinsed out the bleach, he started on the color. I noticed the shade he mixed was the lavender/lilac I requested. Once applied and sitting on my hair for a while, I noticed my hair taking on the desired shade and thought he would rinse it out. Instead, every attempt to ask about the color, resulted in him telling me 'it had to sit a bit longer'. The longer it sat, the darker it became, it went from lavender/lilac to some dark magenta shade. Back at the sink, as he's looking it over, when I asked if this color was going to wind up being lavender once washed, he frustratedly mentioned needing to use developer, and toner, and needing to "make the color richer and deeper", I realize now, he was adding more dark purple to the mix, taking me WAY past my requested color. He kept saying "I know what you need, I'm gonna hook you up." As he continued depositing more color, it continued getting darker and darker.
As I was sitting in the chair for him to style it, under those bright lights, I can clearly see it is DARK PURPLE. I asked him about this and he states, "You know your hair is dark and it keeps pushing the color out so I had to make sure the color stays. You know it doesn't take color that well." No, YOU know that because you are the 'professional'. If he knew my dark, coily, coarse hair would not take that color, then I would rather be told that during the ""consult"", before I sat down, before I spent 5.5 hours and $300+, only to leave with burn scabs, and a color that is not even remotely what I wanted/requested. This salon does an excellent job on naturally straight hair and light colored hair but if you have natural kiny/coily hair, I suggest you go elsewhere. Save yourself the frustration of not getting what you want and having your requests ignored. Lesson learned. He thought he was being generous by giving me a free bottle of conditioner and offering a free toner in a week. Also, word of advice: don't badmouth your staff to clients, it's not a good look.
I'm done with this place and I'll likely be going to the barber to shave this all off. read more