Stuart Laurence Salon

A response to the owner,
I did not present an expired Groupon. I attached screenshots of my Groupon account showing that I purchased the haircut and conditioning service on Oct 19^th 2012, redeemed on January 7^th 2013, and the expiration date was March 2013.
Please STOP LYING !
I did not dye my hair — no highlights, nothing. Only got a conditioning treatment, a cut and a trim of my bangs and my hair was styled.
I was ripped off and overcharged. In my original review I wrote that I paid 40 dollars — my bad, I paid 19 dollars for the Groupon. I did not order any extra services. At the checkout the owner/​receptionist told me that my Groupon did not cover the cost of the service. He «honored» the groupon (the face value of which was 39 dollars I believe) and said I had to pay 70 dollars on top.
Dear ladies, as you can see, the salon is extremely dishonest. Please stay away!

I had a flat out bad experience at this salon a while back. Since a couple of my friends have been and their experiences have been about on par with mine, I feel confident in reviewing them after a one time experience. I went in excited for my haircut. The salon really is nice and the girl at the front was very welcoming. However, that was about where my good experience stopped. The young lady who cut my hair was obviously new being that she was extremely shy and seemed extremely uncomfortable. I’m pretty laid back when it comes to things and I asked for her suggestions on a cut/​style, which she could not give me, so I went with the same ‘ol thing. No biggie, but come on isn’t that a big part of your job description? They do kind of force their marketing down your throat with their posters about you sending your friends and returning incentives everywhere you look. On the other hand, perhaps sitting in silence maybe I just noticed it more than any other typical customer would. She did a decent cut, albeit she didn’t really do a whole lot. Now we fast forward to later that day when I realize that I am missing one of my diamond earrings… I call the salon. The girl I speak to is very nice and says that she will keep an eye out, but I can tell in her voice that it is next to hopeless. I call back the next day, because it has been my experience in things like missing items that the message rarely gets relayed. I was spoken to quite rudely. After that call, I tried to get in touch with the manager a couple of times but in vain. I never received a call back either. I know finding a small earring was a long shot, but it did not warrant being rudely excused, especially when it should not have happened in the first place. I have never had anything close to that happen before.
Overall, I would say they are overpriced for their services and unprofessional. If you want to gamble on your hair with sub-​par customer service, you’re at the right place. Otherwise, check out a different salon.

I vowed never to visit Stuart Laurence after attempting to make an appointment and the owner was unbelievably rude to me on the phone. However, eventually I did go there because a stylist I know started working there. I swear it felt like every stylist and employee there was walking on eggshells. If the owner is that rude to customers, imagine how he treats them? I think his partner is the manager who is tasked with having to walk in the wake of the owner’s tirades and clean up his messes like a reverse flower girl. The entire staff should strike on a really busy Saturday. I felt so badly for them. Take your hard-​earned money elsewhere. The only way people like that learn is when they feel the impact personally.
UPDATE: Notice that when the owner, Michael V., responded to my review that he did not even apologize for being rude to me on the phone? Dude, you suck!

I don’t usually write Unilocal reviews cuz well, I’m lazy, but I felt the service I’ve gotten at Stuart Laurence deserved one. I’ve had my hair cut and fully colored three times now in different configurations of brown-​blonde ombré, all by Amanda, and every time I’ve completely loved it. She listens to my ideas of what I want and always seems to know how to make sense of them, even when I don’t myself. This time I gave her a bunch of pictures and ended up with a cut and color that was a perfect balance of everything. I can’t say enough how much I love it. She took her time too, and really seemed to take into consideration how I style my hair and what kind of color maintenance I do (which is to say, none.) The demi-​permanent color I got the last two times faded out beautifully and lasted a lot longer than I would’ve expected. Oh, and this isn’t really a criticism, but yes, this salon *is* quite expensive. I’ve paid about $ 170 w/​out tip each time for a cut, full color, and blow dry. But I mean, that’s what you’ve got to expect if you’re getting your hair done in this area. And in my opinion, it was definitely worth it. Oh, and the salon itself is really clean (lol but… duh) and pleasant inside, the staff is very friendly, and they give you luxurious ass water in a glass bottle, which makes me feel like the fancy feast cat. Overall, I would 100% definitely recommend this place based on my experience.
UPDATE:
On my fourth visit, I was less impressed with what I got. Granted, they had me scheduled for the wrong service, which was partly a lack of clarity on my part when making the appointment. There wasn’t enough time to do the full color and highlights I wanted, and she tried to accommodate what I wanted. What I got wasn’t bad, it just… wasn’t very different from what I had. I’m not exactly sure what I paid for. There are also still some grays on my crown, which was a pretty basic thing I wanted covered. The cut itself was fine, just a trim. In fact, the whole thing was just fine. And had the cut cost about 30% less money, I would be ok with fine. But for over $ 200, not including tip, fine is not enough for me. For that money, I want to love my style. I don’t know, as I said, I liked what I got this time alright, and I *have* really liked what I’ve gotten here in the past. But for the price, I’ll have to think before deciding if it’s worth coming back.

