1 /5 Jacqueline Bollenback: I was really looking forward to my appointment at Whistle and Sway, but I left feeling heartbroken and disappointed. My hair was mid-butt length. I had been growing it out for years. It’s always been a feature I’ve taken pride in and felt was a defining part of my identity. During my visit, I asked for bangs and a butterfly cut—to add some volume while keeping as much length as possible. I even showed the stylist pictures to make sure we were on the same page. She reassured me she’d only need to take off about half an inch and showed me the first cut, which seemed fine at the time.
As she continued, though, I started to notice she wasn’t giving me a butterfly cut but regular layers instead. When I brought it up, she said this style would work better for my curly hair. I trusted her judgment in the moment, but looking back, that was when I first started to feel uneasy.
When it came time to style (I had an event to attend right after), she diffused my hair for only a few minutes, explaining that she wanted to “avoid frizz.” Unfortunately, my hair was still wet and fell flat, so I didn’t get to see how the cut would look once fully dry and shaped. I also didn’t leave with styled hair, as I had originally expected.
The hardest part was when I finally moved my hair to the front and saw how short it was. My once mid-butt-length hair now reached my breasts. YEARS of growth were gone in an instant. I mentioned how short it was, but she brushed it off, saying it was just “shrinkage” from styling it curly. That wasn’t true—my hair was still wet.
I’m truly devastated about how much length I lost and the experience overall. I’d expect this at budget chain, but not a high end salon with such promising reviews. I hope this review helps others set clearer expectations and that the salon takes this as an opportunity to do better in the future.
