Salon EFX

12 days have passed. They say the true test of a haircut is letting it pass a few days before you can judge it. It’s actually pretty bad. Kimberly gave me a short layered style which DOES NOT go well with my thick hair. Now, because she cut my hair 4 inches rather than the 1.5– 2 that I asked for, I couldn’t even hide her bad job.
Please stay far away.

First let me say I’ve been coming to this salon for about 3 or 4 years now. I can’t quite remember for how long, Xena has always been my stylist, and as I’ve told everyone I’ve recommended to this salon, she has never let me down. I go through cycles with my hair and I’m constantly trying to do something «different» to and. Xena takes the time to talk with me about the best methods for achieving my look both natural (I have naturally wavy hair) and straightened. My hair is always beautiful when I walk out this salon and I have yet to be disappointed with the outcome of my hair.

Just got a great cut from Kimberly. Got appointment quickly since I decided the shaggy mess my regular stylist created had to be fixed somehow! Kimberly was meticulous in her work and I can’t believe how she made a great cut out of my fine straight aging Anglo hair. She even fitted in an eyebrow and face waxing — my first and such an improvement!

I have wanted to try this salon for soooo long! I was too afraid to have someone else cut my hair. I needed a salon closer to home and based on the rave Unilocal reviews I gave it a try. I tried booking with Xina based on reviews and pictures of her work but Kimberly only was available on such short notice.
Kim did an awesome job! I came in with an a-​line bob that had grown out a bit. I told Kimberly not to cut the back too short and to make sure the front is long. She did a meticulous job. Her cutting skills are so precise and on point. She really took her time and made sure not to give me puffy mushroom hair.
The pictures do not do justice. I’ve had males tell me they like my new hair and usually guys like long hair. They did not color my hair… I got tired of my old ombré and colored it myself
They were playing pretty nice music (pop/r&b), current magazines in the waiting area. Kim is chatty, nice and funny and I highly recommend her if you’re looking for an edgy cut!!! $ 45 for a shampoo, an amazing cut, and style/​flatiron. I have found my holy grail salon!!!

I had Kimberly cut & style my hair and she is AMAZING — she is so detailed and took her time, which is good cause my hair feels and looks fabulous — Everyone’s asking me where I got my hair done… And i’m like go to Salon EFX in Silver Spring & ask for Kimberly :)

I was getting my haircut for 5 years with Tom and he did a fabulous job! Sure he was late a couple of times handling two businesses isn’t easy but he made up for it with a happy customer. Unfortunately, he stopped cutting hair but he recommended either Xena or Tina. Regrettably I chose Tina.
I am such a loyal customer that I drive from Baltimore city. I ran into Oriole traffic so I contacted the salon to let them know I would be 10 minutes late. The receptionist assured me this was fine. I receive a call from the salon exactly 10 minutes after my appointment to let me know that I was too late and I would have to reschedule… I was exactly 5 mintes from the salon. I arrived at the salon and spoke to Tina in person. She could not get her story straight or she just spoke poor English (not sure which one). In summary, my appointment was for a trim and blow dry that should take 1 hour. Since I arrived 15 minutes late I told her just to wash and trim without blow drying. Make sense right? She refused and told me I could return 2.5 hours later.
No customer service, poor communication and unprofessionalism at its best. Sad to say I won’t return even, as I’ve read, if Xena is great!

This is a great salon… until you run into a problem… I was a loyal customer for almost 3 years until my last visit. I came in for a haircut, which Tom was late to for about 15min. I was having problems with my scalp at the time so wasn’t comfortable using shampoo other than my own, which I explained. He told me I had to anyway. Then when I sat down to explain what kind of cut I wanted, he was curt, extremely rude and told me he doesn’t have time for it. Then he proceed to spend only about 15 min on my hair. My cut was uneven and so blunt at the ends that afterwards, I mentioned it to him and he brushed me off and went on to his next customer. I walked out feeling absolutely mistreated and miserable. Then not too long after, I started to have a severe reaction to my scalp. I ended up going to a doctor. Called the salon, let them know of my situation and also told them I would need to fix my hair as well b/​c it looked absolutely horrendous, their response «we don’t have an opening until 4 weeks later»… Then my calls went ignored for a month, their staff flat out lie to you and say they will call back but never will. It took exactly 3 months for me to get my refund back!!!
IF YOU LIKE THEIR SERVICE, FINE, BUT DON’T EXPECT ANY KIND OF COURTESY IF YOU RUN INTO ANY PROBLEMS. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN UNLESS YOU’RE WILLING TO PUT IN HOURS TO GET THINGS RESOLVED.
I’ve never been treated like this by a salon before and guessing never will. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone.

