Echo Salon Downtown Grand Rapids — Local services in Grand Rapids

I’m new to the area and have been looking for a new stylist to do my hair. I made an appointment for a touch up bleach and tone. I showed the stylist at Echo a picture of my hair after a fresh bleach and tone with my previous stylist and asked for similar results. When I sat down in her chair after being rinsed, my roots were highlighter yellow and my ends were the way they were when I came in. Two completely different colors on my head. Had I not said that I wasn’t happy, she would have continued to blow dry my hair and send me on my way. After toning and rinsing a second time, there was little improvement, but at this point I was so embarrassed with my hair that all I wanted to do was go home. I have gotten my hair bleached and toned for years and I have never seen a job this bad. It’s sad because I did a lot of research on the best salons in Grand Rapids because I wanted to find a new, permanent place to go for my hair color. Echo was one of the top rated ones, however my hair says otherwise. I usually do not leave google reviews, but this experience was really disappointing. I know that blonde can be tricky sometimes, but Echos website bragged about how this stylist was a “blonde specialist”. With Echos great customer reviews, and their high regards for the stylist I booked with, I remember thinking, “this place will be perfect!” However, I was completely blindsided by my results. I paid $235 for something that looks like I did at home with box color. If I wasn’t on the verge of tears in a new place with unfamiliar people, I probably would have spoken to a manager or something. But all I could think about was fighting back tears long enough to make...

I used to be a huge fan of this salon for quite a few years. Never had any complaints regarding their haircuts. Having said that, I've gotten my hair colored a few times there and felt slightly underwhelmed each time. I have naturally dark hair, and it was always a little annoying that the stylist would do a wash of color that only really lasted a couple of shampoos. I decided to go considerably lighter, and made the (heavy!) investment of doing it over several sessions to minimize the damage. The color in the end was amazing, though it completely fried my hair, to the point that it was literally SNAPPING off. In speaking with other stylists, it became apparent that the hairdresser did not use a bleaching method that would minimize the damage. It seemed she was instead more interested in getting me to go in (and pay) more times than actually keeping my hair healthy (a stylist at another salon told me that the final results could have been achieved in fewer sessions, and with less damage). Furthermore, I was stuck with bright yellow hair for several weeks during the process, as there were no real attempts done to tone it after severely bleaching it each session (which the hairdresser admitted at the end of the process). Overall it was an experience that left a very sour taste, and I can't bring myself to step foot in their salon again despite the fact that they're very talented at haircuts....

I recently met Katie and had my annual hair cut! Yes, you read that right…annual. The reason behind this infrequency is two fold. 1)I’m a very low maintenance, not too girly girl so my hair doesn’t really get damaged by frequent styling or coloring and 2)my hair is wavy/curly and down to my hips. In my whole 37 years of life I’ve had maybe 2-3 GOOD haircuts from stylists who I feel like embraced my wavy/curls and adjust their techniques to accommodate. Given that history, I found Echo through an online search for curly hair specialist in GR and was so hopeful that I’d finally found somewhere that could help me itch my curly hair journey. Luckily, I was soooo pleasantly surprised! Katie was super friendly and knowledgeable. We talked through her journey to becoming a curl specialist and discussed all the crazy online curl techniques we’ve seen/tried. She gave me tons of tips and encouragement and made me feel great! Last, but definitely not least, my hair cut was AWESOME! she shaped it just how I had hoped she would and finished my curls naturally rather than with a curling iron (only one stylist before her has EVER properly done that!) I am recommending her and this salon to everyone I can and feel so pumped that I’ve finally found a curly hair haven! Thank you Katie! And Thank...