Desdimi Gallery Salon

As other people before me, I also fell for the Groupon trap. Before I bought the deal, I looked it up on Unilocal and it had great reviews, so I figured it was worth a shot. I got the partial + cut and hand treatment deal. I will say that Danke is easy to talk to and the location was nice.
First off — let me say this. She offers FREE haircuts for good Unilocal reviews. NO wonder all these reviews are glowing! This is really annoying bc had I known this, I never would’ve bought the groupon. So you know how when you normally get a partial, you get some say over the color that is put in your hair? Yeah, not here or with this. I have a good friend who owns a salon back home (it is out of town, which is why I didn’t go there) and that has never been her practice, when you buy a partial foil groupon, you get treated as you normally would for any partial foil. Anyways, she ended up putting super obnoxious yellow/​brassy highlights in my hair. I said I wanted something subtle… this was a trainwreck and I looked like I stepped out of a trailer park.
I thought the cut was passable until I went to another salon a few months after and the hairstylist showed me how crooked the lines were. On top of it, there was no mention of the hand treatment until the very end, when she was like, oh did you want that? Like it was an inconvenience.
The highlights were so bad I almost cried when I got home and I ended up going out and getting a box color — which I have NEVER done ever but we had company coming over and I looked terrible. Funny thing is, the boxed color looked 20x better than her ‘professional’ services.
I also think it is weird that she has no employees and it is just her in that space. I think that says something about her personality that she can’t retain any staff members.

I would recommend Desdimi Gallery/​Salon, and Danka (owner) in particular, to anyone.
Prices are what is to be expected from this area. It is an upscale place that definitely employs the highest quality/​trained people only. It is not one of the strip-​mall places you get a cut for $ 14 or a ubiquitous ‘upscale’ chain (like Tricoci, etc.)… If you want it done well and the right way, go here. It’s may not be cheap, but there’s a reason. It’ is worth it.
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Ironically, I initially found Desdimi through an online offer. I had moved and had no idea where to go in the area and was trying it out.
I walked in knowing my hair looked all wrong (+ it had been ⁴⁄₅ months for color/​highlights). Plus, I didn’t get why my hair was somehow awful. When you see yourself every day, its not always as apparent to you — even when your hair color resembles a striped skunk it seems… NOT GOOD!
I got there early and noticed the art everywhere and how ‘gallery-​ish’ the place was. Desdimi has a feel to it that is welcoming, very unique and «vintage-​NYC-​artsy-​trendy» to it.
Then Danka happened…
Warning: She is no-​nonsense and will not tell you what you want to hear if it isn’t true. She straight up told me what was awful and why. This was one @$$-kicking lady who says it how it is. Personally, if I am paying it, I want the truth.
So, I more or less gave full rights to my hair (full hightlights, conditioning treatment, and cut) to her. She obviously knew her stuff.
It was the longest hair appointment I had ever had in my life — BECAUSE she took her time to do it right. Although I came in with a Groupon, she made sure that it was done perfectly. There was NO cutting corners or atmosphere of hurry to get you out of a chair like many places.
I actually had an exam the next day and was willing to let the prepaid conditioning treatment go in the interest of time, but Danka insisted and I caved. So glad I did. She was right, and I was thrilled with the results. Afterwards, she offered that if i wasn’t happy, to call her and come right back. Didn’t — it looks fab. Enough said.
P. S.:
Danka is just wildly entertaining and funny as heck, so that long appointment for perfect results flies by.
Can’t say enough about Danka and this place. They know what they are doing. Even though I have moved away, this will be my go-​to place.

The place is just fabulous! They are so professional and do such a good job!
The salon is a very comfortable place to stay and the hair dressers are very kind, funny and professionals!

Just left Danka’s with a FABULOUS cut and partial! Extremely happy with the service and so refreshing to not be pressured to buy additional products and services. She was great, super professional, and knows her stuff when it comes to hair (both cut AND color). Will definitely be back!

