Mission 6

I had gotten a haircut by Shannon over a year ago when he still worked in San Jose and he later left that salon. It was such a great haircut and it grew out really nicely… I knew I had to find him again!
I wanted to try something new with my hair and so I had gotten a really bad dye job at a salon in Santa Clara… never again. I waited a few months so that I wouldn’t TOTALLY damage my hair and in the meantime I had found Shannon!
He listened to me and was very precise with my hair. I also had so much fun talking with him! Definitely seeing him again!

I’ve been going to Mission 6 for about 4 years now. Brenda (owner and stylist) is awesome. She always listens to what I want; including a few recommendations here and there and always gets the look spot on. That is pretty hard since I’ve had my share of mishaps with other stylists. She is tough to get an appt with (month or two in advance) but she always tries to accommodate her schedule whenever she can.
Now going to the salon is always a treat! (no awkward silences) haha

The new owner was friendly…

I hadn’t touched my hair since I was 3 months pregnant… my son is 6 months old now. That being said, my hair was in pretty bad shape and hadn’t been as long as it was in 20 years. I went in not knowing what I want, cut or color. So I let Shannon do his thing and I’m SO happy with the result. It’s really easy to style in the morning and the color is gorgeous! My son didn’t even recognize me when I got home, which I took as a compliment.

This review is only for Jaqueline (sp?) and only if you prefer to blowdry your curly hair straight. If you are in that category, I’d consider the cut I got a 4 star. (The cut didn’t look good when left to airdry, which is why I don’t still go there.) You can see the cut in my profile photo. It looked even better when she first styled it. (Had more lift and fullness.) She is adorable but wasn’t able to give me a cut that worked for my curly hair when it’s not blown straight. For that, so far I’ve found Monica Foster, who did a dry cut.
I also tried Lelu at Mission 6 a couple of times, and would only give that cut a 2. She is a sweetheart and tries hard but, at least at the time (a couple of years ago) wasn’t able to give my curly hair a good cut.

First of all, this review is for my stylist, Dre Loretto. Mission 6 is not really a salon, but rather a location where a bunch of stylists work independently, so you can’t really give a rating to the business as a whole.
Dre has the two most important characteristics required for a stylist (as opposed to a barber or a beautician). 1. She has stylish taste (edgy-​yet-​feminine), which you can tell from the way she dresses and the cut of her own hair. 2. She is thoughtful and technical when it comes to the art of cutting and coloring hair. She can think a few steps ahead and recognize what will or won’t work for a client depending on their hair texture, face shape, etc.
Her specialty is color. She is a perfectionist when it comes to highlights. She divides sections BY THE STRAND. The result is a very expensive, natural-​looking hair color. I’ve had other stylists who take larger sections of hair to highlight (because it’s fast and they’re lazy). The result is a color job that looks cheap and trashy. All that said, I find Dre’s rates very reasonable for the service she provides.
Lastly, I always enjoy my time in the chair with her. She’s a great conversationalist and is easy to relate to — which is important when you consider that a highlight job, cut and blowout can take at least 2.5 hours.
One caveat: she has a very dedicated clientele, so it isn’t easy to get an appointment when you want. Your best bet is to book online, or to go to Mission 6 when it is open and book with the receptionist. Calling is tough since the reception desk isn’t always manned.

I work at a Spa and recently my stylist moved away. I was so bummed and knew I would have to begin a quest to find someone new that would be a good fit. I looked on Unilocal at A LOT of salons in the area and nothing had really struck my fancy. Then a very sweet and hip client of ours mentioned that she had been going to Mission 6 and LOVED her stylist.
I was a little nervous because her hair is quite a bit different than mine in terms of length and style, but it was some of the things she said about her stylist having natural intuition and being up to date on trends in the industry. So I went ahead and booked my apppointment.
The salon was closed when I called so I booked online (super convenient). I showed up, but by my own mistake I had come in a week early. NO sweat! They were able to set me up the next day at a time that actually worked even better! The receptionist was nice and very helpful, which I tend to keep a look out for since I work in the industry.
Anyway, when I came in for my appointment Dre came over and introduced herself and we hit it off right away. I showed her the a pic I had downloaded to my phone of the style I wanted to work toward (since my hair wasn’t quite as long as in the image). Dre NAILED IT! I’m super stoked that I found a stylist who knew how to work with my curly unruly hair and acheive the exact style I had in mind. She is a rock star and I’m already looking forward to my next visit because she is fun and cool to chat it up with. Thanks Dre, I will definitely send some people your way!

