After several years of getting my hair cut, colored and styled at a high-end Newbury Street hair salon, I decided to try a local place near my home and see if I could capture the same quality hair styling I was used to. I checked various salons and came across Mellie Hair Salon. The salon website boasts that the salon is ""high-end"" and utilizes ""the latest, cutting-edge"" techniques. I called and spoke with the owner, Melanie. I explained to her I needed color, cut and blow-dry. I informed hair that my hair is long and curly and that I needed a stylist that was a pro at using a hair dryer, as the style I like is sleek and straight. She booked me with Janine.
The day arrived for my appointment and I was greeted at the front door by Melanie, who was dressed in frumpy clothes and a 80s bob hair style. Immediately I was disappointed with Melanie's look, because obviously as the owner of a salon that is supposedly high-end and trendy she was certainly not any of these things. Nevertheless, I was promptly escorted to a chair and I was introduced to Janine and my consultation began.
I took one look at Janine and realized her arms were very skinny and she was very petite, and I had doubts about whether or not she really was competent enough to blow-dry my hair. But I've had my hair fabulously blow-dried by petite women with skinny arms in the past so maybe it would be ok. I explained to Janine that I wanted to match my old color and that I needed to cover my grey. She said she liked it but did I consider low-lights. I said no, I was looking to keep the same color. She insisted that they would look nice and so after some back and forth I said I'd give it a try. During the consult she also tried to sell me the Brazilian blow-out, which apparently is a big money maker for the salon. I passed.
The appointment progressed, the color was completed and it did not look that bad wet. Then Janine started my blow-dry. I had high hopes for the blow-out because she in fact separated my hair into parts which was a signal that she may know what she was doing.
Unfortunately Janine got tired half-way through my blow-dry and after 20 minutes she said she was done. I knew my hair takes at least 30-40 minutes from start to finish to blow-dry so I was skeptical. I touched my hair and it was still wet. I informed her of this and I also suggested she try the flat iron, if that would help her complete the job. She blew-dry a bit more but by now she was getting annoyed with me. Imagine! A hairstylist annoyed because a customer pointed out that she did a half-a** job. She tried the flat iron and further showed her incompetence by not handing the flat-iron correctly and not showing any sign of technique or experience with it. I had enough of amateur hour and said I'll go pay now. The amount I paid for this haircut exceeded what I normally payed on Newbury Street by about $20. The color was mediocre and when I took a look at my roots I found many grey hairs still not completely covered with the new color.
The moral of the story: there is a reason Newbury Street is where all the experienced, edgy and high-end salons are located. Mellie Hair Salon said it was this type of salon; but in the end it was a rinky-dink, no talent, no style salon that obviously caters to ""old lady hair."" The vibe in the salon lacked energy and was dull. Janine showed no class when I voiced my concerns after the blow-out and was incompetent. I would not recommend this salon.
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