I will NEVER go back to this salon and I really regret that I did so in the first place for several reasons. I would give it a zero if I could.
First, I wanted to use a Groupon voucher, but called first to see if any appointments would be available in the time frame I needed. They did have some available, but asked me not to buy the Groupon and instead just pay them the full price of the voucher so they could keep all of the money instead of splitting it with Groupon. I am pretty sure this is illegal. At first I thought this was really kind of them, but after talking with more people and thinking about it (along with the rest of my appointment) I realized it was some shady business dealing going down.
Second, I was a new person to the salon. In my experience, you WANT to have repeat customers. I consider myself to be a very friendly person, non-​confrontational, harmonizer, people pleaser, etc. I started casual conversation with the owner DANKA. She asked me what I did for a living, I told her I was a teacher, she asked where, I told her where and her response was «do you like it there?», I replied that yes I loved it there — it is THE best school I’ve ever been at (ranked very high, scores are very high, a lot of extracurricular programs, heavily involved parents, supportive administration, collaborative teachers, etc). Her response «Well, I have a lawsuit against that school.» Fine, everyone is entitled to their own side of the story. HOWEVER, for the next 1.5 hours, she continued to bad mouth my Principal, several teachers that are my good friends, and continued to go on and on about how horrible the school is. Again, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, BUT if you want repeat customers — I would not spend the entire appointment slamming something the client just told you they loved. The worst part was she said this while washing my hair, after she had just chopped 14 inches off for me to donate. I couldn’t just walk out because it was the initial chop and it was New Years Eve Day — no one else would be able to get me in. IT WAS AWFUL!!! She was soo rude and so abrasive as Melanie H. mentioned.
The funniest part is — I asked her what the lawsuit was about and she could not give me a straight answer. She also had no clue what the teachers did, what their names were, what had happened, etc. Then she went on to say that she knew what to expect at schools because she has a PhD. in Philosophy. Okay, then why are you cutting hair? Also, just because you have a Ph. D in Philosophy does not mean you know ANYTHING about what is going on at schools. She is the owner of the salon so you would think that she would care the MOST about the reputation of her salon and wouldn’t want a client walking away being pissed off.
Third, the haircut was horrendous. If the hair cut had been amazing, I may have just let all of what happened slide and just never return. But the haircut literally sucked. A lot. It was the worst hair cut I have ever had. Super choppy, UNEVEN, and not at all what I wanted when chopping 14 inches off my hair. Thanks a lot Danka. May I add that I have like the easiest hair to cut. I call it Training Bra hair because it is straight, fine, average thickness — no tricks needed to cut my hair. Honestly, I am curious if this woman has a license for cutting hair.
I recently had my hair cut and colored at another studio in Chicago and love it. To confirm how bad the cut was, the person doing my hair said they have never seen a hair cut like mine, that it was in fact very choppy, razored weird, and just very odd for someone with a license to do. I will add that this salon I went to has been featured as Chicago’s Best Hair Salon on T.V. and has amazing reviews on Unilocal. (All 5-​stars and tons of reviews).
If I haven’t changed your mind yet, then let me point out that it is June 3^rd. This happened 6 months ago on New Years Eve day and I am STILL fired up about the situation. I should have written a review earlier, but I honestly wanted to forget about the whole experience. I was trying to give it a chance and let me hair grow and see if it kind of filled out differently after some time, but six months later and it still looked gross.
Needless to say, I will NEVER go back here and will never let any of my friends go here as well. This woman should not be running a business and probably won’t for much longer if she treats other clients the way she treated me.

This salon is so cute and Danka is excellent. I went in for a haircut not really sure of what I was looking for, all I knew was that I wanted to keep my length. Normally when I tell stylists I’m willing to take an inch off, they interpret it to mean 3 – 5 inches and I’m devastated after. Danka did an amazing job preserving my length, getting rid of split ends, and giving me a cut that I absolutely loved. She recognized my face shape and matched the style with my face. I received many compliments for weeks after. Not only does she do a great job, Danka is a pleasure to talk to, we talked the entire time and had wonderful conversation.
I haven’t met a stylist that I love in years and am so happy that I finally found one! I’m going back for my next cut this weekend!

I have this picture on my phone of a layered cut that I LOVE and and have been to several stylists over the past few years in hopes someone will get it right. Danka is the only stylist who has been able to do it exactly like the pic. Before I went to her I thought the problem was my hair texture and almost gave up on the style altogether. She is also very personable and listens. I’m so glad I found her and will be back!

Bought a groupon for a haircut/​paraffin hand treatment. After reading some reviews from people who had also purchased groupons, i was a bit hesitant, but really needed a haircut. Called and was scheduled for an appointment over a week out. Not ideal, but I get it.
The salon itself is beautiful and all the art is gorgeous. Danka was nice, but extremely abrasive. It seemed as though she would argue with everything I said or insult me/​my job/​my viewpoints/​my hair in some manner… to the point where I really didn’t want to talk to her. No hand treatment to speak of. As well, she was rude at the end of the appointment where she just kind of left me to see another customer withouta «thank you for coming in… here’s my card… etc, etc.» I had to interrupt her appointment just to give her her tip. THEN, she was more friendly and said all that stuff and said to come back for free bangs trimmings.
Well, I get home and my bangs were cut extremely uneven. I decided to try and go back that next week to have her fix them… but every time I called, there would be no answer. I would leave messages with no response. I actually stopped by the salon over the weekend (no doorman). Called the salon 3 times before she finally answered and told me she couldn’t fit me in for a 5minute bangs trim. Was the cut worth what I paid for the groupon? No. I can’t imagine ever paying full price for a place that would give me a shoddy cut and a plethora of insults in the meantime.

