Image West Hair Design — Attraction in Vancouver

This is my first time writing a bad review for a hair salon in my life, but I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through.

Laia absolutely DESTROYED my curly hair. She’s the most untalented and hands down, worst hair stylist I’ve ever had the misfortune of getting a hair cut from. If you’re someone with genuine curly hair (not soft wavy hair or soft curls), please stay far away from Laia. I went home and cried after the horrible hair cut I got from her - she left my hair with incredibly uneven layers, and gave me a weird, super choppy shelf-like blob of a mess, and on top of it all charged me an extortionate 135$. She had terrible customer service and made no attempt to try and fix my hair despite seeing my obvious shock at my haircut after it was curled and dried, if anything she looked like she was in a hurry to get to her lunch break after my appointment.

She also used incredibly low quality hair products on my hair - one of the products she used ‘mixed chicks styling gel’, I found on amazon for 20$. If you’re going to be charging 135$ for a haircut, I expect higher quality hair products!

I had to go to another salon and see a master stylist, and she was completely shocked at what a terrible haircut Laia gave me. The master stylist even called over other junior stylists to use my hair as a ‘learning lesson’ for them on what NOT to do with curly hair. The stylist asked me if Laia was a ‘student stylist’ (because of how terrible the haircut was), and was shocked to learn that Laia charged 135$ because that’s much master stylists charge, and joked that Laia needs to find a new job in a new industry.

It’s easy to get away with giving a bad hair cut to curly haired people, because curls can mask uneven layers sometimes. But Laia’s skills are so poor and terrible, that no amount of hair product she put in my hair could hide what a pathetic job she did. I don’t understand how she has a job as a hair stylist. She hides behind tons of hair product and curling gel to hide the fact that she has no actual craftsmanship when it comes to cutting curly hair. This because obvious to me because after I washed my hair after my haircut with her, the true extent of the damage she caused (choppy, uneven, weird mess) because even more clear since there was so hair product to create a false level of layers and volume.

I’m grateful to the new salon for saving my hair and being able to do some damage control temporarily so I can outgrow the pathetic haircut Laia gave me. Never going back to this salon again and I will be letting all my friends know to stay away from Vancouver’s worst...

I've been a client at Image West for the past 4 years. I got so lucky to find this salon and the stylist that cuts my curly hair, Mim. Everyone at the salon is lovely, helpful and non-pretensious. The prices (and selection) of products they carry is unmatched anywhere.

I know how rare it is to find such a great stylist in a salon that is nice and welcoming to be in, because prior to becoming a client here, my search for finding someone to give me a great curly haircut sent me to hair salons and stylists across the city, so I have been to MANY different places.

Image West is full of well-priced products for all types of hair, and all the staff are very knowledgeable about their inventory. They are always helpful, never pushy and there is never any pressure to buy. I have so many friends and colleagues that have switched to this salon over the years, after I brought them in just to talk with staff about their hair and check out their products.

Mim is a phenomenal stylist and all-around delightful person. He is trained to cut curly hair, and it shows! Mim is skilled at listening and understanding your hair goals and concerns, and offering suggestions for how to achieve them or deal with "problems". One of the things I appreciate about him the most is that he offers explanations for all his suggestions, and he never pushes if you aren't feeling ready for a change. But when you are ready, he can suggest (and provide) a hair style that suits your hair, face and lifestyle. If you are interested in buying new products, he knows how to find ones that are tailored to your needs, but will never make you feel uncomfortable if you aren't interested. There is always coffee, water and tea on offer, and beautiful local art on the walls. He can carry great conversation if you are feeling chatty, or just let you relax while he does his magic.

I have bumped into many curly-haired strangers and bonded when we discovered that Mim was our stylist. Mim cuts all types of hair (as my friends will attest) beautifully, and I almost don't want to post this review for fear that he will fill up :)

I am so happy to finally have a haircut that I feel good about, and to learn how to take care of itweek between cuts....

I didn't want to be this person, but this hair salon has forced me. In an effort to protect the rest of you curly girls, PLEASE DON'T COME HERE. If you do, ABSOLUTELY NOT for colour. Stylist: Laia.

Long story short, the chemical structure of my curls has been destroyed. I asked for the colour in the image shown. Was told we could achieve that in the time we had. She made a mistake, used the dye wrong and dyed it much darker than I asked for. The colour didn't take and most washed out to look as if I hadn't dyed it in months, so I called to ask for the colour to be fixed to what I wanted.

She said yes, and that YES we had enough time during the appointment to achieve that or at least a much lighter shade than the dark mess up. My roots are radioactive orange now and my hair doesn't take moisture cream. It won't curl after washing. It is A NIGHTMARE.

I talked to their contentious brat of a salon coordinator, who refused to refund at least the full colour amount. She offered me $95 refund on a $260 service. She then said "I'm not a stylist, so I don't know what you expect me to do. I don't know your plan going forward. Use box dye, or?"

She said the only way they would fix this is if I PAY AGAIN to come back for a service to fix THEIR huge error. She spent the call arguing over how she isn't the manager or the owner, who I specifically had asked to talk to. They refuse me any way to talk to someone who will take responsibility for their mistake.

"The stylist learned a lot from this and won't over promise what she can't achieve in the future". Great! At my expense. So, I should just go shave all my hair off now just for her to have learned a nice lesson? This will take MONTHS or years to repair.

No apology from the salon. Just essentially a slap in the face, some pennies thrown at me and a belligerent coordinator who has no business working in customer service.

REALLY wish I could have worked with the owner on this to have an actual positive resolution. A patient of mine recommended this salon for curly hair and I really wanted to love it. Worst hair mistake of my life :-(

REFERENCE BELOW: my request 1st my hair before first dye 2nd my hair after first dye 3rd my...