The Madison Salon

Tammy! Tammy! Tammy! If you want your hair done right, without compromising the health of your hair, go to Madison Salon!
I asked Tammy (owner and operator of Madison Salon) to perform a massive color-​correction overhaul from a full foil, honey-​caramel blonde to a cool, almost platinum balayage. This woman knows her stuff! After a 15-​minute consultation where she spent time getting to know my hair and examining the picture I brought in, she suggested I do the color treatment in two phases so I didn’t overstress my hair with bleach which could lead to breakage. She also introduced me to Redken’s Extreme Strength Builder Plus– Fortifying Hair Mask. Between this and Madison Hair Salon’s professional-​level protein treatments, my hair (which has been chronically abused with bleach for years) feels like it’s never been treated with color or bleach in its life!
Tammy is attentive and thorough and 100% worth every penny. Some say that Madison is a little pricy, but that is because their hair-​care is not «a la carte». Your fee includes everything your hair needs to bounce back from whatever stressors your treatment or daily wear and tear has imposed. This may include, a conditioning treatment, a protein treatment, shampoo and color, a glaze, a blowout, etc. This salon cares about the health of your hair, and they aren’t going to compromise it by offering you «discounts» that translate to dryness, breakage, or discoloration.
The best part about Tammy is that she was an educator in this industry for years, so she knows the right questions to ask and how to ask them. She also uses her teaching skills to relay the «whys» of the process, so you know exactly what is being done to your hair and why. She is artistically savvy and has the scientific know-​how to get you exactly where you want to be.
Hair is the first impression you make to the world. Tammy is my go-​to in creating the perfect first impression.

I have been to The Madison twice now and have Kelly as my stylist. She is amazing. I have thick, naturally curly hair, and she knows exactly how to cut it to enhance the curls. Also love the products she has recommended.

I heard that The Madison is still open.
It appears that my post was in error.
My apologies to anyone who was confused by my post.

Unless you’re into having a messed up haircut and color, stay far away from this place. You’ll get your hair messed up, they are extremely rude and lie to the owner and you won’t get your money back!

I have been looking for someone to cut my hair in the area for a long time. A friend of mine got her haircut here and referred me to Kelly. Kelly did an amazing job on my hair, which is notoriously difficult. My hair went from being dull and lifeless to soft, shiny, and vibrant. What set her apart from others was that she really took the time to look at my hair, go over what I liked and did like about it, and went over a couple of style options with me. She really considered everything I wanted but also had her own very helpful feedback. I was so happy with my hair when I was done that I got the products she recommended and made an appointment to come back. It is such a relief to find a truly professional hair stylist.

Definitely see Melody! I’ve been with her for over 3 years & I go to whatever salon she is at. I drive from MD to VA every month to get my hair cut by her. She really is a great stylist & she is awesome with razor cuts! The girls at the front desk are awesome as well.

made an appointment for today (sameday). Showed up and my stylist was running over 30 minutes late. However, I was very happy with my cut!!! Casey did a GREAT job, really took her time and I am so happy.
My big problem with this place is that they charge more money for long hair (they just don’t tell you this until you pay)
Not a good idea — especially when I called and specifically told the receptionist that I had long hair, looking to go short and I was still quoted the «short hair» fee.
I went here years ago, place really has changed. Also thought it was strange the place was SO empty for a Saturday!

My mother and I have been going to this salon for the past 5 years or more. Sadly, we have watched it go downhill. In the past all the stylists have been a hit, but now I don’t even recognize any of them and most are fresh out of school. Some don’t even have custom business cards with salon, just printed labels with their names to put on old stylists’ cards.
My first issue was the receptionist when we walked in. She didn’t greet us at all and after we gave her our name, she completed some action on the computer and then just walked away. Not the usual greeting we receive here.
My hairstyle is very simple, so I never really have a problem because I get simple trims. My only personal complaint would be that this last time around my stylist didn’t shampoo me with the normal massage technique we’re used to getting here and look forward to. Other than that she was very sweet and friendly and knew exactly what I wanted.
Unfortunately they have botched my mom’s hair the past couple times we’ve gone. She gets cuts and colors and always brings pictures for reference. Last session she wanted dark brown with auburn lowlights and ended up with blonde highlights after she first washed it. This time she wanted a medium length, shaggy style cut and all over dark brown color. The color ended up beautiful, but the cut/​style was absolutely nothing like the picture and way shorter than she’d previously discussed with the stylist. Very disappointing for the prices and claim to being a color studio.
Sadly, I don’t think we will be returning to this salon. We’ve always loved the service here, but as I stated earlier they have persistently declined in their quality of it.

I’m a guy with stupid-​man hair, nothing special in any way, really… I have been a customer there 2x now, both times my head getting destroyed with both my hair being buzzed off and the skin margins being cut-​up. My experiences were with 2 different people many months apart. Makes sense why you’re able to get a last minute appointment. Price of the destruction was appalling to top it off. If you’re a male reading this, good luck.

