Wild Orchid Salon – Downtown

Jess Santillan did an awesome men’s cut. Courteous, professional, thorough, and informative. Highly recommend Jess and this location.

I had my hair corrected by the owner last year after a failed Balayage at the Bee Caves location. She did an amazing job. So when I needed another great color job, I returned to this location.
Ellen did my full-​highlights several days ago and she was amazing. I have a LOT of thick PR hair and can sense most stylist’s frustration. Once they realize what they’ve gotten themselves into, they usually start huffing/​puffing, become grumpy, and get rough with my hair. Ellen remained patient the whole time and didn’t take any shortcuts. I’ll definitely be returning to her for my future color needs.

Karlee gave me some beautiful blonde highlights, an excellent hair cut, and an oh so amazing head massage! Getting hair colored and cut at an upscale place is so ridiculously expensive nowadays. So I figure that I am going to have to spend the money anyway, I might as well find a place that has these extra perks (such as the massage).
Another point is that she managed to actually give me some real layers on my side and face framing that I actually want in addition to keeping my hair long. In the past 20 years, going to a stylist was always horrid because they would chop off all my hair to eliminate split ends, color my base darker than the rest of my hair, and not do any decent face framing. Now luckily the stylists keep hair long, but barely frame the face, leaving me with an expensive cut that looks like just a basic straight style that I feel that I could have done myself at home. My hair is naturally straight and I hate it when they grab a flat iron and straigten it even more, and make my hair look so limp and weak (in my opinion). I like to have a style and volume and Karlee did that for me. They stay open late on some nights for those of us who cannot ever take time off work to get a haircut (I envy such people). I love the sweetheart that works at the desk but I forgot his name. Good people, great haircut and color!

Since moving to Austin I have been on the search to find that perfect hair salon without much luck. Decided to give this salon a try based on reviews. Scheduling an appointment was very easy using their online system. Salon was easy to find however parking not so easy, apparently you can park in a parking garage somewhere??? Due to lack of parking I was late to my appointment which is my fault, should have allowed more time. The stylist was very friendly and seemed knowledgeable, showed her pictures of what I was going for however my hair color is the complete opposite. Very disappointed in the results. Was hoping to find my forever salon but the search continues! Btw the coordinator was amazing and he was awesome!

What the what?! I came here to update my review only to find I never left one in the first place. Shame on me! I’ve been here 5 times now and have seen Lorie, Kristi (no longer with the salon), Day, and Samuel.
My willingness to try whoever works best with my schedule is proof of my confidence in the salon! That said… the partial baylayage I just got from Samuel is *amazing*. Like, the best color I’ve had in years. Maybe ever. My hair looks like it did when I was younger and playing outside all of the time. (I’m naturally dirty blonde now but oh-​so-​miss the light, cool blonde days of old.) It was my first baylayage (I usually do partial highlights) and I think I’m hooked. I also loved how speedy it was. Probably about 1:15, sans blow dry? Not bad.
As for cuts, I’m in love with somebody south of the river and will continue to go to her for as long as I’m in Austin. However, she’s very popular, and I’m a last minute planner… a combo that doesn’t always work. Thus, I had Day Avery give me a trim a few months ago. She did a great job on my simple layers and definitely did not cut too much.

I’ve been to Karlee three times now, and I am so happy I found her! She does a great job with my color and taking care of the gray. I highly recommend her.

I went to Samuel Carey for a complete color make over. He was very friendly and used hair samples to help me find the exact colors I desired. I went from boring dirty blonde to an amazing firey red ombré that starts as an espresso, goes into red, and lightens into blonde at the ends. I love my new look and get compliments daily!
Also used the Unilocal coupon to get $ 100 of credit for only $ 75 easily.

Went for a blow out while I was in town at a convention. They were incredibly busy and managed to make it happen. I am sure I would have given it 5 stars had they not been so rushed. I was happy with my hair, and feel I got what I wanted!

Awesome awesome awesome service!
Super friendly staff! I was a little lost and they took the time t come outside and make sure I found it.
Jessica did an amazing cut! Definitely would recommend and for sure coming back!

