Drybar Back Bay

I love love love this hair salon, it’s seriously my favorite hair salon ever, I can go on and on lol great décor, great stylists, great mimosas and great hair tools!

To summarize: painful. First, there was no toilet paper – anywhere in the shop! Second, quite dirty, from dirt along the baseboard to hair in the rollers. Third, my blowout was literally painful and my hair looked worse than when I do it myself, flat and blah. The last time I went to this location, it was the same, but I decided to give it another try. I’ve been to Drybars in California, and had a great experience each time, so it’s surprising that this one is so bad.

I had my hair done at Dry Bar on my birthday and did not have the best experience. The staff is not friendly at all which kills the vibe. Good customer service is key, and it was not provided here. Also, my sister and I asked for mimosas and we got them right when our hair was started however, once it was empty no one asked if we would like another. The girl doing my hair was also rough and hurting me while blow drying. My hair holds a curl great, I can normally sleep on it for 2 nights and it will still look perfect, but this was not the case. No more than an hour later my hair was flat and same with my sister. It looked like we had never had our hair done. I wanted to like it here but due to this experience I will not return.

Back once more for my pre-​company holiday party blow out! The combo of bad weather and terrible traffic made me over 30 minutes late for my appointment (and my friend 15 minutes late for hers!). Tried to call to let them know we were delayed, but there was no direct phone number to this Drybar location. Instead, we called some sort of dispatch number where they said they would «make note» of our call… a bit odd.
Anywho. When we got there the place was slammed! Luckily, my friend was still able to keep her appointment. Since I was so egregiously late for my appt, they had to put me on the walk-​in list. Definitely not the best case scenario, but understandably, they were busy and booked up. After chatting with the front desk lady, she had mentioned the possibility of getting me in for an «in and out» — no wash, just a quickie style. I told her I’d be down — I’d just washed my hair that morning anyway. Lo and behold! I was in a chair with my white wine in mere minutes.
My hair was voluminous with big curls (per my instructions) — and after telling my stylist that my hair will not hold a curl thanks to my silky Asian hair — the stylist ended up curling me with the flat iron! Curls held all night and I felt super fancy.
I was wondering (and maybe hoping, just a little) I’d get a bit of a price break, since I didn’t get the full Drybar treatment, but I still ended up paying the full $ 40. Not a huge deal, seeing as I could’ve never done my own hair like that, but I was a little bit disappointed.
Overall, another decent experience. Definitely gonna keep Drybar on my special occasions list.

This place has gone down hill since it first opened.
It used to be service based, friendly and a great experience. They used to offer mimosas and coffee. Now, this is not the case.
Service is not friendly or courteous. They no longer offer drinks and if you request one, they still don’t bring it. The staff dresses unprofessionally. It seems like there is no adult there to correct everything.
And they rush you in and rush you out. In an effort to pack in as many people as possible, they tend to overbook and keep you waiting for a pre-​booked appointment.
This wouldn’t matter so much if the blow out is good. The last two times I have gone, my hair didn’t even last for three hours. I can do better myself.
Not worth the time or expense and I won’t be wasting my money here again.

I walked out of there 3 hours ago looking like a million bucks, was in my climate-​controlled office within 5 minutes aaaaand my hair is flat. I don’t get it, I didn’t play around with it, the stylist spent a solid hour working on my hair. I’m going to chalk it up to their products, as my hair is naturally wavy/​not difficult to work with. I’m really disappointed especially since I was told that it’d last me at least through the evening. Total bummer, wouldn’t go back again.

I’ve been to a few Drybar locations, and it’s a bit of a pity that each one is so different. Both the salons I frequent in San Francisco have always provided beautiful blow outs and really listened to what I wanted, so much so that I even purchased a pack.
I came on an early Friday morning, and went for my usual Cosmo Tai (loose curls with beachy waves). My stylist was unfortunately very unattentive, and even after discussing what I wanted the end result to look like, I ended up with alot of very tight curls. I also mentioned that I liked products in my hair to achieve volume, and all I got was a quick spray of hairspray that had my curls falling out soon after. Somebody else mentioned that they seemed to rely on the curling iron alot, and I have to agree.
I still plan to frequent Drybar back home since I have the rest of my pack still, but I plan to try out Blo next time I’m in Boston.

