Carinn Boe

Men’s haircuts? YES! I’ve been a client of Carinn’s since 2005. I lived on the Eastside for almost all of that time, and it was very worth it going over the bridges (even during rush hour) to see her in Seattle once a month. At my first visit I had my usual hesitation at having someone new cut my hair. But she immediately put me at ease and not only listened to my ideas about what I wanted, but offered her own well-​informed suggestions as well. I immediately sensed that she loves her craft and wants her clients to look their best. I have short, straight hair, and Carinn is an expert at texturizing and creating versatile styles (and with her 24-​hour online scheduling, it is very easy to set up multiple appointments weeks or even months in advance). She might be known for big hair and color, but she excels at men’s haircuts as well.

I first met Carinn at another salon years ago, and have followed her ever since. She is an absolute master of curly hair and her judgment is always spot on. She works to one’s individual needs, has great suggestions, and I always leave her feeling at my absolute best. Her mastery and understanding of color are also incredibly impressive. I’ve never had a better stylist and couldn’t recommend her more highly.

Carinn is currently a stylist at Red X Hair Studio, but had previously cut my hair at another salon. She understands curls and if you have curly hair, you understand what that means. Unlike other stylists, she works with your natural texture, rather than against it. Carinn is also great with color and gave me natural and beautiful balayage style highlights. She has a lot of training and experience and it shows. I’m happy to say that for the last couple of years, Carinn has given me the best haircuts of my life. Best of all, she is really sweet and a blast to talk to!
It is also very simple and convenient to schedule with Carinn through the Red X website.

I can’t recommend Carinn more highly for all things cut and color. She is a goddamned genius when it comes to hair. She is my secret weapon, and can be yours, too.
First, she is highly skilled. Her cuts are always on point, she can go as conservative or as creative as you’d like, and she has the vision to achieve gorgeous results at all points along this spectrum. Her range of experience spans decades of looks and trends and also does justice to the classics. She can handle all of it without any hesitation. Having naturally curly hair herself, she is also a master in the curly hair field — which is rare.
Her coloring skills are brilliant, pun intended. She has worked magic on my quickly graying tangle of hair, providing me with a color that matches my skin tone perfectly, and has a wide range of natural looking highlights, lowlights and face-​framing accents — with a ton of shine. I haven’t been able to achieve the natural level of color with any other colorist in the city, and I frequently get compliments. I’ve watched from the drying chair many times to see her work on others and am always impressed — from fun and funky color trends, to tried-​and-​true complex classics. I’ve seen her do highly complicated color corrections on customers that have gone to other salons — and she is able to apply patience and skill to achieve the best outcome. I’m also a huge fan of her Davines flamboyage technique, which provides natural, non-​streaky/​skunky/​stripey highlights. She is always up-​to-​date on the most current education and new techniques, and continues to evolve with the field.
She is kind, warm, personable and listens intently to what you want and need. She remembers you, and genuinely wants you to look your best. She provides an excellent, quality experience without the pretension, posturing and pettiness that can occur in salon-​land. She is all pro, and still fun. If she were in NYC or SF, she could easily command double her prices, if not more.
Seattle is lucky to have a beauty resource as good as Carinn.

I can’t say enough great things about Carinn. I was lucky enough to meet her a few years ago and have been following her ever since. I live in Boston and can never get a haircut there that I love. Every time I fly to Seattle I make sure I see her. I have curly/​wavy hair, and she completely understands and loves the curly hair. My hair always looks amazing when I leave. She also has cool hair tricks that she shares. She loves hair and is amazing at what she does! You will not be disappointed.

Carinn Boe has made me fall in love with my hair again! From her exceptionally mad color skills, to her fantastic cut, to her amazing personality.
Thank you Carinn for such amazing color and cut. I can’t wait to see what you do next time!

