Unfade x Muze Salon — Attraction in New York

I read the million amazing reviews and got super excited to go here, but it ruined my hair so much that this is the first review I’ve left on Google. I’ve been dying my hair blonde with balayage for like 7 years so at this point I know how long a touch up takes and can tell when something is going wrong. I got in at 1 pm and by 2 pm all the foils were in. I thought it was weird that they were starting to paint at the root (there were two people doing my hair) because that would bleach faster than the ends (which they did later) but I figured they knew what they were doing. Then came the heat lamp to speed it up which is standard. Cut to an hour with the bleach on my hair (not including foil time) and I was starting to get concerned because an hour plus the heat lamp seemed like quite a bit. Well even later than that like 3:30 (now an hour and a half in with the bleach) they open the foils and I can tell something is wrong and the lady shows me a piece and my hair was blonde at the roots and then yellow along the lengths of the initially brownish pieces that were foiled for the balayage (aka this is why you shouldn’t start with bleach at the roots first). They then proceeded to wipe the bleach off and add new bleach (it only works until it dries out). They left this on for two more hours. I know the times because I was texting my friend how concerned I was but just to keep track at this point, that is 2-330 for round one of bleach (1.5 hours) and then 330-530 (another 2 hours) for a total of 3.5 hours of bleach. I don’t know if the people doing my hair were new but i have never in my many years of getting my hair done once a month, both in LA and New York, had bleach on for 3.5 hours straight and had it double bleached. Keep in mind my hair is medium brown at most, and my hair has been balayaged so many times that it’s just essentially blonde, so there was 0 need for 3.5 hours of bleach if done properly, especially for a balayage touch up only 2 months after my last session at the place I used to go to (and only stopped because it’s not near NY). They did the shadow root and toner and then blow dried my hair, but I could tell it was beyond destroyed by that point. The woman doing the cutting tried to barely trim and I had to ask her to cut like 2.5 inches off because it was so dead. Anyways i left the salon with short hair, and the hair that i do have left is so insanely damaged, and i have never in my many times bleaching my hair seen it like this. Not to mention the haircut was straight across and with wavy hair, looks like a short poof on my head. It’s going to take months to grow my hair out. Obviously the pictures in their reviews are amazing and the reviews themselves are amazing but if you get paired with the two people that I got paired with to do my hair, I’d recommend leaving and sparing yourself the broken (still kind of...

From Loyal Client to Heartbroken – One Stylist Ruined It All

This is actually my second review because my first one was pressured to be deleted in exchange for a refund. Yes, I got my money back—but money can’t undo the damage Aki caused. Every single time I look in the mirror, I’m reminded of the butchered, uneven, humiliating haircut she left me with.

📍 I’ve been coming to this salon since 2018 and always had professional, kind stylists who gave me cuts that made me confident. This time was the complete opposite.

🚩 Red flags: She showed up late, leaving me waiting 20 minutes past my booking time. Made a bizarre, offensive comment about my gold necklace and jade pendant (“I knew you’re Chinese, because only rich girls wear that”). Rushed through my entire appointment in under 30 minutes—including the wash—when my cuts usually took an hour. “Texturized” my hair the wrong way, hacked unevenly, and when I asked her to fix one side, she thinned out even more. After getting her cash tip she ran out of the salon before I even did.

💇‍♀️ The result? The worst haircut of my life: Jagged, uneven layers that no stylist can “fix” until it grows out. Thinned out my hair excessively that it’s now so flat Random short blocks of hair sticking up at the crown of my head. Different lengths on each side and in the back. Now, as it grows out, I keep discovering even more uneven patches.

This haircut was supposed to be a small joy before my birthday—especially since I’ve been caring for my elderly mother and hadn’t had a haircut in over a year. Instead, I walked out feeling humiliated, angry, and robbed.

Yes, I received a refund, only because I was pressured to remove my honest review—while my mother was in the ICU for a recent fall. That doesn’t erase the emotional toll or the fact that this stylist should NEVER be trusted.

⚠️ My advice: If you care about your hair, your time, and your self-respect—do not book with Aki. A bad haircut will eventually grow out, but the humiliation and damage to your confidence...

As you can see from the before photo, the balayage I had gotten from a different salon had grown out and faded unaesthetically. I was upset that I had to spend $$ again after two months to overhaul it, but after getting a partial balayage from Bernice, I don’t regret a cent. I just wish I had gotten my balayage done from her in the first place. I was mindful of time, and also wanted my hair to be lighter overall, so we settled on a partial. Full disclosure: I had settled on a full balayage and had moneypieces and a strip of hair bleaching twenty minutes in when I panicked and asked if I could maybe not do a full balayage/skip lowlights. Bernice was extremely understanding and she suggested just doing a partial since the bleach had already affected my hair. She gave me the most beautiful mushroom color, which is exactly what I wanted. She made sure that the color would suit my skin tone while also respecting my wish to go ashy. She checked in throughout, and gave me a heads up each step of the process. Bernice is sweet and chill and it feels like you’re talking to a friend — she’s so easy to talk to. I also appreciated that she was clear about the price before I asked, and she was so chill that I didn’t feel shy about checking in about the price again when my procedure changed. And she’s a perfectionist in the best way — you can sense her serious work ethic and dedication in the way she handles your hair (she makes sure to get EVERY SINGLE SPOT when applying the toner, I was impressed) and makes sure that you’re satisfied every step of the way. I also appreciated that she gave me the option of either having my hair blow dried straight or curled. I wanted to lessen the amount of heat damage so just opted for a blowdry. The bottom line is that I had the best salon experience of my life with Bernice — I am literally going to stay with her for all my hair needs (she also gave me a great sidebang trim)! She is...