After an extremely stressful day, I really needed a blowout! I’m pretty sure the negativity was washed out of my hair.
I had missed my appointment earlier that morning because I was 17 minutes late. The salon only holds appointments for 15 minutes. They quickly rescheduled my appointment for later that afternoon.
My blowout was shiny, bouncy and last 4 days! No matter the city, Drybar never disappoints!

Okay, I think this is my final update.
So, the Drybar group is pretty serious about customer service from the corporate level on down. After my last review, I got a personal call from someone in client relations and she was pretty fantastic. I greatly appreciate a company that sincerely cares about their customers.
I went in for a redo and it was better. I am still having issues with this blow drying location being able to provide me with the volume I like. I am southern which means when I say volume, I want «Dolly Parton/​the bigger the hair the closer to God volume». I think the challenge for some may be because my hair is both curly and fine; however, there is an educator there who stepped in and her volume skills on my hair type was AMAZING. I don’t think she actually takes full on clients, but if she did I would definitely become a regular.
The most recent time I went in it was even better than the redo because I think we got the heat equation figured out (and I was done in an hour!). If there’s too much heat, I really do end up looking like Diana Ross within minutes of walking outside. I typically shy away from product in my hair-​other than heat protectant– but I allowed it this time since it was stated by my stylist that she can achieve great volume with product. However, it still really was not quite there. Not at the level of the educator who did this amazing technique of alternating between cold blasts and hot flashes. I even went home and tried the technique, and it worked a little for me, but of course I am not a professional nor do I have the pro tools.
So, I think Drybar Back Bay is A-​Okay. I would try them again when I don’t feel like doing my own hair (or when it finally grows back from my disaster of a haircut earlier this year and it’s so long that I’m wearing buns every day to avoid doing it).
I really wanted to find a place I could go weekly, but I can’t justify paying the cost for something if it’s not exactly what I want. There’s another review on here from a woman who also has fine hair, and I would say my experience is almost equal to hers. I think maybe the stylists there don’t get much training on that hair type. Not sure, but I guess it’s okay for now.

I really wanted to leave a positive review here, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I came hoping to have shiny, bouncy pretty hair, and received the exact opposite.
I came to Drybar to have my hair styled for my engagement photos. My appointment started late, which put me behind schedule. It also ran long, over an hour. It takes me 45 minutes at my regular salon to get a cut AND style, so I don’t understand why this took so long. I had to do my makeup in the chair as the stylist was still working and ended up being late to my shoot.
In addition to the timing, my blow out was just terrible. The stylist — who was very sweet — put a tremendous amount of product in my hair. I couldn’t tell because the lighting was pretty low, but once I went outside, my hair looked dirty and dusty. I couldn’t even run my fingers through it because the product just made it course and tangled. She also used a curling iron after the blow out to try and style the hair. She pressed down on the clamp and my hair smelled burnt for the rest of the evening. I had awkward creases all over from the clamp, and the curls looked like fake Barbie hair. I had to have her pull them out to make it look more natural and in line with the style I saw in the their book. The blow out fell flat before I even got to my shoot, only 15 minutes away. It was flat and stringy.
I was so disappointed with the overall experience here. I came specifically for a happy, special occasion and did not receive the quality of service I expected. I should have just done it myself.
Here’s hoping photoshop can work miracles!

Inconsistent. That is the word I would use to describe this drybar location. I have difficult hair to manage which makes me a regular customer at drybar but I am beginning to think I will be looking for other places to go.
The stylist I had yesterday was incredibly rude from the moment she introduced herself. Then, during the wash, she got water all over me so much so that I was freezing during the entire blowout.
I had asked for very straight with no volume but that definitely was not the result. Also any interaction with her during the blowout itself was cold and not friendly.
Then, when I checked out, the receptionist was on the phone for a good 5 minutes before she checked me out. Usually they ask how everything was but this time they didn’t so I couldn’t even tell them how the experience was. On a corporate level, drybar’s customer service is excellent but this location leaves a lot to be desired.

