Michael Christopher

4^th visit with 4^th different stylist. This time with a senior stylist. Yes, I’ll pay $ 60/​haircut if it’s worth it. Yet again, I shouldn’t of come back. Yet again, they butchered my hair and left a hole in my head getting razor happy. Yet again, unfriendly staff. My stylist didn’t even say goodbye. I just got up from the chair and walked myself out… this is NOT a quality salon. The staff simply always fall short of professionalism in every capacity. There won’t be a 5^th visit. I’ll stick with Fusion salon or Fabrizio. Never again.

I have gone to MC several times now. The first time I went was from a mani /​pedi with Jesse and it was fantastic. I would give him 6 stars if it was possible.
He recommended a stylist Dawn (and gave my a coupon), and she was great. However, she has since left.
I decided to go back for a haircut and asked for the receptionist’s recommendation on a stylist. I went to Kim and have had 2 cuts with her. She was okay, but certainly not worth the price. I found the service very overpriced for the quality.
The ambiance is also very bizarre. I find it hard to feel comfortable, like everyone is judging you if you aren’t dressed like you are headed to the club. Not for me.

Totally agree with the other review… my experience was less than what one would expect from a «world class salon»… The front desk staff are rude, and act like total snobs… and if you look at the bio’s of the «stylists» there, NONE of them have attended cosmetology school… they all graduated from the school of Michael Christopher. This concerned me because the person cutting my hair told me they don’t even have teachers/​instructors who work there to provide continuing education!!! So I guess if you work there, you can get your hair dressing license just by showing up to work! the lack of professionalism is so apparent, I mean, the shampoo techs look like they just attended the YOGA class upstairs and came back down to work! (I.E.- Hair in a pile on top of their heads, yoga pants, no make up…). The conversation between the «stylists» was appalling, and their lack of professionalism makes me wonder why people even return!

A couple of people recommended this place and I thought I would give it a try. Step in 10 minutes prior to appointment and was asked to take a seat in the cheesy waiting room that really was no more upscale then the local haircuttery just with more items for sale. After watching multiple staff walk in and out to gossip with the front desk for about 15 minutes, owner came out. Instead of greeting the customers anxiously waiting in his salon he too took time to chat with the girls up front. After he learned his client had cancelled he simply huffed back again never even acknowledging all the people waiting. After about 20 minutes past my appointment time a shampoo girl came to get me. She brought back to meet my stylist and hung around right next to the chair chatting with some more staff that were milling around. in the mirror I could see yet another stylist playing on his phone. Definitely made me wonder why I should need to wait since no one seemed at all busy. Well the stylist finally came out smelling of smoke clearly just returning from a break, when I realize this was one of the women that 15 minutes earlier was simply hanging out at the front desk. A this point I thought TABITHA it is time for a «take-​over». Clearly customers were not the priority in this salon. So the cut was okay, nothing special but the experience was no worth coming back for.

After travelling to Palm Beach for years to get my hait cut and colored, what a treat is was to realize I had the best of both worlds right in my backyard! Who needs to go to NYC when Michael Hemphill (AKA Michael Christopher is right here in Wilmington.
If I had any questions about my change of venue, they were answered when the compliments on my new cut and color kept coming.
After 2 years, I still look forward to my «Michael cut». An added plus is the way he treats his clients. You feel more like a friend than a client.
The Michael Christoper products are to die for. I use the «Lift», the color anti-​fading shampoo, and others that I can’t recall the names of. If there is ever a problem, they will do whatever it takes to correct it.
I recommend a visit to all!

Step though the doors and you’re transported back to the mid 1990s and all the campy style and class a hair salon can muster… you know, for the 1990s.
The customer, eh, I mean «client» walks though gigantic draped blood red curtains onto a plush red runner rug, the very best Kohl’s has to offer. A gaggle of ‘staff’ waits at the counter just to the left, all of them in a variety of black-​and-​white outfits… So salon chic, no? A large red chandelier hovers above for more flair of the camptastic dramatic. THIS my friends is no ordinary salon. No, it is… MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER… the monogram and name plastering everything tells you so. And judging from the clientele on my initial visit, it serves as the local cougar den for all the highbrow Wilmington cougars.
Yes, someone put a lot of money into this place sometime in the 90s. It’s nice, but a bit over the top. It’s obvious to the first time client that the owner’s effort was/​is to make it a chic, glamorous salon for all the local high class glitterotti who see themselves as, well, the local high class glitterotti. *eye roll*
The lobby area is a mix of stainless cabinets and counters holding the treasures of a convenience store ‘espresso’ machine (Hit the green button for a «latte») and the not-​so glam-​glam styrophome cups which somehow escapes being emblazoned with the Michael Christopher monogram. The lobby is cluttered with display cases holding dozens of purses and bags and dangley jewelry, the type you might find in one of those QVC catalogues. These are point-​of-​sale items for the cougar clientele, and I bet they gobble them up with wreckless abandon. Lots of stainless beaded canopies above the work stations and more heavy curtains dramatically draped to the sides of certain rooms.
While the staff seem to take themselves quite seriously, they’re friendly. I wanted a little something different for a hair cut, but walked away with identical hair to what I would get from a Super Cuts. Not a bad cut, but I was hoping the $ 40 investment would yield a little style, considering I’d talked to the stylist for 5 minutes before he cut my hair. And especially considering the stylist seemed to have endless questions about who I was, where I was from, do I go out, etc. etc. etc. Yes yes, I’m adorable and you think I’m single, gay and available. but please, cut my hair sexy, that’s all I want.
It was a haircut, that’s it. I can’t say they did it badly, they just didn’t do a $ 30-​$ 40 job. Then again, I’m no cougar and maybe that’s what you get for stumbling carelessly into their den. ;-)