Stella’s Park Madison Salon

I struggled with this review.
First off, I got a $ 26.00 deal on lifebooker, so for a salon that I could get to after work in 5 minutes flat… and not pay 55 dollars for a blowout… I figured — ehh… how bad can it be? So I tried it.
So this is the thing — I don’t know Stella. But i do know this — Janet has a nice personality… unfortunately overshadowed by the looks and stares of her colleagues that were clearly baffled by how much hair I had to blow out all for $ 26.00.
Now who’s problem is that? NOT MINE. Promotion means just that… I’m taking a chance on YOUR salon as much as you are having to work on my hair. That being said… this is why this salon gets only two stars:
1. The receptionist, cold. Not warm at all, hardly smiled. I guess the customer service goes down a notch for booking on lifebooker.
2.The wash. ABSOLUTELY THE WORST. It was more of a 2 second rub down, let the water do most of the work type of wash. Seriously, wash means a wash. So average for a hairstylist is you wash the scalp, rinse, lather up again do the rest of the hair and rinse. Simple. Put the muscle into it so my scalp feels it. I had to tell her to shampoo it once more. smh. Lazy.
3. Not sure what type of hair they are used to that gave way to such animosity. But my hair is wavy/​curly, thick, NOT course at all, my curls are not tight (as they once were eons ago) and it’s barely to the middle of my back, in layers. So to get my hair straight, you really have to use the proper brush and apply that arm motion and heat. A bid thermal one to apply the heat but a smaller one to get at the roots. Any professional hair stylist should know that.
4. Which brings me to my next statement -. For hair like mine, you don’t use the ceramic large brush or you are gonna give me helmut hair… but I suppose that since Janet was such in a rush, she was more concerned about drying it than blowing it out. I was left with broom stick ends… NOT CUTE.
5. So since my roots weren’t super polished and my ends were like straw, I asked her to fix it… which she did with a smile… but by then you already set my ends that way so there really was no body or wave left. So despite her trying to place a slight wave so my ends curled in a little, they didn’t. I waited a day to write this review… still looks like that.
6, With 20 minutes left she called in back up… so now I had TWO impatient ladies tugging and pulling to dry my hair (not blow out, DRY). Such a fuss over nothing.
7. So again, Janet is very pleasant so when I was done, I went to pay and get change for a tip (yes I still gave one). Casually reminding them that I owed them $ 26.00 and the person who tugged on my hair earlier says «Yes I know… but next time I don’t think you’d pay that little because your hair took too long.» — Ladies and gents… it took an hour including the wash. I was actually suprised it didn’t take an hour and half. But I suppose had they taken their time and not rushed it, I’d be happy with the end result, ehh?
So I basically responded just as cooly, «I see, so is that why I’ve been receiving dirty looks this whole time?» (batting my eyelashes innocently for the extra effect). No response.
I paid Janet a tip, threw my coat on and kept it moving.
What I should have said was, good thing I only paid 26 bucks because anything more and this salon just got grossly overpaid.
Now… the caveat is, Janet asked how I wanted my hair done. Ok, so let’s see… I am here for a blowout so it’s either wavy or straight. I said straight. So I wasn’t concerned about my ends flared up or anything. So supposedly, she took that to mean I want it BONE straight… of course poor excuse because even if I did want it straight then if it was done right, my layered ends wouldn’t look like straw and my whole head of hair would be shiny and healthy looking… my ends would have sealed nicely. Right now, my hair is a hot mess. Like I literally did it myself. And I do my hair rather frequently at the salon so I know what my hair looks like DONE. Guess they banked on me not knowing better.
Point is, my hair didn’t look professionally done, and was akin to me having done it myself. I DEF didn’t walk out with salon done hair.
Won’t be returning to this snotty dump.
I’m off to the west side for some real service, lifebooker throw me another deal!

got a blow out here from life booker and the blow out was great! everything else — not so much… the salon is old, they’re not friendly and the products they use are mediocre. but the stylist I had was very talented and my blowout looked great for the next 3 days!

Janet has been styling my hair on and off for the past 5 years and she is absolutely wonderful! So easy to schedule with and she truly cares to keep her clients satisfied.

Great place for a great hair job. Been a customer for 10+ years, during which time stylist «Janet» has done an A-​1 job. Easy to book, convenient location and just nice people doing a professional job.

Terrible experience here. I was out of town on business and I decided to get a hair cut real quick because my hair was gettin’ shaggy. I walked in and the person who cut my hair was Elizabeth, according to her certification. I said I wanted a number two on my sides, straight up/​fade. She immediately cuts my side real quick and says, ‘hows that?’. Um. I said straight up and she cut too much. My heart sank and I wanted to grab the clippers and cut her hair and say, ‘how’s that?’. She did not know how to fade hair whatsoever. She put a dent in the back of my hair and before I walked out, I asked for the scissors and I cut a bit myself. The mind blowing part was that when I asked to grab the scissors, she didn’t believe that I could cut my own hair. So when I started clipping away, she goes up to the mirror and begins to do her lipstick… Very unprofessional. Wow.
So I get up and I pay for the haircut, when I should have just stormed out. I pay and the owner, «Stella» gives me attitude. So I ask her, «are you having a bad day?» She was like ‘no, I’m fine.” Ironic because I’m sure she saw the whole thing and she gave ME attitude when I was the customer and when I’m the one having a bad day. Crazy. When I left, on the corner of my eye, Elizabeth resumed doing her lipstick.
These people don’t speak English well and their customer service is appalling. Time to call Tabatha.

Love Stella! Top Notch Cuts, Blow-​Outs and Washes!
Stella is the first stylist that has ever been able to cut my extra curly hair into a perfect style. You are in and out in an hour from start to finish! Her prices are affordable and she always comes through on same day appointments!
Stella’s Park Madison Salon is the best cut for your buck!