Life & Colour Salon — Local services in Vancouver

I went to Life & Colour on March 6th 2023 and saw a senior stylist I’ve seen one other time. In my first appointment with them (January 9th 2023) I had shown photos and explained that I was looking for a short scissor haircut. The hair style I was looking for was reminiscent of 90’s Leo Di’Caprio and Brad Pitt. The stylist explained to me that if I wanted it that way, I would have to shave the sides with clippers. I had an undercut in the past with a 0-2 fade. It was nice but it required a lot of visits to the barber and I didn’t want my hair to be that short again on the sides. So, I agreed with the stylist and she then gave me a cut that was fine but not what I wanted.

On March 6th 2023, I decided to see her again and give L&C another chance. I had asked for the same thing again, a short hair cut, 90’s Leo/Brad style, long top and neat sides. She then explained to me again that she would have to shave the sides and not cut it with scissors. She also said that it would be a disconnected haircut with a negative undertone. So I left unhappy with a bob-type style and paid $100.

I emailed L&C with photos of the cut I received and photos of what I had wanted. The manager, Jamie, thought the stylist I chose wasn’t the right fit. She recommended only 2 stylists who specialized in short cuts (they have 13 stylists.) She was transparent about the fact that they were master stylists whose standard haircuts start at $102. My expectations were high since their prices are high as well. Jamie offered me an adjustment with one of the recommended masters free of charge and was able to fit me in within the week.

March 8th 2023 - I went in for the adjustment and the stylist said she read my email and saw the photos of my intended style. I also showed another photo as an example once I was in the chair. The stylist talked to me about it and at this point it was going well, I felt heard, also comforted knowing she had read my email and saw the photos I had sent. Unfortunately, the adjustment I received is still not what I wanted. She took too much off of the back, the sides and layered it too much. It sticks out on the back unless I wet my hair. Even If I use products, it doesn’t help. I have cow licks too so it looks even worse with the short layered hair around it. (Photo below.) After it was all done and the manager and stylist asked if I liked it, I said I did because I felt awkward being on the spot and complaining about it again. I thought maybe I’d like it in a few weeks but I look at it every morning and it reminds me of Kate Gosselin’s hair in the early 2000’s. No offence.

It’s clear that short scissor cuts are not their speciality. After looking at their instagram, it seems like they may be a one trick pony. But if you’re a caucasian woman with long blonde hair and have money, this place...

Went to this salon for 2+ years and only got a good cut a handful of times, all the rest were average and a couple of bad ones too. After 2 years of going here, I can say confidently that for the price Life & Colour commands - the quality and commitment to a high level of execution is not there. I believe this salon has a 2-3 top hair stylists, but the rest are your regular, run of the mill stylists you would find at any other salon in the city - don't be fooled by their fancy "senior emerging stylist" titles and inflated prices. Writing this review because I had a poor (the worst?) experience last week when my stylist Natalie completely forgot what we agreed to and had to be stopped mid-way through the cut. I ended up with a poor cut that I had to try and salvage while still in the chair because she totally got flustered once she realized she forgot. So flustered she kept silently cutting away my hair and I had to actually ask her to explain what she was doing now, for fear of it derailing even further. Instead of admitting to the mis-hap and caring to make it better from there onwards, Natalie tried to finish the cut and get me out of her chair as quickly as possible. I emailed the manager the next day and got my money back, but it's not about the money, it's about the 3 months I now need to wait for this horrible haircut to grow out. Manager on the phone hardly cared, telling me "everyone makes mistakes." Um... when you command $100+ for a haircut, your margin for error should be TINY. After several years of my business, manager of the salon didn't seem to care to keep my business by at least recommending me to another stylist in-house who is good at my type of cut, or offering to book a complimentary appointment with someone to fix it. Will not be back and do not...

NEVER GO HERE EVER! I met my friend at this salon while she was getting her dark brown roots dyed black to match the rest of her hair, which should have been quite a simple treatment. After two hours (which also, why would it take two hours to go from dark brown to black on her roots?? but I digress..), when the hair dresser (Alice) came back to wash out the dye and blow dry it, we noticed my friends hair was a light brown at her roots almost as if it were bleached, and her scalp was burning at the roots. The hairdresser was laughing as if it was funny. My friend was devastated, and the hair dresser had the audacity to say VERBATIM "it probably didn't work because of your hormones. Maybe you're pregnant. You should look into it" which is so incredibly disrespectful and out of line and quite frankly a horrendous thing to say. We kindly and calmly expressed our concern to the lady at the front desk, as my friend was holding back tears, and she told us that we had to wait it out until the manager was back in town after the long weekend. My friend finally spoke with the manager who was justifying the hairdresser the whole time, and disregarding the fact my friend just had a pretty emotionally taxing experience here. She was so rude that my friend left in tears a second time and they charged her the full price of the session. I am glad I was with her the first time because it was honestly the most insane experience I have witnessed at a hair salon and this review does not even do justice to how shockingly awful the customer service was. Neither of us would recommend this salon ever, in fact, we're definitely going to tell all our friends specifically to never ever ever go...