Service Review: Grettacole
I busted my rear out of bed and over to the yoga studio this morning for the 9am Bikram class. (Day 18 of the challenge now complete!). I got out of bed early and did the yoga without eating or drinking anything today because I had made an appointment for this afternoon for an eyebrow waxing and a haircut at Grettacole, a local upscale chain salon in the Copley.
Now, since moving to Boston over three years ago, I have had my haircut at about six different places. The first two places I had it cut at were on Newbury Street. However, after having a few bad cuts at each (and a bad highlight job and then a bad one-color process to fix it) I made an emergency trip to NYC to have my hair cut at my NYC stand-by for three years, Soon Beauty Lab. (GREAT PLACE IN NYC!) I was getting married in a few months, and I needed my hair cut and trained by the time the wedding rolled around.
However, I knew that I could not rely on going back to NYC every few months just to get my hair cut. But my experiences in Boston were complete crap (and that's me being "nice.") So what's a gal to do?
Then, I realized what part of the problem was. Both stylists I had seen on Newbury Street had gotten their training at the Blaine Beauty School.
Now, if you're not from Massachusetts, you haven't had the privilege of being creeped out by the television adverts for the school. The people featured in the ads (which, sadly, have not been posted on YouTube; otherwise I would share them with you) are some of the scariest (and skankiest) people you may have seen on television that are legitimately real people. These aren't people you want touching your hair. And I left them not only cut it; I also allowed one of them to color it TWICE.
Lesson learned.
So, since then, I have been on a mission to never let anyone who has graduated from that school touch my hair. And I'm not even as vain as most other women about my hair. (I spend maybe five minutes fixing it each morning.) So I've tried three other places in the last two years. And each place was great. But I decided that since I am not so vain about my hair, I didn't need to stick with just one. I could be daring-enough to switch it up every few appointments.
So this brings me to today. Today I tried Grettacole at the Copley. And it was a nice experience.
First, I had my eyebrows done. The lady who did them was fantastic and meticulous. A truly skilled artisan, if I may be so bold. She definitely took her time to get it all right. And it was worth it. I am very happy with my brows and would be inclined to go see her again in January - when I need them done again.
The haircut was a good experience too... The same person who cuts your hair is the same person who washes it; which I hadn't seen done since I got my hair cut at the Super Cuts in Tucson when I was in university and desperate for a trim. Most places now-a-days have a separate hair washer and stylist. But hey, as far as I was concerned; this just meant one less person to tip. The stylist REALLY listened to what I said I wanted: keep the length, thin out the insane thickness, chop the bangs to my nose and style it with the natural wave. The whole haircut only took 45 minutes, which is a record short time for my thick mane. The final result was cute.
So, overall, I would give the Grettacole salon at the Copley an A-... I would definitely go back again... But I'll admit, I was a wee-bit creeped out by the receptionist... She was a little "trying to hard" when it came to greeting and saying good-bye to the guests. It came across as fake. She should play it down a little more. This is New England, after all.
Now, since moving to Boston over three years ago, I have had my haircut at about six different places. The first two places I had it cut at were on Newbury Street. However, after having a few bad cuts at each (and a bad highlight job and then a bad one-color process to fix it) I made an emergency trip to NYC to have my hair cut at my NYC stand-by for three years, Soon Beauty Lab. (GREAT PLACE IN NYC!) I was getting married in a few months, and I needed my hair cut and trained by the time the wedding rolled around.
However, I knew that I could not rely on going back to NYC every few months just to get my hair cut. But my experiences in Boston were complete crap (and that's me being "nice.") So what's a gal to do?
Then, I realized what part of the problem was. Both stylists I had seen on Newbury Street had gotten their training at the Blaine Beauty School.
Now, if you're not from Massachusetts, you haven't had the privilege of being creeped out by the television adverts for the school. The people featured in the ads (which, sadly, have not been posted on YouTube; otherwise I would share them with you) are some of the scariest (and skankiest) people you may have seen on television that are legitimately real people. These aren't people you want touching your hair. And I left them not only cut it; I also allowed one of them to color it TWICE.
Lesson learned.
So, since then, I have been on a mission to never let anyone who has graduated from that school touch my hair. And I'm not even as vain as most other women about my hair. (I spend maybe five minutes fixing it each morning.) So I've tried three other places in the last two years. And each place was great. But I decided that since I am not so vain about my hair, I didn't need to stick with just one. I could be daring-enough to switch it up every few appointments.
So this brings me to today. Today I tried Grettacole at the Copley. And it was a nice experience.
First, I had my eyebrows done. The lady who did them was fantastic and meticulous. A truly skilled artisan, if I may be so bold. She definitely took her time to get it all right. And it was worth it. I am very happy with my brows and would be inclined to go see her again in January - when I need them done again.
The haircut was a good experience too... The same person who cuts your hair is the same person who washes it; which I hadn't seen done since I got my hair cut at the Super Cuts in Tucson when I was in university and desperate for a trim. Most places now-a-days have a separate hair washer and stylist. But hey, as far as I was concerned; this just meant one less person to tip. The stylist REALLY listened to what I said I wanted: keep the length, thin out the insane thickness, chop the bangs to my nose and style it with the natural wave. The whole haircut only took 45 minutes, which is a record short time for my thick mane. The final result was cute.
So, overall, I would give the Grettacole salon at the Copley an A-... I would definitely go back again... But I'll admit, I was a wee-bit creeped out by the receptionist... She was a little "trying to hard" when it came to greeting and saying good-bye to the guests. It came across as fake. She should play it down a little more. This is New England, after all.
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