Smart Style Salon Review

So I haven’t dyed my hair blonde in a while (I think since April), and have been adding more browns and reds back to my hair throughout the past 6 months. My hair is naturally dark brown, so any colour added onto my roots did not really turn out, while the bottoms where my blonde was absorbed the colours perfectly. My hair had am “ombre” look to it, which is still in style, but I am not too fond of it.
Ombre – when you dye your hair to make the roots darker than your tips for a “natural” and “grown out” look.

I wanted to add more red to my hair, but knew that if I used a box, the same thing would happen and my roots wouldn’t pick up any of the colour! And I didn’t want to go to a big fancy salon either just to dye my hair one colour. Where was I to go? In Bradford, where I live, most salons close at around 6pm so there weren’t many options for an after-work visit. Then one day as I was leaving Wal-Mart, I noticed they had a hair salon called “Smart Style”. I have walked by it countless times, but never really paid attention to it…until now. I stopped by and had a chat with two of the stylists working about dying my hair red.

I explained to them that I didn’t want to bleach my whole head just to get some colour, and that I wanted a deep, dark red as opposed to a bright, orange red. They were really nice and helpful and explained that in order for my roots to lighten up and pick up the colour they would have to add a “cocktail shampoo”. Now, I have never heard of a cocktail shampoo before, but it is basically a shampoo that helps take the colour out of your hair. It has some bleach in it, but nowhere near the amount used if I were getting my hair stripped. They said they would apply the cocktail shampoo in prior to adding my dye, and the shampoo process would only be $17. I was impressed with the price and relieved that I didn’t need to have my whole head bleached. Excited, I made an appointment for the following week!

When I arrived at my appointment, I wasn’t waiting (like when I go to some big fancy salons) and they took me at 6:30pm (they are open until 9pm during the week!) They did the cocktail shampoo process first which took maybe 20 minutes, then applied my red dye for half an hour. After the dye was washed out, she trimmed off my split ends and blow dried and flat ironed my coif. When everything was done, it looked amazing! My roots had totally lightened up so the dye was able to absorb properly and my hair was now all one colour. The colour was exactly what I wanted, a dark burgundy red.

The ladies recommended I purchase some colour protection shampoo and conditioner, so I bought both for $25. (Brand is Matrix). I have been using it and it works pretty well. I am trying to only wash my hair every 2 days now in hopes that the dye will last longer. Red can be a hard colour to maintain, but at least now that my roots are done, I can just start touching up with boxed dye.
All in all the appointment was 1.5 hours and I left feeling very happy. The price came to $89 (that was with my $3 coupon) plus tip.

Another bonus found at this salon - -they were selling CHI flat irons for $80! Normally they are at least $150 at other salons/stores. They didn’t have any at my location, and they were sold out at almost all the Walmart Smart Style’s I called, but thankfully I found one by my work and was able to pick that up. Now I will have smooth straight hair for the holidays.

So if you are looking for an affordable and convenient place to get your hair done, I would highly recommend your local WalMart Smart Style salon. I was impressed with the knowledge, service and work provided on my visit, and I am sure to be back again.