The Artist's Loft — Local services in Haverhill

I came in with light hair and asked for a cool blonde based with chocolate lowlights something that was clearly shown and discussed. The stylist even told me via text that my hair was already “pretty light” and that we could “at least get closer to my goal in one session.” Based on that, I moved forward, trusting her guidance.

What I walked out with was the complete opposite… brown hair with a few random highlights nothing close to the cool blonde result I asked for. To make matters worse, the photo she took of my hair looked significantly lighter than what I saw in natural sunlight, which felt misleading. When she sent me that photo, it was also pixilated, further distorting the result and making it hard to accurately assess the outcome.

At the consultation, I showed her a side by side collage I created with two similar hair color examples and we specifically agreed to focus on the left side, which had a cool blonde base with chocolate lowlights. At the appointment, I showed her that same left side photo again, just with extension pieces added in to better emphasize the dimension and tone I wanted. So if she tries to say I changed the vision or showed her different inspiration, that simply isn’t true. The reference photo stayed consistent I just expressed it more clearly.

During the appointment, she asked if I wanted the brown lowlights pulled through to the bottom, and I said yes not realizing how drastically that would affect the overall base… She did warn me it could darken things a bit, but the inspiration photos I showed clearly had brown pulled through and still looked overall blonde. I never expected it to turn into such a deep, muddy brown with barely visible blonde pieces. I wasn’t trying to change the vision I was trying to match what I showed her.

Throughout the appointment, I tried to be polite and maintain a positive attitude partly because there were other stylists and clients observing and commenting, and I didn’t want to seem rude or dramatic. I even commented on how her coworker mentioned seeing the difference while my hair was still wet, just to make conversation and people-please. But once I was out of the bowl and saw the results in the mirror, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. I found myself staring off into the distance, completely checked out. My stylist clearly noticed this and tried to keep making conversation, but at that point, I was emotionally done.

To maintain my “happy client” image, I even scheduled another appointment with her before I left simply to avoid awkwardness and judgment. I want to make that clear, because I’m sure she’ll try to use that to discredit my concerns. But the truth is, I was uncomfortable, disappointed, and already knew deep down I wouldn’t be coming back.

When I later expressed my concerns, the tone shifted drastically. She claimed she always said it would take multiple sessions (even though I had texts proving otherwise), and became defensive, condescending, and gaslighting telling me to re-read messages as if I imagined the conversation.

Instead of offering a proper re-do, I was only offered a “tonal shift”, because apparently re-dos only apply to “artistic errors, patchiness, or missed spots.” Even though the result was far from what was discussed, she refused to acknowledge it as anything more than a matter of “tone,” which felt like another way to avoid taking accountability.

What was even more disappointing was the attitude throughout passive-aggressive, belittling, and unwilling to acknowledge any wrongdoing. I left feeling unheard, misled, and honestly, a little disrespected.

Edit: My starting point is a result from the former salon. Also she’s admitting to looking up my Google review history? Publicly shaming my hair after telling me it’s not that bad? It’s odd she brought up other salons turning me away as if that’s a red flag when she literally laughed and said they probably just didn’t want to admit they didn’t have the experience to do that kind of work. You can’t say one thing privately to build trust, then spin it...

I’ve been seeing Danielle, the owner, for a bit over 4 years now!

When I first came to her in October of 2020, I was in the “growing pains” phase of growing out my pixie cut and salons were starting to open up with measures of precaution. I’d given myself an undercut in August and wasn’t sure how to style my hair anymore.

I’d put together a Pinterest board before going in to see her for some direction of where I wanted to take my hair while still growing it out and she gave me an asymmetrical haircut that made me look and feel like myself again, which was a huge mood booster in the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

We had a plan to make the growing out phase as smooth as possible and in 2021, she hit the mark again with a fun & shaggy layered cut that I’ve kept until recently.

I visited her again yesterday, and we are still growing this out and I’ve kept the undercut the entire time. I’ll continue to make the 1.5 hour trip to see Danielle because I trust her hands, she’s so much fun to chat with during my appointments, and I always leave her chair feeling super cute & refreshed! Without a doubt, she’s someone who goes above and beyond to make your vision come to life and your hair journey as smooth...

I had the worst experience at The Artist Loft Haverhill Ma by Danielle I came in for a full foil and blow dry. I did not received a blow dry but was still charged. I was expecting professional results, but what I got was a complete disaster. My hair was left patchy and damaged, nothing like what I had asked for. When I expressed my disappointment, instead of acknowledging their mistake, they only offered to “tone it down,” which did little to fix the damage.

To make matters worse, they refused to give me a refund, even though my hair is now a mess that I’ll have to spend more money to fix elsewhere. A professional salon should stand by their work, but clearly, customer satisfaction is not a priority here. She made it seem like it was my fault and that I should have been aware of it. You don’t let someone leave the salon with wet hair.

If you care about your hair, save yourself the stress and go...