Zahara Hair Salon Bangkok — Local services in Lumphini Subdistrict

Had literally the worst experience here than all the salons I have been to in my life. Disclaimer - I was late for the appointment because my flight got delayed, but I notified them as early as I could (ie. when I was stuck at the immigration etc). Still, they managed to squeeze me in but there were a few discrepancies. Firstly, they were "busy" when I came and asked me to wait (expected to be 1 hour long wait). Honestly, I was fine if they told me that they were unable to fit me in rather than fitting me in and treating me like how they did. Secondly, after 15 minutes of waiting or so, they sat me down at the chair. They tried to hardsell me a more expensive treatment (and was 4 hours long - which didn't they say they were busy?) and I politely rejected because I was late to all my other appointments and could only do the express treatment. Right after I rejected and paid for my express service and haircut, the attitude and cold shoulders started. By the way, they are tourist friendly - but only to Caucasians, if you're any other race, be prepared to be face discrimination. For context - I'm a Chinese from Singapore. The express treatment and haircut was not worth the money at all, they didn't even notice that they forgot to switch on the hair steam treatment for 5 minutes because of how much they were trying to ignore and get me over and done with. The styling part was also brutal, kept on slapping my face with my hair - to the point where I had to use my hand to cover my face. The worst part? The ENTIRE salon did not say bye or even spoke a word when I got up to walk to the exit. Even though they were all super friendly to the previous Caucasian that left right before me. They were constantly praising other Caucasian customers' hair and appearance, and whenever they turned to me, they would have an annoyed face and tone, and even sometimes ignore my requests. It felt like such a hostile environment that when I left, I cried. Why was this treatment necessary? If I could give 0 stars for this I would. I also told many of my international friends that came to Bangkok for a conference to not go there and to spread the word. Treat everybody equally. Thank you.

Edit: Replying to the salon's response

Firstly, you don't sound sorry at all. Secondly, I am impressed at how you can blatantly lie about saying goodbye to me when you guys clearly did not. When I got up, the entire salon stopped talking - even to each other, so I'm quite sure that nobody said goodbye to me over the sound of hairdryers. And to be honest, I couldn't care less about if you guys said goodbye to me or not, it's about the fact that you guys treated me differently like I was less than the other customers.

And please, I can care less about the stylists talking to me - especially how one of the owners/senior stylist spoke to me after I rejected the more expensive (and longer) treatment where she said "You are the one that's late and now you don't want to do this treatment?" Mind you, I even clarified my services via text when I made the booking - the EXPRESS one. After that initial interaction, who would want to be continued to talked to?

Also - me being late is not an excuse for you to treat me poorly. Like I said, I would have rather you guys reject me than to take me in and give me attitude. When I first arrived, I told you guys that I would understand if you guys can't service me due to me being late. I was ready to walk away but you guys insisted and still did this.

And I just want to say - I don't do reviews at all. This is the first time in my life that I have reviewed a service (let alone a bad one). The only reason why I made this was because my hair was so damaged from your salon (when I only did a haircut and treatment!) ALONGSIDE the preferential treatment I received. Your reply to this was so disappointing, and I hope customers who see this review on this page be warned. For asians, I got advice from other friends to visit Japanese/Korean hair salons when you visit Bangkok...

