Studio A Salon — Attraction in Houston

I saw Bryan for a haircut and face-framing highlights in July. He did a great job chopping 10 inches off but I wasn't totally satisfied with the color of the highlights. I have medium brown hair and the highlights ended up being more of a yellow/brassy tone, which I'm not a fan of because it clashes with my olive skin tone. I walked away a bit disappointed with the color after paying $190. I decided to return 3 days later to get a free toner after calling to express my dissatisfaction, which I appreciated. It was during that appointment that I explained to Bryan that I wanted to add a little more highlights and go a bit brighter but ashier. He explained that because the face-framing highlights were more balayage and not actual color (with foils), I'd have to come back another time to do that. Fine, was totally ok with that. I got the toner done and scheduled an appointment for the first week of August to get the color. When I arrived for my second session with Bryan, I was a bit nervous because I wasn't sure how things would turn out after the first appointment but I had enough confidence in Bryan to go through with it. He mentioned that after I first came in, so many customers came in asking for the same look (short hair and face-framing highlights) and said they were probably inspired by Dua Lipa. When he said that, I laughed and said that I thought her highlights were too extreme and that's not the look I was going for. I provided a picture of the look I wanted to achieve but the end result was not what I was expecting. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by asking him to redo it after sitting there for over 3 hours. I felt I looked like Dua Lipa :(. After paying $230, I left dissatisfied again.

I thought I could maybe live with the color until I saw some friends the following weekend (who are loyal Studio A customers) and they recommended I go back to get a color correction immediately. I called the studio and explained my situation and they said I would be able to come in for a free color correction with the same stylist. I would be charged the full-service fee if I saw a different stylist. I scheduled the appointment to get it corrected with Bryan. The next day, the studio notified me that because it had been too long since my last appointment (9 days), the service wouldn't be considered a color correction but an additional color service and I would be charged for it ($65-$130). Needless to say, I was disappointed to hear that after I was initially told I wouldn't be charged for the color correction. I tried to negotiate a free toner after providing pics of my hair but to no avail. They said I would be charged $65 for a toner. Mind you, I've gotten a toner done for much less at other places.

After paying $400+, I really expected this studio to be more accommodating. I was willing to work with Bryan again to achieve the desired result. It's my understanding stylists appreciate your honest opinion and the opportunity to correct anything a customer is dissatisfied with because that's how they hone their craft, and in doing so, it prevents customers from leaving a bad review online. He really is a pleasant guy to work with and again, the haircut was great...the color not so much. Albeit, I should have expressed my dissatisfaction sooner rather than later the second time around but I was really hoping Studio A would have been more understanding. At any rate, I won't...

I would give zero stars if I could. I went to Studio A as a new client for a Brazillian Blowout and could not be more disappointed in the results. After I washed my hair for the first time (I waited 48 hours as instructed by the stylist) and used a blow dryer to dry it. I noticed that my hair was frizzy and inconsistently wavy. A few days later I washed my hair again and let it air dry and the same story, only worse. I sent Studio A a detailed email explaining what was going on with my hair, what I had hoped to see coming out of my appointment, and attached photos showing the issue. After no response, l followed up with a phone call. After speaking with the manager, I was handed off to the owner, David, who admitted that he had not read my email, but said that he did look at the photos that I’ve attached to this review. While maintaining that a Brazillian Blowout is not meant to be a treatment that would allow me to "wake up and go" and that it looked fine, David then suggested that I should, among other things, call Brazillian Blowout themselves so that they could explain what a Brazillian Blowout can (and cannot) accomplish (basically telling me that my expectations were unrealistic). Funny enough, the website says exactly this: “The hair will be left totally frizz-free, shiny, effortlessly manageable and with plenty of body and bounce.” It does not say that a round brush and blow dry is required to achieve these results (as David told me). Despite claiming that my hair looked fine (but suggesting that I could use a haircut and that would help solve the problem) David said he could make the stylist who originally did the Brazilian Blowout re-perform the service which I ultimately declined. If the stylist couldn't perform the service right in the first place (but both he and David believed that it was a job well done) I had no faith that I would receive better results the second time around. Needless to say I won't be returning. I paid $380 plus a 20% tip for my hair to look exactly as it did (frizzy and unruly) when I walked in the door. I would advise others to choose their stylist carefully as the stylist I used is apparently set to become a teacher and mentor to others in the salon on how to perform Brazillian Blowouts. Choose wisely, everyone!

Updated: my hair was in fact, not in a ponytail before any of these pictures, contrary to the response below. Regardless, I’m so glad that I was able to give Studio A the opportunity to clarify their redo policy for everyone, as there’s a good chance that you’ll need to take...

I've been looking for a highly recommended colorist since I moved to the city, but I couldn't find anybody who knew someone in Houston, so I decided to let yelp doing the pick... big mistake. The local is cute, modern and a bit of fancy, it gives a luxury vibe that might explain the high prices, but now I think they're trying to compensate for the technique deficiencies. I can't complain about the staff, almost everyone was nice, this is why I wasn't sure about writing the review, but with every wash, my hair is worse and worse. I went there for a balayage and color correction, the ends of my hair were green from the remains of a blue dye, the rest of my hair was virgin, I was actually letting my natural color to grown but had this huge interview coming, so I needed to look nice... after 2 sessions and $700 spent I look like a Malibu plastic doll with a bad wig. My roots got orange after the first wash and the tips of my hair got green but this time from the ashy toner. I called the salon and they tried to correct it by covering the orange in the roots with a permanent hair color closer to my natural 6, but is getting orange again after a couple of weeks and whatever they did to correct the over toning broke my hair terribly, now I'm scared to even brush it. Since then I've spent more than $200 in products trying to restore it, but it seems I'll need to cut it very short if I want to stop looking like a scarecrow. PS: the word balayage has a french origin and comes from the movement is done with the brush while the product is applied in the hair. The technique they used with me is the same some people use at home to "refresh" the balayage when they have no time to go to the salon... and it got my hair...