Queen of Swords

"TL, DR: Stylist Diamond cut off significantly more hair than requested on myself, after cancer treatment, during first post grow “trim”. This review is only for stylist Diamond. I am hesitant to write a negative review because I really hate to affecting someone’s business during a recession. On the other hand, I would have appreciated seeing this review before going through this trauma, which I am only able to recount now, nearly about 10 days after I receiving the chop. As someone that grew up in the 90s/early 00s when it was uncool to have so much as a slight wave to your hair, let alone curls, I have had my fair share of bad haircuts. As most “curlies” know, taking an inch from curly hair makes the curls shrink and appear much shorter. I have always trimmed my own hair since moving to nyc, as I just need the split ends nipped, but decided to this highly rated salon which specializes in curly cuts. I underwent chemo and radiation 2 years ago, losing about 1/4 of the hair on my head, and deeply damaging the rest, due to the toxic chemicals put into my body. I had not touched it since, as the process of watching your own hair fall out as a young woman is incredibly traumatic. I tried to book with the owner, who is currently unavailable, so instead booked a consult with Diamond, to make sure I felt comfortable with the stylist before committing to a cut, as I was very nervous. The consult went great. Diamond was very personable and chatty, and put me at ease. I mentioned I made a consult for a trim, which felt a bit silly, but the reason was that I had never had my hair trimmed by anyone since losing a lot of it due to treatment and was nervous. We discussed how much she would cut off, and that it was a dry curly cut, and after would be styled and she’d show me some different techniques on styling my curls at the end. When I showed up a few days later for the cut, it was like she was a completely different person, very cold and not very friendly. She didn’t seem to remember our consult at all, asking me to remind her how much we were taking off. when she showed me on my hair what she thought (about 2-3 inches), i said no not that much, just the ends. She proceeded to dry brush out my curls and cut it section by section - basically a wet cut on dry hair. This was super confusing and off putting to me because I have never experienced a curly cut that would brush my curls out. I felt like she kept revisiting the same sections and trimming more and more and started getting really nervous but couldn’t really tell how much was being cut because my hair was a poof ball from being brushed out. I tried engaging her in conversation multiple times but she was consistently cold. She never once checked in with me at all, rinsed and washed my hair with scalding hot water, never once asked if the temperature was okay (this was also strange to me as I never use heat on my hair). I had to ask her what the products she was putting in my hair was, and asked her to style it to “tame the curls” as I was so traumatized by how much had been taken off after seeing it wet in the mirror. She never said a single thing about the way she was styling my hair and dried my hair on a heat so high it was burning my scalp. Even when we were finished she never even told me to total or gave me a receipt. This was a terrible experience all around as I would say 2-3 inches was taken from my hair, which will likely take 4-6 months to regrow. In addition I now have spend time and money to buy new styling products to figure out how to style my much shorter hair to elongate the curls so i feel more like myself. I have been avoiding mirrors and couldn’t even bear to wash my hair for a week because I still am so traumatized, being forced to relive the trauma of hair loss once again brought back a lot of horrible memories tied to my cancer treatment."

"I have been seeing Markee at Queen of Swords and could not be happier with my hair. I recently wanted to change styles and Markee did a fantastic job giving me a cut that took the essence of the inspiration pics and fit me perfectly. My hair is super easy to style now and I absolutely love it! 100/10 would recommend going to queen of swords!"

"i’ve gotten my hair cut here twice, and this last time confirmed QoS as my new go-to salon. i came in with some mashed together ideas for my new look, and Hannah was patient and wasn’t afraid to ask questions and check-in. i’m so happy with my haircut!! this was the first time in a long time that i felt at peace and affirmed (especially as a trans person) in a salon chair. thank you Hannah, Kay, and QoS!!!"

"I came in needing guidance on growing my curly hair out long for the first time and Diamond took care of everything! She gave me a great cut, recommended some products, and gave me all sorts of tips and pointers on the process of getting my hair to the length/shape I want. Great experience!"

"I can't say enough good things about this gorgeous shop! The service is fantastic, every stylist is clearly very proficient and talented. They are very conscientious of covid related safety needs as well. I got the best haircut I've truly ever had by Elma - this place is now the only spot I will go for haircare. Bonus points - gratuity is included in the service price and they do not sell products, so no pressure from your stylist to purchase something you may not end up using. 10/10!"