I cannot speak more highly of Carinn Boe. She is a hair wizard and one of the most dedicated stylists I have ever met and I’ve only seen her once.
To begin with, I have very particular tastes and very particular hair. I have spent a modest amount to a small fortune with various hair stylists and rarely am I actually 100% pleased with the hair service and customer service, although a few have come close. I moved to the Seattle area from LA, so I had no reference point for who to go to get my hair done, so I did loads of research on stylists who could work with my fine, thick, curly, mixed hair. I wanted someone who knew a lot about hair and styling it, but also coloring dark hair, since I made the decision to go from about a level 3 dark brunette to about a level 8 blonde. Carinn’s name popped up over and over again on Unilocal.
I made the consultation with Carinn and she answered all of my questions fully and professionally. She completely listened to me and my concerns as a first time blonde and she made some insightful suggestions. Together we determined a plan for doing my hair and she was even wiling to have me as her last client of my appointment day, so we could have as much time as necessary. I was so impressed that she treated new clients with such care and respect. She gave me a quote for $ 205, which is really very good for a couple processes, some balayage, a cut, and blow dry.
I emailed her a few times with regard to some questions that would pop up and she can be a bit difficult to get a hold of via email; however, when the day of my appointment came, she was very apologetic about being so busy and she answered all of my remaining questions. We talked products and we went over what I should expect in the salon and what I could expect after. We even talked about the emotional effects of such a drastic hair change. She’s so awesome.
And thank goodness she is a great conversation because the entire process took about 9 HOURS. This wasn’t the fault of Carinn, I had just had some really stubborn residual dye on my hair that wouldn’t lift and Carinn didn’t want to push my hair too much because we both wanted to keep it pretty and as healthy as possible. We ended up doing 2 bleaches, some balayage and foils, roots, a toning, a deep condition, a blow dry and cut my hair straight.
The results were amazing! I was this beautiful shade of blonde with lots of dimension and my hair felt soft and was shiny and surprisingly very healthy-​looking and even the cut was beautiful. It’s the first time a stylist has succeeded in leaving me with wispy, not blunt ends. And I can tell that Carinn is so in love with being a hair stylist and has so much passion for her work and clients because that woman did not lose her energy the entire time. She even offered to walk me to my car, since it was about 4am in downtown.
The final cost came to about $ 250 before tip, which I find more than fair the work she put in and the upkeep of my hair won’t be as much. Since then, I’ve been using a violet shampoo and my hair just keeps looking better and better and I’m sure after using Olaplex with Carinn next time, my hair will be even more gorgeous.
So much love for this woman right now. I’d highly recommend to anyone looking for great color and anyone with more finicky or curly hair.

I’d like to put a plug in for Carinn from the straight-​haired gals — she is a magician no matter what your hair type!
In the year I’ve been seeing her, my cut and color have been literally ideal. I’ve previously had to ask other stylists to fix small details about a cut after the blow-​dry, but not so with Carinn. She is constantly assessing and tweaking your cut until it is absolutely perfect! It is clear she really cares about understanding exactly what you want and working until that vision is achieved. Extra bonus points for Carinn for the touch-​up trims in between hair cuts and just for being such a lovely and interesting person!

If you have curly hair or are looking for someone who does AMAZING color, Carinn’s your lady.
Carinn’s been doing my hair for about a year and a half now, and it’s honestly never looked better. My hair is fairly curly… and pre-​Carinn, it was wavy, limp, and completely disagreeable. But between her product recommendations, styling tips and amazeballs hair cuts, my curls look like ACTUAL CURLS.
She’s the only stylist that I’ve ever really let color my hair… and she does a fantastic job at that! I’m currently rocking a bit of red, blonde, and two different shades of pink. Carinn’s eye for color is fantastic– I honestly love letting her do her thing and seeing how it turns out!
And the last giant plus? She’s just a cool person in general. It’s pretty important to have a stylist who can hold a decent conversation, and she’s a super fun person to talk to!

Every single haircut I’ve had from Carinn has been exceptional. Many competent stylists have tried over the years, but nobody seems to really «get it» in the way Carinn does. She creates hairstyles that look great from the start and grow out perfectly, and she listens carefully to what I want and executes perfectly.
She’s a magician with scissors! I would recommend her to anyone with hair.

I love going to see Carinn — she’s the only stylist I trust to do my fashion colors because I know she’ll get it right. I may like to rock pink in my hair, but I am still a full time professional woman with a job that requires good grooming. When I go see Carinn, I know that I will walk out with the flair I need for my soul and the style I need for my workplace.
Additionally, I have obnoxious, coarse, wavy-​curly hair and Carinn was the first stylist to really teach me methods to tame and even exalt it. We’ve collaborated over cut, and products, and how to get the most out of a diffuser. (Who knew, you don’t just wave it at your head!) And yet she never pressures me to buy product — just advises me a few things which will work, from product there in the shop to things like apple-​cider vinegar rinses at home to keep my color fresh. While going full bore on my hair is not cheap, Carinn knows that there are budgets to be met and helps me find ways to stretch all those pennies.
Lastly, and in some ways most importantly, Carinn’s someone I can really enjoy a conversation with. Since a cut, color and foil can take 2+ hours, you must understand that this is a pretty critical item!
I have followed Carinn through two salons, and would probably follow her to a new city if I had to.