Nicole and I were invited here to try some complimentary services by the owner and they generously opened on a Monday for us. I was booked for a cut and highlights but only ended up getting the highlights because that took 4 hours and I had to leave.

The space is beautiful. It's tucked inside the courtyard so you would never know about it from the street. Because of that most of their business is word of mouth and recommendations from review sites. I did look up the reviews before coming and they were all quite positive.

My experience had lots of positives, with a few draw backs. The consultation took a very long time. I believe it was because they really wanted to get my colour exactly right, but it is part of the reason my appointment took 4 hours. The staff is really warm and friendly but a few comments were made during my consultation and Nicole's that would have been better left unsaid. They said that parts of my colour looked "cheap". They told Nicole that they could tell the instant she walked in the door that her colour was a home-job.

They were very concerned to get rid of the brassy colour in my hair and discussed in depth about a plan that would involve lots of cool toned highlights and a cool base that would allow me to go longer between salon visits. My hair grows very fast, there is a lot of it, and I have a fair bit of premature grey thanks to genetics. Going longer than 4-5 weeks between visits is really important to me.

At the end, as my stylist was taking out the foils she told me there had been a change of plan and they did not go with the cool tones we discussed. We had also talked about lightening the sides of my hair so that when I put my hair up, the colour difference won't be so obvious, but that part looks mostly brown. I'm not sure what the reason was for the change of plan.

The highlights turned out to be really nicely blended, but my root colour looked very similar to the darker colour I had coming in (minus the grey). They applied a semi-permanent to my roots so it will wash out over the next few weeks. The rationale was that they greys will blend better with all of the new blonde highlights. I won't really be able to comment on that until that happens. I'm now just over a week since my visit. The cost of what I had done (though they didn't charge me) was more than what I normally pay.

While I was getting my hair done I was able to observe John (the owner) cutting hair. It is obvious he is very dedicated to his craft. He was meticulous and spent a long time getting both men's cuts just right. It is a shame I couldn't stay longer to experience one of his haircuts, but I would definitely recommend a man go based on what I saw.

I'm pretty loyal to where I go now. The only time I stray from my regular salon is when I'm in a pinch and book something in my neighborhood same day. For that reason this probably won't become my regular salon, but I'm glad I got the chance to try it!

When given the chance to try out the services offered by Navigate Salon, I instantly started thinking of many different things I could have done to my hair. To be honest, I never actually decided and ended up mentioning all my options with them and hope they would suggest what would work best. They definitely listened and came up with a compromise between my ideas and made it happen! I wanted a bit more of a red-ish colour to my hair, and I was a fan of ombre hair. I had previously tried an at-home ombre job myself, and they spotted it right away as an "at home attempt" and I felt my hair needed to be fixed right away with that comment. My biggest concern was wanting a natural look that wouldn't look horrible when my roots started showing. Collectively, everyone discussed their opinions about what to do with my hair, and a decision was made.

Jo did a fantastic job and was able to create the ombre look, with a slightly ginger tint to it, that matched my natural hair colour as close as they could get it for when it started to show. It's hard to restrain yourself from constantly dying your hair when you have your roots coming in and creating a horrible colour combination. A quick trim was also given to even out my hair length as it was all over the place. I nearly fell asleep while the dye was being washed out because it was so relaxing. To top it all off, Jo styled my hair in soft waves that made me feel as if I was a bit of a movie star. Even after over a week of hair washes, my hair still feels soft as ever and I keep trying to style it the same way if I have enough time. It will be interesting to see what happens when the colour fades and my roots start to grow in.

Originally this service would have probably left me unable to go shopping for quite some time, costing up around $200, but this was a service that was done for free. I felt the end results were well worth it to indulge in hair colour and care from this salon. I'll be keeping this one in mind for whenever I know I need special care and attention for my hair and have the money to afford it.