I’ve been hearing a lot about Hair Rules, a New York City salon that caters to and celebrates natural hair. It made its name by offering a variety of services and working with celebrity clientele such as Estelle and Kelis, as well as one of the biggest natural hair YouTube gurus, Taren Guy. I was won over by the many glowing reviews and thought, “Hey, why don’t I give this place a try?”

I’d been itching to have my hair blown out for a while. And with a big event coming up at work at the time, I thought why not treat myself to a “hair day.”

So, why go to Hair Rules and pay more for something I can get for half the price at an around the way salon? Well long story short, Hair Rules’ blow out techinique is said to be less stressful to your hair, and apparently uses less heat to achieve that blown out look, therefore causing less damage.* I was intrigued, so this past October I decided to schedule an appointment.

And that brings me to the first exciting part of the Hair Rules experience…

The Appointment that Never Was.

I was so thrilled to schedule my appointment with Hair Rules! I called the salon and scheduled an appointment for a few weeks later (the day before my organization’s annual gala event) with one of the junior stylists for a blow out. I starred my calendar as soon as I hung up the phone. I just couldn’t wait!

As the countdown for my “hair day” closed in, I thought it was strange I hadn’t received a call to confirm my appointment, since that had been my experience with every other “high-end-ish” hair salon (DevaChan, etc…). I thought, what the hell, and gave them a call just to check in on my appointment for the next day. To my surprise and bewilderment the appointment I was so excited for was apparently never scheduled. The receptionist didn’t sound the least bit concerned or apologetic, which made the whole situation even worse. The only solution that she (casually) offered was that I could come in the next day at 8am to see if a stylist’s schedule would allow for me to be squeezed in. I so graciously declined that convenient offer.

I can’t even tell you how pissed I was. I still needed to get my hair done for this gala event, so I called DevaChan for an emergency appointment, and they so graciously squeezed me in for a curly cut for the next day…and they kept my appointment. My cut/style turned out great as usual!

Must…Go…To…Hair Rules.

My head is as hard as a rock I’m often told, and even though I had such a bad customer service experience with Hair Rules, I still wanted to see what all the big hoopla was about. So here comes December, I gave myself a good month to cool down, and I found myself calling Hair Rules again to schedule an appointment…fingers crossed. I scheduled an appointment for the following weekend with Dickey (the owner of the salon). Just to clarify, I asked how much iit would cost me since I would be getting my hair done by the owner and all. The receptionist said for a blow out it would come out to $85, which is still a lot but, whatever, I chose to do it.

Aside from having anxiety for the entire week leading up to my appointment (for fear that I would not have an appointment) my fears were relieved when I got a confirmation email two days before my appointment. Deep sigh of relief.

Fast forward to Saturday -- I get to the salon and am checked-in by the receptionist.

Twenty-five minutes after my scheduled appointment time, another stylist approached me and asked what I was getting done and who I was seeing.

“I’m seeing Dickey for a blowout, and maybe a little trim," I said.

The stylist gave me a petrified look and asked if I was aware of the pricing. I said not really and she asked me to go up to the receptionist to check on that. I asked the receptionist how much extra it would be for a trim -- she took a breath and said..$250. Haircuts and trims are apparently same thing at Hair Rules.

Ok, well that decision was easy. I was like, the hell, just keep me as is for the blow out. I’ll keep my fried ends, thanks.

About forty-five minutes after my scheduled appointment time, I quickly met with Dickey, was led to the wash basin and then was left for a good…oh…twenty minutes waiting for someone to wash my hair.

Finally a stylist came and brought me through the majority of washing and conditioning until she randomly switched out with the stylist who told me about the pricing. The latter stylist brought me through the rest of the washing process, and then I was left to hang out with my hair drenched for, oh say, another ten minutes.

Guys, I’m cool with being left alone to sit under a dryer, but I pretty much like my experience to be a continuous one, especially when there’s no reason for it to not to be. Case and point, why are we taking breaks in the middle of washing hair?

Anyway, fast-forwarding some more, the “pricing” stylist (not Dickey) pretty much did my hair -- of course, with a lot of back and forth in between, leaving me in the chair with my hair half done. Dickey only came at the end to flat iron the last few pieces and to fluff.

The Results

…were amazing. My hair was bouncy and shiny. They did a great job at hiding my fried ends. But the experience was lackluster. I’m big on the whole package when I go to a high end hair salon, and I don’t appreciate being treated like you’re doing me a favor. I'm paying you for a service and expect to be treated as so.

Bottomline

Hair Rules gives great results, but the service is less than desirable.

♥ Sophia

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