I had my hair done here for 13 years before I moved to New Orleans. Katherine is amazing. I have had all shapes of every pixie to bob haircut their is and Katherine who is excellent with curly hair barely even needed to be told what to do. A few times I brought it pics of what I ‘thought’ might look good, and she talked me rightfully out of it. Brian, up front has always been funny, friendly and one far and beyond to work me in for a quick shampoo/​cut as I travel for work and was ot always sure when I was going to be in town. (and person who lost 6in of hair. it was probably dead and needed to go anyway… who are you Crystal Gale?)

Asked for 2 inches off. Lost 6.
WTF?
3 stars for friendly staff, and if I had actually wanted to lose that much hair, it would have been a really good hair cut.

Melissa, who is an angel straight from heaven. Not only is she professional and delivers great results, but she listens to you and explains what she is doing through the whole process. She also added money to my parking meter while my hair was drying. Wow! I’ve never experienced such great customer service from a hair stylist. She is truly awesome, I really love my hair. Thank you Melissa, you are fabulous.

ewww talk about a nightmare. This place seriously was as low as it goes. Although, they are trying to be «cool» and «edgy» as a city girl I seriously laughed in their want to be snobby ways. It was a total joke, and the worst part is 3 people had to have their hair redone for the wedding. They literally don’t know how to do hair. If you’re going to be rude, at least be good at what you do. And the guy at check in, you should really consider a personality change because that want to be «attitude» just isn’t even working for you.

I’ve been very happy with the service and atmosphere at SL. I go to Rachel who is charming and does a great job with my very difficult hair. I’d recommend her and SL to anybody.

RUDE when asked to fix service! I have been there several times and most of the time was happy, until one time I was unhappy and when I brought this up, I was immediately made to feel like it was MY FAULT for being unhappy! I was hung up on twice once while I was in tears because I just wanted them to fix their mistakes. Then the phone automatically went to voice mail during business hours. Brian the «manager» is extremely RUDE and not helpful and your stylist will not be able to give you suggestions because «it’s not their hair». Wish my hair was not ruined by these people and I wish they cared that they ruined it!
I also find it amusing the day I posted this BAD review…5 NEW GOOD reviews magically appeared… Look at the reviews dates and judge for yourself… are these people who you are going to trust to do your hair when they are trying to make fun of a BAD review… Not people I would TRUST!
Also, I notice that the owner has left a comment… how nice, too bad he lied.

I have found that it is often difficult to judge a cut and color until you have lived with it for at least a little while. It’s great if you walk out of the salon looking fabulous, but what really matters in my book is how the style wears over time in my normal, air-​drying, low-​maintenance life. Now that I have lived with the fantastic cut and color that I got from Melissa for a while, I can review it with confidence and honestly give it the highest possible rating. Melissa is not only a blast to talk to, but she listens to what you want and applies her expertise to make it workable. I absolutely love the cut she gave me and if she hadn’t also done a color gloss, I would probably talk more about that, but the color is hands down the best color job I have ever gotten. She mixed up a personalized shade for me and completely nailed it. I love absolutely everything about it. No question, I will be back.

Katherine at Stuart Laurence salon is THE best. She takes her time and is amazing at highlights. I have really thick curly hair and she knows how to cut it! Not everyone knows how to cut thick hair at all, especially in Charleston, a lot of blonde straight hair there! Her highlights always last a really long time! Normally I have to get them redone at 7 weeks which is typical with Katherine I can go almost 10! She is also very friendly and easy to work with. Love her! Love the staff here in general. It is a little on the highend for Charleston but it is honestly worth it!