vicca 'ekolu — Local services in Tokyo

This was my first time coming here, and I swear I will never come back again.

I found this salon through an Instagram ad from a stylist looking for hair models. She mentioned the cut would be free since she was still practicing, so I assumed she was a junior stylist. I reached out to her via Instagram DM, and she responded—but later told me the cut would actually cost 4,650 yen. I was a bit surprised but decided it was still okay, so I agreed to come in and pay for the cut.

A day before the appointment, she asked for my haircut references. I sent her three similar styles—long/mid-length wolf cuts with hime and bangs. My hair at the time was below my shoulders, almost breast-length.

On the day of the appointment, she was friendly, and we chatted a bit before she started. I clearly told her not to cut too much—just around 1–2 cm to reshape it like the reference photos—because I’ve been growing my hair out for a year and prefer it long. She agreed and even offered an additional treatment, which I accepted. But then, she cut way too much. My hair ended up really short and uneven.

A senior male stylist checked on her work a few times and even commented, “It’s different from the reference photos,” but he did nothing to fix it. To make things worse, she cut my hair even shorter after that. I tried to stay calm and understand that she was still practicing, so I just said, “The length is still okay,” even though it was nothing like what I had asked for. At this point, I was already disappointed—I paid for the cut, yet my hair turned out terrible.

In the end, I bought some hair products too, bringing my total to around 12,000 yen for the cut, treatment, and products. As soon as I left the salon, I put on a bucket hat because I felt so unhappy with my hair.

Then, things got even worse. An hour later, the stylist messaged me on Instagram, saying there was an issue with their card machine and my payment hadn’t gone through. I checked my account, and the money had already been withdrawn, so I told her. But she insisted I come back to pay again, saying that if I got charged twice, they would refund me once the second payment was made.

So, I went back and paid again—only to find out that I had, in fact, been charged twice. When I told her, she said the refund would come by the end of the week or before the end of the month. There were still a few staff members in the salon who overheard our conversation, but no one really stepped in to help.

I waited until the end of January, but the refund never came. I messaged her again, and she said she would contact the credit card company and asked me to wait another two weeks. Now, another two weeks have passed, and still nothing. Every time I follow up, she just gives me the same answer. She will never contacted me first to get me updated unless I contacted her first. And even the reply is just a template, so disappointing.

It’s not just about the hair cut and money. But this whole experience has been incredibly frustrating and unprofessional. I’ve lived in Japan for two and a half years, and this is the worst service I’ve ever encountered. For a salon that claims to be “international” and “English-speaking,” you seriously need to reevaluate your system, service,...

I came here to get a haircut and dye my hair after seeing multiple reels shown on my IG feed. The stylist had a great social presence mostly highlighting foreign models, and the shown hairstyles were something I was going for.

Well I have to say I was wrong about my expectations.

I was there for few hours and the hair stylist I specifically booked only showed up for 10-15 minutes to quickly chop up my hair. She had multiple customers at once, including her own friends, and she spent most of her time chatting with her friends and those foreign customers.

The rest was completely delegated to an assistant, including the dyeing part, and the result turned out to be subpar and off from the image I had. (Which is understandable as I showed the reference picture only to the stylist, not to the assistant)

Towards the end, I told them that I usually use balm at home so she told me she’d only use balm for styling. Minutes later, an assistant was spraying my hair over and over to the point water was dripping down to my shoulder. Then they started applying everything to my hair (wax, spray, balm…) that it became so stiff when it dried.

Then I got another surprise at the register when they tried to charge me more than a well-renowned salon I usually go to would. After I reminded her that I wanted to use the first-timer coupon on the booking website, she agreed.

I’d not expect over-the-top hospitality, but the overall experience was extremely disappointing to be completely honest.

Assistants were nice, but there didn’t seem to be a good structure/professional vibes at the salon.

I know most customers there are foreigners, and these stylists want to practice and communicate in English. They probably won’t care if they lose a Japanese customer or two. But the negligence felt disrespectful...

I had an amazing experience with Kai at this salon! I am visiting Japan for a few weeks and decided to get peekaboo highlights while I am still here. I knew he had done this style before from their Instagram so I didn’t even show him a picture of what I wanted. And it came out exactly how I had hoped for! He bleached and toned it to a nice light blonde, not brassy at all. I have Asian hair, which I have been told by other hair stylists is harder to bleach, and in the past I have never been able to get it light enough to my liking. He had no problems and knew exactly what he was doing. He also trimmed my hair and dyed my roots on top. I basically said do whatever you think will look good. I love the outcome so much. I have never left any other salon feeling as great as I did here, no exaggeration.

The cost was exactly what was listed on the reservation website so I wasn’t surprised at the till. The cost of their Olaplex products is much cheaper than back in Canada so I may have overindulged 😂 Booking was easy. He responds quickly on LINE (an app similar to WhatsApp). The instructions are clear on his Instagram, which is where I discovered him.

The woman helping him (sorry I did not catch your name!) was great too. She was more experienced than assistants I’ve encountered at other salons. Her massage felt amazing.

I highly recommend coming here, especially if you want to...