The quality of the stylists has gone downhill since I first started going here about a year ago. While there are some stylists that have done a fabulous job in the past, I presume that these stylists often leave to work at a more high end salon, and this turnover means less experienced stylists are hired to replace them. Drybar needs to do a better job of rewarding & retaining their more talented employees as they are literally the heart of the business. The convenience is nice, but at the end of the day, I am getting a blowout to feel good about myself — not feel dissatisfied with the way my hair looks. You can shower me with mimosas and cutesy décor all you want but it’s the end result that matters here. Some examples of the poor experiences I’ve had (which are becoming all too common):
–I had a free birthday blowout that turned out to be the worst blowout I ever had. The stylist seemed to be rushing and was talking to another stylist instead of paying attention to what she was doing. When she turned me around my roots were a frizzy mess! There were flyaways everywhere and the roots still weren’t completely straight or smooth. Granted, I have difficult and curly hair that requires a little more muscle to smooth out, but since other stylists didn’t seem to have a problem I have to attribute my crappy hairdo to her laziness and poor technique. I went home and fixed it myself with a flatiron — something I should NOT have to do after paying $ 40 for someone else to do my hair!
–Another stylist seemed to not know how to properly shampoo hair and was spraying water all over me while doing so. She also used way too much shampoo and not enough conditioner, and my hair was noticeably dry and stripped of moisture after the blowout. Tying the «towel turban» was also a challenge for her and she spent a good chunk of time trying to get it to stay until giving up and leading me to her chair with a loose towel sitting atop my head. The end result was also underwhelming but looked better after flatironing my roots and flyaways at home (which again, I shouldn’t have to do).
On a positive note, there was one truly exceptional stylist that did wonders with my hair and took the extra time to make sure it was done right. Unfortunately I forgot her name and I’m unsure if she still works there :/​there are definitely some hidden gems working at Drybar but it’s sad that they’re becoming few and far between. As a frequent customer I want to have faith in Drybar. If the quality of the staff continues to decline the way it has, however, I may need to find a different salon for my blowouts that provides more reliable results.

As an African American with coarse hair, I was quite hesitant about getting my done in a salon in back bay. So I walked in with pretty low expectations but to my surprise drybar did not disappoint! My stylist Carmin was such a professional! She took the time to allow me to voice my preferences and concerns before she brought me over to the wash area. She did an outstanding job with the shampooing which left my scalp feeling super clean afterwards. She was efficient and thorough with the blow dry and flat iron while using just the right amount of product in my hair. Her effervescent attitude and charisma was so enjoyable and it was a blast being her client for the hour. Overall she is exceptional and by far one of the best hair dressers that I’ve ever been to!
I’ll definitely return for another blow out!