Unfortunately, I cannot comment on whether Mission 6 is any good at cutting/​coloring hair because of their terrible pre-​appointment customer service:
1) They cancelled my Saturday appt on Friday morning because the stylist had the stomach flu (which is almost always a 24-​hour bug, so canceling Friday morning for a Saturday appt seems pre-​mature).
2) Did not pick up the phone during business hours on Friday when I called back trying to reschedule.
3) Required 3 calls to reach someone Saturday morning.
4) Did not offer any good options for rescheduling for me (I work during the week and had an event 2 weeks from my original appt, which is why I was trying to get my hair cut in the first place).
To summarize — huge disappointment, leaving me scrambling to find somewhere else on short notice.
I cannot help but think that they accidentally booked me on a day the stylist planned on being out (for the long weekend), and were just lying to cover up their mistake. Even then, they could have offered me different stylist/​time options, and they didn’t even try.

This place is way overrated! It’s decent for Palo Alto, which is lacking in things like good hairstylists and tasty dinners, but on a global scale, it sucks. I had my hair cut by LeLu, and I thought it was ironic that she professes to be really creative, edgy, and anti-​establishment, and then she gives me a slightly layered cut out of the 80s that pretty much looked like my cut going in, but shorter. I am the type that likes to give my stylist free reign to see what they’re worth.
The cut itself was okay, but not great. It was straight, but also choppy, if that makes any sense. It also turned out to be that awkward length that’s just past the shoulders and not long or short. Only the bottom inch is layered, so when it’s blowed dry with a rounded brush, my head looks like a mushroom. I paid $ 75 for my cut, and I think it was worth about $ 50. She was pleasant enough, a decent conversationalist, and spent a lot of time on my hair. However, I thought it was poor form for another stylist to tell her that her next client had been waiting for 10 – 15 minutes in the middle of my hair cut. That may have been the reason why LeLu barely touched my bangs, which I was disappointed by.
Anyway, I’m pretty picky about my hair and hairstylists, having had my hair cut at Fredrick Fekkai, Christophe Salon, Jose Eber, Tony & Guy, etc, and I’d fairly say that LeLu isn’t the most talented and doesn’t have the most vision, but gives a decent cut. I wouldn’t go back to have her do anything drastic to my hair, but if I were going in for a trim, I might consider it.

Came here four times throughout the year whilst I was studying in Stanford and didn’t have a car. Tried 3 stylists in all — Michelle, Le Lu, and Brenda.
They were all pleasant enough, but of all 3 of them, Le Lu was the only one who gave me a decent (but not stellar) haircut which grew out well and was a good conversationalist as well. However, Brenda was a major disappointment, given the extended wait times (5 wks avg for appt) and positive reviews — I decided to trust her 3 weeks ago again and am regretting it badly now. She admired her work when she was done with the cut and said it was «well balanced out» and looked very pleased, but I could see that it wouldn’t grow out well. It was boring and flat and looked terrible in photoshoots. The stylists in here just aren’t very experienced in cutting male Asian hair — they do a decent job but definitely not enough to warrant the stellar ratings they are getting here.
For the price they charge, definitely go to Japantown in SF instead. Half the wait, and double the result. Also, the facilities are quite lacking for a modern hair salon — for a $ 50+ haircut, you would expect much more.

Just moved to the area and looking for a stylist. So glad I looked up the Unilocal reviews! I actually had an appointment with another salon in Los Altos, but got a last minute phone call cancelling because they had some issues. So glad they did!
I called at 9 a.m. and LeLu answered. She said she had a 2 pm cancellation and I went. I love the atmosphere! Simple but chic, I didn’t leave feeling that I had paid to keep the room looking stylish instead of the stylist.
LeLu is a great stylist and an interesting person. Creative, a good listener, interested in her work and trying to keep it fresh. (So many stylists, like cab drivers, will tell you that hair is just a stepping stone along the way to some endeavor they have planned). She did my color and matched my natural perfectly. Also «restructured» the cut. Didn’t actually remove much hair but made it all swing together so well. I was there for 2 hours and she was with me the whole time, no other clients splitting her time.
I have paid big bucks for cuts and color in other states, often over $ 200, but she wasn’t even near that much. I was quite impressed with the prices.
Not only will I go back, but I am sending my husband in. While I was in there, I watched a steady stream of men come in and go out looking hot! The hubby has a head of hair and a lot of cowlicks and he has a hard time finding somebody who can cut it well. I think Dre might be able to do it for him, since she was the person with all the clientele.
Great place. I have mixed feelings about telling others about it, though. Don’t want to fight the competition!

