Tonic Salon HeadSpa Laser - Aveda Insight — Local services in Montreal

If you’re unhappy with your result—DO NOT PAY.

If you're considering Tonic Salon in Montreal—especially for color—please read. I wish someone had written this before I booked.

I’ve been a loyal client since 2017—long before current ownership took over. Sadly, this recent experience showed me the salon is no longer what it once was.

I booked a color appointment asking for a soft, bright lavender balayage with dimension—something fresh for summer. I brought photos and clearly said I didn’t want anything ashy or grey-toned.

I received exactly what I asked to avoid: a dark, flat look with greyish highlights over a reddish-brown base—no brightness, no dimension, and a confused tonal palette. The stylist reassured me that although the swatch looked darker, it would appear lighter due to highlights. That was false.

What’s worse, the process left my hair significantly damaged. It became brittle, prone to breakage, with split ends several inches up the shaft—despite just being cut. It tangles easily and is falling out more than usual, even three weeks later.

I paid $271 plus a $29 tip—not because I was satisfied, but because I was cooperative and respectful. I didn’t make a scene. I gave a modest tip because I could tell the stylist was overwhelmed. Our 3-hour appointment stretched into 5. I left trusting the salon would make things right.

Instead, I had to fight tooth and nail just to get bare minimum repair services. The manager initially told me I’d have to leave with wet hair or blow-dry myself after damage treatment. I only got a proper blow-dry after multiple emails and emotional labor.

At one point, she told me to just let the grey fade out—as though that was what I’d asked for. I have no greys. Why would I want grey-toned color?

The manager also sent long, emotionally reactive emails with paragraphs venting about her job. When I followed up about booking a corrective appointment, I tried to make things easier by bolding time-sensitive info (I was going away and needed to be seen that week). Instead of acknowledging urgency, she replied with lengthy paragraphs about her stress and accused me of being “aggressive.” I’ve attached a screenshot of my original, polite message, written to save her time.

When I returned for correction, I was initially placed with a non-senior stylist whose only solution was to cut off 8 inches—essentially a bowl cut. I asked to speak to the manager, who kept me waiting while laughing with staff. When she finally came over, I explained what happened. She stood arms crossed and said, “I was told it was damaged when you came in.” I acknowledged some damage, but nothing close to what it became. Only after a long and emotionally draining exchange did she agree to reschedule me with a senior stylist—something that should have been offered immediately.

2 whole weeks passed where I hid my hair under a hat and canceled plans out of embarrassment. The senior stylist was kind and gave me a gold toner and lovely treatment, but the result was still significantly darker than when I arrived, and the damage is long-term.

Since then: • I’ve spent $325 on Triphasic treatments to stimulate regrowth. • I need a $300 capillary Botox treatment to repair trauma. • I can’t color my hair again for foreseeable future --my original summer hair colour plans are postponed indefinitely.

This ordeal caused weeks of stress and sleep disruption, and took a huge emotional and time toll. I received no refund, no credit—not even partial one. While the senior stylist was a bright spot, I’m left with hair that’s damaged, a color that’s “livable” but not what I asked for, and the salon refused accountability.

I’ve now contacted the owner directly to give him a final opportunity to make things right.

If you’re booking here, be warned: • If unhappy, you’ll get no proactive solutions. • You'll be met with deflection, emotional labor, and delays. • You'll pay for service, pay again to fix result, and receive little to no accountability.

This used to be a salon I loved. Now, it is not top-tier by...

EDIT : Since this review, I reached out to the customer service and received a very quick response. They issued a full refund and apologized for my bad experience at the salon. Even though I am stuck with this haircut for a while, my experience with the management team was validating. Thank you ! ————————————

I went for a hair cut with Ivan (second time, the first time went all right, no surprises and that is why I came back), and my hair is ruined.

He is most definitely not a curly hair specialist like they advertise. I tried to make the hair cut work for more than 3 weeks now, different styling techniques, let it bounce back from the cut, clarifying shampoo and protein masks … nothing helps camouflage the horrible shape he created.

I now have extremely short bangs, so short that they stick up like antennas. The longest layer is so uneven, there are random long curls sticking out. It looks like an outdated mullet cut.

Besides, the whole experience was bad, Ivan was mad because the previous client stood him up. He asked me to come in earlier than my appointment and I did arrive 10 min before. He was in an overall bad mood, and kept giving notes to the receptionist about communicating his frustration to said client, making her pay a fine next time she comes by, etc… and the worst part was how he styled my hair : I ended up with all frizz and no curl pattern at all. I was holding back tears, and we had to wet my hair back, so that I could style it by myself.

The worst hair dressing experience of my entire life. Mind you, I paid around 140 $ for this disaster.

If you are curly, stay away ! And drop in a recommendation for a good curly hair dresser if...

I bought their Blue Malva Shampoo & Black Malva Hair Conditioner last winter and the products are fine. I went back last June and asked politely the woman at the desk if she could please save me one empty plastic bottle (that I needed for a project) next time they'd empty one (from their salon upstairs), she started by replying that their hairdressers NEVER have empty plastic bottles (...). She could just had taken 5 seconds to pick up the phone and ask co-workers upstairs (they weren't that busy it was an early Tuesday morning). Let's just say she was not in a good mood that morning. She told me (with an inconceivable attitude) that she was the manager, she was the one who orders stock at their salon and she was the one who will "decide" if she wants to give me an "empty" bottle... Another day... Or not. She finished the conversation by taking my phone number and told me she would call me if they happen to have an empty shampoo bottle for me, which guess what...She never did. She probably ditched my phone # in the bin right after I stepped out of "her" salon. All this for an empty bottle of shampoo, wow! Beside, I've been a perfect Gentleman the whole time I cordially talked to her. What an amateurish way to do business and treat clients; Definitely that miserable manager has lots of problems she needs to consult to find answers to her pesky attitude. I can not tell for sure if she was the "real" manager but probably her co-workers will recognize her if they read this. Next time I'll go buy my products at St-Catherine they're much more professional and...