Wanted to give one star for the price I paid, 12000 bahts and the ripped off outcome but I felt that it's unfair to the assistants who are very hard working and patient. I can't speak for other stylists but just my stylist who they said it's their main/head . The other stylist present was a man and I heard his customers being very pleased with results. Given the good reviews, I initially came for a perm but as I've just been to the beach, was told that my hair was damaged and advised to do balayage instead. Good rapport was built so it's partially my fault that I put my trust in the stylist. I've asked ash brown hair. They took the reference photo on the ipad and started the process which took 4 hrs. the stylist told me the color they're gonna put on is not strong but the smell is quite strong so gave me a towel to cover my face. The smell is pungent to a point that my eyes watered and i was coughing. The back of my head starts to burn really bad so I've told her it was burning but she said the colour wasn't strong so why my scalp is burning. I'm a medical professional so I'm pretty sure I know scalp irritation. anyway, at this point, I was knackered and trusting the process. I double checked to make sure the colour is right and she said it's a surprise and reassured me not to worry and "we make you beautiful". I was confused but didn't think it would be this shocking. she also suggested before that my hair needs double hair treatment which she almost forgot. The treatment didn't make any difference. The stylist's haircut was 1000 baht and it was merely a trim. Eventually, the hair colour was revealed and it was a blonde balayage. I was so shocked and speechless. But everyone kept saying I looked so pretty so I was confused. I was being kind and I went along with it. The more I look at it, the more I felt angry and betrayed. I didn't ask for this colour and I didn't ask for a surprise given the price charged. The hair was really flat and fizzy once the styled curls disappeared the next day. Imagine bleaching Asian black hair to blonde within 4 hrs. I wanted to chop it all off I've kindly texted them about this, she replied at the end of the day whereas it was quick before. Not sure who texted me but explained what I was experiencing is "color shock" and I just need to get used to it. Said I'm lucky to get this colour as others would be jealous. Bear in mind, this colour was done without my consent. Not a single apology. They agreed to fix it for free but not sure what colour they can achieve. As my trust in them is lost and to avoid passive aggressive energy, I decided not to go in case it gets worse. I've managed to get the exact hair colour that I want at a Japanese salon which I should have gone to in the first place and their scalp and hair treatment has saved my hair. 4 days without washing my hair and it's not oily and fizzy. My point is I appreciate the hard work that the team put in but the stylist should listen to what the customer wants and try to achieve that colour instead of throwing in a nasty surprise. I ought to get a refund for the balayage as it's money...

So I have mixed feelings about my experience at Zahara for a keratin straightening. The good points are: 1/ The results, as straightening is concerned, are good. In the photos, you can see my hair after washing, no blow dry used, and I braided my hair before sleep. So there's a little bit of movement but my hair is way more manageable. 2/ The hairdresser made sure to make really small sections to work with. That's why you have such stunning results. 3/ I really appreciated how gentle the hairdresser was with my hair. They avoided pushing which prevented excessive breakage. 4/ The staff was really nice and they even cut my ends for free.( Because I had an uneven cut). The bad point: I only have one complaint, but it's a major one, it's the damage to my ends. I think it is due to the fact they used the straightening iron too much. They pass it on my hair 4 or 5 times. Each time, they ironed each section 2 to 3 times. It's too excessive. I used a serum to reinforce my hair and a keratin mask to try to manage the damage but I think I will have to cut a little bit, which is a shame. I think I will go back though, but next time I will ask them to only iron 2 times. It's way enough. So I definitely recommend, but don't hesitate to express your worries if you feel something may damage your hair. Edit/response: First of all, your response speaks volumes to your capacity to handle constructive criticism, which doesn't reflect well on a professional level. Second: I said the results are good as far as straightening is concerned. Yes, I braid my hair because I like to have a little bit of waves on the lengths. Sue me. Third: My hair wasn't damaged when I came to your salon. And the fact that keratin straightening has no consequences on the health of your hair is a myth. I've been doing this for 15 years, there is always a bit of weakening of the fiber. But the fact that you exaggerated the use of the hair straightener damaged my hair more than what I am used to. Do the math, I said you passed the hair straightener 5 times x 3 = 15 times in each strand, greater than 8 times. So yes, you did overdo it. Fourth and last, that is an update after one month, the straightening is already fading. I already have frizz (not waves, frizz) in my roots. And this is not due to the braids since I don't braid my roots. In conclusion: Avoid the keratin straightening at this salon. As you can see, they are not willing to question their methods. You pay 9kB for one month of results and you end up with severely damaged hair. Oh, and in case you're preparing yourself to tell me that my hair is already frizzing because of my shampoo, let me cut the nonsense right now. Again, I've been doing this for 15 years. The shampoo I'm currently using has been my shampoo for 2 years, and the keratin straightening always holds for 3 to 5 months on...