Blown by Bocaj

In the last 5 years, I have been to a gazillion places in Chicago for color (Art/​Science, Twisted Scissors to name a few) and although the other stylists I’ve met have all been super nice, none have nailed color the way Jacob did. He enriched my color and did the right amount of change for me, bringing out the best in the color and giving me a little edge. Super tasteful. I’m so excited to find someone whose vision is in good taste! And I loved his team too. All were super chill and made you feel comfortable. Particularly Ollie ;) I would highly recommend this place.

Came on a Sunday afternoon for a party of 4, hair styling and nails. The place is SO cute! And the music they played was so on point. The stylists were extremely friendly and laughed their heads off with us, which made us feel super comfortable. Conditioning treatment for hair made it nice and shiny, and at one point three people were working all at once to blow dry my hair. The nail guy was also very nice and did an excellent job of cleaning my cuticles. Will come back some day.

I lost my colored hair virginity to Jacob and unlike losing my actual virginity, this was beautiful and not full of pain or regrets. He was a whiz with my coarse Asian hair and took me from looking like Jay to Beyoncé. Well, my hair anyway. He also gave me one of the best cuts of my life. You won’t regret coming here unless you hate looking like your best self. Serious.

First of all, they have transformed this smaller space into a beautiful, warm, and welcoming salon. I love all of the teals and blues and mirrors, the couch, the makeup counter… how full this place is without feeling cluttered.
Second of all, Jacob and his team are awesome! I booked BLOWN for a private 3 hour blowout session for me and 6 of my girlfriends who had come in to celebrate my 30^th. Randy served us champagne, wine and small bites while we got shampooed and blown out. Even the little things, like having a charging station and stacks of makeup palettes we could play with, letting us control the music via Spotify — made this place the perfect place for a small group of girls to pre-​game and play dress up.
Not to mention, Jacob is a MASTER — he gave me just the right rock and roll, teased blowout that I was looking for. You can tell he really gets into his own flow to create just the right look for each client. They are all also really fun — good humored, easy to talk to, while still letting us have the space gab and chat with one another.
Definitely recommend for this kind of event! Prices were VERY reasonable and couldn’t have been happier!

Words cannot express how grateful I am. I had been wearing my hair long for decades and reluctantly I allowed Jacob at Blown to color and cut my hair into a pixie style. What an amazing cut. What amazing color. I have never received so many compliments on a haircut. I am beyond elated. Thank you Jacob!!!

This salon is amazing! Hands down the best cut and style I have had in a very long time. Go to Jacob boys, he won’t disappoint !

What I expected from Blown: A great cut, color and blow out from a hair stylist that listened to me.
What I got from Blown: Four long hours, tears, water in my ears and a color that’s absolutely not what I asked for.
Red flags should have been raised when I called to double check on my 5PM appointment and they told me it was magically now at 4PM. Um, okay then. Looks like I’m now rushing to make it and will have to spend $ 18 on a cab instead of $ 2 on the el to make it in time. Thanks guys!
I was ecstatic because things seemed to be going well and I needed a new place to regularly go since moving here. I showed Jacob a picture (a dark deep burgundy color) he briefly glanced at and began doing my hair.
Fast forward to my blow dry and I’m staring at myself in the mirror with the top of my head light ORANGE and the rest dark. It takes a lot for me to cry, and I instantly started crying. I show him the picture again and he goes: «Oh that’s more Burgundy.»
…
…
You’re kidding right?! Am I being Punk’d?! I showed you that exact picture and you gave me this?! It takes a lot to make me cry and I sat their crying waiting for my fixed color to set in while every worker in the place cared more about cutting the weave out of their coworkers head.
I will never, ever come back. If you are coming for a color stay AWAY! 23 years of my life I’ve never been unhappy with a cut or color. Won’t even get into the details about how I got totally scammed into paying an extra $ 70 on top of my Gilt voucher. Just run. Run far away.

Brazilian Blowout by Gigi changed my life! It usually takes me an hour to blow dry and straighten my hair after a wash now it only takes less than 10 mins to blow dry. I no longer need a flat iron. I HIGHLY suggest this for anyone who has frizzy, unmanageable hair like me. Gigi is also the sweetest. Jacob is a genius with color, cut and styling. I love my hair every time I leave there. I’ll be back again very soon!

