Today I paid a visit to Soon Beauty Lab in Chelsea to treat myself a (hair) pampering day. It’s been a tough week and I received some bad news recently, so this was a much needed refresh. Back in Sydney, I get my hair done by my trusty local Korean hairdresser of eight years and, most of the time, my mother colours my roots. Naturally I was anxious as hell to find an affordable new hair “guardian” in NYC. I was recommended this place by a lovely lady, who had awesome pastel pink hair, from my Benefit Brow Bar.

My Benefit Brow lady specifically recommended the full stylist “Tiffany“, who hails from LA and has an impressive repertoire of experience. On Friday, I made a booking online via their website, after creating an account, for Saturday @ noon for a “Double Process Virgin Application” (though what I wanted didn’t really fit under any of the listed services) along with a “Finish”. Upon booking, you can choose any stylist you wish. I received a call on Saturday as a reminder for my appointment. Overall the online booking experience was very seamless.

I was running late in the morning today so I arrived about 10 minutes after my scheduled time. FYI — if you’re a no-show after 15 minutes of your scheduled appointment time, I was told that the stylist could be assigned to another client. I’m usually quite punctual, but still…the rule was slightly alarming. That’s New York for you, I guess.

Once I arrived I changed into my robe and was offered some tea. Tiffany came right over to introduce her bubbly self (you could totally tell she was from L.A!). She provided a 10-15minute consultation to chat about what I wanted. I requested for rose gold tips, fading into a deep/natural red base. I wasn’t prepared to go “Rihanna Red” yet. I think the stylists are usually assigned to each client for two hours, but Tiffany was luckily available to me for 3 hours due to some appointment changes. Otherwise her assistant would have finished up my hair for me.

After my consultation, Tiffany went about to mix up my colours for me and prepare the lightener. I was prepped by an assistant with a towel around my neck and vaseline-like substance was applied to avoid a colour halo around my head. After this, Tiffany began colouring my hair and lightening my ends. With the foils, the process probably took about 20-30 minutes. We had a great chat about how much hair I had (she had to refill her bowl a few times.) and got to know each other. She was extremely friendly and conversational. The salon is perfect for you if you love to chat to someone while treating yo’self. I was then left to sit for about 20 minutes with my foils and then washed out with cold water. Cold water was used because it helps to retain the colour better, otherwise I would have much preferred a warm wash!

After a quick rinse and dry, my hair was toned with a “Pink Dream” colour to give a pinkish tone for the rose gold I was gunning for. This was left in for about 15 minutes.

The finished look above.

Tiffany gave me a glaze that was a little brighter so that after a few washes, the colour would fade to what I essentially requested for — it’s a little more orange now but I shall give an update when the colour fades. My experience was topped off with a blow-dry finish (no cut).

I also picked up the colour conditioner above, mixed just for me with a colour I had chosen. I was given the options of maintaining my pink ends or red base and I much prefer to do the red base. I can also use this conditioner to colour my ends if I wanted. Tiffany recommended to use the colour conditioner once a week and when using it, go with my regular conditioner for my ends. The bottle was about $30.

In total I was at the beauty lab for about 3 hours. The end price was a little steeper than I had imagined, considering the full head highlighting service listed on the site was only $225. My final price came out to double that amount, including a 15% tip and the conditioner (surprisingly, not the most I’ve spent on my hair). I was okay with it though since I only do my hair twice a year.

I would definitely recommend going in for a consultation first prior to making an appointment to discuss what you want and the price. Tiffany was really great and, if you get a chance, make an appointment with her. She’s only in four days a week — be sure to call in before booking.

I haven’t quite decided if I would return. I loved the outcome and everything, but still want to see if there are other places that are just as great (and probably a bit more affordable) in NYC. Either way I’ll be rocking this style for a while.

Peace out.