First time here, despite having lived in the area for over 10 years. Had Xena. She is amazing! And so friendly! Told her what I wanted, and she delivered! Shampooed and conditioned my hair, cut it (was past my chest), blow dried, and straightened it, and went back to check everything blended! That’s what I call excellent, quality service all under $ 50! Amazing and highly recommend!

I love this place! The first two times I went here, I went to Tom and loved him! Unfortunately, he’s not working as a stylist at the salon anymore, and is instead focusing on his business next door. I was devastated but decided to go with a different stylist — Xena — and I love her, too! I was going with a completely different look: chopping off 10 inches, going with a long bob and a natural balayage color. I showed her a couple pictures to give her an idea of my what I wanted, but put my full trust in her. And let me tell you, it could not have turned out more perfectly than I had imagined. Will definitely be coming back! Thank goodness I didn’t have to change salons!

I scheduled an appointment for a trial on my wedding hairdo. After providing the stylist a picture of what I wanted, she spent 2.5 hours doing 3 different hairstyles that were completely different. In the interest of time, I finally settled on a hairstyle. I walk up to the counter and the stylist informs me that she is not available to do my hair on my wedding date. I just wasted 2.5 hours with a stylist that’s not available to do my hair! To make matters worse… they charged me $ 85 for the trial. Why would you set up my trial with a stylist that’s not available on my wedding date. I would never recommend this business to anyone. I was robbed of my time and money. No bride should have to experience such poor customer service during such an exciting time in her life.

First time there. Shampoo was great, always my favorite part. Hair feels soo healthy.
Appt with Zena. Awesome. Very meticulous in her cuts. Explained everything as she cut and why she was using a technique. Gave an honest assessment and eval of my hair condition, color, scalp. Without trying to aggressively sell anything to me, she gave me tips and advice that do not require products to manage my hair then discussed the products she was using on me with other affordable alternatives.
Price surprising! I paid way more for a trim and side sweep that I was not happy with.
Recommending to all my friends & all Unilocalers. I plan to return for future cuts and possibly treatments and color.

I’ve been going to Salon EFX since it opened in 1999. I have recommended numerous people to this place. Thomas is the guy I see. He’s been styling my hair for 15 years. Really awesome place. All the other stylists are really cool too. Everyone is really friendly. Highly recommend this place.

My stylist Xena always makes me look and feel fabulous. I have been seeing her a little over 2 years I think. And, my hair looked bad, real bad, I went through many stylists. My hair is very coarse and thick and unruly. And, it was just bad, so she gave me her opinion and told me to grow it out. I had long hair before down to my elbows, until the stylist I was seeing for about 4 years in Rockville, had a bad night and whacked my hair off into a short bowl cut. So I have been trying to fix a 6 year mistake. Growing out a short bob can be a pain, but I stuck to it, even though I did gripe a lot along the way. She is honest and I appreciate it and I trust her. She is awesome with color, highlights, cut, awesome is all I can say. I usually make an appointment since it takes awhile to get my hair done. Thank you Xena for all that you do!
— Janet

