Capitol Hill's Premier Haircuts & Color

Emerson Salon is the best hair salon on Capitol Hill, Seattle. Our experienced hair stylists and colorists have been fusing the latest trends with top hair techniques for years. Whether you’re looking to transform your look in Seattle with a new haircut and color or just maintain your already hip style, we are here and ready to help.

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909 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
T: 206-323-7437
@: emersonsalon@gmail.com

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Articles from ‘Hair Consultation’

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

How to Look Your Best on the Wedding Day

Ah, wedding season is upon us! Some of you are getting married, some of you are participating in a wedding or some are going to be attending-but regardless of what role you play, you want to look your absolute best!

Here, I have shown some examples of simple, classic formal styles for weddings and some that get a little bit more creative. The range of styles is wide so I tell my brides to schedule a consultation a few weeks before the big day. Its always best to bring pictures of what you would like and not like as I can create a personalized look for you based on the elements you would like to include. No bad prom looking hair for you and my updos are built to last through sweat, tears and dancing!

I also recommend a bridal practice session ahead of time to trouble shoot any problems in the style. It eases your mind and helps me to plan out the best layout for the hair to maximize aesthetics for pictures as well as making sure the style stays all day into night!

Here is our pricing structure for formal styling:
-Bridal practice session: $40 (can include a shampoo/ blowout after)
-Bridal styling: $100-$120 (price varies based on length or density)

(Group discount: More than 3 people (including the bride): bridal $85-$95, others in group $45)

Look your best on your big day with Emerson Salon- book today!

Post by D’arcy

TagsBridal Hair, Client Photos, D'Arcy Harrison, Hair Consultation, Hair Styles, Updos, Wedding Hair, Women's Hair

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Summer Formalities

As the summer draws to a close, we look back at some of the events over the past season. Namely, all of the joyous weddings that occurred from June to September. From backyard ceremonies to elaborate ballroom receptions, the main focus is on the bride and groom on their big day. Here we provide some tips for both on how to organize for such a large occasion!

bridalupdo2 bridalupdo4
Brides:  A good thing to do first is to figure out what your budget is. Bridal hairstyles can range from $85-$110, depending on the length of the hair and the style desired (does it need to be flat ironed or curled, etc?) We recommend receiving a light trim to your haircut 1-2 weeks beforehand to remove any split ends. In addition, if you will be attempting any color services it is good to receive them 2 weeks ahead of time in case the color needs adjustment.

Some brides choose to utilize a paid practice session ($40 an hour) in order to eliminate any anxiety about the style before the ceremony. We try out the style, take pictures and troubleshoot any problems and then take the hair down and wash it before you leave. If you have your veil or any hair jewelry beforehand, the practice session is the perfect time to figure out how they will be planned into the overall style.

bridalupdo1

The important thing to do before consulting a stylist for your wedding hair is to find lots of pictures of hair that excites you. You can even bring in pictures of hair you absolutely do not like as this will aid your stylist to better hone what your aesthetic is. Do you want height? Do you want all of your hair up, half down or all down? What are some adjectives you would use to describe what you want your hair to look like (soft, romantic, wavy, sleek, shiny, etc.)? All of these elements will better assist you to becoming happy with your formal style!

bridalupdo3

If you are looking to create a formal style on your own, try using these products:
Rapid Repair Spray by Alterna for picture perfect shine before and after styling
Working Spray by Alterna for applying before curling for flexible hold
Easy Rider by Kevin Murphny for smoothing flyaways into the style
Session Spray by Kevin Murphy for hard hold when the style is complete

Grooms: We recommend receiving an extended consultation with an Emerson stylist to determine what is the desired result for the big day. Feel free to bring your bride with you for this initial consultation as we are sure she might have input! Make your haircut appointment for 2 weeks beforehand and then book a quick “line up” for the day before or day of. A “line up” would be where only the edges around the ears and nape are trimmed with clippers. Whether you intend to have your hair parted or fauxhawked or messy, two great go-to products for guys are Easy Rider by Kevin Murphy for frizz control and light hold and  Night Rider for matte finish and firm hold.

