Southern Curl — Local services in Atlanta

Put simply, Robin is the best. Three days ago, I had my first appointment at Southern Curl for my first Deva Cut/first real haircut I've had period with the exception of some slight side bangs and long layers I had cut about 6 years ago on pressed hair. I was a little nervous at first, because even though I'd been looking at articles and videos on Deva Cuts several months in advance as well as reviews and pictures of clients' haircuts done at Southern Curl, I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision by going to get a Deva Cut. From the beginning, Robin was very clear about what she intended to do with my hair and how she planned to go about doing it before she even took the scissors out. I came in not having a definite picture in mind of how I wanted my hair to look, and she took everything I told her that I did, didn't want, wanted to get rid of and gave me exactly what I didn't even fully realize I both needed and wanted. I told her that I didn't want to chop all my damage off and how short I was willing to go, and she listened. No combs or brushes were involved in the cut, and there was no raking either during the cutting process. So by the time I was sitting in the washroom (best washroom I've been in, by the way), my nervousness and doubts had practically melted away. Robin did a fantastic job of assessing my hair, its current state and how to give it what it needed. She helped debunk/teach me things about my hair that had never even occurred to me or I simply had yet to figure out on my own. It was a very enlightening experience, and I'm so glad to say that three days later, I still have tons of definition (almost as much as I did when I left the salon), movement, and best of all, HARDLY ANY FRIZZ!!!! That's a pretty big feat, considering the fact that I was outside for a bit the other day right after it had rained. Typically, with Alabama humidity, especially after it's rained, if I don't cover my hair well it'll turn into fluff when not straightened even after a few minutes outside. But not this time! I don't remember ever having this little frizz. Even better than that, I'm so much happier with my hair than I was before I walked into the salon. I've been transitioning from over 6 years of heat damage for the past two months. And although I had cut off a decent amount of damage before my appointment, I wasn't seeing the kind of progress I had expected. It was driving me nuts. I didn't have the guts to have Robin cut all my damage off, but what was cut off infused so much more life into my hair. I still have damage, but what remains is nothing compared to the nearly straight, stringy ends that looked hideous in comparison to the rest of my hair that's mainly a mixture of probably 3c/4a curls. I never even knew my hair had the potential to have this much curl definition. And yet it does! I'm still in awe and amazement. It was more than worth the 3 hr/40 minute drive it took to get there. If you're contemplating scheduling an appointment with Robin or anyone at Southern Curl, do it. Everyone was kind and friendly, and I would honestly recommend just going to Southern Curl period based off of my experience regardless of who you choose to cut and/or style your hair, but of course, I'd recommend Robin first since she's the one who cut and styled my hair and did such an amazing job with it. But seriously, go to Southern Curl. You'll gain hair knowledge, tons of definition 😊, and a newfound appreciation for your hair. I know I have at least. I'm so excited to wash my hair again once this wash and go gets old enough and use all the new techniques I've learned and products I bought. Thank you so, so much Robin! You've changed my relationship with my hair for the better, and I'm excited for my next...

TL;DR: It took $900 to fix a bad cut and color from Southern Curl.

So, the main reasons I'm leaving a terrible review are because of a bad haircut and a terrible coloring experience. Additionally, I was given a horrible product and offered very little in the way of recompense for it. The full story is below.

I had been going to Southern Curl for probably a little over 3 years. Each time I went I was absolutely flabbergasted by the price. I'm not talking double the normal cost of a haircut, I'm talking 4 or 5 times the price. Still, I felt like maybe it was worth it because it's a uniquely curly hair salon.

So, I got my hair lightened there. I let the stylists know my hair lightens very easily and tends towards red, as a natural brunette with red in the family. I ended up with a copper ombre for nearly a year because of COVID. Not terrible, but really far from what I wanted. It also didn't feel good, the hair was brittle—but such is the life of people who want lightened hair.

After COVID, I went back to get much more of my hair lightened. I wanted ashy blonde. I'm not talking silver, or gray, just an ashy blonde. I ended up with more of this copper color. On top of that, the coloring was awful. I was there for 5 hours, spent over $600, and walked away with visible brush lines from where the bleach was brushed into my hair. I could see rectangular splotches of color all over my head.

I also got bangs cut when I went to get my hair lightened, and right before we were done drying my hair, the stylist grabbed two pieces of hair from the top of my head and added them to the bangs. I'm now in the two-year process of growing them out, because they've added way too much weight to my bangs.

