Blo Blow Dry Bar

I had purchased a gift certificate so I made an appointment months in advance to get an up-​do for my best friends wedding. I arrived on time but had to wait over 20 minutes for my «stylist» to finish her friends hair before moving onto me (yes friends, not paying customers). For my up-​do she put my hair in a ponytail which was a little disappointing. She gave me a few curls and she did end up pinning some of it up to hide the ponytail. They don’t wash your hair which is fine but would have been good to know and still my hairstyle was falling out before the ceremony was over. The highlight of my experience was when I went to pay for my $ 80 ponytail (not including tip), my gift certificate was mysteriously empty. Apparently they gave me an empty card and just took my money. I paid the full amount, again, with a promise that the manager would call me the next day. Two phone calls, 3 emails, and 30 full days later I’m still waiting on that call.
My advice would be skip this place and go to a real salon. It’s the same price if not less and at least then you’ll have a licensed hair dresser doing it. The prices on their menu aren’t accurate, as I said they charged me $ 80 for a ponytail and I definitely didn’t get any extras.

I’ve been to Blo Calgary twice before and Blo Vancouver once. I really like the concept of a blow dry bar, however the Calgary location needs a lot of improvement to their customer service skills and professionalism for me to consider ever going again.
I went in for a blow dry on Saturday with a friend of mine. We both walked in and the ladies at the front desk looked slightly confused about what to do. The girl at the counter pointed to one stylist and said one of the girls would be doing my hair but she was running late, so I was left waiting while my friend’s hair got started on. When this stylist who was to do my hair finally got in about 5 minutes later, they changed their mind for some reason about who would do my hair, and so the girl that had been sitting at the front desk the whole time was told to do my hair.
From the point she started washing my hair at the sink I could tell this was someone that had little to no experience touching hair. My hair wash was so unsatisfying and it felt like she didn’t even soak all my hair in water, so that it ended up feeling like a half-​done wash. The head massage I was given felt like I was getting pet like a dog, no massage whatsoever.
Once I was got into my chair and she started to blow dry my hair, It was once again obvious she didn’t understand how to handle hair. She was blowing every which way, not paying attention to make sure I get any volume and just blowing down and around. Once she finished the blow dry (in her mind) she started clipping my hair up to get ready to start curling. I gave it a minute to see what the eff she was thinking before I stopped her to say my hair was still slightly damp (I can feel it’s not totally dry), and I asked her if she would finish drying my hair? She said that the curling iron would take care of it. HELL NO. You can’t use hot tools on hair that’s not 100% dry or you will end up frying the hair. So, at my request she unpinned my hair and proceeded to complete the blow out. I even pointed out to her some of the wet pieces of hair she missed. Later she admitted that she «forgot that step». Ok wow.
At this point my expectations completely dropped and I just wanted her to finish asap so I could leave, but it took her another 25 minutes to complete my «beach waves» curls, which looked more like tight ringlets than loose, casual waves that I asked for. I had to continue to direct her on what to do with my hair, because she was so clueless and disinterested. When she was finally done, I finished 15 minutes later than the friend I came with, so my friend was left waiting around.
I will not be returning to Blo Calgary, and I will not be recommending it to anyone.

I always wanted to try a blowout service but always felt like I would be cheating on my hairstylist. However, after long debate and still having to wait 2 more weeks to see my fantastic stylist (see Volume Beauty Bar) I thought I would go after work and check it out.
The excitement fell short the moment I walked in the door. The space is kind of funky but the service I received was horrid.
There was no one at the front desk, so I walked into the other side (which was an open doorway into a lash lounge) there was a woman there that I approached.
«Hello, I am here for my 5:30 appointment!» I say with a chipper voice
«what? For lashes, you aren’t in the system» Woman replies
«oh no sorry, for a blowout!» I’m using a confused tone…
«I’ll be with you in a moment, go sit» she says shortly
After not long, she comes over and says come with me to the sink and place your stuff here (points at the ground near a mirror)
I go and sit in the chair… she asks if I been to Blo before, I said no but I always wanted to try it out… then she says: yeah awesome and starts to run the water… I tell her that I have colour treated hair and would it be possible to use a shampoo/​conditioner that helps preserve colour? She says «we have MANY clients… have you ever been to blo before?» (Um… did you not just ask me that?) And continues to shampoo my hair with whatever was there before my arrival for I’m not kidding 15 seconds then wraps my head in a towel… I say «no conditioner?» she says «Oh I forgot.» And throws some on (no massaging, nothing) for 10 seconds and rinses out.
On the website there were so many styles to choose from but I didn’t get to choose, she just said «blow out, flipping out the ends?» I say Sure.
She then asks me why I’m there and then asks if I’m going out for the night… when I say no she puts NO product in my hair at all, (no heat protection, no hair spray… nothing) and then just blow dries my hair… there was also no barbicide I could see.
I have to say the end style was ok, it looked like I did it myself without any product. The service and lack of any professionalism/​hair care was appalling to me. I will never ever go back.

