Cherry Bomb Hair

This was my regular for many years and I would have given it 5 stars and still be going there if not for the last 2 experiences I had.
I loved going there, it was always fun. The place is soooo hipster and the staff are entertaining.
Ange was the best colourist I’ve ever met. He’s the only one that not only made it look natural but the regrow wasn’t obvious.
Then Lemonade (her real name I was told) came back. She is fun and ditzy so much so she got the colours mixed up for Ange the first time (it was much much darker than it should’ve been) and gave him the wrong colour the second time (it was that harsh yellow blond that looked like it came from a bottle). So I didn’t come back.

I’d fallen in love with hairdressers before, so I wasn’t surprised when it happened again.
But none so lovely as Kate. Kate, somehow both effervescent and completely calm, was a pleasure to see in the mirror for what was too brief an encounter.
Also in that mirror: the wonderful décor that made the place feel less like a business and more like the loft of a hyper-​creative personality.
The only ones happier to be there than I was were the adorable dogs who lounged around like they owned the place.
For years, haircuts have been a nomadic experience for me, rarely returning for repeat business. I walk in hoping that when I leave I’ll look like Martin Sheen circa ’79. Needless to say, I’ve lived a life of disappointment.
In Cherry Bomb, I’ve found a place to which I will enthusiastically return.
And maybe, if I’m lucky, Kate will appear in that mirror once again.

Cherry Bomb is a Smith Street institution. The owner has been plying his trade in Collingwood from pre-​hipster times. It’s sort of shop, like Books for Cooks or Shop Sui, that you’d hate to see priced out of the neighborhood by gentrification of the area.
You know you are in for something different from moment you walk in the door — and are greeted by resident dogs. Lovingly quaffed and wearing bling collars, these are some of the most pampered pouches in the hood. The owner and staff have decorated the salon themselves. Adding to the original brick interior with wooden ceilings, they’ve added a riot of disco colour — flamingoes and butterflies and forest hang from the ceiling, with a now enclosed archway to shop next door covered in a collage of black and white divas from every era.
The price range is moderate for Fitzroy and Collingwood. Thankfully they have online appointment system, which makes life much easier. They cater for those from more conservative end right through to Mohawks. Bold colors are favored. You see a lot of mature ladies from the designer and creative set rocking sculptural cuts with bold colors. But they also specialize in curls. That’s right, for ladies who struggle to find someone not to muck up that tight weave of corkscrew curls on your head, this the crew who will ‘get’ your curl and make it work.
If you want a salon that isn’t pretentious, doesn’t make you feel like you’re asking for a favour just to be let in, and doesn’t cost the earth (plus has possibility of cuddles with adorable dogs while you are waiting for your colour to set), then Cherry Bomb is place for you.