Garbo’s Salon and Spa – Midtown Crossing

Melissa did an amazing job getting blonde stripes into my pitch black hair! If you want a hair artist who listens, this is the place.

I don’t know about the people who don’t like this place? I have weekly blow-​outs back home in (San Francisco), so I have a lot of experience getting my hair shampooed and styled (because I myself am so irredeemably inept in this department).
I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I tell you that ONE OF THE BEST blow outs I’ve ever gotten was the one I received from Zeb today at Garbo’s on Farnam.
It was loose and flowing and very Charlie’s Angels, which was a terrific look. He used a bunch of product but in the end my hair felt smooth and silky and I could easily run my fingers through it. So the products he used were well-​chosen and judicious.
I will absolutely 100% be back — whenever I’m in town actually — and consider this a wonderful gem in the heart of Omaha.

I had a blowout here this weekend I thought it turned out nice. I am used to getting my hair blown out with a round brush and then touched up with a curling iron but here it was blow out straight, then curled with a smaller round brush and then a curling iron. I just thought it was a way longer process but turned out pretty in the end!

My stylist Megan gave me a beautiful perm, exciting, cute and fly~! I have thick waist-​long hair… Almost four hours of work, felt short though chatting with her, the outcome is totally worth waiting for, I love it! Megan used 2 different sizes of rolls, from root to tip, it looks very natural.
Also highly recommend the Waxing — Brazilian and Eyebrows with my esthetician Kalinda, have enjoyed the experience more than five times since this July, the private room is comfortable and quiet with light music going on, and Kalinda is friendly and professional and definitely masters the skills to make the «scary and painful» Brazilian Wax actually ease and fun… Brazilian Wax makes you feel free, confident and sexy, a trusted specialist is extremely important.

Pre-​review: Garbos’ one star is based on 4 low reviews. 20 five-​star reviews were ‘not-​recommended.’ Please go read them! I adore Unilocal,but feel like the system let this salon down.
Short Review: (All you really need to know) The stylist truly makes a salon experience. A general review could be misleading with a wide variety of staff experience and attitudes. The salon itself is clean, bright, and recently expanded (without the staff to fill the new side, which makes it seem a bit sparse and lonely over there). This review (and the 5-​stars) however, is solely for John.
Senior stylist John Bernal is fantastic! A true artist and perfectionist. It’s pricey, but you get what you pay for (being a bargain hunter for most of my salon adventures, let’s hope I remember that I said that). I’ve tried a wide variety of red colors, which rarely have staying power, and he was confident he could turn the tides on my trouble with auburns. He decided he wasn’t happy with the initial color treatment, and asked me to return to fix it for free. The final cut and color are absolute perfection, and thanks to the bit of time I spent between sessions, I already know it holds better than any previous salon or box treatment I have tried.
Long Review: (The excessive details)
John initially caught my attention when I walked in to follow up on a donation request I had submitted online for a Rhino conservation event, which had gone unanswered for weeks. John overheard my query, and was apparently aware that my in-​person request would also be ignored (I’m fine with a no, but it’d be great to hear back!), so he took it upon himself to offer a personal donation to our cause.
I followed up on Facebook, where I saw some great reviews from his clients. The conservation event was a huge hit, and we were thankful for John’s generous donation. In the end, I went in to have my own hair cut and colored as well.
The unfortunate challenge was my 3 inches of roots and unknown processing on the ends. The cheap and easy way to get past that is to strip/​bleach all the hair for even color absorption (which is why box color usually looks the same on any mop, but your hair gets fried, and the color fades). Not being a cheap and easy kind of guy, John approached the challenge with a two step color starting with a «primer» layer and finishing with a gloss color. He knew I wanted gorgeous color that wouldn’t rinse down the drain, and he was determined to achieve that without damaging my hair (or because he didn’t damage my hair). He took his time, was detailed (always wiping stray color off my scalp, and stopping water from running into my ears), listened to my style requests, and walked me through the steps and logic, all while teaching me hair tips like where to buy a cheap flat brush and how to get a good curl on.
Truly the best part was that in the end, HE wasn’t happy enough with the color and asked if he could fix it then, or if I could come back. It wasn’t bad. The color on my previously untreated roots was a perfect vibrant auburn, but the damaged ends hadn’t soaked up as much love despite his efforts and were a *bit* less vibrant, with a bit of a difference at the original root line. It’s an art with a lot of science, and my hair failed to participate — it was not a lack of skill or knowledge with the techniques.
I’ve had plenty of moments where I brought up concerns before leaving salons, and was brushed off with statements that it was the lighting making my hair look brassy, or my imagination that one side looked longer. Most stylists would not have volunteered their displeasure with this color mismatch. If I had brought it up, I could just hear them explaining that the ends were too damaged, and that was the best I was going to get (which I probably would have believed).
So I returned. John took the time to reapply both a primer and a gloss, and the color turned out stunning. He then spent another 30 minutes editing my layers because I had realized that my request to not thin my hair with lots of layers had left the curl a bit lifeless. He was able to give me lots of layers without thin ends, which was a delight, because I now know that is possible. I have been making bad requests ever since one lady had gotten a bit crazy with the shears and a faulty technique.
The moral of the tale is that John’s dedication to an end product that we could both be happy with was rare, refreshing, and unbelievably appreciated. I am confident that the many hours in that chair will last for a good chunk of the future.
Please read the hidden reviews, and don’t hesitate to trust your hair to John!

March 14 I got a haircut here and it was ok. By April 4 my hair was too long on the sides so I call and they offer 10% off because it is past 1 week rule. Ok so I bring a picture of a shag haircut remember the 80s and I explain I do not want to lose the length on my hair!!! I end up with 2 inches of hair! I am balling it is not what I want or asked for! I explain this to my stylist and she tells me that I am wrong and this is how it should be because of hair above the ear. I explain that that is not true and I have had this haircut for years. No money back or anything I am out $ 70 in a month on a horrible haircut

I took a chance on trying out Garbo’s one last time after trying them many many years ago. This time I was desperate because I had a business trip coming up and couldn’t get in with my regular stylist. Never again.
They are way overpriced for the quality of work done and the skill level of the stylists. When I made the appointment I was sure to ask for someone with lots of experience, and they said she had a lot, but you sure couldn’t tell.
My haircut was just OK, but def not worth the price. My highlights were the worst I’ve ever had. Ever. The stylist (I wish I remembered her name) did huge horrible slices of highlights on the sides of my head that left a very splotchy «home highlight» look to them. She hardly put in any foils and the ones she did were sloppy and poorly done.
I will never ever return to Garbo’s.