Hawthorn Salon — Local services in Jacksonville

If you want a personalized experience, don’t come here, you will just be another person and they will rush you through the whole process. I used to do my hair at this place during 2021/ 2022 and loved it. My hairstylist used to be Jill. I stopped going due to their bad business practices. Apparently the hair stylist was under the impression I did not like her work or something like that, which she never really communicated to me. I loved her work, what I didn’t like is that this place does not provide a personalized experience. It’s very impersonal/ rushed. Makes you feel like you’re just another number. They would literally sit a random girl while my purse was still on the station so that she could get a haircut while my hair was cooking/ dying. This happened several times, I did not give a well deserved tip on those occasions because you should at least let the client know what to expect. I’m thinking this is why the hairstylist thought I didn’t like her work. Something along the lines of “hey, just so you know, we typically take clients in between while your hair is dying so I just wanted you to be aware of that” would have sufficed in setting the right expectations. Unfortunately, they lacked good communication skills. How would you feel if you were doing your hair with your guard down trying to enjoy and relax and then you look back at the station you were sitting at and a random person is sitting on your assigned chair getting a haircut? Mind you, your purse is still there. No warning, no nothing. Then, they would send an assistant to check on my hair while the main hairstylist was still trying to do other haircuts. Couple of times I could tell my hair was fried due to it being left there for too long since the main hair stylist was still busy with another client. I guess the first time this happened I thought it was a one off, then it happened again and again and I noticed a pattern. Then one time, they scheduled me with a different girl that I did not request. The front desk girl said they made a mistake. Had my hair done with the other girl, told them to schedule the next appointment with Jill. They did, but did not write down to include blow dry so guess what? I had to leave with my hair wet. They said they didn’t have time and couldn’t do it but I still had to pay full price. This was unacceptable. There are tons of great hair salons in Jax. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the trendy atmosphere. Go to a salon where they make you feel like you are valued and not just one more client. I pay for the service AND the experience. If you ask me, I’d rather go to a salon where the hair stylist attention is on YOU and you ONLY. Not taking clients in between. Trust me on this. You don’t want to be rushed and on top of that expected to tip well for a not so good customer experience. You have to understand that some salons (this one being one them) take too many people and don’t really care if your hair gets fried, they just try to fit as many customers as possible to...

Below is my original review, but I must add this adjustment: Within hours of posting this review, the business owner called me to talk about my experience. She explained to me that my experience was not typical of what people get when the come to Hawthorn, and that my stylist was having an off day. I won't go into details, but the information she shared with me was presented as an explanation, but not an excuse, and I can sympathize- everyone has bad days. She also refunded every dime of what I spent there, which is above an beyond the call of duty and what is expected, especially for a small business. I will DEFINITELY be back to Hawthorn to give them a second chance, because after speaking with the business owner, my faith in them has been reaffirmed and I can truly tell that this business is owned by amazing, caring people.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have hesitated to write this review for months, but I decided to finally go ahead and do it. I chose to go to Hawthorn because they have excellent reviews and the photos on their Instagram are fantastic, but I definitely didn't have the same experience.

My biggest issue is that the whole time I was there, I felt like I was somehow inconveniencing my stylist. I realize that I have a LOT of hair (decently thick and down to the middle of my back), and that dying my whole head is quite a process, but the whole time she seemed annoyed with me and I felt like an imposition. There was barely any small talk, just straight to business. When someone does your hair, there is a sense of intimacy to it. This person is altering your appearance, is in your personal space for an extended period of time, and is touching you constantly throughout the process. The last thing I want to feel is like my decision to spend my hard-earned money there and my presence is somehow annoying them. In general, it was a really uncomfortable experience and I couldn't wait to leave.

My next issue is about the aforementioned hard-earned money- for a cut, color, and tip, my bill was over $300. I realize that at a nicer salon like Hawthorn you can expect to pay a bit more, but since then I have done a good bit of comparison pricing at other salons, and $300 is absurd.

Lastly, when my stylist was finishing my hair, I asked her multiple times not to blow dry my hair with the round brush- I despise the way my hair looks when it is blown out with a round brush, and I had errands to run and plans for the evening and wanted to look nice. I expressed this, as well as asking if she could just blow dry it and maybe quickly run the flat iron through my hair, which is my daily routine. Instead, she used the round brush on my entire head, so I ended up with my hair in a top knot for the entire night to cover up the blowout.

I'm really disappointed- I was hoping to find a new place that I could consistently go back to to get my hair done, but Hawthorn definitely isn't it and I definitely...

I had been going to this salon for years, and I trusted them with my hair. I will not be returning. My hair was colored an uneven, patchy turquoise blue that rinsed to swamp green when I asked for a cool-toned gray. 4.5 inches of my hair was chopped off when I only asked for my dead ends to be removed. I was not warned, consulted, or asked about this. The stylist that cut it kept saying "it looks so healthy now and it's still long." I'm devastated. I have issues growing out my hair, and it took me years to get it that long. My guess is they didn't tell me because they either messed up the cut, fried my hair, or were trying to cut the bluest parts out. The stylist that dyed my hair said "your ends are a little blue but those will be cut out when we trim it." 4.5 inches of hair is not my ends. My hair looks gross, short, and the end of it is a chunky, straight choppy line. It's like they knew they messed up and didn't care at that point.

Regarding the color, when I mentioned it, they shrugged it off. No apologies, only a suggestion to "wash it out" or have a gloss applied. On top of that, it was 400 dollars total for something I absolutely hated. The only reason they get two stars is because I was given a partial refund that's still processing. This place was great, until they messed up terribly, and never seemed truly sorry about it. A friend of mine, who dyes her own hair (not a licensed hairdresser) and I fixed what they ruined in 6 hours, and got it to the color I wanted, but I won't get back the inches of hair they...