How do you find a good hairdresser?
For this report on Washington’s stylists and salons, we stopped strangers—those with flattering, well-cut and colored hair—on the street, at health clubs, in restaurants, even in a ladies’ restroom, and asked: Who does your hair?
We polled stylists, others in the beauty business, and well-shorn women we know. Besides inquiring about a stylist’s talent, we asked about chairside manner—does the stylist listen and treat clients well?
We sent staffers, anonymously, to get haircuts and manicures. We watched stylists in action and surveyed the hair coming out. We looked for pleasant receptionists, clean facilities, smiling faces. Sometimes all the raves in the world for a stylist couldn’t overcome the fact that the salon was dirty or the staff indifferent.
Some of our testers liked their hair but hated the service—one woman was made to stand during the entire cut, a trendy new practice. When this same woman went to pay, all the products used on her hair were lined up, ready for purchase. She didn’t buy anything.
After all our research, we came up with a list of best salons. We separated out specialists in
curly hair,
eyebrows,
good ethnic salons, and
top colorists.
Image consultant Holly M. Horning cautions that just because a stylist works magic for some women, it does not mean you’ll be a good match. Maybe you prefer someone who’s quiet, not chatty, when he cuts. Or you might want a salon that’s intimate, not high-energy.
Sometimes you don’t need a top salon. They can be expensive, and the wait for a star stylist can be weeks long. And a top stylist who’s grooming apprentices is likely to hand you off to someone else for a postcut blow-dry—a practice many women hate.
But if you want to change your look or don’t trust your head to just anyone, we’d put our money on these places.
A note on this list: Prices are for single-process color and for full, foil highlights.
) and the end result was me looking like a long haired big bird..for only $50 less than what I would have been charged at O Salon. 
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