Lux Salon & Spa — Local services in Tacoma

I recently moved to the PNW from the Midwest, and finding a great hair stylist has been on my list of things to do. When I started coming to Lux in Tacoma, I have never been disappointed. I drive over an hour to come to this salon, and I pass by several other salons on my way there. And there is a reason I am willing to drive through Tacoma traffic; the staff and the service and the products and how you feel when you step out of the door. I have seen Carrie for my eyebrows, and I cannot even describe how she works her magic on the eyebrows, but she is well worth it. For hair color and cut, I have had Brett before, whom was phenomenal and spent so much time giving me the perfect look with baby highlights and a dry haircut. So beautiful with pearl colored highlights and rose gold low-lights. Unfortunately, I tend to be a bit too picky, and I wanted my hair just slightly lighter in color for the spring (his color job was perfect, and my husband loved it). Unfortunately, rather than waiting till Brett's next opening to have a few extra lights put in, I was being not patient, and I hate to admit I went to a different salon in Olympia, and had them lighten my hair. Well, as expected, this did not turn out as I had hoped and instead I was left with a head full of extremely brittle yellow hair. After this, I online scheduled myself with Marco (Brett was off that day), for some type of help. Not only did Marco NOT make me feel badly about jumping around to different stylists and salons and doing two harsh chemical jobs on my hair within a 1 week time period, he also told me how beautiful my hair was and helped me to lessen the damage (in the form of a 2-3" hair cut and a toner and a deep conditioning treatment), which was difficult as I am always trying to grow my hair out, but he did it in a way so it will grow in beautifully. He also NEVER once tried to talk me into putting more color or highlights in my hair, as he knew how important the hair health and length was to me. He never made me feel badly about my self hair sabotage, and was so very kind. I truly cannot rave about him enough. At the end, I was waiting for the sales pitch on which shampoos and conditioners and other products I "need" to buy, but instead he said my current hair care shampoo/conditioner regimen is excellent, and to save my money until next time I needed more products. Overall, Marco turned what could have been a very uncomfortable and mildly traumatic event (cutting 2-3" off my hair is huge for me), into a positive and into a learning experience for the future. I will certainly be coming back to him for future hair care needs. I will happily drive 1 hour to get to him. Wish I had pics to share to help attest to his...

This review is from Emily McAlister: DO NOT BOOK WITH JULIA! The haircut she gave me is nothing short of awful. I have very thick hair and have to be incredibly specific, since I have found many hairstylists are not capable of cutting thick hair well. I let her know what I wanted, including how I wanted layering to be cut in so that my shorter haircut would be beveled and not look puffy or unflattering. The technique I had asked her to use was not one she seemed familiar with, but she did say that she would layer it to avoid the dreaded triangle effect. I had longer grown out face framing pieces that ended at the length we would be cutting, and I said that all I wanted was for those ends to be trimmed as I DID NOT WANT any length cut near the face at this visit. Not only did she not give me layers, she brushed my front pieces forward and instead of doing a small cleanup trim on those like I had asked - she cut the most disjointed and unsightly little section near my face because she “liked it when there are a few pieces near the lip to style when your hair is pulled back.” She did something she wanted instead of what the client asked and she did it so quickly that it was done before I could object. Did not let me know she was doing this, or even ask if it was ok to do. These little pieces look completely stupid, don’t blend in to the rest of the hair, and the haircut itself is exactly what I didn’t want. It’s puffy and gives “little lad” vibes. Before we began, she even had the nerve to talk poorly about her fellow coworkers saying I shouldn’t get a haircut from most of them since they didn’t know how to cut my hair type. And then proceeds to butcher my hair. I am now getting extensions put in to hide her awful haircut and having someone else create face framing pieces to blend the stupid little sections she cut near my face. Even my boyfriend noticed that the weird pieces she cut near my face didn’t look cohesive or make any sense with the rest of my hair. Instead of talking badly about her fellow hairstylists, she should try listening to her clients and broaden her skill set.

Edit: Their customer service is just as unprofessional. I left a message letting them know I was really unhappy. They call back at the end of the day, and when I return the call, they said that Roxanne was already gone but would call the next morning. Didn’t get a call but a text, again at the end of the day. I respond and nothing. I have managed spas for years, and this would never happen in a place that cared about their customers. All around...

The stylist was very nice and I really liked meeting her. She was enjoyable and friendly. If I could just rate her personality, it would be a 5/5. However, my haircut was not good, and I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got home. That’s partly because I have very long, very thick, fine hair that isn’t very forgiving — I know it’s difficult to cut. But the result was choppy and uneven in the back, with a noticeable chunk sticking down in the middle. Unfortunately, it ended up being the second-worst cut I’ve had.

I also want to add that I’m a little frustrated, because I called both the day before and the morning of to make sure my hair would be a good fit for the stylist I was booked with. I tried to be very upfront about the length and density of my hair, and I feel like a more advanced stylist may have been a better fit. When someone says they have fine, thick, three-foot-long hair, I feel like that should default to at least an intermediate-level stylist.

To be fair, I didn’t realize the issue until after I left. I was never shown the back of my hair, so I didn’t have a chance to ask for corrections. The stylist may have been able to fix it if I had noticed before leaving. She was kind, and I appreciated her attitude, but unfortunately the cut just wasn’t a good match for my hair type or expectations. I think this was more of a scheduling issue than the stylist skill issue.

I lost confidence and decided to go somewhere else to fix it. The front desk at this new place knew exactly what to ask and said because my hair is so specific, they only have 2 out 14 stylist they would recommend. This is what I expect from salons when communicating about my hair, and I did not get that here.

EDIT: Update to add two more photos. It got worse after I washed it and dried it. I am honestly shocked at how bad this cut is. Not a single part of it is even. It's two inches longer in the front on the left side too. However, I am upping my rating a bit because it is clear the salon owner cares and tries to make things right. I believe this salon and the stylists are still probably great to go to....