Red Union Hair Salon – San Francisco

Every day I get asked about color. So, I thought I’d try explaining the method to my madness.  It is my “passion” and therefore a little bit of madness. Color is all I think about some days!  If you where one of my color clients and I saw you on the street, instead of your name, the first thing that would pop into my head, is your color formula. 
 
Many things go into the process of designing hair color just for you!
  
First of all, I look at your own unique coloring.  Virgin Hair color, Skin color and texture, Eye color, colored contacts, even your lip color.  How much make-up do you wear, or not. Are you “high maintenance” or “low maintenance?” Meaning how often do you visit a salon to upkeep your look and color.  

Then I take into consideration your personal style.  Are you casual or more dressy most days.  Flashy, Classic, Conservative, Exotic… How old are you? How old do you look.  A good color can take 10 years off. How many days a week do you style or change your hair. Are you using  products to achieve your look.  Do you have a work persona? What is your personal persona? Your day play persona? Your night life persona? Your dating persona? etc…

Then I go into the current season and how that translates to your personal coloring. Spring I tend to start lighting your hair keeping it on the cooler side.  Summer months your color would be its lightest and on the warmer side. In Fall I deepening your tresses with warm autumn shades. Winter you will be your darkest and back to your coolest pallet.
  
Let’s not forget what Styles and colors fashion designers dictate every season and the color pallet that the world wears for the next 3 months. You can walk down any street, look in the windows and you will see what that color is. 

Achieving all these outstanding color spectrums I have to attribute to my 58 Permanent shades of “Socolor” by “Matrix“.  Great for lifting and lightening your hair. My 58 hughes of “Shades EQ” by “Redken” is my semi-permanent Color that bills itself as “the color that thinks its a conditioner.” It leaves your hair with amazing shine and much healthier looking than when we started. Mixing and matching a total of 116 color shades I achieve endless shades of blonds, reds, brunets and blacks desired.  I feel just like my mother who was an artist with her painters pallet. 

So in short, you will never get bored with at least 4 different color formulas I would love to design just for you throughout the year.  Each and every one of them designed to your own personal coloring, personal style and Fashion colors for the season. My job and my passion is to accent all your best features making what mother nature gave you even better. Outstanding color is what I strive to achieve every single time

Tags: hair color, hair coloring, hair salon san francisco, Hair Stylist, Matrix, Redken, Shades EQ, Socolor, Summer Hair Coloring

Red Union specializes in hair, including haircuts, hair coloring, highlights, extensions, and various hairstyles:

Haircuts – men & women: $65 – $85
Includes luxury shampoo and conditioner, a cut perfectly tailored to your personal style, as well as styling/blow dry and finished with suitable styling product.

Highlights: $85+

Lowlights: $85+

Face Framing Touch Up: $15
Good old-fashioned bang/fringe trims to refresh your looks.

Blow Dry starting at: $45
Shampoo, condition, blow dry and fresh styling.

Flat Iron: $45-$65
Shampoo, condition, blow dry, followed with a flat iron and finishing product.

Up-Do’s/Set Styles/Twists: $75/hour
For any special occasion or just added flair. Let your imagination and our creativity shine.

Color techniques starting at: $65
We specialize in Semi-Permanent Color, Permanent Color, New Growth Touch Ups, Multi-Tone Creative Color and Corrective Color.

Party styles & weddings starting at: $65

Relaxers: $85+

Permanent Waves: $100+

Extensions, Perms, Bleaching, Highlights: Prices quoted upon consultation.

Red Union Salon accepts major credit cards, including Visa, Master Card, Discover, and American Express.

Tags: bangs, bleaching, blow dry, condition, cut, extensions, flat iron, fringe, hair, hair coloring, hair styling, haircut, highlights, highlightsweddings, lowlights, party styles, permanent color, permanent waves, perms, relaxers, salon, semi-permanent color, shampoo, style, touch ups

So, just how does a hairdresser also become an entrepreneur/business owner of a great Hair Salon in San Francisco?

Most people get an education at a reputable business school and then armed with knowledge go out and make their way. In my case it was more of the “School of hard knocks” and “Learn as you earn” kind of philosophy. Some of the lessons where expensive ones and if you asked me, I have paid as much on my education than if I had gone to Berkeley, UCSF, or Stanford.

Having been a salon owner for 5 years the learning curve is much more fun now. However, some things where right out “painful” to learn. Like numbers for example! It took me 3 years to even look at them. Early on, I knew we where in the red. I felt like I was failing! So, in my mind if I did not look at the numbers, I could not be such a failure.

Marketing is another example of not understanding what or why things work. I would love to have the money I have spent on advertising and marketing alone. Then there are contracts, leases to negotiate, endless red tape so the government can keep track of you, problem solving, people skills, and so on. Being a more creative mind, hair-cutting, hair-coloring, party hair. blow-outs, make-up, etc… are super fun for me and super easy. It’s like playing with life-size dolls all day and hanging out with your friends gossiping and having fun. They talk about the right brain, left brain abilities and I have to say there is something to that. Being creative is fun, painless, and exciting. Business on the other hand was a learned skill for me.

After 5 years, I feel much more capable using both sides of my brain…LOL. We are moving full steam forward and remodeling the salon this week for a bigger better Red Union Salon! It takes a lot to keep being “The Best Hair Salon in San Francisco”. We attend hair classes all over the world to keep our skill set fresh. We also have in-house product knowledge classes at least every 3 months ensuring that our stylists are “the best at hair in the bay area”. They do everything with hair from Hair-styling, Hair-cutting, Hair-coloring, Corrective Color, Hi-lights, Low-lights, Party Hair, Perms, Relaxers, Party Styles, Extensions, Weddings, Make-up etc.

I have always felt that art, fashion and music are all part of the whole picture. We have a rotating Art Gallery with Art Openings every other month. I am looking forward to also bringing in the fashion and music in the very near future. Keep your eyes pealed and if you’re in the neighborhood check out our new remodel.

Happy New Year 2009 to everyone and thanks for helping make our hair salon what it is today.

–Erika

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