How to Find the Right Hair Stylist for You
There's a particular kind of frustration that comes from sitting in the wrong chair.
You had a vision. You showed the photo. You walked out... fine. Not what you wanted, but fine. And you're not sure if the problem was the stylist, the communication, the salon, or whether you just asked for the wrong thing.
I've heard this story more times than I can count in 17 years in this industry. And almost every time, the issue wasn't the technique. It was the match. The guest ended up with someone whose strengths weren't built for what she needed.
Finding the right stylist isn't about finding the most talented one in the city. It's about finding the right one for your hair, your goals, and the kind of experience you're looking for. Those aren't always the same thing. This is what I'd tell a friend if she asked me how to do it.
Start With Specialty, Not Style
Every stylist has a strength. The ones who are honest about it will tell you what it is. The ones who aren't will say they do everything, and maybe they do... but there's a difference between a stylist who technically can do something and one who has spent years refining exactly that.
Before you book anywhere, ask yourself: what is the one thing I most want from this appointment? Is it color that lasts and grows out naturally? A cut that works with your texture instead of against it? Extensions that look like your own hair? A full blonding experience with someone who has done it hundreds of times?
That answer is your filter. Match it to a stylist's specialty, not just to whoever has an opening.
Look at Their Work, But Look Closely
Instagram is useful, but most guests don't know what they're actually looking for when they scroll. Here's what matters more than a beautiful finish shot.
Look for consistency. One stunning result could be a good day or a great client. Fifty results that all have clean sections, even saturation, and well-blended grow-out patterns... that's a stylist who knows what she's doing repeatedly.
Look for work that resembles your starting point. A stylist who specializes in fine blondes and a stylist who specializes in thick dark hair going lighter are doing different things, even if the results look similar on screen. Your hair's texture, density, and history will respond differently. Find work on hair that looks like yours.
Look at the grow-out. A beautiful color photo taken the day of the appointment doesn't show you what the color looks like at eight weeks. Look for clients who are clearly on a maintenance schedule, not just fresh-out-of-the-chair shots.
Pay Attention to the Consultation
A good stylist asks more questions than she answers in the first ten minutes. She wants to know your hair history, what products you use at home, how much time you spend styling, what's worked before, and what hasn't. She looks at your hair before she starts talking about what you could do with it.
A consultation that's mostly a stylist pitching you on a service before she's looked closely at your hair is a flag. The best consultations feel like a conversation where you both arrive at a plan together, not one where you're sold a predetermined outcome.
At The Gilded Lily, every first visit includes an extended consultation. It's not a quick scan before the service starts. It's the part of the appointment where we figure out what your hair actually needs, what's realistic in one session versus what takes time to build, and what you're going to do at home to support what we do in the chair.
Trust the Intake Process
A salon that takes its consultation seriously will often have you fill something out before you even arrive. That's not bureaucracy. It's care.
When we know your color history before we see you, we're already thinking about your formulation. When we know your goals and your lifestyle, we can recommend the right session. When we know what hasn't worked before, we don't repeat it.
Our consultation form takes a few minutes. What it gives your stylist is a head start on understanding your hair before you walk through the door. That head start is what makes the first appointment feel like you've been coming here for years.
Meet the Team on Spaulding Ave
This is where the advice gets specific. If you're looking for a stylist in Logan Square, or anywhere on the north side of Chicago, here's an honest look at who's behind the chair at The Gilded Lily and who they do their best work with.
Gianna | Balayage & Lived-In Color
Gianna has been in the industry since 2016 and her specialty is hand-painted balayage. What that means in practice is color that moves the way natural hair does... growing out without a hard line, blending seamlessly, looking like it was always there. If you've been chasing that soft, sun-kissed look that somehow never goes brassy or blocky, that's her.
She's also the person to call for a Keratin Smoothing Treatment. Chicago summers and Chicago winters both do things to hair that guests spend a lot of time fighting. A well-executed Keratin, done by someone who has put in the hours learning it, is one of the most practical things you can do for your hair before the heat and humidity hit.
Beyond her craft, Gianna is one of those people who makes the time in the chair genuinely easy. She connects quickly, she asks good questions, and she's the kind of stylist where guests leave a review talking about the conversation as much as the color. Her dog Bailey comes up a lot. Fair warning.
Stephanie | Precision Cuts & Dimensional Color
Stephanie spent seven years behind the chair in New York City before bringing her skills to Chicago in 2022, and that training shows in the precision of her work. She specializes in modern women's cuts, curly haircuts, and natural-looking dimensional color... the kind of color that looks like it was achieved effortlessly even when it wasn't.
What sets her apart is the combination. A lot of stylists are strong colorists or strong cutters. Stephanie is both, and she approaches the two as one thing. The shape and the color work together from the start, which is why her guests walk out looking polished in a way that doesn't feel overdone.
She also does detailed barber-style haircutting, for anyone in your life who's been looking for that.
Her style is clean, balanced, and built for real life. She'd put it this way herself: luxury is about how you feel in the chair. Unrushed appointments, thoughtful consultations, a scalp massage you didn't know you needed. If that sounds like what you're looking for, she's worth the lead time.
Cristina | Color & The Luxe Extensions Package
Cristina brings five-plus years of hairstyling expertise to her chair at The Gilded Lily, with a specialty in blonding and color. But what she's become the go-to for at our salon is extensions. Specifically, The Luxe, our most loved extensions package, for guests who want length, volume, or both in a way that looks and feels like their own hair.
Extensions done well require a very specific kind of attention. The consultation matters more than almost any other service, because the right method depends on your hair's current health, texture, and density. Cristina takes that seriously. She gets into the details of your hair and your lifestyle before she starts talking about options, and she's patient with the questions that come with it.
She's also a genuinely warm presence in the salon. Guests describe feeling taken care of in her chair, not rushed through it. She's currently accepting new guests, so if extensions have been on your mind, this is a good time to reach out.
Sharaya | Color & Cut
Sharaya grew up in the Netherlands and has lived in multiple countries before landing in Chicago, and that worldliness shows up in how she approaches her work. She's attuned to different textures, different guest personalities, and different ideas of what great hair looks like. She came to the profession from a genuine passion for it, and she brings that curiosity into every appointment.
Her specialty is color and cutting, and she's the kind of stylist who gets equally excited about a subtle dimensional refresh and a bold color change. She creates a personalized experience in the chair, which means she's listening to you before she's deciding anything for you. Guests leave her chair having had a conversation as much as a haircut.
She's also fluent in Dutch, for any guests who'd feel more at home in that language.
How to Know You're in the Right Place
The right salon isn't the trendiest one on Instagram, the cheapest one near you, or the one your coworker recommended without knowing anything about your hair goals. It's the one where you feel heard before the service starts and taken care of after it ends.
At The Gilded Lily, we're a women-owned salon in Logan Square that has been serving Chicago guests since 2018. We're a two-time Salon Today Top 200 honoree. Every service starts with a thorough consultation. Every stylist on our team is chosen because of how seriously she takes her work and her guests experience.
If you've been looking for a stylist in Logan Square, Avondale, Bucktown, Wicker Park, or anywhere nearby on the north side, we'd love to be the place you finally feel settled.
The consultation form is the right first step. It takes a few minutes, and it gives us what we need to match you with the right person before you even walk through the door.
Start your consultation here →
Or meet the full team at The Gilded Lily → and browse individual stylist pages to see their work and service menus.
With love from your girl on Spaulding Ave, Mal 🤍