I had an appointment here for a Saturday afternoon blow-​out before going to a show later that night. I love the concept of blowout bars and this was not my first rodeo. However, I was going to a show in the Theater District later that night so I didn’t want to schlep myself over to Blo in the Seaport. Drybar it was. I figured I would give it a shot. Upon entering the door, all I could smell was hair product and I swear, I thought I was walking into a midst of hairspray.
Since in every email from DryBar — creating the appointment and confirming the appointment — stated to be on time (!!!), I showed up at 4:40 for a 4:45 appointment. Not knowing what to expect, I sauntered in and waited … … the receptionist could barely be bothered to look past his computer screen. I honestly thought he was going to jump right into it. When I said I was here for a 4:45 appointment, he confirmed my name and told me to have a seat.
So here’s the first thing you’ll notice — there is virtually no waiting area. I get it, Drybar is in an old converted brownstone. However, there are two oversized chairs in the front and a bench that seats two people. There were about 10 people waiting, total. Now, if you’re going to hammer it to me to be on time, I expect for the salon to be on time, too. A few minutes here or there is one thing, but there were people waiting for over 20 minutes. On a Saturday afternoon, that’s huge. In fact, one woman even walked out because she no longer had time. Ouch.
Now that my feet were practically numb from standing in heels, my stylist finally arrived. Jocelyn was sweet and energetic. It was time to go downstairs to get washed up. The shampoo only took a few minutes. I don’t know if they were making up lost time, but it seemed short. Then, it was up to the fourth floor to get styled. We talked about my hair style — what I liked and what I didn’t like. I wanted curls and volume. My hair is naturally wavy and I could mimic that look at home. Since I have no dexterity to use a curling iron, we decided on fun, volumizing curls. My hair is very thick so I kept asking for tight curls that would fall throughout the evening. Jocelyn and I talked about current events and our dogs and we had a great time. It was clear that she really liked what she did.
Overall, I was really pleased with my style. Even though it was scheduled from 4:45 — 5:20, I actually gotta out there around 5:50. I didn’t feel like I was shortchanged. In fact, I loved my hair. The curls were perfect and I felt awesome.
The checkout procedure is rather simple; just be forewarned that they only take credit card payments.

It was my first experience at DryBar and Meredith was incredibly sweet, accommodating (asking me if I would like a beverage several times.)
My hair looked fantastic and I was grateful Meredith did not use too much product in my hair as my blowout looked fresh a great deal longer than anticipated.
I did have to pay an extra $ 20 but the quality was there so I did not mind.

I’m not a huge fan of Drybar… Here’s why…
Upon entering I walked up to the reception desk where I met a gentleman who didn’t even look up from the computer screen. I said I was there for an appointment and he robotically said «one moment» (still hadn’t looked up from the computer screen). In working in office environments for more than 10 years myself I understand what it’s like to be interrupted when in the middle of working on something. However, when being the face of the company it’s important to at least greet someone…
Luckily, a second receptionist came over to the desk shortly thereafter and sat next to the gentleman. She was cheery, welcoming, and kind. She even asked if I’d like a beverage then asked me to take a seat.
I sat down and had to wait a few minutes… then a few more minutes. I’m assuming my stylist was running behind because about 10 mins after my scheduled appointment time the stylist came over with my beverage and said «follow me». My stylist didn’t introduce herself to me or ask if I’d been there before, nothing… She didn’t really engage me in very much conversation throughout the duration of the service and when she did engage me in conversation she was pretty curt with me.
It was my first time visiting the salon and I wasn’t familiar with the menu and all of the pictures seemed pretty similar. When I asked what the differences were she seemed kind of annoyed that I wasn’t up on the salon lingo… I chose the cosmo-​tai and off to the wash area we went. The wash was pretty standard and then I was sent back upstairs with sopping wet hair dripping down my neck. L’oreal straightening balm was used on my hair to assist in the blow dry process along with some sea spray. L’oreal? Really?
The blow dry was very rushed and unpleasant. The conditioner which was used on my hair wasn’t very good and left me with many tangles which were painful to remove. I wasn’t very happy with the end product and my hair was still a little damp underneath. Sadly, I didn’t notice until after I left the salon or I would have asked her to finish drying.
After my walk to the commuter rail I looked in the mirror and noticed my hair was already frizzy. I understand that not everyone knows how to blow dry curly hair, but going to a place which specializes in blow outs, and in the Back Bay neighborhood to boot I definitely expected more. $ 40 plus tip for frizzy locks… Not worth my time or money.
2 stars for the nicer of the two receptionists, location, and the online booking feature. I really really really wanted to love this place. Very disappointed.

I loved the ambiance of this place. It’s beautifully decorated in yellow and there are succulents everywhere, and when you check in, you are offered coffee and champagne. My friends and I were there to get our hair blown out for my friend’s birthday, so we indulged in some mid-​day mimosas.
I wish the wash/​scalp massage was a bit longer, but it’s not like it was particularly short. They have a catalog with about 10 different looks that you can choose. I didn’t think that my blowout really looked that much like my chosen look, but I liked it nonetheless. I would definitely return.

