Heads Up

I really wanted to love this place. A friend of mine recommended this place and her stylist, Shannon, and since my «usual» salon is about 45 minutes away, I decided to attempt to find a nearby salon.
Shannon was perfectly friendly and nice. I liked talking with her and… well, like I said, I really wanted to love this place. I really wanted to love Shannon! And I feel badly writing this review, but I have to be honest.
First: The air conditioning was broken and it was a hot summer day. The windows were open and the ceiling fans were on, but it was so uncomfortable. I was paying $ 100+ to be pampered – sweating it out in a stylists chair had not been what I had in mind.
Next, Shannon and I had trouble agreeing on a shade of hair dye because the samples she showed me were on super shiny, synthetic hair that reflected under the lights. I couldn’t possibly get a good idea of what the color was because I couldn’t really SEE it. I took the swatches from her and tried to angle them to see them better, but it didn’t work. I almost asked if I could take them outside (the lighting in there is VERY harsh) but I felt like I would have looked silly, so I didn’t. I wish I had. I finally told her I wanted a «vibrant» but not «clownish» red. I brought in photos of Christina Hendricks and Karen Gillam for reference.
The biggest problem happened next. Shannon mixed the dye (and stripper, since I was going lighter) and applied it to my roots first. This might be okay if you’re going darker with your hair – but I was going lighter, and roots ALWAYS lighten the easiest, within a few minutes. You’re always, always, always supposed to dye the roots last if you’re «lifting’ color.
When she washed the color out after 30 – 40 minutes, it was completely uneven. My roots were day-​glo orange (clownish!), while the rest of my hair was a more reasonable red. She told me two things: 1) That the indoor lighting here was too harsh, it didn’t really look as bad in real life as it did in the mirror and 2) that it would gradually fade after I washed it a bunch of times.
I had asked for the dead ends to be cut off, and a side bang and some long layers added. I had told her I was a little nervous about the layers, but that if she thought the photo I had brought in would look good and flatter my face, that I would trust her. She said she thought it would look good.
Then she unceremoniously cut a chunk of hair over my left eyebrow (not a nicely shaped, angled bang like I had had in mind – I could have done a hack job at home if I had wanted that!) and cut off the dead ends, but then she blew my hair dry and said «all done». (Afterwards, my friend agreed that she didn’t think she had cut any layers. It took me two months to find a «layer» in my hair. One layer. Definitely not the photo I had brought in – like she just decided not to do layers without even getting my approval.)
I liked Shannon and I had gone in to Heads Up with every intention of making her my new go-​to stylist. Instead, I paid over $ 100 for a halo of orange hair and a not-​very-​good haircut. Not happy.
Also important to note: When I sat down with her she asked if I had any dye in my hair. I told her that I had last used henna three months ago. At this point, she should have turned me away, but didn’t. (Henna, when dyed over, has terrible chemical reactions – everything from color changes (green, blue!) and oily reactions. I’m experiencing the oily reaction at this point.)

Mary has since moved on from Heads Up… She’ll be missed for sure!!!