Just had my hair done by Kellie and she did an amazing job! My previous hair was very dark brown/​orange brassy botched ombré and she did the most stunning balayage. Blended everything soo beautifully, and managed to make my hair golden and not orange. Came out so much better than i was ever hoping for. Will definitely be going back to see her! :)

Everyone at Wild Orchid is so nice and friendly!!!
Karlee did a beautiful job with coloring my hair!!! Highly recommend requesting her!!:)

Kellie WAS AMAZING!!! I came from out of town and I really needed a haircut. I didn’t know any salon in Austin, but I searched best hair salons on Unilocal and this place came up. I called earlier last week and luckily I could get in last weekend, and I met this wonderful stylist Kellie.
She is very knowledgable, and stylish. I had some pictures and ideas, and she took her time talking to me about which would be the best on my hair from those ideas.
I had jet black dark hair and she gave me a suggestion to have some highlight to have some natural looking effects on my hair.
In the consultation, she totally made me very comfortable and trust her suggestions for my hair.
She explained me throughly and I was very excited for my new look!
At the end, it came out AMAZING!!! Nobody had done this great color and cut job on my hair ever.
My hair exactly looked like the picture I brought in and I have been getting compliments everyday!!!
I love my new hair!!! Thank you for giving me this great make over, Kellie!!!

Great place for a men’s haircut. Found them on Unilocal a while back and have been going regularly for about a year now. You can actually get a nice professional haircut that you ask for — instead of something too hipster or odd that you didnt want (as I’ve ran into at other places in the past).
Not too feminine for a salon, so comfortable for men as well. The scalp massages are a great touch too.
Kelsie is amazing! Highly recommend requesting her :)

I wish I could give this place more stars, but my experience was not what others had. I give it one star because the stylist was very sweet and patient with me and answered my questions about the procedure, and another star because she waited for me when I was ten minutes late for my appointment. I understand no one would have done that, but I now recognize that perhaps almost missing my appointment was the universe’s way of telling me to not come here.
I got my first Brazilian blowout here. My sister got it done somewhere else and it looks awesome. I, of course, wanted the same thing done to save time in the morning, so I booked the service online via Wild Orchid’s website and saw they had a special on the blowout. I noticed that while the price was cheaper, the service was scheduled to take 3 hours. The same service with other stylists at this same establishment at normal price only took two hours. I figured the discounted price was balanced out by the extra hour of the service and decided it was not a big deal for me if it would save me time in the long run. I get that, as a business, you still have to make a profit and decided the extra hour was not that big of a deal.
Unfortunately, the results I obtained from the BB are not what I expected or had seen on my sister. The stylist told me I could go home and shower immediately if I wanted to (it was around 10:15 when she finished), and that I could even tie my hair up in a ponytail and the hair would not develop a crease. I’m practically quoting her here. She also up-​sold me a special shampoo and conditioner she stated would make the BB last longer, and after paying almost $ 300 for everything (including her tip), I was on my merry way back home.
That afternoon, several hours after the BB was done (she was done early — she didn’t take the three hours, but two), I washed my hair with the products she recommended… and waited for it to air dry.
I was horrified.
My hair looked brittle, burnt and dried, and it was WAVY. I don’t even have natural wavy hair! The hair felt crunchy to the touch. Not only that, but a mere week after I did the BB, my hair has shown no improvement and is actually EASIER to MESS up. Before, if I didn’t feel like using my straightening iron to even out the layers I have, I would just wet it, brush it, use some styling gel on it while damp and be out the door. It was not perfect but I can no longer do that after the BB. I have been using nothing but the shampoo and conditioner the stylist recommended and I do not see that my money was well-​spent here. I do not know if I expected too much or if the treatment was done incorrectly, but it is not worth it. I am actually cutting my hair this weekend because the burnt tips and waviness my hair acquired after the BB are just that awful.
I have not dyed my hair or done anything to it other than cutting it in over ten years, and I do not use any other product on it other than Chi’s Infusion Silk when I feel like using my straightening iron. The BB went straight onto untreated hair and it did not work.
Shortly after my visit (the same day), I received an automatically generated email from Wild Orchid to fill out a survey about my experience. Since I waited until the end of the day after my hair had dried, I told them in this survey what I was experiencing, how disappointed I was, and that I was going to give it a few days to «settle» in case I was expecting magical results too quickly. They never responded or followed up with me about my experience. No e-​mails, no phone calls. Nothing.
A week has gone by and my hair is no more manageable than before, and I will now have to cut it shorter than I would like due to the damage it received.
I cannot speak for their other services, but I would get a BB somewhere else.