Knowing my hair turns coppery-red, I asked for toning shampoo. I was given a new shampoo that they added to their shelves. I was instructed on how to use it, and a few weeks after getting my hair cut, I used it. My hair turned purple.

Like, purple purple. I called them immediately, and while they sounded concerned their response was, "just wait to see if it comes out." I work with some very old-fashioned people, and while my job thankfully wasn't on the line, I got some snarky comments from my clients while I was "waiting" for it to fade.

Six weeks later, I called them back and said it's not coming out. So, I scheduled an appointment with them. They ended up having to do a bleach shampoo to get it out, and even after sitting there for two hours I later found purple deep in the back of my head.

I was offered an Olaplex treatment and the bleach shampoo, plus one product in recompense for the whole ordeal. I wasn't entirely happy with the trade off, but I let it be (especially because I didn't know the Olaplex treatment was a keep-it-in-for-24-hours thing and I had plans that evening that I had to cancel because I left the salon with wet, conditioned hair in a shower cap).

Then, I went to another salon.

Lo and behold, I found out just how bad my hair was. It took 6 hours and $900 later, I've got the hair color I wanted two years ago. My hair feels great, it's silky smooth and ashy and light. My curls (waves, I should say) are still very apparent and I can't tell a difference between the haircuts I've been overspending to get.

Look. Southern Curl is full of very, very kind employees. I fully believe they treat their staff right (but I don't know). That being said, what they did to my hair was a joke. I don't like leaving bad reviews because I know sometimes it's just an off day and I have no intention of messing with peoples livelihoods, but this...

PLEASE READ THIS BFORE YOU GO TO THIS SALON .Well I went to their salon earlier today because I had read so many reviews on how good they are at ALL naturally curly hair types, but that was false advertising. I have 3c/4a hair and when I went to the salon I was told to wear my hair down when I went so that’s what I did. They were definitely really nice people but they just didn’t understand my hair’s needs. When you first come in for the curl discovery they tell you to write down the products you usually use and what your main concerns are about your hair. I went to the salon because I wanted to help decrease how frizzy my hair gets, and to learn how to keep my hair moisturized. So they shampoo and conditioned my hair then put in some leave in products that did absolutely nothing for my hair. After that they put me under the drier which I was really confused about because I know it’s best to air dry or diffuse curly hair, and the heat from the drier tends to dry out your hair which is the exact opposite of what I asked for. While I was under the drier for like 30 minutes I was wondering why I was under there for so long, so I touched my hair to see if it was dry. When I touched my hair it was extremely dry and crunchy and frizzier than it normally is when I do my own hair. When I finally got out from under the drier after like 45 minutes of drying and possibly damaging my hair they took me over to the area wher they fluff out your hair and try to make sure it’s the way you like it. Now keep in mind all of the staff could see how completely messed up my hair looked and if you knew how much they charged for it you would be just as mad as I was. The curl discovery costs me $140 DOLLARS and I ended up leaving with my hair looking way worse than when I came. So after all of that my mom and I go to pay for my hair style and one of the ladies who did my hair relentlessly asks us to buy products.Pretty much the line they used on my hair was called innersense or something like that which is something I was also confused about because they are a devacurl certified salon, so you would think they would use deva curl products but they don’t. When you come in the salon they have a whole area full of deva curl products which is really misleading. So as I said the products they used made my hair all crunchy dry and gross and we were pretty much forced to buy them. We said we didn’t want to buy anything but they just kept asking us to. Now keep in mind the products I use at home cost like $9 or so for like 12oz and they were charging $6 for 1 OUNCE bottles of some random brand I’ve never heard of before that they said is not sold in stores that also smelled really perfumy which I don’t really like with products because they aren’t natural and an be drying. So we ended up having to buy $ 18 worth of products I DID NOT want that did absolutely nothing but mess up my hair. So I got about 3oz worth of product for $18 DOLLARS. I spent almost $180 dolars (including tax) for them to destroy my hair. And then on top of that one of the owners of the salon was sitting right next to the lady that was checking us out while all of this happened and I know she saw how messed up my hair looked. She didn’t even say a WORD to me about any of this. She didn’t apologize, and I didn’t even bother asking for a refund. Just know that they are NEVER getting my...