Ask for Kayla ! She is awesome and definitely knows what you may like and what would fit you with the littlest detail from you. Great place and atmosphere

Hit or miss stylists, poorly behaved and unprofessional management
I originally went to Madison several years back to follow a stylist that I liked from a Mall salon. After she left, I saw someone else at Madison and was very underwhelmed with the cut I got. It didn’t really look like a reference picture I’d brought at all, and the stylist seemed unable to execute or understand what I wanted.
Eventually, given that I have quite short hair, I ran out of time to find someone else and made the poor choice to go to a nearby budget salon. At that point, I was really just looking for a fix to the disastrous cut until I could find a new regular stylist. I went back to Madison and saw Cody, and he was able to not only fix the cut, but manage the grow out issues with some parts of the cut that weren’t fixable at that time wonderfully. I immediately scheduled a follow up appointment, sort of amazed by the change from the awful cut to the fix, as my hair was quite short and I’d been a it hopeless that anything could be done. I continued going back to Cody for over a year and was always really happy with the cuts. I felt like he listened really well to what I wanted and even understood my style to the extent that he would sometimes offer new things to try that I may not have ever thought I’d do myself but that turned out wonderfully. Cody was entirely indispensable to me as a stylist, and I’m not really sure I realized what I was missing in cuts until working with someone who really wanted to work with me.
On my most recent visit, I had been scheduled for Cody’s first appointment of the day, and had arrived about a half hour early. I’d been told that he wasn’t yet there, and I reassured the woman at the counter that it was fine, and I knew I was early. At about ten minutes after my appointment time, I checked in with the desk again to see if there was a mixup with my appointment time, as I often scheduled 2pm appointments instead of 1pm. The woman behind the desk, presumably the manager, began to get very agitated and made a sharp comment about Cody’s apparent tardiness, then apologized for the wait and went outside to «handle it». I assumed that there had been a traffic or personal issue holding him up and shrugged it off, going back to reading my book and waiting for an update. Eventually, without much further explanation, the manager and another stylist, Tara, began encouraging me to get a cut with the stylist instead to «avoid further wait». I hadn’t really complained about the wait, only calmly asked for an update, so I was a bit confused and felt that the behavior seemed a bit pushy. I explained to Tara that I’d had issues with stylists before, and wasn’t necessarily comfortable having someone else cut my hair with it being so short (I have a heavily texture close cropped pixie cut), and that I’d rather wait for Cody. Tara seemed very understanding of this, but the manager again became pushy, saying that she had no idea when Cody would be in and that I shouldn’t have to wait (which again, I hadn’t complained about). I eventually caved and went with Tara after asking for clarification on whether Cody would be in later and offering that I could come back, and getting another agitated remark from the manager that she had no idea when he would be in.
The cut from Tara wasn’t bad, but the one issue I did have with it wasn’t a fixable one. She had asked which clipper guard Cody used on the back of my cut, and I had explained I didn’t know, to which she responded that a #2 would help with grow out. That seemed like an okay idea so I said that I thought it was a #3 but that I’d be open to the #2, and instead of cutting with the #3 first and checking, she went straight with the #2, which was a bit too short for what I really wanted. She was friendly and seemed to make effort to make me comfortable, but she also asked a couple questions I felt were too personal (Are you seeing anyone? Got a boyfriend?). Tara also threw in a brow wax at no charge, which was nice, but again, I hadn’t really complained.
The manager then informed me as I was checking out that «Cody no longer works here» quite smugly. I was thrown, as I came to the salon for Cody, not for the salon, and I told her that I didn’t really want to pay extra to come back to Tara (a «level 2» stylist, which I had found out after the cut), which she countered with «we have stylists at the lower price point». I politely declined and she snappily responded that it was «my choice» and that it wan’t her fault that «Cody could get there in time/​was still in bed» and a number of other comments on him. Regardless of the specifics of what happened, the manager’s handling of the situation and comments to me were deeply unprofessional and rude. It was completely unnecessary to badmouth a stylist to a customer and to become very combative when I explained that I wouldn’t be returning.

I just moved to the area and needed a new salon. I color my hair red, so thought the «Color Studio» would be a good fit. I had color correction before moving here, and since then, new color would not stay in my hair. We were doing demi-​color so not to cause more damage, but it was washing out in 2 weeks or less! I went to the Madison and told her my whole story, along with pictures, and told her I wanted permanent color. I was told that they do not like to do permanent color in the store since it is chemical, and they try to only do it to cover grey. I told my stylist that the demi– washes out after 2 weeks and I am not OK with getting my hair done that often. My stylist kept having to go to her manager for advice, and they decided that the demi-​color was the right way to go. The color turned out lovely, but here I am…3 weeks later and back to what I was when I went in. Also, I left there with roots. She did an all-​over color, but it did not cover my roots for some reason.
I have read some of the other reviews about the salon itself… I did experience the smoking out the front door, and think that is unprofessional. The Salon is clean, but a little cramped. I felt like there was no separation… no cubicle/wall/bench…so not much privacy. My stylist was very friendly and easy to talk to. Some of the other stylists were loud and it was annoying when I was trying to have a conversation with my stylist. Again… not much privacy. The receptionist was nice and professional. The prices were decent. Overall, I’d say it was OK, but because I don’t want to visit it every 3 weeks, I am trying somewhere else for this next color.

