Caoba Hair Salon & Spa

Caoba is a great place for a guy to go get his haircut. When I move to a new city it takes me forever to find a stylist I can trust to always do a great job and also come with new styles in case I don’t know what I want. But I usually know exactly what I want — and Jack always nails it! I won’t get my haircut anywhere else but here.

*update I now have lice for the first time in my life from this salon.
Walked in, told me I would have to wait which was fine.
It was only after telling him what I wanted, he openly scoffed and began cutting my hair without cleaning up the chair, his scissors or comb. I felt uncomfortable as if I had requested something he was not willing to do, he promptly began shaving the back of my head.
After about 5 minutes he stopped and directed me towards the shampoo chair, shampoo and conditioned my hair. No problems there except he used freezing cold water.
At this point I was ready to walk out but he had already cut half my hair and I figured he’d be a professional about it and finish the job.
He literally took stabs at my neck with the razor which I have bruises from. Whether this was by accident or intentional it shows the man does not give a shit about his job.
That was the last straw, until he promptly scrunched my hair up in the top middle and just messed around and asked me if I liked it.
I strongly recommend anyone of any minority stay far away from this place.

When left to air dry with no product and kept far away from the miracle worker that is a hair straightener, my hair is… Special. It’s thick and curly and kind of coarse. There are varying levels of tightness of the coils and in some places, it’s not even coiled at all, it’s just wavy. My boyfriend very sweetly likes to say that I look like a Polynesian princess. I beg to differ — I think I look like if Troy Polamalu, Kenny G and Carrot Top had a threesome and then produced an illegitimate and genetically impossible lovechild.
Because of this, people at hair salons are often stumped when I walk in. I basically don’t like anyone handling my hair because between the comments that remind me that I might as well be Felisa Polumalu-​G-​Top post-​accidental electrocution and the often horrendous results of 1 in every 2 of my hair appointments (haircuts and/​or styling), I always hate it.
This place? None of that. I came here to get it washed and styled. I started off my list of do’s and don’t’s based on past experiences. This list is akin to a hostage list of demands delivered with MLK-​like passion. The guy who handled my hair was unfazed by how high maintenance I probably sounded. He touched my hair, ran his fingers through it then put his hands on my shoulder and said, «It’s like some Brazilian people’s hair. I got it.»
He really did know what he was doing! He listened to everything I said and then did more magic. My hair was completely sopping wet when he blow-​dried it and that worked wonders. Typically when others have handled my hair, they have tried to dry it some before round brushing/​blow-​drying it into place. Yes, that’s easier and less messy but when you dry curly hair, you’re teasing out the kink and frizziness unless you’re also simultaneously drying it into place.
I left and my hair had body minus the frizz. It even had a shine to it. And I got the ego boost of being told it looked Brazilian (and between Brazilian butt-​lifts, Brazilian waxes, Brazilian blowouts… Anything Brazilian must mean something good right? Right??). I have yet to try getting a haircut from here but for special occasion stuff, I have found a go-​to place.
PS: Their website has printable coupons for some services.

~Wow! I came in here this morning with bleached out hair hoping to restore my beautiful hair back into life! I found Caoba! He was great! He made my hair look gorgeous and full of colors! He did three colors that look awesome! I already got people looking at my hair and smiling! I love looking different and sophisticated! No more purple hair. I love my browns, blondes and red highlights! Thank you for doing such a beautiful job!

It’s been 7 years, and I think it’s time to give an update.
Jack is still very much in business, and that’s a good testament to how good he is. Salons rely on repeat customers, we all know that.
Talking about repeat customer, I am still seeing Jack once every few months to have my haircut, even though I have moved away from the Solara complex in Lake City to the real Lake (Union, that is). I would still trek back to have him work on my hair.
Why? He is good. And he is nice. He is a hardworking man who is very pleasant and I can always count on looking as good as I can walking out of his store. His prices are still very low compared to the high end salons, but you are not getting any less quality. And since I am in the fashion business, I know quality when I see it.
In short, I still recommend him, after 7 years of continuous patronage!

Why did you not listen to me, Jack? :(I came in to ask for a trim to get rid of my split ends and ended up losing 5 inches of my hair. Don’t get me wrong, the haircut was nice — very even, nice layers — not hacked away. Jack is very talented, no doubt about that, but it was not the haircut I was asking for. I even came with pictures :(
Word of advice for those of you who are thinking about visiting this salon — go with pictures, and be very very clear about what you want before the haircut.