I do kind of like Blo, however I have a weave so extra care & attention has to be paid to my hair. Every time I’ve been to Blo, I swear they have literally attempted to pull my weave off of my head with how aggressive they are.
It’s also twice the price if you have extensions, so you’re looking around $ 65.
If I were you, I’d go to Butter Beauty– it’s cheaper for extension wearers AND they don’t abuse your head.

I’ve been to Blo about 6 times, the quality has gone down each time. I kept giving it a chance because it was so good when it first opened. This last time was the final chance. I went in to get my hair done for a wedding. I arrived and pointed to the «Look Book» AND explained how to achieve this look on my hair: use product, blow-​dry with a big round brush to add volume, and some curing iron action on the bottom half of my long hair. The «stylist» (I don’t even think I can call her that) looked at me and asked if I wanted my hair washed… YES that’s why I’m here to have a blowout! This should have been a clue as to how the rest of the appointment would go.
After she reluctantly washed my hair and I was sitting in the chair I again explained blowdrying with a round brush is best for my hair to add volume and will avoid my hair being flat and straight. She spend the next 40 MINUTES blowdrying tiny pieces of my hair at a time. She could barely hold onto the dryer and kept dropping clips, brushes, parts of the dryer AND picking them back up and using them on my hair. I had convinced myself that this girl had never used a hairdryer before let alone done anyone’s hair before. Finally after my hair was dry and there were 5 minutes left to my appointment she picked up the curling iron and attempted to curl a tiny piece of my hair which released from the curling iron kinked — not curled. I gave up. I asked her to stop and I stood up. I said I would go home and redo my hair for the wedding.
The woman at the front offered to help curl my hair but I didn’t have time. The appointment was supposed to be 45 minutes and I expressed my thoughts that even 3 people curling my hair could not salvage it in the remaining 5 minutes of my appointment. And my hair was so flat and straight from the poor blowdrying that I wasn’t even sure it would hold curl at this point. The woman at the front reduced my blowdry cost and gave me 15% off coupons for my next visit. Sorry to say those went in the trash and I will not be back.
Reading the Blow website it says «You don’t need to have hair experience! Blo U (niversity), our one-​of-​a-​kind session styling program, ensures that your staff is trained by a Corporate Trainer» I now wonder if this «stylist» has even been trained or who is training their trainer?!

I was just at Blo this afternoon, and when I was coming in, another girl was leaving. And I loved the way they did her blow out and asked for mine to look the same… She had soft curl and big beautiful face framing waves. Mine turned out looking like enormous ringlets… When I expressed this concern my stylist told me that the curls would fall… And so, talked me out of what I really wanted to leave looking like. It’s been an hour, and even though I am constantly brushing out my hair and running my fingers through it, it just won’t fall at all… This is my second time to Blo and the second time that this exact same thing has happened… If I’m going to pay $ 40 for a service, I want my hair to look the way I WANT. I’m so frustrated. I told my stylist that I has a big interview this afternoon, and rather than making sure I had exactly what I wanted and would be happy with, she shooed me out the door. So unimpressed. I WILL NOT be returning…

So I am a big fan of the Blo concept. Which is why I booked an appointment here at 11am last Saturday before a Christmas party. I got there and didn’t have to wait which is always a pleasant surprise at a salon. Unfortunately, that’s where the pleasant surprises ended.
I asked for the classic blow out, the most basic style they offer. My stylist said «ok, so super straight» to me, and I corrected her that I was looking for sleek with some volume, just like the picture in their menu shows.
My shampoo was painful. The water was cold and the stylist did a lot of pulling. I had to ask her to be more gentle. There was definitely no hint of a scalp massage.
After 40 minutes of blow drying, my hair looked like I’d stuck my finger in an electrical socket. My stylist (who seemed a little out of it) was definitely not adept at using a round brush. She spent most of the time raking the brush over my ears (painful, and ineffective). She saw the look on my face and decided to use the straight iron. After ten minutes of that, she switched to the curling iron.
In my opinion, someone who is good at a blowout can get sleek and bouncy hair with just a blow drier and a round brush. I do not have unruly hair; it’s mostly straight with a few waves. I left with hair that was no better than if I’d flipped my head upside down, blow dried and then followed quickly with my crappy straightener.
I debated not writing this review because I might have just got one bad stylist, but the real problem is that there’s no manager keeping an eye on things. At a real salon, if a manager had seen my hair they would have had it fixed. Here, there was no quality control. Blo’s model is not highly talented stylists with a range of skills, it’s stylists who are willing to do the same thing all day and probably don’t really care about building a client base (I was never even told my stylist’s name).
So if your choice is between $ 35 at blo or $ 40 at a regular salon, I’d go with the regular salon to ensure that there’s quality control and that whoever is doing your hair is at that salon because they bring in repeat business and are good at what they do.

I would rather give this no stars, it was that horrible. I left there with scratches on my neck from the woman’s nails and an aching head from having my hair brushed too hard. The woman doing my hair kept talking about how hungry she was, and how she could barely concentrate… also not receptive to my requests on how I wanted my hair styled. I had the deep conditioning treatment, but it was actually only conditioner that she left on for a few minutes. Additionally, it’s pretty awkward that the women working there have their friends hanging out and doing their own hair… lots of gossiping that I could have done without hearing.

