Mona Lisa

This review pertains to a stylist who started working at Mona Lisa this year named Dominique Payton. I’ve been going to her for several years now. I found her because I saw someone in a restaurant with a great cut on her curly locks and asked for her hairdresser’s info. And I never looked back. Until today.
Prior to today I would have described her as a polite, positive, competent professional. Today she was rude and defensive with me. And, ultimately she has left me with an unwanted reddish streak in my hair and a figurative slap in the face.
The back story:
For a while now, I’ve had a very light blond streak in the front of my hair. I liked it, but last time I visited Dominique I decided to cover it up because I wanted to be able to tie my hair back without having a high-​contrast stripe. She told me:
«I know you know this, but I won’t be able to match your natural color exactly.»
Which makes sense — my hair is dark ash blond with about 30% gray. I figured it would end up looking slightly off but with the same general tone as the rest of my hair.
That is not what I got. When she took the foil off my streak, she said «Oh, it’s doing *that*.» And I looked up to see a reddish streak in my hair, the brightness of which you could see even though it was wet.
I was very confused. Dominique started saying things like «this will fade over time» and «this process is going to take a while» and «next time, we’ll do another wash with ash and it will blend better.» And: «I’m not going to charge you for the color.»
I left for a week-​long trip the next day with this silly-​looking streak in my hair, which I proceeded to tuck under with bobby pins and put under hats etc. while I waited for it to fade.
And it did fade. So now I have a strawberry blond streak. It blends with my ashy natural color a lot better than the bright red-​brown that it was at first, but it still does not look like a professional dyed my hair.
Anyway, I let it go for a few weeks hoping it would fade out until I finally texted her and asked for an earlier appointment than what we had scheduled. That was today.
I have been annoyed by this situation since it happened, but I wasn’t furious. These things happen. I still trusted her even though I thought she had made some sort of mistake in trying to cover my streak that involved a red color. Everyone makes mistakes.
We had a semi-​friendly conversation at first, and we came up with a plan. And then I said something like: I just want to make sure this red tone is going to be gone at the end of this process. She was very defensive and rude in response to me saying this. She raised her voice and told me she «feels like she explained this really well to me in the first place» and she wouldn’t guarantee anything. I was taken aback by her tone and manner, and said something like look, I did not expect to see red in my hair and I’m getting a really weird vibe off of you right now. She said THEN LET’S NOT DO IT. And walked out of the room. OK then!
Now, I realize there are complex issues in hair color that I don’t know about. But, there is no way that Dominique intended to send me away with a red streak in the first place, and she most certainly did not tell me there was a risk of that. Not being able to match «exactly» is one thing, and turning my blonde streak red is another. I would not have signed up for this if she’d told me it might turn out red.
Regardless of the particulars of this situation, I don’t expect to be treated so rudely at the hair salon under any circumstances. So, today marks the end of my relationship with this stylist. She did a great job for a couple of years, but she has lost my business and positive referrals by behaving rudely and unprofessionally when something went wrong.

Glycolic face treatments by Natalie are absolutely AMAZING! My skin glows afterward and it is so incredibly relaxing! Natalie gives the best face massage. I love my 30min of escaping reality on her super cozy treatment bed and so does my skin!

There is something special about a place when you will travel to a different state to get your hair done and the person doing your hair has literally become a member of your family.
Natalie is that person! She is truly the most talented, amazing, incredible stylist of all time. I have traveled back to Portland from my home in California and now my home in Seattle just so she will do my hair. And all I have to say is, «Do what you want, whatever you think will look best» and I have never, ever been disappointed.
She also does my Mom’s hair, who gets more rubbernecking than most 25 year old woman, my sister… ditto, my sister-​in-​law, my bro, you get the point… She is a styling genius.
DISCLAIMER: **Please note… my profile photo is NOT her work, that mistake was MY doing on a drunken dare, she thankfully fixed it.**