I was so happy that my aunt referred me to Jaclyn, at Mission 6 Salon. For the past 10 years I’ve always flown to L.A. to get my hair cut and colored. It’s been a long time coming that I find someone in my backyard! Here and there I’ve tried out Salons from Palo Alto to San Francisco and was never really happy with my color.
Jaclyn is a very experienced stylist and great colorist! I would highly recommend Jaclyn to all who are looking for a new do or a fabulous color change! I feel she is reasonably priced, but only excepts cash and checks.
Call 2 – 3 weeks ahead of time because she books up quickly!

It’s been a long time since I have written about Mission 6! Still love this place and my hairdresser, Dre. She is awesome. A perfectionist, she’ll keep working on your hair until she gets it just right. She is great at improvising if you’re not sure about what you want… which is always the case for me. =)
I get a ton of compliments whenever she cuts and colors my hair.
As always, never any sales pressure here. Love that! A tip about parking… get here before or after lunch otherwise you’ll be fighting for a spot.

I came here with my friend because we needed to buy some B&B products. My salon is down in SJ and we didn’t have the time to go there, so we made do with swinging by here. At first glance, I thought this place was fairly legit. It seemed nice enough, but I certainly wasn’t planning on changing salon anytime soon.
As we were perusing the products, one of the stylists came up and started to assist us. She was nice and enough and certainly meant well, but most of her advise went against everything my stylist tells me. She even tried to correct my friend a couple times. My stylist down at Umbrella (in SJ) has had plenty of training, including workshops and such in NYC at B&B – I personally don’t think she had.
As we continued on, I noticed that the specific products I wanted weren’t even available (surf spray and styling crème), alas. My friend was going to get some sumotech and grooming crème. We avoided the grooming crème because there was only one bottle, and it was tagged as «not for resale.»
Next we started to pay, and the woman didn’t think she could take credit card, but low and behold the machine worked for her. I tried to pay for the travel size bottle of tonic shampoo I wanted with amex, but they don’t take that (boo!), so cash it was.
After my friend and I got back to the car, we looked at the sumotech, and sure enough on it was a sticker that indicated it was not for resale either. WTH?! I took it back inside and was asking the woman why their products were all tagged like this. She said that they were for the stations, but rest assured it’s the same product. Yea, I know it’s the same product, but it’s the principle that they purchased it for a reduced price to use at the stations, not for reselling it at a higher profit margin. We checked the other 5 boxes and all were tagged for no resale.
If they can’t even carry legit products, I’m not about to even consider getting a cut here. No thanks! (For the record, I have also reported the salon to B&B headquarters for reselling the products.)

It’s been a while since I’ve actually written a review on Unilocal instead of just reading them… so clearly I am impressed enough to spend the time writing a review.
I’ve had a hard time finding somebody new in the area to cut my hair and was starting to wonder if I just couldn’t explain myself properly. Dre is awesome. I explained to her what I didn’t like about my hair and what I would like and she immediately knew what to do – and the results were spot on! She is very personable, very stylish, and she definitely knows what she is doing. The price is reasonable for the quality, and I’m glad I finally have a new stylist that I feel comfortable going to and I am very satisfied with the results.
I think Dre is somebody who cares about the quality of her work and I really appreciated how she made sure my hair looked good even when it had no product in it and was just washed and dried. All around, everything was excellent!