I felt strongly enough about this place that I made a Unilocal account specifically to write a review about it. It was my first time getting a haircut here and even though it was a bit pricier than I’m used to (I usually stick to the $ 20 range haircuts) it was well worth it. I’ll definitely be coming back in the future.
Cody was the one who cut my hair and from the get-​go I could tell he loved his job. He took a few minutes to just talk to me about my hair, work his hands through it to feel what it was like, and discuss what kind of cut I was going to get. When I came in I already had a style in mind, and I made sure to look online before coming in to brush up on some haircutting «lingo,» to make sure I was able to explain what I wanted.
The hair shampooing and massage were really nice and relaxing. If you like, they take before and after pictures that they can post to Instagram and tag you so your friends can see. I’ve never heard of salons doing that; it’s pretty avant-​garde.
When Cody styled my hair after it was cut he made sure to explain what he was doing and what the products did so I could do the same at home. At one point he went off on a slight tangent about this new hair product line that was coming out and how excited he was about it, and it was really neat to know that he (and the other employees) was so passionate about his trade.
Anyway, I’ve received lots of compliments on my hair and it’s easy enough to style. I love it! ⁵⁄₅ stars!

I have been to this salon twice now and have seen Tate both times. The first time she cut my hair she fixed the botched job I’d had. (that Lauren at Tulip salon and spa in the Village Center did) She fixed my hair which had a big time «shelf», where my layers were not connected, she did an amazing job. This second time we added in more layers and trimmed it. I love my hair, Tate not only is talented but she’s also really nice (and a non smoker which is a huge bonus for me). I highly recommend The Madison and especially Tate.

I forgot the name of the girl who cut my hair because I’ve tried to block the experience out of my mind. I know this could happen at any salon or with any stylist– but be careful if you go here.
I had very long hair and I wanted a trendy long bob — I don’t think I was asking for anything too difficult and I have easy to manage straight hair. I had photos that I showed her. When we were talking about what I wanted she didn’t seem confident in executing it and I should have walked away then…
I ended up with a weird and very uneven bob — not really the length or look I wanted — it was shorter in the front than the back and because of some strange layers it didn’t hang very well.
It almost seemed like she wasn’t done cutting it but gave up after an hour and a half. I was surprised when she stopped cutting and started blow drying and styling. I spoke up and asked for a few changes but she just wasn’t able to execute what I was asking for.
She truly gave me a terrible cut. I know I could have gone back to her or the salon and try to get it fixed but I didn’t see the point in trying.
I lived with it for about 8 weeks (hoping it would magically get better but it only got worse) and finally went to Richmond to get it fixed. They stylist in Richmond confirmed that it was a terrible, uneven cut.
My husband was nice about it and only recently told me how bad it was– and was relieved the stylist in Richmond was able to fix it.
This was not my first long to short haircut– but the experience has been bad enough that I won’t be cutting it short again in the future.
I’ve now had two bad haircut experiences in Fredericksburg– I would suggest going to Richmond or DC and spending $ 60−100+ for a good haircut.

I LOVE the girl that did my hair, but the store itself left something to be desired. It wasn’t very inviting. The people at the front table were bearly there and had issues answering the phone.

I cannot say enough good things about this salon, and more specifically, Jessica. After moving to Northern Virginia from Saint Louis, I was at a loss when it came to knowing «the» place to get my hair styled. After a number of disappointing appointments elsewhere, I made an appointment at The Madison with Jessica, and now I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else. The salon is very modern but the prices are incredibly reasonable.

I have very thick hair to cut, so it is hard to get a good hair cut a lot of the time. After seeing some reviews here on Unilocal and elsewhere, I decided I would call and make an appointment for a fairly big change — went from long hair to a little above the shoulders. I made an appointment with Jessica, and I could not be more pleased. She took the time to discuss what I wanted, in terms of the cut and also from day-​to-​day styling at home and gave me one of the best cuts I have had. It is two weeks later and I am still looking in the mirror and saying «gosh, I love this haircut!» The prices were great too.

I look forward to going to get my hair done every month. My stylist does a great job with both my color and cut, and I never leave unhappy. It is definitely a hip, upscale salon, and as such is on the expensive side, but it’s worth every penny.