Nuvida Hair Yaletown — Local services in Vancouver

After the appointment I went home. Rewashed and restyled my hair. Myself. That was a first. Ever.

Here's what happened....

They were very polite. The great people of Korea are known culturally to be exceedingly well-mannered. They greet you, they take your coat and offer you refreshment beverages. Here's where it went off the cliff.....

I have a very sensitive nose and while getting my hair washed I couldn't smell a clean, refreshing, invigorating scent that is known for upscale salons in the shampoo and conditioner. Nothing.

You know that feeling when you're laying back and you're surrounded by a whiff of incredible scents caressing your scalp and hair awakening all your senses? You know that feeling while getting your hair washed? Well....that was not there. At all. The only scent that did hit my nose was the towel they used to dry my hair with. Let's just say it didn't smell very fresh and perhaps needed another wash cycle. Moving on......

I booked Caleb. He's the top stylist at the salon. Charging the most. I asked for long layers, and he didn't know what long layers were. Looking at me puzzled, "What do you mean...long layers?". So, now that it became apparent to me that he didn't know long layers, I just asked for a straight classic one-length cut. I've had a bad layering job before and there was no way I was going to let that monstrosity happen again.

He did a quick cut - more like a trim, blow dry and a very basic round brush style. No products used at all. No spray. No balm. No mousse. No gel.....nothing. Considering my hair is straight, I would've at the very least expected a straightening Iron to smooth style my hair. Especially considering it was raining...any respectable stylist would use an iron for a straight look to reduce frizz....clearly. I booked him for 1 hour and he sent me on my way after probably about 40 min. $94 later......

On my way home I had this overwhelming feeling of .....this was so not a salon spa experience. Everything that makes a great hair appointment experience was missing....in a big way......"Oh....it's not over...."

Arriving home. Feeling my hair. Looking in the mirror. I kept asking myself ....."Why is my hair so flat, dull and lifeless?" I realized, he didn't use any products on my hair to give it that...you know...bounce, oomph, dazzle....you know that shit you pay for at Salons that you don't want to wash out 3 days later. And just for context reference here....my hair is virgin hair with medium full body, natural shiny straight with hints of wave. So, it's the easiest to cut and style.

So, what did I do? I jumped in the shower. Washed and styled my own hair. Yup. After a $100 hair cut. I came home and did it all myself. I used my own beautiful smelling products, great shampoo/conditioner and premium salon grade straightener to get exactly what I wanted.

You know...my experience has been that most Master-Grade in-demand stylists are booked weeks and sometimes months a head of time. Here while I was booking online, this was not the case. Availability on short notice was plenty. Coincidence? I know I wouldn't book here ever again. So, perhaps not.

Poor Products. Rough, Smelly towels. Stingy Practices By Stylist. Effort & Love For Hair. Absent Completely.

Yup. That sums up that...

I would give zero stars if I could. Honestly going to this salon was an extremely traumatic experience. The stylist chopped so much of my hair off without consent and gave me short bangs which I never asked for (I just wanted an inch off with layers to give me volume when I blow my hair out). She then dyed my hair orange which was never in my plans (I just wanted my hair lightened slightly, to which she said was absolutely doable). I left with short copper hair after coming in with long, thick, dark brown hair. I expressed concern throughout the appointment to which the stylist shut me down and tried to gaslight me into thinking that she had only cut an inch of my hair (even though I could see all the inches chopped off on the floor) and that my hair was brown and not orange. She was extremely rude and laughed when I worked up the courage to tell her I was unhappy with it (something I never do). I was told that the appointment price would start at $350, and was shocked when she tried to charge me over $600 when I was already in shambles and hating how I looked. She ended up “discounting” the price to over $500 and I payed it as I cried in the middle of the salon (so embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as leaving and having to go outside with that choppy uneven haircut). This appointment was in December, and I am just now emotionally recovering from what was done to my head, though the damage they caused to my hair will take a lot longer to grow out. On the bright side, I have since learned to cut and colour my own hair because I am not about to come back and spend hundreds more trying to fix what they did here. I also paid an inflated price for the service based on the description that an “expert stylist” was doing my hair, but there was someone else being trained during my service who did half of my head. Since they each did half of my hair and I was used as a training opportunity, both sides were not even equally bad (quite frankly the trainee did a better and more gentle job). They also were extremely aggressive with my head, yanking me around and ripping my long hair out. The stylist even cut a chunk of my hair out at one point when she matted it so badly that she didn’t want to even try to detangle it (as someone with long hair I’ve never had someone brush so aggressively from top to bottom just after washing, obviously this would create knots???) I left with extremely damaged and unfixable hair, only now 6 months later I am starting to regain the strength and quality of my hair. Overall this was awful and they demonstrated no care or compassion for me whatsoever. I have included a photo of what my hair looked like before I came in (the first image with the long dark hair), an image of the colour inspiration I showed the stylist (the second image which is a TikTok screenshot) as well as a couple images of what I ended up with (including a really fun one where I am sobbing on the way home). I would never EVER recommend going to these people and I still cannot believe I had to PAY $500 to look that ugly (that...

Let me start off by saying i have had a handful of appointments now at Salon Nuvida and i would say i have become a regular client of theirs.

Before i started my journey with them, i was hitting up a barber shop every 1.5 to 2 weeks for a fresh fade and cut. Which became a nuissance and started becoming hard on the wallet.

After contemplation, i decided i wanted to experiment with a two block style. I also knew i wanted to go to a salon that housed stylists that have talent and experience, straight from Korea. 🇰🇷❤️

I was not disappointed. I decided to go with Ji Woo as my stylist as his experience and training sounded exactly who i needed to transform my head, and to “bring the Seoul out” in me. (half Korean here! 🙋🏻‍♂️)

Ji Woo is friendly, calm and attentive. With all of my appointments, he has listened to all of my requests and executed an amazing haircut everytime. He also recommended me to come back every 4 weeks, which i can attest that when i do go back, my hair still looks good, just grown out. Much different than getting skin fades every week or so that need constant attention. It has been a really nice change of pace for me and my hair.

The salon itself is calming, i always fall asleep while they wash my hair. I very much recommend adding their “clean up your scalp” scalp treatment if you suffer from dry, flaky and or itchy scalp. This treatment is probably my favorite thus so far to add onto a haircut. The scalp and head massage is always insanely relaxing. My scalp always feels nourished, calm and refreshed after, with less itchiness and less flaking.

They offer you a refreshing drink when you sit down in the chair, wifi is available and all the staff seem so friendly and calm.

I highly recommend making an appointment to see Ji Woo if you are looking for a talented, attentive and confident hair stylist. Especially if you are looking for a Korean style haircut. 😌

There are a handful of other things i would like to try at the salon like a perm and their “nuvida waterfall head spa” service.

✨10/10 recommend this salon.✨ I always leave feeling like i have been heavily pampered and taken care of. Thanks to Ji Woo and...