I found Wild Orchid on Unilocal (thank you Unilocalers — your reviews ring true once again).
The salon is all in one room, so the check in desk, washing stations, and salon chairs are all situated together. Upon entry you are offered a drink, snacks, comfy chair, and magazines. Jessica did a great job with my balayage lowlights. I wanted to go closer to my natural color, and she took the time to find just the right shade and talk with me about it to make sure it was what I wanted. She was very friendly and professional. The guy at the front desk was also very kind. I’ll be back. :)

Balayage, blow outs and beyond!
The only reason I went to Wild Orchid is because I’m a loyal client of Jessica Santillan. For the last 10 years, she is the only person I trust with my hair. It’s because of her that I have my Barbie-​dream hair. I’ve never left her chair disappointed and let her have free range to make my hair look it’s best.
I have medium brown hair and ventured into the blonde realm last year with a few balayage ombré highlights. Being the mom to a rambunctious toddler, I have put off seeing Jess for too long (maybe six months but whose counting). I went in with my brassy, dry, split end riddled hair and asked for partial balayage, cut and blow out. I left Jessica’s chair with soft glossy hair filled with amazing blonde tones and absolutely no brass. She’s amazing at her craft and just a great person all around. Our relationship has lasted longer than some of my friends’ marriages for a reason. ;)

I went to this salon on a whim after reading other reviews and found the online booking to be really fast and easy. I scheduled a Brazilian blowout with Karlee for the next day.
The parking is either street or garage, and there is a lot of construction going on around there, so that was only mildly inconvenient. When I entered the salon, I was immediately greeted and offered a drink. The staff were very friendly and the salon is very cute and clean. Karlee started on me as soon as I got there. She is so nice, knowledgeable, and easy to have a conversation with.
I wanted a Brazilian blowout because my hair is extremely frizzy and unmanageable most of the time. I know how frustrating working with my hair is, but Karlee knew exactly what she was doing. It didn’t take as long as I assumed it would take (probably like 2.5 hours since I have long hair). The end result was shiny, frizz-​free hair just from blow drying! I will definitely coming back to this salon in the future for a cut and color. I definitely recommend Karlee if anyone is looking for a new stylist.

Needing a change of scenery, I decided to try out a new hair salon (I know, bold move, right?). I was able to book an appointment with Kristi pretty easily.
Kristi was every sociable (recommended I check out Krausse spring, which I still need to do), and the haircut was excellent and thorough.
She’ll never see this considering she doesn’t use Unilocal (and maybe any technology, for that matter). So I threatened to write a scathing review and never come back, so maybe that’ll convince her to use Unilocal

Went to see Lorie to get a partial highlight and bang trim. She did an amazing job. I am very particular about my blonde and have had a hard time in Texas getting it as light as I want it. I explained all this to Lorie and she completely understood. I can’t wait until I go back for a full, I know its going to look even better.
Salon note: Went to the downtown location. It was adorable. I felt very welcome there and not at all intimidated (which we all know some salons can make you feel like). It was very clean and well decorated with a wide array of products for sale as well.
I highly recommend Wild Orchid, and Lorie in particular! Now go there and get pretty!

Wow! So impressed with this salon!
Kelsie did my hair today and I couldn’t be happier with the result. I just moved to Austin and was nervous about finding someone new, but I definitely chose the right place!
I came in with an idea of what I wanted but didn’t really know how to describe it. She worked her magic and the color came out flawlessly.
And on top of all that Kelsie was very sweet and easy to talk to. You won’t make a mistake if you go to this salon!