Hair colorist in SF?

February 18, 2019 9:16 PM

The sheer cost inflation of everything in this city is making it impossible for me to figure this out... help?

I’m white with slightly wavy hair, not super curly, am not worried about someone who can handle “curly” hair but also tend to leave my hair wavy and natural so someone who's still pushing the blowout in 2019 is not my thing. I have ashy blonde hair and tend to do either honey blonde highlights or same with some strawberry blonde lowlights thrown in. Warmish/neutral complexion, freckles. Google “Natasha Lyonne” in the last few years and her length and shades of blonde and red are 100% what I’m going for at any given moment (my hair is sadly not that curly but almost). I’d like to someday do a nice auburnish natural red.

All this is to say I’m really looking for someone who can achieve “natural” while being, well, not that natural. I used to pay about $90 for partial highlights in Chicago at a trendy/gothy place. The stylist knew me and did the aforementioned very natural honey blonde partial highlight consistently. Now I look for places in SF and am overwhelmed by how everything seems bizarrely high-end. I’m not looking for cheap and I can afford a decent price, but I’m looking for... I guess, a quirkier place? Less likely to guess what I want in advance because it’s whatever Instagram flavor of the week? Idk.

I see someone for a cut who has a chair at Pageboy but that’s a bit far for me on a regular basis. I used to go to Milio’s, Black Hearts Hair House, Fix Hair Studio. Recommendations, especially if they have some portfolio online (or if you have pics!) would be great. Thanks!

posted by stoneandstar to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Response by poster: Late night clarifications: I’d love it if I could see them for color and cut (my cut is also actually pretty close to Natasha Lyonne 2019), and the three places I named in the last paragraph are all in Chicago.

When I lived in Chicago 10 years ago and first looked for this there was one obvious recommendation from everyone in Chicago (“Milio’s!”). Now I have no idea.
posted by stoneandstar at 9:18 PM on February 18, 2019

You may want to give Arzo a try. I'm a man who's gone to her for years, but I will say that my curly-haired wife has loved her, and Arzo has curly hair herself. She's also a wonderful person. She's a little different and has great relationships with all of her clients, as far as I can tell.
posted by kdar at 9:57 PM on February 18, 2019

If you want quirky, I love Glamarama. After a year, I was inspired by all the rainbow hair, so I can’t speak to their more normal highlights. But I love the atmosphere.
posted by politikitty at 10:27 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Try Totally Willow in the Mission. Definitely more quirky/gothy and less snooty/high-end, keeps late hours.
posted by 4rtemis at 11:01 PM on February 18, 2019

+1 to Glamarama. I got my hair highlighted, colored, and cut there for over 5 years before moving to a different city. It's definitely quirky and fun, and while they do high-end work I've never felt out of place there even in my most schlubby of Sunday afternoon sweats or crankiest hot-mess days.

Like with most salons, you'll pay more for more experienced stylists and less for newer ones, but I've never had complaints with any of their newer stylists.
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:33 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Hah, I think I know the person who cuts your hair and also has a chair at Pageboy -- I've been loyal to her for both cut and color for a few years now, after bouncing around several more expensive colorists. I was looking for a more niche kind of result though (non-natural color + lifting dark, coarse hair) so although I recommend her wholeheartedly and Pageboy is about the right price range, you can probably get a good experience closer to home for what you're looking for. Maybe try asking at your next haircut for recommendations in SF/East Bay?
posted by serelliya at 12:06 AM on February 19, 2019

Try Wednesdae salon. David is a whiz with curly hair. I don’t color my hair, but he handles that, too.
posted by vivzan at 7:38 AM on February 19, 2019

Best answer: I see Jen at Jungle Red in the Castro. She's brilliant at very natural balayage. It's going to be more expensive than the price you quote for Chicago - more like maybe ~$150 just for color? But you can go six months in between because it grows out so well.
posted by amaire at 11:25 AM on February 19, 2019