I came to this salon using a Gilt City voucher. I am growing out my hair but needed a trim and didn’t want to spend too much money for this. I was excited to see that the salon offered a haircut, deep conditioning and blowout for practically the cost of just a blowout with this deal. I regret my decision to go here, however. The «trim» Jacob gave me was more of a real cut. Despite my protestations that I didn’t want much cut off he kept cutting more (saying he was getting rid of all the damage). The cut made me look a bit like Rachel from Friends. Also, he had another stylist blowdry to save time and both of them were scalding my head with the dryer. It was really uncomfortable. Also, now I have weird bang things and uneven hair in back.
Anyway, I will not be coming back.

I recently discovered BLOWN .love the Clark St location and Jacob and Gigi. aside from the amazing Keratin treatment I received they really care and want you happy. I’ve had Keratin treatments before and they didn’t work. Jacob took the time to thin out my hair and told me to be patient because it might take a few treatments before I’m 100% happy. to my amazement I was immediately pleased
I’m getting TONS of compliments and am now officially HOOKED
love their reclining chairs you lay in when gettin washed. an added feature for your legs.
It’s also decorated so nicely. it shows they’ve taken pride in their business
So.I also like their blow dry packages.

Love Jacob the magician. Ive sent friends here and recommend him 100%. I’ve never been able to find someone who understands my Ethnic hair. Jacobs talents are super versatile. My hair is too fine to be permed but too coarse and thick to have it in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to handle it.
I met Jacob by divine intervention and he’s been my go to ever since I moved to Chicago. He’s super talented and hilarious to boot. I started getting keratin treatments from him and my hair has been much healthier and easier to manage since.
Not only is he an expert at keratin treatments but he is awesome at cuts and color too. When he trims my hair it barely seems as though any length is taken off. Which is a plus because my hair is difficult to grow out!
His salon has super cute décor, the latest hair products and feels like a very upscale salon. You’re sure to leave happy.

Booked a last minute blow out for NYE at Blown. I was thrilled they were able to accommodate my last minute request and thought they did a kick ass job. The vibe at Blown is just what you want when you’re prepping for a big night out, fun music and cocktails were flowing. My only qualm was that my stylist was extremely over worked and had no problem telling me all about it. Not exactly an ideal customer experience but I was happy with my blowout and that’s all that matters to me.

I found this salon from a gilt city deal for blow outs,& is now my new salon.
I recently got extension there also and have never been more in love with my hair. Eve my job and affordable. Great people, good clean friendly salon. Highly recommend. Jacob does my extension and color and GiGi does my blowouts, recommend both.

I got the gilt city deal for highlights, deep conditioning, cut, and blow-​dry. The reviews on Unilocal were mostly good, so I thought why not. Little did I know, I did not do enough research before scheduling my appointment. There is nothing on their website that actually talks about price/​coloring hair. The salon looked very presentable, clean, nice workstations. My hair on the other hand did not look good when I walked out.
I told Jacob I wanted my highlights to be the same color as the highlights that were grown out. He said the base was too dark and recommended we lighten the base. I said fine, as I’ve done that before. As he’s putting it on, he mentions an extra fee for color ($ 35), I said ok, no problem, since I opted for this addition to the package.
First thing Jacob and his assistant did was paint my roots with the base lift. I thought that was weird since my base lift has always been done after the highlights were put in. Jacob painted in highlights and threw on some foils. Also not what I was expecting when I bought the package for highlights. I sat there for 60 minutes with the color burning into my hair. When I say burning, my head was actually burning from the color.
The assistant washed my hair and then applied the toner, which sat on my hair for 35 minutes while Jacob went out to have a smoke (and feed my parking meter since I was there over 2 hours). My experience over the past 10+ years of coloring my hair is that the base lift is about 5 minutes and toners/​gloss added after, while being closely watched since it only takes a few minutes. The deep conditioning treatment was put on my hair for about 5 minutes and then washed out. I really can’t tell that there was any conditioning treatment done.
The cut was fine, a little choppy with the layers, and in some areas looks shorter than the other side. While blow drying my hair, I had to tell Jacob that it was too hot on my head. By this point I just wanted to get out of there. The color was horrible. My roots were orange, a serious base lift, no noticeable highlights, and the old highlights looked gray/​purple. I paid my bill, tipped 20% and left. I called my regular salon on my way home to got it fixed the next day.
The stylist that fixed my hair the next day knew Jacob and his salon and said «Isn’t that a blow dry bar?» Yeah… don’t color your hair here.

