Well, I?m now a reformed, hairdresser lover? I?ve been to see Alyson this week and I cannot express my gratitude enough for this superb artist.
I?m a new arrival to LA and had several trepidations regarding my first trip to a local hairdresser, erroneously assuming I?d be subjected to a pretentious and vacuous environment, and leave feeling like I?d been robbed of a month?s grocery money. Pre-Alyson, I had pretty bad hair, and I?d been dreading the embarrassment of having to explain the strange, cost-cutting transformations it had been through (drug store hair colour is the devil).
After a long phone conversation with Alyson and then a free, lengthy in-salon consultation (I like to repeat questions, but in slightly different ways), I decided to book with her for the big day. It just felt right and my vision became her vision, but an enhanced and more technical one.
On the day, I turned up in my gym gear, flip flops and a nervous smile on my face and let Alyson work her magic. As alluded to above, my hair was like a treasure trove of colour and, in terms of the cut, had fallen victim to my student budget and a former stylist who didn?t speak much english. Were I to hazard a guess, I?d speculate that this ex stylist of mine failed school geometry.
After my amazing cut, Alyson carefully laid out a mini-apothecary of natural hair-colours and even ran back for more when she uncovered hidden gems of colour deep within the thickets of hair. Each section received personal attention. In fact, she even got me to come back again so that she could make what was already perfect somehow even better. Her endurance level and patience are phenomenal.
Alyson?s main concern was to not take the lengths of my hair lighter than she?d need to in order to get rid of the blackness and match it to a shade slightly lighter than my naturally-light brown roots (to get that sun-kissed look). Most salons would bleach the life out of hair in this situation and destroy it in the process. Not Alyson.
Alyson reassured me throughout, showing more gentleness and patience that one would normally receive peri-operatively. I didn?t feel embarrassed or judged at all!
Time with her has an almost ethereal feel to it; her spirituality, knowledge and dedication to her craft is awe-inspiring. As for the products she uses, you may have noticed, fellow converts, that she takes an armful of beautifully-labelled bottles over to the sink? These natural alternatives--along with her hair colours and styling products--are lovingly selected for us, her lucky few.
Alyson, you are a sweetheart and a true artist. For the first time in years, my hair is a feature for me to enjoy; it has life and energy!
My hair and husband thank you, as do I!
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