IT’S UPDATE TIME!
It’s been about a year since I’ve seen Jack — I’m the laziest person when it comes to my hair. About a month ago, I visited a salon in Kenmore to get a quick haircut because I just didn’t have time to jet over to Lake City… mostly, I hate Lake City, and it’s always a struggle to convince myself to make the trek over there.
Anywho, I left that other place feeling quite sad; my haircut was totally boring, and I suppose that’s what I get for not going to Jack, who is still in my book, a hair stylist god. So I rang him up and asked him to please PLEASE fix my shapeless tresses.
Magic. Fabulous. SHAPELY! He was able to resurrect my boring hair and make it as fabulous as he always does. How does he do it? Dry cutting. I’m convinced that’s the magic he commands to create such amazing hair styles. If you don’t know about the wonders of dry cutting, just do a search and read about it.
I won’t sacrifice a good haircut in the name of quick and convenient ever again. Lesson. Learned.
The End.

I’ve been growing my hair out, so it’s been months since I had a haircut. During my hiatus, my go-​to hairdresser decided to take some time off (a year off to be exact!) I’m quite picky when it comes to my hair, but after reading all the good reviews and compliments from some of my friends (including boyfriend), I bit the bullet and made an appointment today with Jack.
I was not disappointed. I got a great promotional coupon on the website for new customers: color (or highlights), hair cut, and style for less than half the price! Jack and I chose a dark brown color with a hint of red for my hair. He checked in on me and the progress of the coloring frequently to make sure the color comes out right, and gave the best hair wash I’ve had in a long time. I’m a sucker for scalp massages.
I told jack I only wanted about 2 – 3 inches off my hair, layers (not too much so that it would thin out my hair), subtle bangs to the cheek bone, and he did just that! I love that he was very patient, took the time to get the details right.
Incredibly happy with my new hair cut and I’ve just found my new hairdresser. I can’t wait to try out other services that they offer, might try that facial!

Jack is the greatest, He is an artist and will sculpt your hair with the quick snip snip of his scissors. I will not go anywhere else to have my hair done! He is awesome!

I went for a facial and I was very well impressed. The place is simple but peaceful and the lady that gave me the treatment was very competent. My skin felt soft and smooth and stayed that way for long time. I have to say it was a good experience for a great price. Absolutely recommended.

Jack is the best! I’ve been going to him for about five years now and he has never done less than better than I expected. He respects the length of my hair (my comfort level) and makes it pop with his artistry! Best salon ever!

I went in on ⁰⁶⁄₂₅ to get my hair dyed. It took several times to get the color to take correctly. Jack would never send you home with something less than perfect. This is probably somewhere around the 12^th time I have been in over a 2 year span. I was there when @Marian A. stormed off. (Jack did actually say it would be another 10 to 15 minutes, I heard it personally. He was dyeing it red, yes?) I guess you can’t please everyone but I was ecstatic he took the extra time to get me exactly what I wanted which it what he does for each of his clients. I think he is awesome and my hair looks incredible! Go luck going somewhere else, I wouldn’t recommend it!

Went today for the third time to get a hair cut and sat in the waiting area for 20 minutes after my appointment time. Jack was still with a customer and no one came over to apologize or give me an estimate of how much longer I would have to wait. I finally got up and asked him and he said 10 – 15 minutes. Seeing as he was just starting on another round of color I decided not to wait. I won’t be back. My first haircut at Caoba was pretty good but the second one seemed rushed and he was also running between me and another customer. End result was he didn’t really listen to what I wanted. There are other hair salons near here that have better service and actually respect their clients time.

This place is fantastic. Jack is extremely professional and his scissors remind me of the barbers in Turkey with his quickness and skill. Now that I found him, I don’t know if I’ll go anywhere else! He knows how to tame my out-​of-​control mane and bring it down to something that’s still poofy and managable. Pooh-​pooh to the boss who says I need to comb my hair!

JACK IS AMAZING! I have never had a hairstylist pay such attention to detail. I have been a regular at Gene Juarez and Seven Salon for many years and I was a little skeptical going to a stylist on Lake City (not dissing the neighborhood, it’s my home, just skeptical). I am so glad that I went!
I used to go to Seven Salon and I saw an amazing stylist that I loved, but her prices became too expensive for my budget and I was looking for a change. Caoba is close to my house, so I thought I’d give it a try.
On my first visit Jack completely updated my cut and color. I hadn’t realized I was in a rut until I left feeling rejuvenated and fantastic! I just went back for my second visit last night. Again, I couldn’t be more happy with my cut and color. I have thick, medium length hair that always looks poofy. Jack left me with a style that easily air drys to perfection (which is needed for my busy lifestyle) and requires very little primping. The blonde highlights are perfect.
My boyfriend came to pick me up and was waiting in the car. I got a little nervous that he would be annoyed waiting for me. When I got to the car he said he’d been watching through the window and he was so impressed watching Jack perfect my hair. When you’re paying $ 100 to get your hair done, it’s nice if the stylist is a little OCD.
As long as I live in Seattle, this will be my spot!