On my first ever trip to Jacob’s salon — Blown by Bocaj — I asked him to take my armpit-​length hair to a pixie cut. Best decision I’ve ever made!
Jacob took his time to assess my hair (serious part issues and hair growth patterns at my crown) and determine what style would look the best and lay the best. AND style the best! He was very enthusiastic and supportive — and boy, did he give me a great cut!
Jacob took his time cutting my hair — like REALLY got into it. I have never felt a hairdresser commit to a cut so much.
The final result was stunning. I have received more compliments on my hair in the past week than I have in my entire life combined. I look and feel like a new, more fashionable, me!

I know I’m just another five star review, but I can’t give it anything less!
I had honestly never been to a real stylist before Jacob. I had just spend my money on Super Cuts, or equivalent. Blown by Bocaj (and Jacob) are the first time that I ever found the money to be well-​spent.
Jacob is amazing. He cuts and colors my hair perfectly. He seems to know what I want more than I do. I’ve never looked in the mirror and thought anything other than «Wow! That looks fantastic! I look awesome!» He takes the time to make sure you look your best when you walk out the door. In addition, when he cuts it, it grows out so well! I went 8 months without getting it cut or colored through a hectic winter, and it never looked bad.
The Blown by Bocaj space is great. It is very clean, and modern; a welcome respite from the rest of the surrounding Wrigleyville crowd. The stylists and the customers all chat, while there is music playing in the background. If you have a request for music (or don’t like a particular genre), then feel free to request a change! This is an easy-​going, people-​pleasing crowd. If you want something specific, you’ll get it. If you don’t know, they can help you with that too!
If you are looking for a new place in the area, or need something for a one-​off occasion, I definitely recommend Blown by bocaj.

We had an excellent time having a party of 8 people at blown by bocaj. They had really nice appetizers and sushi and great drinks for us. The space is really nice and we enjoyed it!

Reading the Unilocal reviews and walking into this beautiful salon with such a friendly staff I had the highest of hopes. I had saved my pennies for a cut, color and the coveted keriten treatment that keeps your hair silky for 3 – 4 months.
I loved my stylist and had the wonderful cut and color. The keriten however didn’t seem to set (this has never happened in the 3 other salons I’ve recieved the treatment from) and I was beside myself. Feeling that Jacob the owner was so invested in his business, I knew he would set this right. After an appointment confirmation from Jacob himself he stated we could discuss it and he would take a look when I arrived, but I shouldnt expect a new treatment since it had been 3 weeks. I did try to get in sooner, but it’s supposed to last 3 months, not 3 weeks.
I came in and was told by the stylist who did the service that it was done right, that I must have stripped it, it must just be my hair, my shampoo is reformulated (not true after onine research) and that must be how my hair reacted to the treatment. (I am no newbie, I’ve had close to 10, I know the drill) and the best he could offer me was half price on a re-​do on a lower end treatment and he was simply telling me what the owner had told him to. Are you serious? Wait, he hasn’t even looked at my hair yet!
I think what bothered me the most is that the owner didn’t even take a moment to address my concerns personally or simply stand by his products or staff. This is not what makes long lasting clientele. He simply sent a staff member to dismiss my concerns, and to try to convince me it was my doing. I wouldn’t recomend visiting any business with such low standards set by the owner.
Edit– I am happy to say the owner reached out to correct the issue. However I am passing on any further treatment and wished it could’ve worked out the day I came in to follow up and in a more positive way.

Jacob is the best! I came to Blown on a recommendation from a friend and LOVE my hair. Cannot stress enough how nice & experienced the staff is here.

I went to Blown yesterday on my only day off this week. I was there for a color touch up and my first ever Keriten treatment. After being there for about three hours I now know what all the fuss is about. The color and texture of my hair was reborn.
I left feeling as if my hair got the salon equivalent of a face lift. My hair looks twenty years younger. Thank you Jacob. My time is precious to me and getting this hair was worth every minute. Thank you for your time and detailed care. You and Gigi rock!