It’s a cruel, cruel world out there for a girl in need of a good stylist.  Your hair is your biggest accessory, speaks volumes about who you are and can ruin your day (or week, or month!) if it doesn’t look good.  Finding “the one” who you can trust implicitly to keep your locks beautiful can be one of the most stressful events in a glam girl’s life.  And being voted “Most Likely to be the Pantene Pro-V Girl” in high school meant that I couldn’t just find a good stylist, I needed a GREAT stylist if I was going to stay on that pedestal my peers put me on all those years ago.

Enter Alana at Salon Red in the Candler Park neighborhood of Atlanta.  The moment I met her, we clicked.  I knew she “got” me, and wherever she took my style, I was going to walk out of there looking like a million bucks, but I didn’t find her by accident.  Having moved from Oregon, I was alone in Dixie without any idea of where to go.  I scoured the internet, read reviews of stylists and salons, trusted my gut and did a LOT of homework.  Salon Red immediately resonated with me.  It felt like home…okay, well, it felt like the salon back in the Pacific NW that I trusted my tresses to for years.  Hip and trendy, while still somehow keeping that classic feeling that immediately calmed my “this is a flash in the pan” fears, I adored the salon.  And moreover, I adore Alana.

The first time I met Alana, I had a serious job for her to do.  Obsessed with Zooey Deschanel, I wanted my blonde locks dark.  The darkest I’d ever taken my hair prior to that day was the color of Jennifer Aniston’s.  So yeah, not dark at all.  Alana was not only up to the task, but excited about it.  And let me tell you, this girl is one of the few stylists out there who really understand color and all of it’s nuances.  She rocked it out of the park.  I was in love with it…

Me with Zooey Deschanel dark hair

…But as every blonde who’s gone dark can tell you, eventually you’re going to feel like your hair is in the witness protection program and you’re going to want to go back to your golden roots.

Once again Alana was tasked with turning my luscious brunette ‘do back to the golden goddess I knew, at heart, I was.  But there was a catch: I love my long hair and I didn’t want to lose length.  Instead of just bleaching it back and hoping for the best, Alana knew that to get it back to the hue I wanted without severe damage we were in for about a 9 month process, each time going a little lighter.  Her honesty and determination to do right by my hair was refreshing, especially in a business where many stylists decide to just give the client exactly what they ask for, hair quality be damned.  And now I’m back to my sunny blonde self!

The real me, all thanks to Alana

Salon Red has several locations in the greater Atlanta area.  Check them out.  Check Alana out.  And tell them Jess sent you!

{ 0 comments }