Purple Circle

06/08/09

flummoxed by these bad reviews

by NJtoMAtoCA at Citysearch

I've lived in Los Angeles for 5 years, and have had my fine, curly/wavy-if-blow-dried hair cut by at least 10 different stylists, if not more; with prices ranging $50 to $100. By far, Hazel at Purple Circle has given me the best cut. I had spent 3 years growing my hair long (about 1 1/2 inches past shoulder-length) and was finally ready to cut it short. I had a friend do the dirty work, but she basically just chopped it off, with no style whatsoever. Hazel understood immediately what I was looking for, and gave me a cute bob that worked perfectly for my wavy hair and long face shape. She explained that she'd give free bangs trims, and when I came in 2 weeks later for a full trim because the back felt too long for such a short cut, she once again got it immediately and on top of that, she only charged me half price. I HIGHLY recommend.

• Pros: best haircut, affordable

01/10/09

nothing special....

by robert_yu at Citysearch

After reading the many good reviews at Yelp I decided to give this place a shot. Got a cut with one of stylist and was disappointed. For one, I told her no cutting with the clippers and what did she do? She pulled our the clippers. Also, there was some confusion with her equipment. She went back and forth between the small scissors, large scissors, and clippers. I felt like it was her first cut.

When I got home and observed the cut more closely I noticed the cut was uneven and sloppy. I had to trim the edges myself. The attention to detail was lacking and inexcusable, therefore, I will be be recommending the place.

• Pros: free parking, friendly staff, and location
• Cons: skills

10/05/07

I went to the Purple side, and I LOVE it here.

by greywahoo at Citysearch

I'd like to defend Purple Circle a bit here and also let people know that good things do happen there! I recently turned my very curly hair over to Jenny in hopes of starting over, trying to get it to grow out, yet keeping an interesting style without the fro-effect. Jenny listened intently, we brainstormed, she explained her plan to me, I was enthusiastic, and she went right to it. An hour later, a LOT of my hair had been lopped off and de-bulked. It was much more than I expected -- but it looked HOT. I knew we had to even things out (which meant losing some length) in order to get things off to a good start if I do decide to grow out my hair -- but now I'm not so sure I even want to because my hair looks so good! My face is completely reframed; it's really amazing. I never imagined that my hair could look SO good without being so huge and resting maybe 2 inches below my earlobes. Wow, wow, wow. Jenny was also super honest with me: when I asked about color services, she explained everything but told me that since I have nearly black hair, I could continue to dye it on my own as long as my hair wasn't stripped and damaged. I really appreciated that Jenny was so upfront with me! "Save your money!", she said, but she did welcome me to use Purple Circle color services if I got tired of doing it myself. Jenny also emphatically told me that if I was unhappy in any way with the cut, I should come back anytime and she'd take off more hair, rework, etc., at no charge. What a pro! What you see is what you get here: the shop is so chill, it's not oppressively hipster chic at all, and watching the people who come in who have really outrageous hair is very cool. I think the key for ANY hair-related experience is being realistic about what you have to begin with and where it can go under the circumstances. Purple Circle was so professional and reasonable for LA ($60 + tip), and they do gorgeous cuts -- my friends with wavy and straight hair see Amie, and they look beautiful.

• Pros: talent, didn't push products or services, listened!, creativity, professional
• Cons: none!