Phillip Michael Studio

I Decided to try out philip Michael’s salon based on the good reviews but I wish I never did. I made an appointment with Mary for a balayage/​cut/​blowdry. I wanted my brown hair to have natural blonde balayage. I brought in couple pictures for her to refer to. After spending over 3 hours at the salon, unfortunately she made my hair look goldish yellow and did not look anything close to the pictures I showed her. And on top of that my hair looked damaged and dry. During the coloring process, she stated that I may come back to have my hair fixed for free had I not liked it. So I contacted her through email (email is how we have been corresponding) but she never returned my email inquiring about fixing my hair. I wouldn’t have wrote a bad review even though she didn’t do my hair the way I communicated it to her but since she ignored me without owning up to her promise I decided to write this review. 2 days later I had to go to a different salon to fix my hair. My experience at Philip Michael’s salon was bad and a waist of my time and money.

I was traveling 3000 miles away and was looking online for a salon close to my hotel to get my hair done for a wedding. After searching Unilocal and Facebook and web pages. I narrowed it down to two and figured I’d call and talk to both. I called and spoke with Erin Leader and he made me so comfortable on the phone that I didn’t even call the other place. On the day of the wedding my flight landed at MDW at 2:30pm. I raced to the salon and made it to my appointment by 3pm while my boyfriend checked us into our hotel. I sat down in Erin’s chair and said, «Sorry my hair is greasy, I was flying all night. You have 1hour to work your magic because I have to go back to my hotel, get dressed, put on make-​up and make it to the ceremony by 5pm.» I showed Erin a picture of my dress, I told him I wanted it all up and that he could do whatever he wanted as long as I was out in that hour time frame. Not only was my experience pleasant chatting with him, another stylist and one other client, but my hair looked great! I have A LOT of hair and he did it! I had over 100 bobby pins in my hair and it felt good, it wasn’t moving and it didn’t hurt anywhere. I’m really picky about visible bobby pins and I couldn’t see any! I got so many compliments on it as well, everyone asked me where I got it done. If I lived in the area or if I ever find myself in Baltimore again I’d definitely go back!

My sister chose Phillip Michael to have her and my hair/​makeup done before her wedding. It was a very negative experience for us. Her hair and makeup turned out well. However, it seemed like they had forgotten that I was even showing up (my stylist kept calling me on the wrong weekends prior to the event, wondering if we were showing up!). They were irritated, rude, and unprofessional, even complaining that I wanted them to wash and dry my hair. I brought in pictures of the style that I wanted (that I had spoken about with my assigned stylist prior to the appointment) and suddenly he felt the style was unattainable. He claimed he was having a bad week, and asked another stylist to help. The two stylists insulted me, saying that I had «awful thin hair,» and so it was my fault. Rather than try to approximate the look, he decided to do his own style – crispy, dated, tacky prom up-​do that I ended up having to fix in the bathroom right before the ceremony. He took so long doing his masterpiece style, that we had to rush through the rest of our pre-​ceremony preparations (that should have been relaxed and enjoyed) and were late to my sister’s session with the photographer. This place added stress to our day.

I found my way back to this salon after being gone far too long. I had previously gone to another salon due to a move and was just not happy with the outcome of my «highlights» and my «layers».
Phil was my stylist and took my less than technical description of what I wanted and turned it into a vision without me feeling lost or overwhelmed. My too thin, too blond highlights were turned into a gorgeous warm brunette color (and somehow with new amazing highlights!) and my cut is unlike any other I have had. I have a full head of straight, fine hair and he miraculously manipulated it to have body, depth, and texture… and yet somehow it looks so natural!
Best part? Excellent customer service. I did have a small wait (15 – 20 min) which I agreed to in order to help out another client in a crunch and I was kindly compensated for my time. In addition, I had left the salon forgetting that I wanted my eyebrows shaped and with one quick call they had my back in the seat and back out of the salon in under 5 minutes with great brows (and mine are not well behaved!).
Overall, great experience, great color, great cut, great customer service. What are you waiting for?!
p. s. bring your check book. no credit cards!

I first met Mary off of a referral from my friend downtown. Now normally, I do not let a single person other than my normal stylist touch my hair (considering when I strayed I ended up with the bleach incident of 2003 and the bang incident of 2010) But, my friend swore up and down I would be satisfied.
Mary is now my go-​to stylist for EVERYTHING! She will be honest especially with color and work to compliment everything in your features and achieve the look you went for. She has also done my hair for a special event and I’ve never had an up-​do stay for SO LONG! Everyone was saying how amazing my hair looked! My hair never feels healthier than when I leave that salon :) She is always offering tips to healthier hair so that in-​between haircuts you’re not completely suffering. Absolute A+ salon that stands by their work and guarantees satisfaction!

The owner contacted me recently regarding my original Unilocal review of his salon. He was very apologetic of my experiences and noted that had I made him aware of my displeasure, he would have been more than accommodating in having me come back in so he could fix things.
I was pleasantly surprised that he reached out to me as a reaction to my initial, less flattering, review to make amends and see if there was anything he could do. I honestly didn’t give him that chance before writing my review and leaving for another salon.
I will say, I like local establishments and ones that make an effort to reach out to customers — maybe my initial reaction was a bit unfair.

Was visiting Baltimore and stumbled across Phillp Michael… I was drawn in by the fact the owner was on site… boy they did they follow through. Mary (Phillip’s wife) cut my hair and did an EXCELLENT job, not only in her cutting skills, but she made me feel comfortable, not embarrassed because my hair is thinning. I was told (in a humble way) that she actually has cut some very famous people’s hair.
EVeryone had a great attitude and was happy; customers included. They made me feel welcomed. I did pay more than I normally do, but it was well worth every penny. This is the place to go if you’re picky about your appearance.

I was excited when I received a great recommendation for Phillip Michael Studio because it’s only a few blocks from my house. I saw Becca, who is the cutest little thing with GORGEOUS hair. I immediately felt at ease and she did a great job.
Since then, I’ve decided to work with Becca for my wedding hair. The trial was wonderful; I love the look! I just had highlights done to prep for the big day and they’re golden and buttery without being too blonde. I can’t wait to start my wedding morning w/​Becca and have amazing hair for the pictures!

I first went to Phillip when I moved to Baltimore from NYC in June of ’09. I’m also extremely picky with color and haircuts as I have long, thick curly hair. I explained what I wanted (minimal trim and color with subtle highlights that will still show when my hair is curly) and Phillip did a PERFECT job. Even the first time, when he barely knew me. I switched shades of blonde through the year and he got it exactly how I imagined every time. I got lucky in that I hit the jackpot on the first salon I tried in Baltimore. I’ve been to many salons through the years and I swear Phillip is a NY rate colorist. I got tons of compliments on my hair color and cut everywhere I went, even when visiting LA and NY. I regret that I only got a year of his skills and now had to move away from Baltimore. Miss you Phillip!
Also he is hilarious and superfriendly. My shih-​tzu, Mischa came in a few times with me and loved him too.

Phillip is the best colorist I’ve ever had (and I am extremely picky about color, having had some not so good experiences when I first moved to B-​more) — the perfect blend of highlights and low lights to make a beautiful blend of color that looks natural, healthy, and shiny. The 5 star rating is for the excellent color alone! Phillip is the owner and is the only one I can rate. There are a few other stylists there as well, but I can’t comment on them.
Unfortunately I had to move away, and my hair fell into despair — we have finally made it to the 5^th stage of mourning, acceptance, though we occasionally slip back into the bargaining phase (how much would a color job cost once you add in the air fare, hotel, time off work, etc) — Phillip would be worth that.