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.

You old hair looks more like the picture than your new hair. It was very gingery and bleached looking before the second salon fixed it. I would not be impressed either.

Your natural colour is lovely.
The colour that cost you £40 is equally nice.

The Toni n Guy colour looks like a bad box dye gone wrong.

Never assume expensive means amazing cut/colour in hairdressing.

I'd stick with the cheaper trainee in future.

Well I’d go back to see the trainee. But not the hairdresser from that well known salon.

Agree it looks lovely now ! Gorgeous. Too streaky before .

Gosh Toni and Guy butchered it! But your hair before was lovely and didn’t need a colour, anyway second salon have fixed it beautifully.
Spread the word to your family/friends/colleagues so that he doesn’t rip any of them off!

I have always avoided T&G myself.

The first hairdresser made a mess. The new colour is lovely.

T&G always seems to give everyone the same cut and colour and charge an arm and a leg for it. Your new hair looks lovely now OP.

Thanks everyone for your kind words about my new colour 😊 it has lifted my spirits.

It looks lovely now and I would agree with you that what he did was not balayage, it wasn't graduated at all, he made it all a sort of ginger colour.

I doubt Tony or bloody Guy would like this person using their name.

I am a therapist so on lots of facebook groups that ate frequented by hairdressers. They are always told do not give a refund correct only and if client goes elsewhere then do nothing.

He’s definitely over bleached and given you ginger rather than caramel, I’d be fuming if I’d paid £260 and it was nothing like I’d asked. Always tricky to show a photo of someone else’s hair but as an experienced colourist he should have said if he didn’t think he could achieve what you wanted.

I think I’d email and ask for a refund, if he refused I’d threaten to speak to Toni and Guy themselves about how poor one of their franchises is!

Write an accurate review and chalk it up to experience.

It looks great now @Ursulabouffet but yeah, on the first pic you posted, it looks terrible! I would be very unhappy if I had paid £240 for that. The cut is poor, as well as the colour! I know this is no help, but I would honestly never pay that. I would just dye/bleach it myself. I have been doing this since covid - so, like nearly 4 years, and it's fine. Looks perfectly nice. I trim and style it myself too.

I used to quite admire hairdressers, and would never have thought about doing it myself, but since covid/lockdown, I have done it myself for a very small price - £4-5 kit every 2 months - and wondered why I paid so much now for a 'trim' and a colour! Looking back, they have always been overpriced, but they are horrifically overpriced now! I am shocked at the price some people pay for their hair. Feels like you can do quite a lot yourself to be honest.

I don’t know about this… I have a brown/caramel balayage (pretty much like the inspiration pic here) on my short hair- shorter than yours by a couple of cm and it looks good and not ginger or stripy! It does look better when it’s curled but it’s good either way.

wouldn’t be happy with this @Ursulabouffet

Your natural hair colour was really lovely too. It's shocking what a terrible job he did.

I would absolutely persist with a complaint & request for a refund - you have the photos to prove it.

If not, leave a review.

Small claims court if they refuse?

I showed him the photos in the salon but he just said that's what balayage looks like and maybe he should've explained it better before doing it!

I would email a letter of complaint and include your before photo, insp and after photo. Stating what they provided is not a balayage colour at all.
If they would not rectify I would ask for 100% or even 50% of the cost back as a partial refund is better than nothing.
I had a cut at a new salon, it was different lengths on each side and made my thick with a wave hair sit like a triangle. I emailed a letter of complaint they offered to recut or refund. I went for the refund option as I didn't want to return. Have since found an amazing hairdresser that always cuts how I like.

Sorry, why do hairdressers and therapists have online groups together? Do hairdressers have a lot of mental health problems and seek help for them online? Or are they looking for tips about what to do when clients unburden their worries in the salon chair?

I had the same thought at first but I think she means beauty therapist!

If he’s so happy with it - then he will be able to justify it when you post the pictures with your Google review. 🤷‍♀️

that’s not balayage at all - there are highlights right around your hairline and the colour is not blended at all.

I’m very obviously in a minority but actually like the original colour job. The second looks great too.

What they did was not balayage which they must know. They are probably just hoping you will get tired of complaining and go away. I've heard so many horror stories about T&G. I know it's not the point, but your hair looks lovely now. I'm glad someone could fix it for you for your birthday

Your hair looks fried and wispy now.

The cut and colour are not good.

Saying that though, the before photo was not going to be achievable unless you were having lots of extensions.