I would give it a 3.5 stars but given the good effort by my stylist, I decided to round it up to 4 stars.
I have been getting my hair cut from Festoon in the city and still trying to find the replica razor-​cut experience in the peninsula… my hair just grows out nicely with razor cuts.
I tried True a couple of months ago but the stylist there left (and it was ok, not memorable). I decided to try Mission 6. It took a few tries to book an appointment but upon leaving a msg, I got a call back. I was assigned Michelle.
When I arrived, Michelle told me she has a cold and gave me the option of coming back at another day or just keeping my appointment. I thought this level of thoughtfulness was great — and decided to keep the appointment.
The overall experience was pleasant. Salon was very clean. I told Michelle what I wanted and she delivered exactly that. I am waiting to see if my hair grows out nicely — which generally is the true test for me on whether the cut was actually good.
So far so good. I am still not married to this salon yet but in a couple of weeks, I shall see if the hair still behaves nicely without much maintenance.
Recommendation: I would say just leave a msg if you can’t get to a live receptionist. I am sure they will call you back.

My review #100 is reserved for something special.
My very first appointment with Lelu was almost 3 years ago. On one fine day I decided to part with my semi-​permed waist length hair. I made an appointment with Mission 6 after doing some research online. The only stylist available on that weekend was Lelu.
When I first walked into the salon I immediately noticed there were no overwhelming scent from any of the products. I have bad fragrance allergy and that was a main reason why I hated going to salons.
Lelu had a 15 minutes consultation with me before working on my hair. She asked me questions about my lifestyle and fashion style. At the end she suggested a hairstyle that was easy to manage yet not too dramatically different from my current style.
My first haircut took almost 2 hours. She was very patient and detail oriented. She even taught me how to style my own hair. I was happy will the result but felt she was a bit too cautious. I went back to her again couple months later and this time I let her know I was ready to let go a lot of my hair.
Haircuts from Lelu get better after every visit. I was absolutely thrilled with my last two haircuts (photos attached, just don’t laugh at me =P).
I believe hair stylists are true artists and hair styles are art work. It is important to find a stylist that works well with you. I am glad to have found Lelu. She is pretty good at giving me the feminine chic with a sprinkle of edginess look that I want. (as oppose to feminine sweet girly style that many of my previous stylists often suggests)

I got a haircut here by Brenda ($ 60 base price). I had longer hair that got fried by a Japanese straight perm in NYC — see review to Hair OZ in NYC
.
Brenda made it all better. She cut off or «textured» the damaged portion and let me keep some of it for length (I really hate parting with length and Brenda was very understanding about that). She layered it and gave me some longer bangs. I liked the Bumble Bee or BB (sp?) products she used. Great service and clean and cozy setting. Simple décor and plenty of street parking outside. Brenda was prompt and on time, which I really appreciated. Will come back soon to coat my white hairs from the stresses of work, pending Brenda’s schedule. Maybe I should not be Unilocaling this so I can get a sooner appointment.
Anyway, the fried portion of my hair is mostly gone and what is left of it is controllable now. She recommended an emergency conditioner made by a Japanese company for people like me that end up with fried hair as a result of a Japanese perm (makes me want to think that the Japanese invented the fried straight perm on purpose to charge us hundreds for the perm and sell us products to remedy it — jk). I used the ER conditioner and it worked (and it was only $ 8 for a small tube). Thank you Brenda!

Dre is awesome! I’m terrible at articulating what I want. I think I muttered something like, «Uh, short and, uh, dykey but not too dykey. And not like, um, spiked, but sort of up, you know?» From this verbal mess, she managed to give me one of the best haircuts I’d ever had. I haven’t been to anyone else since.
Dre is also very friendly. I’m pretty quiet, and used to hate the awkward conversation stylists try to make. But with Dre, we actually have a conversation – and what’s more, she *remembers* things from one time to the next. I don’t know how she does it, but it makes me feel like more than a random customer. I’ve turned several friends onto Mission 6. All have gone to Dre and been similarly impressed.
Finally, I really appreciate Dre’s honesty. If I want to do something that she thinks won’t look good on me, she’ll tell me so – but she’ll do it if I insist. She’s great at giving suggestions without foisting her sense of style on me. Very professional.
The $ 70 price tag is, admittedly, *very* high (though maybe not for Palo Alto?). But all in all, definitely worth it.

Jaclyn is the bomb. I always get compliments on my hair & she did an amazing job on my hair for my wedding.
She is so sweet & so thoughtful & makes sure you know exactly what she is doing.
Even with all the new clients I’ve brought her, she still manages to get me an appointment when I need one! Now that is amazing!!!