In August, a group of 4 bridesmaids, bride, and mother of the bride all went in to get their hair done for the big day! Appointments were made months in advance, and the bride had already done her test appointment. About 2 – 3 days before the wedding, they called the bride and said they had some scheduling changes, so one of the bridesmaids had to move 45 minutes earlier, okay, no problem. We all went down together for the appointment. I had a good idea of what I wanted so I went first, and I really liked my stylist. At 8:30 am the brides hair was supposed to begin, unfortunately, her stylist was not at work yet… 8:45, 8:55, 9:05… somewhere between 9:10 — 9:20 the stylist walks in (after a few phone calls from another stylist at the shop), can you imagine, your wedding day hair and the stylist shows up to work 45 minutes late??? Luckily the appointment went faster than expected, but still finished late. The brides hair was fantastic, I liked my hair, and the other girls were happy/​slightly disappointed. They had to touch up their own hair 2 hours later before we headed to the ceremony. There was no offerings for the late show on their part. I think offering one bridesmaid free would have been nice since it was all the bride’s treat, however they didn’t attempt to do anything of the sort…

Love me a good blo dry! I arrived late — bad traffic, and I’m from out of town, so managed to get lost… It didn’t matter, I was graciously received, had a lovely wash with scalp massage and a fabulous blow out. The salon is tastefully decorated, service was terrific and very professional. Would absolutely recommend! Thanks Jemma for a wonderful coif.

It was such a pleasure to receive such great service from Anna on Saturday! She did such an awesome job with my hair, got it exactly as how I had envisioned it! I am so excited to have learned of this place, the atmosphere is trendy and relaxing, and the girls are bubbly and fun– Bright personalities fitted for an upbeat atmosphere. 7 different hairstyles to pick from their Blo Out menu– I wanted a hybrid of 2 and Anna was so accomodating and even threw in her own touch to complete the look! I loved my hair so much and such a great price I went ahead and booked my future appointment with Anna for a Christmas party. Thanks Blo!

I see that the experiences at Blo are really varied. I really needed my hair done for a wedding a few weeks ago, and Blo had such good prices I decided to take my chances. I think the reason you like or dislike Blo is in direct correlation with who your stylist is. Mine happened to be great. I told her I wanted a pony tail with a side swept fringe and lots of volume. She did exactly that, in fact she had suggestions based on the dress I was wearing to make the hairstyle I choose look even better.
She took her time in doing my hair, and i didn’t feel rushed. i was even 5 minutes late due to weather and they were still friendly when i called to tell them about it.
All in all, I would go back to Blo, because the service was friendly, the hairstlye what I wanted, and the price was right.

I had an early appointment at Blo on a Saturday morning, and walked in to see that the stylist and I had the place to ourselves. It made for easy, casual conversation. For a mere $ 35 dollars, my hair was washed, blow dried and back combed to perfection. My hairstyle even lasted throughout the horrible wind/​wet snow that came down that day, without being shellacked into place by a bottle and a half of hairspray. Blo’s menu of hairstyles for $ 35 are suitable for everything from a night out with friends, to Christmas parties and weddings. Will definately be visiting again for my next event.

Unbelievably unprofessional, but they do good work. If you’re willing to listen to a stylist tell another stylist about how she is going to be «soooo hungover tomorrow», then by all means, curl away. I made the mistake of mentioning the competition to my stylist who then brought over the owner who then proceeded to trash the competition. For 5 minutes. You don’t need to trash talk the competition, Ace, I’m already here. I liked my hair in the end and the price is great, but I felt like I was in an episode of Jerseylicious. It makes for a great story to tell your co workers though. «And then she said, get this, ‘I’m going to wear a skirt so short, I’m going to freeze my *** off.’» That three letter word you’re thinking of? Yeah, no. The other one. Just go to your own stylist for occasions.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and threatened your hair? You’ve tried to make the best of what God gave you only to realized you have ‘product-​ed’ it to the point no return.
Enter the hair Guinness’s of the newest Calgary hot spot BLO
Their concept is simple and well refined; No cuts, No colours, Just BLO and Go. And the salon is streamline and sexy much like their staff.
When I was invited to experience my first BLO job I squealed like a high school girl being asked to prom by the captain of the football team and much the same I was about to get my own personalized JBF hair.
As I relaxed over Jersey Shore speak and a conversation about ‘Dina’ that nearly had me rolling on the floor, thoughts of my up coming ‘Snooki-​fied’ hair filled my head
With a squeaky clean mop and my pink champagne being refilled, I was on to the big BLO. The tools where out and the pomade was being slathered in and within seconds my hair was being whipped into a ‘frenzie’. As I glanced into the mirror, my ‘Pauly D’ was starting to show, and after a final shellacking I was ready to fist pump with my fellow bros.
Now this could quite possibly be the best concept I have seen in a long time. I don’t know a lady that wouldn’t love to have her hair done after a long day at work before heading out with her friends or her man for a night on the town. For just $ 35.00 you can choose a style out of their signature style menu. This is a major steal, not to mention a perfect gift!
The Blo Bar officially opens today in Calgary and in 24 inches I will be back looking for the Bo Ho Braids!