XEX Salon — Local services in Chicago

Edit/update: After I wrote my previous review and addressed my experience. I was immediately contacted by the owner of the salon David. He asked for me to come in and get it fixed free of charge. Which is great bc I thought I would have to go somewhere else to get it fix and pay even more. I told him I would think about it and he was very friendly about it and said to call back whenever. My appointment was today (Feb. 4, 2019) I arrived and was greeted by Jessica right away. Jessica is the nicest and most professional stylist you’ll ever meet. She addressed the situation and made me feel comfortable even though I felt like I was being very vague and all over the place with what I wanted fixed. She listened attentively. When I was with her she never made me feel awkward or nervous. She did a WHOLE service on me. Which I thought was amazing given the service was free. Jessica showed that she can tackle a problem without complaining and take accountability and is concerned about your wants and needs of your hair. She will do the absolute best to get you the hair you want in a healthy way. She definitely fixed my balayage the best she could and answered all my questions. I’m glad that I got to see her in her full protenial and that a second chance presented itself. So always address the issues on your hair and I’m sure they will do their best to fix it. I’m immensely thrilled that I will be returning to xex!

I've come here 4 times in the past 4 years. So basically every year. My first time (2016) I got a balayage and I wish I could remember the stylist name. She did a great job on the balayage and cut my hair how I wanted. The 2nd time (2017) I was attended by Nelson. I had come in with destroyed hair from a previous haircut and he fixed it to excellence. 3rd time (May 2018) I was styled by Chris. He was such a lovely guy. I had come in for a whole haircut which included v shaped from the bottom , framing on the face and layers he only cut off my ends. I do understand that my hair was damaged from the ends. But I ended up just the same as how I walked in. The whole service seem rushed as well. I was there with my sister who was also getting a haircut and wasn't done yet and I realized that right away there was another client on his chair, I guess he had another appointment. So was trying to finished with me as quick as possible. 4th time was recently (Jan. 26, 2019) I had Jessica as my stylist. I didn't want to judge from my previous experience. Bc everyone is different. I've gone for a full balayage and a haircut. Jessica was nice and informative. However when I got home and got a better look at my hair I could tell there were some mistakes. Such as patchiness from the balayage. One side of my bangs had more color than the other. It wasn't even. She had said the color would melt on my hair how balayage does when you google it but I don't see it like that (judge for yourself). She had curled my hair so you couldn't really tell the mistakes of the color when I was at the salon. Also I had asked for layers and once again I did not get and I got a 5 min haircut instead where she only cut the ends of my hair even when we had both decided where my layers were going to start. I believe I only got framing around my face. I also believe the stylists rush bc they have a time limit. Given I had gotten full balayage before, this time it wasn't great. Also, I paid 262$ when she had said it was going to be less than 200$ given the service it wasn't worth 262$ I think the quality of this salon is getting lower and lower. It's unfortunate that I won't be returning bc my first two...

I came here with a Groupon for Balayage with a lead stylist. I wanted an ash blonde ombré hair from my very dark brown hair. It looked good in the salon after the stylist blow dried my hair and styled it. When I got home I noticed that the color was so choppy and one dimensional. The highlights part all started from one point and was like at least 2 inches from my roots, which made the color job look like 3 months grown out. Also, I went to the parking garage listed on their website, which unbeknownst to them and myself, led me to the WRONG GARAGE. We found out at the conclusion of my service. Since then they’ve updated their website, which should lead you to the Dearborn parking garage and not the Randolph garage. All they did was give me a $20 bill to Hope it covered something. 3-4 hours parking still made my parking garage ticket over $55, which meant I paid $35 just for parking, along with the extra $ for toner which was not included with the Groupon, and then tip on top of that (because I mean the stylist did work on my hair for that length of time and she managed the ash blonde color miraculously!).

Anyway, since my first coloring was not up to par, I went back immediately on the weekends to get close to my roots touched up to bring up color more and make it more ombré. She also thinned my hair out more and I’ve been loving it since.

But it would have been a better experience if 1) I didn’t pay all that extra money for parking... you can spot hero for $16 for half a day. Instead I spent almost double. And 2) that I didn’t have to go in twice to get my desired results, but sometimes if that’s what it takes...

I have received two haircuts at XEX. I enjoyed my first appointment with Victoria. We started with a consultation and Victoria made sure that she understood what I wanted before the haircut and that I understood everything she was doing during the haircut. She asked questions and gave me to opportunity to provide feedback and get what I wanted from the appointment. Victoria also provided advice on how to style my hair. This appointment exceeded my expectations and I decided to return to XEX for another haircut.

My second appointment was with TJ. I started by showing him a reference picture and he told me that he could do "the same haircut but better", offering no advice for me or insight into what he planned to do during the haircut. I had assumed during our "consultation" that he wouldn't deviate from the reference photo, however, TJ completely ignored both my reference picture and my request to not cut my hair too short. Not only that, but the haircut also looked unprofessional. I left with uneven bangs and parts of my hair were not blended. I would have liked to have seen TJ's work beforehand or been told about his experience because I'm sure that he is not used to cutting certain hair styles and types.

Part of this experience was my fault as I did not specify how much I wanted cut off, despite TJ not asking and the picture clearly showing a longer hairstyle than what I received.

The prices are reasonable given the location, the environment is comfortable, and the staff that I have met are very friendly. XEX is a great salon as long as the right staff is working with you. I hope to return once my...