I've been to Impressions twice since the beginning of this year and have found myself disappointed both times. However, let me start off by saying that the salon has a great staff that seems very knowledgeable and polite, they always are able to get me in for an appointment when I call, the salon is clean, and they offer student discounts on Mondays, which is great.
Unfortunately, the haircuts themselves really left me disappointed. Impressions has a tiered system, and stylists are on a level between 1 and 5, 5 being the highest/most expensive. Both of my haircuts were done by level 4 stylists. My two experiences are described below, but basically I gave them 2 stars because I've been disappointed with my haircuts, not because of the salon or staff themselves.
My first haircut was back in January, and I met with a male stylist that had been at Impressions for 10+ years. I have long hair that had not been cut in over a year, so I was well overdue to get a few inches taken off. I have had super short hair before, so I made sure to tell him I was fine with him taking off whatever he needed to, and that I wanted to get bangs. He seemed VERY cautious about taking off any length, and even more worried about cutting my bangs. I showed him how i part my hair far to the side so that the bangs sweep across my forehead, and he repeatedly parted from the middle, inching over, and cut the bangs very long--they were face-framing layers, not bangs. He also two over TWO HOURS to cut my hair, which, while I appreciate him taking his time, was kind of ridiculous for some smooth layers and bangs. He was trying out a new technique that gives hair lots of movement, but ultimately took way too long to execute and didn't really remove any of the split ends I wanted off. In the end, I left feeling like I'd hardly had my hair cut, still had split ends, and ended up re-cutting my bangs myself at home.
My second haircut I had at the beginning of March with a female stylist. I actually really like her personality, and she was great at explaining many ways for me to care for my long hair. I haven't had hair past my shoulders since my gradeschool days, and was struggling with tangling and breakage. She a few products, but also many helpful tips like braiding it at night, combing with conditioner in the shower, and brushing it by layer when dry. I came in to her explaining I wanted whatever length she deemed necessary cut off, as well as some layers for lift and re-shaping of my bangs from the last time I was in. I was really happy with the length she took off and the job she did on my bangs, but when she went to cut layers, I was surprised at how unfinished they looked. She combed three sections of my hair to their opposite sides (right over left, left over right, and back over to the front) and chopped off large sections. I'm fine with using this method to cut some initial length into layers, but she never polished it up in anyway! The end result was choppy layers set above the rest of the length of my hair. She also didn't style my hair AT ALL, even after she asked a girl to go get her straightener? She then seemed in a hurry to get me out, not even asking if I was happy with the cut; just a quick ""anything else I can do for you?"" and whipped off the cape. I'm disappointed, because it would have been a great cut if she had just taken the time to even out the layers and toss in some product.
Anyway, I have lots of friends who have been happy with Impressions, and they definitely have a polite and friendly staff. I'm just kind of tired of coming home disappointed, so I think I'm going to have to try somewhere else for now.
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