A groupon deal first brought me here and I was totally expecting something mediocre just to take advantage of the deal without a second visit, but this is not such place!
I came on a peaceful Saturday morning and was impressed by the artsy décor of this place. Danka is not only a super talented and professional stylist but also a charming lady to talk to. The haircut was done exactly the way I wanted and style lasts a long time.
I’ve already have my second visit booked. I’ll be comfortable to try any new haircut because I know I’ll be in good hand. Danka is experienced to advise for a hair style that will fit you the best!

Can’t agree more with those who posted below. Danka provided a great haircut and highlight as well as a fun, «girls night like» experience with all her stories and conversations.
I used a groupon for this cut and highlight and it was easy to get an appointment and mold it to my schedule as I was running late that day. I just called her and she reassured me it was alright. I would love to go back but will need to wait for other discounts to meet my budget.

I’ll say the same thing I told Danka in person, I had an overall wonderful experience!
Great conversation and I just love both my cut and highlights. Technically, they’re probably the best I’ve ever had and the tone of blonde is spot on.
I’ll have to look for future specials as my budget is only groupon-​discount friendly, but would absolutely go back!

I has such a wonderful experience! I will defiantly be back, as well as recommend To all of my friends! My hair was done beautifully just as I wanted, as well as having a great time! A+++++++

Where can I even begin? I like to change my hair a lot and had a pretty tough situation. I heard about Desdimi through a groupon and bought one for a haircut and explained the extensive color route I wanted to go. I came in with long faded blue hair with some of the longest roots you’ll ever see and left with the cutest blonde pixie cut I could have imagined. I had made appointments before to get my hair done but they all seem stressed out by the idea. Here they were excited to play and come up with something new and edgy and seriously I laughed the whole way through. Excellent customer service, excellent results. I don’t think I have ever been so happy with a haircut in my life!

I’m really annoyed with this place. I just moved to this neighborhood and am looking for a new salon to frequent so what better way to find the right place than with groupon? I’ve called like once everyday for the past 4 days and no is there to pick up. No one returns my voicemails. Is there anybody out there? I’m in dire need of a do! Do they not want any customers? Get off of Groupon! Oh well, f*ck it, I’m trying some place else.

I do not have enough positive adjectives in my vocabulary to describe the phenomenal experience that is Desdimi!!! First and foremost, Danka is not only extremely talented but she is wonderful to be around. She has gone out of her way to accomodate my busy schedule both of my appointments with her. I got great results from my Keratin treatment and when I went to get my hair colored she listened to exactly what I wanted and recommended a significantly lower priced option because it would produce the results I was looking for! When her color shipment did not arrive, she called my cell an hour before my appointment and said she was going to run out to buy color!
On top of the excellent prices and service, she is fun, intelligent and a pleasure to be around. Every time I leave Desdimi I feel fantastic, I would recommend Desdimi and Danka to anyone looking for fantastic service and results!

Loved my color and cut I got today! Danka did a wonderful job. Great salon, will be coming back!

A salon with art, yet accessible to the educated crowd. Danka is very responsive and professional — got a great cut and highlight and I much enjoyed the conversation and peaceful atmosphere.
Having art to look at while chatting and sitting for the time service is given — it was a pleasure. So comfortable!
Subtract one star for no paraffin hand treatment as stated in the Groupon, and no mention of it when I paid, however, I am very pleased with the rest of the experience.
Danka is welcoming and witty, smart and charming. She is living out a passion and she attracts goodness to her. Grateful to have located you! I will be back.

Love! I am so glad to have found Desdimi Salon! I made an appointment for a cut and blow out. I entered the salon and was immediately put at ease when greeted by the owner. I was unsure what I wanted so we talked about a length and layers and Danka went to work.
I usually leave a salon with rad styled hair and then struggle to get it to look anything like that on my own. This was NOT the case. Danka has been cutting hair for years and knows exactly what she’s doing. After my first wash my hair still laid beautifully with very little fuss.
I’m definitely going back!

Danka gave me a really excellent cut and highlight yesterday and I’ve already gotten several compliments! She really knows what she’s doing with layering; my hair hasn’t laid so nice in a long time. The highlights also look really pretty and natural.
I think the best part about the whole experience though was that I felt like I was just talking and laughing with one of my girlfriends for a couple of hours rather than at a salon counting down the minutes until the service was over. I will definitely be back for more hair miracles & girl talk. Thanks Danka!

I had a cut and full highlight by the owner today, and she delivered a fabulously perfect cut. My hair lays so well, it hasn’t looked this good in a long time. She was efficient but detailed with the highlight and cut.
She is a really friendly and funny lady, and I will def come back. Best thing is that she delivered exactly what I asked for. At the same time, I got much more than I was expecting.
Very clean, comfortable salon!