Please, please, please stay away from this Hair Salon in Dubai.

Sharing my hairdressing horror story and giving a word of warning to you all.

I have light brown hair which i have highlighted with some subtle lifts, usually in the summer. I've not been in Dubai for long, so still searching for the colourist that does the job here, i mainly wait till i visit home. I went to French Hair and Beauty Salon in Dubai Internet City (near the Siemens building) about 4 months ago and was pretty pleased with the results. A bit rough and ready in there, but still, the colour was nice, the staff were friendly and i left thinking I'd found the place. Yesterday I went in (no appointment, they never answer the phone) to have my roots touched up as i have a hectic schedule in the next six weeks with functions, a vacation, going home and my work as a photographer has me working with models sometimes, so dark roots are a no, no! I was taken to my chair and introduced to my colourist who wasn't the woman who did me the first time. The manageress, a lovely Philippine girl called Michelle, told me the old colourist had left, but not to worry, this one was just as good and would leave me happy. I'm not a hairdressing stresser!! I'm pretty relaxed about these things. Although i'm an old bird now, I was a fashion model for 15 years so i've had hairdressers messing a lot with my hair when i was younger, it kind of built me a resistance. I stocked up my piles of magazines, and prepared for the long process of sitting in a chair. I'm not someone who interfers with what a stylist is doing, I explain what I need, make sure they understand, and relax. I don't even look at whats going on, i prefer to get engrossed in juicy gossip magazines, it's the only chance i get to sit still for two hours!! My suspicions were raised when this ''womans'' demur was rough to say the least, pushing my head here and there and being a very slow worker. I've been having these process done for 20 years, i know how long it takes, if she's so slow, does that not raise suspicion that she doesn't do it very often? Her appearance kind of made me nervous too. I'm not saying people should be perfect, but in a hair and beauty salon, shouldn't one make an effort? She was dressed in shabby, dirty clothes, hair a greasy mess, no make up and the worse part, coughing her phelmy cough every 5 minutes in my face, sounded like a bad smokers chest. When it was time for the basin she put on what she called a ''toner'' the likes of which i'd never smelled in my life, i had to cover my face and had tears streaming down my face. Ok, dried and "fairly'' happy……kept telling her it was so dark, and because she doesn't speak English she would say, ''no habibi, it fine, it good''. Michelle had left, so although i wanted to speak to her, i couldn't and this woman was not understanding me at all. So i left. When i got home i had a proper look. It was all one colour on top, a kind of ash colour, block colour, no highlights of brown and blonde, but underneath, when i tied my hair back was brown, even darker than my natural colour! I wasn't happy. I went back the next day and expressed my unhappiness at this ash on top, brown underneath colour. I asked her to put some highlights just around my hairline, to at least brighten it up a bit, nothing drastic, just a few to break up the block colour. Michelle, was very sympathetic and understanding and i felt i was understood. Process begins again. I was immediately nervous (no magazines this time, a first for me, i was watching this time round) I had to tell her a few times that i didn't want a full head, just around my face and on top. She was her usual gruff and rough self. After about 20 minutes she took out one to check the colour and it was a bright yellow, orange candy floss consistency. I started to sweat. I asked if she would stop putting more in and get me washed. ''No habibi, wait, i do this now'', she started brushing something onto my scalp, all the hair on my scalp was being covered with something, colour? Bleach? i didn't know but it was burning and stinging. I called to the Manageress to ask what this was she was doing. To be honest I don't think she was entirely sure either, but said she thought she was darkening the roots as there was a thick line on my roots of where the yellow stopped and the brown started!!! What? Anxiety levels where escalating. I was sat there thinking, i'm leaving in 5 days, i have my beautiful daughters graduation, what is going on here?.I was told to come to the sink and be washed, none of the ammonia stink this time, at least that was something. When she unwrapped the towel at the mirror and i saw my hair......... i have never been so horrified in my life!!!!!!. My hair was bright yellow, with a tinge of orange. No hair lights, almost completely this colour. Tiger stripes of brown and yellow close to roots. The texture of my previously soft hair was of a sticky candy floss, it stuck straight up due to the consistancy. It was horrific! The kind of yellow destroyed hair you would see on the streets in a red light area, in fact that's an insult to those poor girls on the streets, this was much worse!!! . I burst into tears, I have never behaved like this in a hair salon. I started to feel a panic attack, again something i have never experienced, and the constant, ''It fine habibi, it good habibi'', from this woman was grinding in my ears. I raised my hand to her, tried to sound calm and said, ''Please. Stop. Talking!!!!!!!'' MIchele came over, she was horrified, she looked upset, she looked like she was going to cry too. I was by this time whimpering with my head down, i couldn't bare to see my reflextion. Michelle rubbed a mask on, massaged it into my scalp, trying to say the right thing and soothe me, but all she could manage was. ""i'm so sorry, i don't know how this can be fixed, I'm so sorry''. I told her to keep the mask on, i would wash it at home. She gave me a refund from the previous day and was full of apologies. I left the salon, hair sleeked back with the mask but still, even under a mask, looking absurd. I couldn't stop crying, all i could see was that vision of when she took the towel off. Not even straw, straw looks 100 times better! It look like an old burst couch had spilled it's innards, even that sounds too good, it had no resemblance to hair. It looks like a fluffy tangle of yellow sugar, candy floss! I can't like of another similarity. And as if the consistency wasn't bad enough, the colour! No hair is that colour………. and stripes, if stripes are EVER desired on hair at all they are vertical, NOT horizontal. I have since called to all my friends. I've been recommended to go to Tony&Guy and see a colourst called Sherin, i have an appointment for tomorrow. I don't know if they will be able to do anything, please keep your fingers crossed for me. In the meantime, i hope she has been sacked, and if not, please, please stay away from this salon. I would hate anyone else to go through this……………….. and spread the word girls. :(