Lock & Shade — Local services in Asbury Park

I am so deeply disappointed with Lock and Shade. First off, this negative review is about the salon’s cancellation policy and not about the service. I’ve been getting my hair done by Molly since 2021 and she’s amazing. While her services are very expensive, I always found it worth the price. She does beautiful work, really listens to what the client is looking for, and takes her time.

While getting my haircut last year, I asked Molly what she suggested I do to cover my grays. Because I don’t go to the salon more than twice a year, she suggested a full highlight. The highlights would camouflage the grays, and the growth would be less noticeable than an all-over color. This would be a three-hour appointment, which is priced at $300. This is a lot of money for me, and I had to wait for a time when I could comfortably work it into my budget.

At the end of August, I booked an appointment for October 11th (this is how far out I had to book to find a day I could spend three hours at the salon). I was really looking forward to this appointment. Unfortunately, the night before my appointment, I became incredibly ill. I was up all night being sick and by 7am, I had to take myself to urgent care to get treatment to just be able to sleep. I emailed the salon around 5am that morning when I finally had to accept the fact that I couldn’t go to my appointment. I explained that I was really sick and apologized for canceling last minute on Molly (who I know books out months in advance).

The salon responded to my email saying they canceled my appointment and charged my card $150 (half of the cost of the service), then asked if I wanted to reschedule. I asked if the $150 charge could be applied to my future color appointment. The representative told me he would ask the owner and let me know. When I hadn’t heard back a couple days later, I reached out again. I was then told that no, they would not apply the charge to another appointment. I am now out $150 because I got sick the night before my appointment.

While I understand that the salon has a cancellation policy, the fact that they wouldn’t make an exception in the case of illness is insane! I even sent them a doctor’s note showing that I had been to urgent care that morning! Apparently, they would rather I come in sick and expose their staff to whatever I have than cancel at the last minute. I just hope it doesn’t throw off the stylist’s day too much when I have to get up multiple times throughout my appointment to vomit in their bathroom.

Unfortunately, I’ll never be back and I HIGHLY recommend any future client seriously consider this cancellation policy before booking at...

I had an appointment for a haircut on 10/30/2024. I have to say for the price of $107 for a haircut my expectations were high but I left extremely underwhelmed. The consultation started off well and I felt like the communication was there. It was small things that added to an overall negative experience. As I’m following my stylist to the shampoo bowl she stops short, turns to me to say that all of the shampoo bowls are “full” and proceeds to sit down in an area next to the shampoo bowls… After standing next to her awkwardly for a minute I did end up sitting down with her. I just didn’t understand why I wouldn’t just sit at her station until something opened up. It felt awkward. Not much to say about the shampoo itself as it was soooo mid and that’s the thing I (and I think a lot of people) really look forward to most. It was super weak I felt like her hands barely touched my scalp. I was in the shampoo bowl a total of maybe 2-3 minutes tops, I honestly felt rushed because there was obviously a high demand for the shampoo bowls. She then has me hold my own soaking wet hair in a towel to walk back to her chair. At this point the whole experience just felt so unprofessional and not special at all. The haircut was going okay but she cut my bangs with a razor. Now I understand this might be a personal preference to not have them cut like this but I felt like this should have been communicated to me prior because any time i’ve gotten a haircut i’ve always been asked/told beforehand about a razor cut. She then completes the ENTIRE haircut and moves on to the blow dry before I have to be the one to point out to her that she never even asked me where I part my hair. She just assumed it was down the middle without even asking, which she literally admitted to. So at this point I really can’t tell if my haircut is sitting right or not because it’s not been properly parted. I’m half way through the blow out when a fuse pops and the staff can’t get it back on. After waiting a few minutes to see if it would turn back on my stylist came back over to take me to another chair in the salon that had a working outlet. She then proceeded to say that the landlord of their building is “shit” and this problem has been on-going for a few weeks. This whole experience was just really disappointing. I never treat myself to things like this because they are expensive and it just wasn’t what I expected at...

This review will be a little long but it is worth the read especially if you are looking for a new rockstar colorist who happens to be an expert in all things blonde:

I am very particular with my hair, it has always been a struggle for me to find a colorist that I love but not only that, someone that I trust to give me the results I am looking for.

Well my search has finally come to an end because I found Rebecca at Lock an Shade. I have been wanting to be a vanilla blonde color for YEARS. But every time I wanted to go lighter I always heard "Your hair is too dark, we could never achieve the color your looking for," "This color would be too damaging for your hair, " OR "This color would cost you A LOT of money with A LOT of upkeep."

I'm 23, I just started my first full time job so I wasn't looking to spend a crazy amount of money and or continue to spend money on a crazy amount of upkeep. When I first met Rebecca she was so welcoming and warm, making me feel at ease immediately. When we discussed my hair journey and what I was looking to achieve, she looked at my and said "I am a blonde expert, this will be no problem. I can get this done in two processes." At first I was nervous because I always heard the negative and was not expecting that answer at all. But she was not kidding, she did the below color in just two processes and my hair has never looked and felt better.

Rebecca is confident in herself, her skills and her talent. Having a colorist who knows who they are, is extremely important. She doesn't try to sell products or treatments, she does the color quick and it's just an all around enjoyable experience to be a client of hers and to be in her presences.

I couldn't recommend Rebecca enough and not to mention Lock and Shade is GORGEOUS. It's cool and edgy, not to mention the salon is in an absolute perfect location. Not only that but the salon is built for perfect pictures, worthy of influencer status Instagram posts.

Whatever you do, please go by Lock and Shade and PLEASE go and...