First visit: 1 star
Second visit: 4 stars
Third visit: 3 stars
AVERAGE: 2.5 STARS
Caveat: I have very thick hair so it always takes longer than stylists expect, and I wanted a challenging hair color change.
Short version:
Good product but poor time estimation. First visit took 7 hours when I was expecting 2 hours. Stylist kept leaving me with his assistant while he helped other people. Second visit was great, Jack stayed late to get my cut and color perfect. Third visit was average.
Long version:
Had my hair colored by Jack over the summer twice. I had never had my hair colored before, and wanted to make a big plunge from med-​dark brown to light silver.
I went in on a Saturday, which unfortunately was the most beautiful day of the year. My appointment was at 10AM and I didn’t go home until 5PM, and had to come back to get my hair cut! My poor boyfriend came to pick me up at noon and I finally sent him home at 3 because I could tell it would be hours. (From talking with other people who have gotten extreme bleaches, 7 hours isn’t out of the question — but they had told me when I made my appointment that it would take 2 hours, so I was unprepared to spend all day there.)
Jack started off by taking some photos of my hair, then we discussed what I wanted. I told him that I had never gotten my hair dyed. I brought in pictures of the silver color I wanted, but he had me look through a binder of colors and I picked ash, which looked relatively close to silver (wrong). He was very friendly and got me a glass of water.
We had to bleach my hair three times, and he kept leaving his assistant to apply the bleach while he helped other clients. He helped more with the third bleach, which made it go much faster.
After the second bleach, he put in the ash color, and tried to convince me the butter yellow blonde color was close to the silver color of my samples. Nope. Finally, he did another bleach and a close enough tone. I came back in three days later for my cut, and he had another tone that came out the PERFECT color, exactly what I wanted. He stayed late to help me, and didn’t charge me, probably because I had such a horrible day getting the color done. My first hair color + tone, with tip, was $ 220.
In general, my appointments were a little bit awkward because he and his assistant kept talking to each other in spanish, which I don’t understand, and barely talked to me at all. I would have appreciated being kept in the loop a little more, and I was worried they were talking about me since it was taking so long.

Jack is a genius and I would never let anyone else touch my hair. I am incredibly picky due to some bad experiences and hair nightmares at chain places. I feel comfortable enough to sit in Jack’s chair and say «do whatever you want to my hair». He always makes me look amazing because of his attention to detail and the fact that he won’t take anything less than perfect. I come all the way from downtown to get my hair cut by Jack and it is always worth the drive.

Let me preface my 5 star rating by saying, I have had my toes done at many high end Spas, including Gene Juarez (famous spa pedi), and many other ones in Seattle and Vegas.
The pedi’s I get at Caoba give those guys a run for their money!
Isabel is amazing! She is so thorough and really takes her time to make my feet look and feel like a million bucks. All tools are properly sanitized and she does not use any nail files more then once (you can keep them if you like). And, the polish stays on and looks like it has just been applied for three weeks or more.
Worth every penny you get high end SPA quality for half the cost.
Thank you Isabel.

Jack is the most talented hair dresser I’ve ever known. Went there twice now and really happy with what he has done to my hair. He’s fast and most importantly — listen to you. He will give some feedback. I went to many well-​known hair salon in Seattle area, including the Habitude and Gene Juarez, but I think Caoba is better than them — his price is reasonable too. I also recommended Jack to my friend. She went there twice (driving from Kirkland) and is very happy. She used to go to Seven in Bellevue Square, but is happier with Jack, especially Jack cost much less… If you are looking for a great hair salon, call Jack. Make sure to tell him what you desire — or bring picture of the hair style you like — he will make the best out of your beautiful hair…

I just had my hair cut at Caoba salon and Jack really did a fantastic job.
I have had haircuts all over the planet and am very fussy with how my hair turns out after a cut. I usually leave feeling like something is missing (besides the hair on the floor), but today Jack cut my hair exactly how I wanted it. It looks great!
Thanks so much Caoba salon and Jack, I will definitely be back for more. :)