Brown Sugar

Avoid Sugar Cubed and Brown Sugar at all costs, if you have thick hair.
I first went to Sugar Cubed to refresh my bob, which had grown way too long. I explained my hairdresser that I have thick hair (both in volume and in strand thickness) which has a bit of a kink to it as well. I showed her photos of myself with a bob at the exact same length I wanted it to be. Long story short, I ended up looking like a village idiot. It was honestly the worst haircut of my life
I contacted Brown Sugar to complain as my hair made me look seriously hideous. They offered to correct my cut free of charge, which was very kind of them. I went there and got the correction, which looked OK at the time. But 2 hours later, it reverted back to its horrible state. Their styling didn’t even stick for a day! Please note that I have thick hair which easily hold a style. To be honest, it is not the worst cut of my life anymore. But the Brown Sugar correction did not really correct it — now this cut is at the top 3 of the worst cuts of my life. It went from extremely horrendous to extremely bad. I knew that I was taking a risk by going to Sugar Cubed (I misjudged how big of a risk that was), but you would expect that Brown Sugar, which is supposedly one of the top salons in Dublin, would be able to correct a bob cut. Apparently not.
Thank you Sugar Cubed and Brown Sugar for turning me into a village idiot! Thanks for ruining my hair! Please make your stylists learn to cut hair before introducing them to public –_​_​_​–

I first visited Brown Sugar as a treat arranged by my sister a few weeks before my wedding 2 years ago. I went for a curly blow dry with Tanya. It was without a doubt the best curly blow dry I’ve ever had. I have long, thick hair and curls don’t usually last very long due to the weight of my hair. This time was an exception. My appointment was first thing in the morning and it still looked great when I was heading home after a night out. It’s pricey but well worth the money.
I went back a few weeks ago for a haircut, again with Tanya. I had been going to the same hairdresser for my cut for 10 years so I was a bit apprehensive but once I arrived in the salon I was put completely at ease. I was so pleased with my haircut that I wished I’d made the move to Brown Sugar sooner.
The mini cupcake and prosecco was a lovely touch. Overall I thought the service was fantastic. Looking forward to my next appointment!

I am in Brown Sugar as I write for a special treat. This chain of salons have trainees you see, and they need people to practice on. That’s how I got there!
1* For the hairstylist: Shawna is a gem. Although she is a trainee, she gives her everything everytime she takes care of my hair. And I am super careful when it comes to my hair due to past hair nightmares happening in the past at other salons. That could be in another review…
1* For the salon: They have just moved to 26 South William street for some reason unknown to me. The new place is spacious, new, clean. Maybe lacking a bit of a brand touch but it’s fresher than the previous salon!
1* For the product: I chose to have a chestnut colour as we are now entering autumn time. I think it’s a smart move. Plus I going on a business trip tomorrow, which means I need to be hair ready. You know what I mean. The products are gentle to the hair and soft like a bunch of feathers. I am on a cloud!
1* For the service: Shawna has a light touch, like an ASMR girl ! I am always happy when she works with my hair, it makes me feels so relaxed it’s unbelievable. I recommend her 200%.
1* For the overall experience: This place is magic. It makes me like hair salons again. For the price I cannot really tell because of the special trainee treatment I get. It’s a bit of a gamble to me and a training for her.
Thumbs up for Brown Sugar in South William street ! Let me know if you have any questions and I will get back to asap. Take care :)

5 stars for the lovely Edel (makeup).
My esteemed colleague and I were after a bit of pampering in prep for an evening rubbing elbows with some fine folks, and we landed at Brown Sugar for the treat.
Edel was a gem. Super professional, great listener, perfectionist (which is what you want!), and just overall really nice to be around. She’s very skilled and though I entered looking tired and worn, I exited looking fresh and fierce. Miracle worker!
Beyond that the reception staff kept plying us with prosecco and cupcakes, so… can’t really argue with that. Beauty, sweets and booze?! I mean, it’s the trifecta of an afternoon well spent.
Overall a really easy breezy experience from start to finish. Walked out sugared, buzzed and with a face I’ve not been able to replicate since.
It’s a bit pricey, but not exorbitantly so given the attention to detail.

I really liked this place.
I was lucky enough to be treated to a couple of hours of pure pampering in Brown Sugar yesterday, and it’s the perfect place for it. They do hair, nails and make up in one and they most certainly go out of their way to make you feel looked after and special!
So, some finer details:
— The make up artist was a MAC artist in a previous incarnation which means she knows her stuff. She’s an absolute pro and a perfectionist. She took her time to make sure it was done really well, and it was a great job overall. She’s in a separate room as well which is nice and relaxing away from the sound of hairdryers etc.
— The hair stylist was great as well. I would say that unfortunately my style didn’t last even though she was very confident it would, but honestly I think that’s just my issue with my hair!
— I loved the fact that we got glasses of Prosecco as soon as we got in, with little mini cupcakes that were just a gorgeous touch. They were constantly asking us if we wanted top ups, coffee, more of those crack-​laced cupcakes that I am still thinking about!!!
— They also have a separate room for washing your hair with those massage chair /​beds, and some nice essential oils burning just to really tip you over into full relaxation.
I’m not giving it 5 stars as it’s really pretty pricey — I think paying over 40 euro for a blow dry is a little excessive? Also it’s a little worn around the edges — I think it was fab when it was maybe first done up but it needs a bit of a spruce up as is looking a bit tired when you look close up in places like the make up room, the shampoo room and the toilets.
But that’s just me nitpicking. Lovely staff, great atmosphere, and I’ll definitely go back.

Booked for me as a surprise, I was a little apprehensive cause their blackrock branch, hmmm… Well I wasn’t impressed but no, I’m totally won over by this place!
Brown Sugar, primarily a hairdresser but these guys have got it right… It’s a one stop shop; you can have hair, make up and nails allowing you to totally pamper yourself. Got a special occasion coming up, hit this place and have everything coordinated without having to run from hairdressers to beauty salon :-)
My consultation on hair cut was great, stylist really took time to understand what I was after and how best to work my limp thin hair… Ok, cut decided, I was taken to the ‘treatment room’ which is a dark subtle lit room with beautiful essence oils and the most amazing massage chairs so totally relaxed as my shampoo’ing was done. After shampoo, taken back out to for my cut and was presented prosecco + cupcake, so cupcake is a standard but they knew it was my birthday so they laid on prosecco, great little added touch! Loved it…
Going for a complete change the stylist really did work well on it and I left the salon feeling great and for once, my hair was set great so didn’t feel the usual urge to run home and redo it!!!
I also had my nails done, file + polish, wow they had a massive range of polish colours to choose from. They do everything from basic polish to gel nails, manicures, etc.
Why only 4 stars? They were so busy that things seemed a little chaotic, I should have had my nails done first with my friend in the end they split us up so I had hair done first, my friend had her nails and also I wanted a patch test so had to remind them twice. And trying to schedule in for a colour next week took a while cause front desk, the poor lady was juggling 5 people trying to settle up and phones ringing!
Looking forward to seeing what they do with my colour, tint and halo next week!