This place is awesome! I came for an appointment with Christina and she was GREAT. This place is so much better than Blo Bar for the following reasons:
–they played mean girls on the TV
–they have magazines right there in front of you so you literally sit AT a bar
–easy scheduling online
–open late every single night and early every single day too. they have 6 45am appointments and also as late as 7pm even on Mondays
–nice people; offer champagne, tea, coffee, and water to you.
–fast, efficient, and overall great service.
The front desk girl was nice enough to give me the 10 dollars off for the deal where Mondays through Wednesdays you get the cut marked down.
I live in South End and its a close 15 min walk from my apt/​and they did a MUCH better service than Blo Bar.
Thank you! Will be back!!!
PS: only advice; give out shower caps please!

I came here with a Groupon, otherwise I don’t think I ever would have spent the money on something like this, unless it was a super-​special occasion. I really want to give 5-​stars because my hair looked absolutely fantastic, and they gave me a free mimosa, but there are some downfalls.
The appointment started off poorly. For starters, the receptionist did not seem to really low what to do when I checked in. There was some level of awkwardness, although she did offer me the free mimosa that I was counting on (I had read a bunch of Unilocal reviews before going in). Then I waited 30 minutes. I arrived right on time (10:30am on a Sunday) and was stressed because they tell you in the confirmation email that your appointment will be forfeited if you’re late. I was worried I might be late, but then they made me wait for half an hour? Not a great start. Additionally, the salon was super loud when I entered because of course all the blow dryers were going at the same time. I thought, that must get annoying. After a while things died down a bit, as I think there must have been a large party having their hair down all at the same time. The music volume was nice, though.
By the time my stylist came to get me at 11am, I was very worried that I was going to be late for the event I was attending afterwards, but Stephanie was so calm and friendly that she put me right at ease. Eventually, I overheard that two people had called out sick from the salon that morning, which is why everyone was behind and the girl at the desk did not know what she was doing. I really wish someone had just stated this to me at the beginning, as I would totally be able to respect that this unfortunate occurrence was something out of the salon’s control. Instead, I waited for 30 minutes with no sign of when my appointment might start.
I’m a low-​maintenance gal. Sometimes I don’t even blow dry my hair. I was expecting my hair to look like it does when you get your haircut, but this style was so flattering and glamorous. I might have to go back! $ 40 is steep for a wash/​blowdry, but for a special occasion, I think it’s well worth it if you’re not hair-​savvy.

I have now been to a few blow dry bars in Boston, and this is by far my favorite. It is fun, trendy, exciting, beautiful and high class. Everything is color coordinated with yellows and greys and mirrors. It has a very comfortable but edgy feel. Upon walking in, they offer you complimentary mimosas, champagne, wine, water, right away. It was great service. They know you by name and continuously refer to you by name. The customer service was excellent. The «Bar» that your hair gets done at is very aesthetically pleasing and really feels like a real bar. It has a display of all of the «Drybar» products that they try to sell to you, and spritz them a few extra times so you can see how nice they smell (aka, they want you to buy them). Thankfully, I held my own and resisted, however some of the girls did not.
Our group of 6 was all seen right away, my only complaint is that we were seen on three different levels. It would have been great to be all being blown out on the same floor, because it made it feel like I was there alone, and I feel like part of going to a Drybar is experiencing it with your girls. However all of our hair came out beautiful. Absolutely stunning. I am obsessed! There was one girls hair that fell out within 30 minutes of leaving the salon, which was quite disappointing. Also, on both the hair wash sink and the styling bar, there were black hairs that were sitting right in front of me the entire time and gave me the heebies. It was a little gross and made me feel like the products and appliances were not cleaned as well as they should be.
Overall, I was impressed, loved it, and would love to go back!