Heading Out - Balwyn North (840 reviews)

Comment

This was my third visit to Heading Out Balwyn and my first bad experience. To start with, my regular stylist was on leave and I was not notified prior to my visit or given the option to postpone my appointment. This was my first colour with Heading Out (previously only cuts which have been faultless) and first experience with L'Oreal Professional products as my previous salon used Matrix. I don't believe that the alternative stylist that had been assigned to me familiarised herself with my client history prior to serving me, and didn't seem to understand what I wanted - I said I wanted a root touch up, she handed me a book of colour swatches and told me to pick the one I thought matched, even though I'm not a professional and have no prior experience with L'Oreal products. I picked one that seemed similar to my hair and she agreed, with no discussion or advice as to how it might turn out, which was much darker than I expected, and with my pale skin tone, my hair colour makes me appear pale, sickly, and washed out. Thankfully it is only a semi-permanent so I am hoping it will fade soon. The cut was different to my previous two cuts - I requested a trim to my blunt shoulder length cut which was done satisfactorily, however previous haircuts at Heading Out have had a more natural blunt finish - this one looks very obviously cut. Finally, the styling afterwards was a disaster. I don't believe a heat protection treatment was used as my hair became awful and static afterwards, to the point that I had to wash it twice (once that afternoon and again the next morning) to get rid of the static charge. Overall this was an awful experience and left me feeling very ripped off. If my regular stylist isn't available next time to fix my hair, I won't be returning.

Comment

Not happy with the service. The appointment was delayed over an hour and it was rushed

Comment

While I like the haircut, the colour was not what I asked for or expected.

Comment

I was in the salon for an unreasonably excessive amount of time - 4 hours and 45 minutes, and it wasn't even a full head of foils! In over 20 years I have never known a hair appointment to take so long. Whilst the hairdresser was very polite and appeared reasonably competent, it was very difficult to communicate effectively as his English language skills were very poor. To make matters even worse I am not happy at all with the end result, the colour is not as we discussed (even though my colour was on file) and my fringe was cut halfway up my forehead (not at all as discussed, but I am least concerned about this as it will grow). The two hairdressers said how happy they were with my hair at the end (which is great for them!), but I couldn't be bothered to say anything as I just wanted to get out of there after nearly 5 hours in the salon and had a commitment to attend to I was in danger of being late for.

Comment

I was assured the “quick” hair dye would cover the greys on the roots, and would not cost extra compared to the advertised price. I ended up paying just over $150 for roots coverage and a blow dry, neither of which worked very well. I normally pay $180 for colour, trim and blow dry. HO also normally supply a receipt ahead of time to advise you what you are paying for which I didn’t get, so I’m not sure what I even paid for, suffice to say I’m not sure I’ll go back.

Comment

When I was sat down there was hair still on the ground around my seat, I was offered a tea but no magazines, the stylist didn't talk to me through the whole service and offered me a treatment which didn't last very long and cost me almost as much as the haircut. The hair cut was fine but I didn't feel any warmth from the stylist and I didn't find the experience overly relaxing even thou I was the only client in the salon, I'm a busy mum of 3 and was looking to have my haircut in a well respected salon so I would get top service but it was not received at all! I can't say I'd return or recommend this salon to anybody else!!