Did you attend a beautiful nuptial this season? Already have invitations to more? Make an appointment for your style with Emerson Salon today.

Post by D’Arcy

TagsAlterna Products, Bridal Hair, D'Arcy Harrison, Events, Hair Consultation, Hair Ideas, Hair Styles, Holidays, Kevin Murphy, Men's Hair, Wedding Hair

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Mobile City and Capitol Hill Summer Sale!

cropped summer sale posterWhatever you do, do not miss Capitol Hill’s huge Summer Sale that’s going on through the weekend of Thursday, August 26th to Sunday August 29th.  There are going to be mad deals, sales and events all weekend long up and down Pike, Pine and Broadway in the heart of Capitol Hill! The Hill has everything you need for whatever you feel like doing. A picnic in the park; shopping for the whole family; breakfast, lunch and dinner; dance lessons; yoga classes; night life and oh so much more!

Don’t miss the highlight of this awesome weekend: the kick off Mobile city party on Thursday night. There you can get a map of all the participating business and the list of the awesome events they’re planning. Then spend all weekend walking around and visiting the businesses and grabbing some great deals and fun events!

Emerson has a super fabulous event planned for Sunday, the 29th. At 2pm stop by the salon where Ellen, one of our lovely stylists, will be giving a hands-on demo on how to do a loose and casual, yet completely fabulous, summer updo. She’ll show you the easiest way to make this must-have style work for your hair, and demonstrate how you can do it yourself at home to have salon-beautiful hair every day!

Don’t miss what promises to be a rockin’ weekend, and make sure to come by Emerson on Sunday at 2:00 to get some valuable hair tips, straight from the experts!

Post by Amelia

TagsAmelia Hanron, Capitol Hill, Community, Ellen Yates, Emerson Salon, Events, Hair Consultation, Hair Styles, Seattle, Style, Styling Tips, Summer, Updos

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Does Your Stylist Listen?

  • Does your hair stylist listen to you?
  • Is your hairdresser headstrong and overly-opinionated?
  • Is your hairstylist bossy and condescending?
  • When you ask for a certain haircut, does your stylist talk you out of what you want when you feel strongly about what you asked that stylist to do?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to take action immediately! Hair stylists, much like all people have varying communications styles and methods. In order to ensure the best possible results for your hair, it is imperative that you establish a strong rapport with your stylist and he or she clearly understands your needs and wants.

Some clients prefer that their stylists to tell them what to do with their hair and what is “best”. When this is the case, then bossy stylists are not really and issue, but you need to remember that when you give the stylist the freedom to “do whatever looks good” the results may vary widely based on the tastes and opinions of the specific stylist.

Other clients have a deep knowledge of their own hair and want a very specific look that their stylist might not agree with. While it is perfectly reasonable for your stylist to pull from their expertise to offer an opinion on the likely result, it is in the end your hair and your style. If the stylist persists in trying to dissuade you, politely tell your stylist that is not what you agreed to and that you would really like him/her to do what you asked for today.

If you feel that your stylist is being overly bossy, speak up! Let your stylist know that you appreciate their input, but that you really want to do what you talked about doing today. Maybe later on, you will feel like a change.

If you like your stylist, but feel like you are not being heard and/or are unhappy with the stylist’s method of communicating, bring a photo of what you want. Not only is this often an extremely effective way to communicate your desired hair style, but with a photo, you can easily show the salon manager that the picture you brought in and your hair result don’t match. The manager then can do something about it.

Though it can be intimidating to ask to change, there is probably another stylist at the salon you visit whose personality and mode of communication would be a better match for you. Remember, stylists can be extremely different from each other, approaching the trade as artists, technicians, personal care attendants or educators.

-posted by Lancer

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Emerson Salon 909 E Pike St Seattle (Haircuts & Color)
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TagsHair Consultation, Lancer Forney

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

Hair Color Correction

This week I have been busy with corrective coloring.

