I don't write too many reviews, but the experience was so counter to what I see on other sites that I felt I had to, as it seems it's being misrepresented by people who are evaluating the atmosphere and not the quality of the services. I walk by Maxine on my way to work and having newly moved back to Chicago to find my favorite hairdresser at a different salon had moved cities, I decided to try something new. I asked that they recommend someone familiar with curly hair cutting and then booked an appointment. We went through a prelim consult, I told her exactly how my hair behaves and needs to be cut, and she seemed to get it. I went and got shampooed, which was where it started to go horribly awry. The girl splashed shampoo all over my neck, which got on my sweater, and she told me she'd wipe it off when she was done. One of my favorite parts of going to a nice salon is the shampoo, since it's usually very massage-like, but not here. I almost left after that (with a stain on my sweater and shampoo on my neck and in my ears), but I stayed. The stylist was great, personable, friendly, has experience, yet ignored virtually everything I told her about my hair. To add insult to injury, she cut an additional 2 inches off past what I told her I was comfortable with, clearly not factoring in how much shorter my hair would be when it curled. On top of all that, she cut my hair all one length, which one NEVER EVER does to curls. Ever. Period. She cut a few strange ""layers"" as she called them, straightened it, and I was done (the blowout was nice, I'll give her that). I had a hunch it was exactly what I didn't want, but it's hard to tell without seeing it curly, so I went home, wet it, and confirmed. It's easily the worst haircut I've ever had, and it's so short that I can barely do anything with it. I called and spoke to the receptionist, who was lovely (as all the staff were), and booked for a redo 3 days later. The re-do was good, but little things like the fact that she cut and combed my hair with very old, dirty looking utensils and that used a Conair difuser on the blow-dryer that kept falling apart and hitting me on the head when she dried my hair were just very off-putting to me. The final piece of this is that they charged for a glass of wine. For a $100 haircut, I expect professional shampooers, complimentary beverages, alcoholic and non, state-of-the-art styling implements (not piles of used, dirty curling irons and hair brushes) and stylists who participate in continuing education (or at least listen to the client, who knows her hair very well and was very specific). While the facade is lovely, and it certainly appears to be very chic and state-of-the-art and there are lots of magazine articles touting their expertise, I found this to be a huge disappointment that's now cost me $140, 2 hours of my time, and will result in me having to wear my hair back for at least 3 months, which is beyond upsetting. I really wish I'd followed my instincts and walked out after the shampooer carelessly sloshed product all over me without batting an eyelash.
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