Arts & Chemistry by Diego — Local services in Gaithersburg

I came here recently for a new cut & vibrant color (based on an inspiration photo with a mix of several vibrant colors). I saw Joyce for the cut and she had me come back for the color. I have dark hair that takes a while to lift/bleach and afterward the color was invisible. I mean that literally-- my hair was the same color as it was pre-color (I saw my family for a couple weeks and no one knew I had done anything at all to it). I knew right away but they told me to wait and wash it a few times as the color would "show up." It didn't. Even though I am a very non-confrontational person, I had spent hundreds on this and went back and asked them to fix it. They set me up with an appointment with Diego. I went in for my appointment-- first off, Joyce wouldn't make eye contact with me, which felt very middle school-- I wasn't mad, I just wanted my hair to be colored. Second, before we got to the re-coloring (and after I waited a long time to be seen at all), we had to go through about half an hour of gaslighting-- Diego said all kinds of things, like that this is what I had asked for (HUH? Who would pay hundreds of dollars for invisible hair coloring? Why?!), that they don't follow pictures here (Ok, I didn't expect a complete recreation but how else are you supposed to convey what you're looking for?), that I got a great deal (?!), that some hair just doesn't show color at all (I've had it colored before and it was vibrant), etc, etc, etc. This was pretty rough for a person who, as mentioned, doesn't like confrontation and just wanted my hair dyed for the first time in about ten years. So finally he rebleached and recolored it and it looked good, which is why I gave a couple stars. I paid for "materials" this time and tipped on the full amount, and had tipped on the full amount the first time around as well. BUT (it's not over, folks), I went to a different nearby salon to cut and color it later once the color had faded and she did it for a FRACTION of the cost all in one visit (bleach, full head highlights, shampoo, full haircut, blow dry) AND when I went to Diego the colors bled out like crazy in the shower and got on my fingers and towels-- two of the colors were gone entirely in a couple days, that's how much they bled out-- and this much cheaper dye job didn't run at ALL in the shower and looks super vibrant. Also she was just NICE. For a super expensive cut and color, this was not a good...

God bless this business and salon! Diego , nikol and Cassandra all amazing helpful people! If I’m not abroad in turkey/emirates I usually come to Diego for highlights for the last 3 years. It’s almost impossible to find someone who can make dark hair light without brassy tones. I’ll say Diego can definitely take black to white/platinum/ grey very well. I started coming here because my aesthetician had the icy blonde (from original black). I drive an hour from Virginia because after trying 5-6 colorists in the DMV , this was the only place that didn’t make it brassy. I went a week ago and asked for requested style in below pictures . I have to wait 4 months between bleaches due to damage and I only do face frame because of the dryness bleach causes. The first time a week ago we lifted for over a hour resulted in skinny grey streaks and paid $150. I have several events coming up and wanted to try again to get the icy blonde . I went in today and we added more highlights for ($100) since I wanted the chunky look we didn’t achieve a week ago . I left the toner for 2 hours . But unfortunately now have a mix of streaky grey and brass . Again I love this salon and its people but would not recommend below result for $250. However if you are looking to go black to grey then yes...

I recently had a balayage appointment. While I don’t have any issue with the balayage technique itself, unfortunately, the way it was applied didn’t turn out well. The highlights are noticeably uneven—one side of my head has much more balayage than the other—and the color is inconsistent, with some parts lighter and some darker.

At the salon, I wasn’t given a full view of my hair (no mirror to see the back), so I didn’t realize how uneven it was until later. Still, I told Sahar right away that I didn’t like how it turned out and asked if she could apply a darker color over everything. She said the only solution was to change the toner and try again. Even after the second toner, I was still unhappy with the result.

I didn’t want to argue, so I left quietly, but I’ve waited about a month to see if I’d change my mind—and I haven’t. This just isn’t what I wanted.

The one positive thing I will say is that my hair feels healthy and undamaged, which shows Sahar uses high-quality products. I truly appreciate that.

This review is just my honest experience and I hope it helps others when making...