personal recommendations for places where they really take time to understand what you want
I’ve been thinking about finally doing a full makeover—new cut, maybe some highlights too. I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for five years but weirdly never found that one hair salon I totally trust. I’ve had a few decent cuts here and there, but nothing that really wowed me. Anyone here have personal recommendations for places where they really take time to understand what you want?
Discussion
I second that! I actually had a great experience last year at a small spot off Milpas—super casual place but the stylist knew curly hair really well, which is rare. I always say: don’t just chase the fancy interiors, the best cuts come from folks who ask questions first. Thanks for the site, Tyler, bookmarking that one!
Hey , totally feel you on that. I was in the same boat a few months ago—felt like I was just hopping from salon to salon hoping someone would “get it.” Eventually found my go-to through some serious digging. There’s actually a site I came across that helped a lot: yellow pages santa barbara. It’s the local Yellow Pages for SB and has a ton of listings for salons, plus real user reviews.
I ended up going with a stylist at a boutique salon on State Street that had amazing reviews and specialized in color correction. She did a full consultation before touching a strand of my hair and even showed me pics of similar face shapes with different styles. It turned out way better than I expected—soft balayage with layered waves. Check the “Beauty Salons” section on that site and just read through a few profiles. It helped me narrow it down without going crazy scrolling on Yelp.