There are two reasons why a color service is deemed “corrective”:

1) A hairstylist formulated and/or consulted with a client wrongly.

2) A client has been coloring his/her hair at home for awhile and has led to a problem.

When a stylist has made an error, the best thing to do is to have that stylist fix the problem if possible. This isn’t always possible, and so we end up correcting other stylists’ work. Each salon uses their own color system. Color systems are not alike. There are some similarities and luckily, experienced stylists can almost always remedy these errors easily. OTC hair color is too variable and the chemical makeup of OTC hair color is inferior to professional salon color. OTC hair color is already formulated in a bottle, and it comes with a standard developer. Most clients’ hair is not standard, and multiple issues arise. Here, I will explain why hair ends up too dark!

Hair Darkening:

  • Over time, the home colorist colors the entire lengths of his/her locks, resulting in an overabundance of color pigment deposit and an end result of the ever-common “Too Dark Ends”.
  • This effect is further aggravated with the presence of any amount of gray hair on the head, because gray hair requires a different chemical formulation than non-gray hair does.
  • When harsh chemicals (usually found in OTC hair color products) are layered onto hair strands continually, the hair’s integrity, elasticity, and porosity are severely compromised.

What we do:

  • Here at the salon, when we color a client’s hair darker, we don’t color the entire length every time. We do a “Retouch”, once our client’s hair is the color they love. Depending on the home hair care program utilized, the ends may or may not fade.
  • We use and recommend our tested color-safe products in the salon to maintain our client’s hair color in between appointments. This ensures optimum color longevity! Some darker colors, like reds, will fade a little even then, so we do what is called a “Refresher” service to the ends of the hair. This is not the same thing as depositing permanent color to the hair that has already been colored, because that leads to damage over time and too-dark ends.

What can you do if you have this problem:

  • Make an appointment with your hair professional. We can remove the pigment safely and the chemicals we use for color correction in the salon are safe and will not damage your hair further.
  • It usually takes two or three appointments to get your hair into completely stellar shape. Your hair may need a further application, depending on how the OTC color lifts out of your hair, or it may need reconditioning to even out your hair’s uneven porosity that results from over-processed hair lengths.

Here is what normal and damaged hair strands look like when magnified:

If you attempted to color your hair at home using box color and the result was not what you were expecting…don’t panic. Make an appointment today and we’ll fix your hair problem.

-posted by Lancer

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Emerson Salon 909 E Pike St Seattle (Haircuts & Color)
www.EmersonSalon.com

TagsCorrective Color, Deep Conditioning, Hair Consultation, Hair Science, Lancer Forney

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Not To Early To Be Thinking About Valentine’s Day

It’s not to early to be thinking about Valentine’s Day on Capitol Hill. A stylish cut, color or an updo to make your day extra special. Contact us for a free hair consultation.

Get Blog Updates by Email
Emerson Salon 909 E Pike St Seattle (Haircuts & Color)
www.EmersonSalon.com

TagsHair Consultation, Holidays

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

The Science of Gray Hair

WHAT IS GRAY HAIR?

Graying hair is actually not turning gray at all. When you get older (oh no!!) the hair pigmentation from within the hair follicle starts to slowly shut down over time. While this is happening, the hair slowly turns to a barely pigmented strand to a shimmering white/translucent hair. Some call it “natural highlights” and others call them “their sparkles.” The hair’s cuticles become tighter and can become “wire-y”, kinky or spiral/coil in nature. This cuticle tightening can result in difficulty styling and color coverage. This is known as RESISTANT hair. When making decisions about what to do with your graying hair, consider the following options.

WHAT DO DO WITH “GRAYING” HAIR?