I took my 9 y.o. daughter to get her long, curly hair trimmed at Salon EFX a few months ago and Kimberley did a great job; she was very nice with my daughter and made her hair look pretty.
Today we went back and my daughter and I both got cuts with Tina. She did an amazing job. She was very sweet and efficient with my daughter (who doesn’t have a lot of patience for getting her hair done) and French braided her hair when done (which I didn’t ask her to do).
She also cut and styled my hair. I have waist-​length, very thick hair. Some of the stylists I’ve been to have been either totally intimidated by it or have had the attitude of «Yay, a big challenge!» and then proceeded to try to manhandle my hair into doing what they wanted it to do.
Tina is a true professional. As with my daughter, she was efficient, but thorough. She recommended some layers; I was apprehensive as other stylists have gone way overboard with layers that just end up making my hair look huge when it’s humid out. She cut my hair wet first, blew it dry, flat-​ironed it, and went back and carefully thinned it out. It looks awesome!!! One of the best haircuts I’ve had in a looooong time.
And it was a bargain at twice the price – I paid $ 75 (before tip), which included wash and cut for both of us, blow dry and flat iron for me, and the braid for my daughter.
All around, a great experience. We will definitely be going back. Highly recommend Salon EFX!
UPDATE: Salon EFX also sent me a $ 5 coupon off my next service!

I had Zena as my stylist. She was very good and I like how she walked through the whole process of what she was doing. I got partial highlights and a trim. The highlights are hard to say if I am in love with them yet. It usually takes me 2 weeks to like my highlights because I like the color better when it fades a little. Next time I am going to try and get the balayage highlights, she told me she was certified in them. AS for the cut I loved it! I have very find hair and she made it look full and still kept my length on me. It was defintely the best haircut I gotten in awhile.
PS Make sure you go to the website if you are a new customer. There is a 20% coupon to print off !!!

Totallyyy Totallyy loved the haircut I got from Salon EFX. Kimberley was my stylist and she did an amazing job.
My friend and I called Salon EFX to make an appointment and the receptionist there did give us a slot but also gave us all wrong information about the prices, straightening, etc. We reached there and then they informed us that the person we spoke to actually didnt work there. We were very annoyed because she told us very different prices. But we decided to get a haircut any way. The staff was rude too because they were like ‘oh you weren’t too clear on the phone. and you can’t be in a rush, we will take about an hour .blah blah blah. ’ But I’m ready to forgive and forget all that only because Kimberley did a great job with my hair.
I had really long (waist length) and thick hair and I’ve found very few stylists (all back home in India) who can deal with my hair. I decided to cut it to shoulder length in a Deep U style starting from below my ears till my shoulders and it worked out well!!!

I specifically searched Unilocal for a salon that had an Asian client base. For more than a few years I’ve always been told that I shouldn’t die my hair blonde because my hair is so black. Well, Salon EFX finally made me happy! Kim is so sweet and amazing! She encouraged me because hey, «it’s my life, my hair!» Thanks Salon EFX for the great customer service, friendly atmosphere and good pricing. BTW, my hair looks great!

I just moved back to Silver Spring and was looking for a great haircut. A friend recommended Tom and Salan EFX. I checked out Unilocal and liked what I read so i went in for a haircut and highlights.
Tom did an amazing job and I believe that I got one of the best haircuts that I have ever had. Tom took his time with the cut and the highlights look really great.
The staff also had time to fit me in for a eyebrow wax which was done with care and professionalism.
I am really excited to have found my new salon!

Very happy with my haircut. I did have to wait although I had an appt. Front desk could do a better job of advising clients of how far behind the stylist is when they need to wait.

Really this is a 4.5 star review. Honestly Unilocal,when will I get to select 4.5 stars on my reviews already?
I’m only leaving a half a star off because hair can probably always be done better — but I truly have to tell y’all that this is the best salon I’ve been to and the best two haircuts I’ve gotten in 7 years of DC livin and searching for affordable and hair in the same sentence. I’ve done them all — including 6 versions of Bubbles salons in the area — and you probably already know this, but they all made me cry afterwards.
Zina (erm… I don’t think I’m spelling her name correctly) is AWESOME and has left me truly, completely, totally happy twice now — a never-​before-​seen phenomenon. And you can’t beat the price. Trust me folks, I’ve tried to beat the price.
Basically, I’m not adding anything particularly helpful here other than another shout out to Salon EFX and their stylists because I feel so taken care of there and feel like I should tell the Unilocal universe this.
Oh wait — one helpful tip — bring cash for tipping because while they take credit cards, you can’t put tip on your card.