curlynomad's Profile

Stylist:

AnnaMaria MacDonald

Jul 17, 2011 - The minute I moved back to Columbus, I was on the look-out for a curly girl salon. I was excited when someone recommended Maria to me. Her cut was definitely the most affordable curly girl cut I've gotten in the two years I've been seeking out Curly Girl trained stylists, but as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for." I showed up about five minutes early for my appointment, walked in, stood at the empty front desk for a while, finally gave up and took a seat, and proceeded to sit in the waiting area for a good 15-20 minutes without anyone even so much as acknowledging my presence. I mean, really?? I understand if you're a small operation and you all have clients, but at least pop out and say hello, check who I am, and let me know you'll be with me in a little while. Two different stylists actually walked right past me while escorting their clients out or talking to a contractor who I think was working on the space, and didn't even flash me a smile let alone ask who I was or who I was there to see. If I hadn't needed a cut so badly, I would've just walked out. Yes, Maria's been trained in the official curly girl cutting technique, and, no, I didn't leave with my hair in a crazy poofy mess. But, the cut was nothing special and with customer service that poor, I have no desire to return. I've already shopped around and found a salon and stylist where I paid just a little bit more than I did at Shag, and had a far better experience.

Stylist:

Amie V

Jul 17, 2011 - Amie V is fantastic! I've tried four different curly girl specialty salons in San Francisco and Columbus, and had the best experience by far at Akada. Amie was incredibly thorough with her consultation, checking how I normally style my hair, what products I use, how often I straighten it, the cutting method I'm used to, etc. She was easy to talk to, creative, and meticulous. I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted when I walked in, but she was able to take my basic guidelines into consideration and give me a fabulous new look that works with my curls and my no-fuss routine. She gave me product tips (and a sample to take home) without making a hard sell, and she took the extra time at the end of my cut to show me some tricks for styling my much shorter new hairdo. I had a fabulous experience with Amie, and more importantly, walked out with a cut that not only looked fantastic that day, but that I'm still loving two weeks later!