Some people like their gray and choose to let nature take it’s course. Others like to defy time and cover their gray. When coloring, you have a few options:

  • Permanently cover hair with hair color all over: This requires a skilled colorist who can custom formulate to your hair and wishes. Regular maintenance every 6-8 weeks is necessary as grow out can occur that can show the difference between the colored hair and the new growth. This can be matched to your natural hair color, formulated to lighten all over in order to show less demarcation with the incoming “gray,” or formulated darker to create a different look.
  • Temporarily cover hair with hair color: This requires a skilled colorist who can custom formulate as well. The grow out is minimal as the hair can be covered 100% but will fade out over time. Gray blending is what it is known as and can be matched to your natural color or a level(s) lighter depending on the desired effect. These formulations can add shine, moisture and proteins to the hair which can aid in overall appearance and manageability as graying hair can be more difficult to style.
  • Permanently Highlight: Dimensional color (foiling) can blend the incoming lighter hair with lighter highlights and can lighten the overall appearance of the hair depending on the concentration of highlights. Some choose to do this while also “lowlighting” in order to keep the appearance of their natural level as well as the health/condition of the hair.

When deciding to color you hair you should have an in-depth consultation with your stylist in order to achieve the perfect results for you. Our color lines are technologically designed to bring predictable results when combined with a thorough consultation based on maintenance needs and personal preferences.

Remember: Appropriate shampoo and conditioner is essential to the longer life and quality of your color based on your stylist’s recommendations.

post by D’Arcy

TagsD'Arcy Harrison, Gray Hair, Hair Consultation, Hair Science

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Salon Visits Gone Bad

Having been in the salon business since 1991, I have done a lot of hair in a lot of places; some good and some bad. The main reason I love doing hair is that I really like my clients and making them happy. Unfortunately that does not always happen and when it does, I like to know why and sometimes clients tell us and sometimes they don’t.

A few years ago, I had a heart to heart with another great stylist who has been in the business at least as long as I have. His name is Nicky Meinzer and if you are ever in San Francisco, you should definitely look him up. He too cares about his clients and we were discussing the occasional unhappy client situation that leads to our most sleepless nights:

“Sometimes it is our error, we’re human- we make a mistake. Others have the unrealistic expectation that if they come in once every two to three months, we will remember with computer-like accuracy the cut that we gave them, that was literally 300 (other clients) haircuts ago…They kinda forget that we’ve done many other people’s hair in between their last cut, and that many people come in every four weeks, and its much easier to remember the cuts we see more frequently.”

“Then there is the case where people want change, but don’t articulate that. If you ask what they’d like, and they say ‘more of the same’, that’s not your responsibility; its theirs. If they are unhappy with the fact that you didn’t change their hair, without them being the ones to say “I’d like change”, it’s not fair to you. They need to take responsibility for the fact that they wanted something (change) and didn’t ask for it.”

“When they say “I’d like something different”, I schedule extra time to show them pictures and/or have them bring in pictures to show me what they love and what they hate. It’s a bit of a project, but fun, and the experience ends well…the client is happy because I scheduled extra time for this change, to discuss it, not just jump in and do whatever.”

“But experience also tells me to be wary of those who say “I want change” but can’t articulate what, and who just respond with “I don’t care, you’re the stylist, be creative”. What that really means is ‘I don’t know how to articulate it, but I’m hoping I’ll be happy with what you guess I might like’. With these clients it always takes a lot more work. I have to ask if this picture would be too short or if this would be too long, etc…And what we both find out is they do care; they just didn’t want to spend the time talking about it.”

“Any time there has been a bad experience, its because of poor communication. I have a very high client retention rate, and its because I communicate clearly, and so do my clients (even when I have to twist their arm to do it!)”

-Nicky Meinzer

www.hairbynicky.com

Nicky has been a great resource and an inspiration to me. I try to always schedule more time than is necessary to consult with my clients; it doesn’t always happen because of my clients’ scheduling needs, but it has always been helpful.

If you are a client new to a salon and are wanting a big change, we want to offer you all the time you need. The best way to ensure a fantastic salon visit is to pre-book your appointments whenever you can and, if new to a stylist, please do ask if we have time to do a consultation beforehand. We want you to have a nice visit!

-Lancer

www.yourhairguy.com

TagsHair Consultation, Lancer Forney, Reviews