Was my hair colour as bad as I thought it was?

[Ursulabouffet]

Spent an eye-watering £260 for a cut and colour at Toni and Guy.

I had mid brown hair previously and asked for a blended, natural caramel balayage. The inspo image is included in the photos.

What I got was some very stripy highlights that look like I'm greying at the temples and my hair looks like a mix of blonde and ginger in natural light.

I went back to the salon but he was really quite defensive and said that's how balayage looks when your hair isn't curled. He offered to fix it but had no appointments for 2 weeks!

It is my birthday tomorrow so I went to a new salon in a panic. Their trainee put a brown toner on and my hair now looks basically how it was before but a bit glossier. All the brassy highlights have gone and it's fine but I'm £300 down!

I really want a refund but I'm worried he will refuse.

Is it as bad as I thought it was? His reaction made me feel like I was being unreasonable but the new salon did admit it wasn't blended and didn't match the inspo photo.

I'm no hairdresser but that's nothing like the photo. It doesn't look like the hairdresser has got the dark base colour right at all. I'd go back and ask to speak your the manager.

I’d want a full refund on the colour. It’s just not right.

Looks absolutely nothing like the colour in the pic. I'd be livid if I'd spent that much and be asking them to put it right.

not what you asked for, and normally im the person saying you are overacting

Yeah it looks nothing like the pic

It's going to look somewhat different just because of the length of the hair but he seems to have bleached loads of it almost up to the roots.

Tbh I would have found a pic with similar length hair. I find hair dressers sometimes really struggle with using common sense

I think by going somewhere else you have weakened your case with the original hairdresser. He is going to blame the new hairdresser on it not being right.

Your hair colour looks nothing like the picture, however, I think it is really unreasonable to use an example of someone's hair that is nothing like your own hair. That model's hair is very long and thick, nothing like your own. A balayage just doesn't look the same on short hair, so I think your expectations were inflated from the start. Going to someone else to fix the issue won't work in your favour, either.

I obviously didn't expect to walk out with extensions! I just meant the warm brownish blended colour, and that's what I explained I expected (e.g. from her roots to shoulder length). Also my hair normally looks thicker but the bleach has fried it a bit...

The colour is awful but the cut looks terrible too - what was your hair like before? What's it like now?

He absolutely has to refund you.

I don't have a great "before" pic but it was mid brown + collarbone length, blunt cut. This is a pic of the hair after I got another salon to fix it.

Oh wow OP! Your latest photo is lovely. Thank goodness for that salon!

I think with those photos you have a really good case for a refund.

It doesn't look bad, but it's nothing like the inspo. He should have fixed it and/or refunded. Obviously length isn't the issue, a 5yo could see the colors are drastically different.

Your hair looks lovely now - without a before pic its hard to know if a refund is fair from the first salon but definitely be assured it looks lovely now

Thank you! Their trainee stylist did the colour under supervision of a senior stylist and they only charged me £40 for it.

Balayage isn’t something that every hairdresser can do, even though they claim they can. You need to go to a colourist who genuinely specialises in balayage. Additionally, I know you say you didn’t expect to look like the photo without extensions, but really, with your thickness and length, it would have been impossible to get it even similar.

He shouldn’t have done your hair if he can’t do what you want. He should definitely give you a refund.

He is the joint salon owner (they're married) and said he was a specialist in balayage.

They say that…but often they’re not. That’s not a criticism of you in any way - I’m talking from bitter experience!

I also don't think he will refund you now that you have gone to another salon. Although I completely understand why you did and admire you for that. Something like that happened to me last year and I didn't have the guts to complain.

Sorry to hear that! Honestly it's a minefield getting your hair done.

I would never even have asked for something that complex, but I asked what he thought would suit me in terms of colour, and he told me to look at photos of caramel balayage online and bring him an inspo photo to my appointment.

I was happy with my usual natural brown hair really!

it looks really lovely now OP - hurray for the second salon! But I can’t believe the first cut and colour cost over £200 - the colour isn’t great at all and makes your hair look really thin. I’m not sure you can get a refund now you’ve had it redone but I suppose it’s worth asking. Good luck!

The new colour looks lovely.

T&G are always poor, IMO, charge a lot of money and then give you whatever cut or colour they give everyone regardless or what you asked for.

It’s not right but your hair is far too short and thin for it to ever look even slightly similar. He should have pointed that out before starting.

I wouldnt have paid for that.

Tbf the insp photo is about 6 shades darker but he should have checked if you wanted the roots darkened before whacking on weak peroxide to get ginger.

Found a pic of my hair before for those who asked.

I’m no expert in hair but it looks to me like he bleached way too much of your hair and made the base colour kinda ginger

Your hair before was a lovely colour 😭

I hope he refunds but don’t see how you can make him except maybe putting the photos online with a review.