Bella U Salon

This is the only salon I will ever go to. With that said, Cassie is a hair genius and I only trust her to handle my hair. I first found Bella U through Instagram Bella_​U_​Salon where I was following their page for months without realizing they were just outside the Portland area. I was surprised as Bella U’s hair photos were comparable to the high end salons in California where Bella U is known for bayalages, blond transformations and drastic before and after color corrections. I turned to Cassie, Bella U’s blond specialist where I’ve seen her work crazy, patchy, dark hairs into healthy, icy platinum blonds. After several bad experiences from New Vintage Salon in north Portland back in September (see my review for them), I was obsessed in finding someone talented to fix the damage. I went to see Cassie in person for a consultation as I wanted to see if she can make my hair in one tone then lift me to platinum blond. Cassie was honest in telling me what New Vintage did to my hair (dry, over processed, greenish blond and patchy in the back). Cassie went over possible solutions she can work with and gave me a quote on time and pricing. I came back to see her a week later for my appointment and have been proud to be her client ever since.
I won’t bore you with my hair processing details since my before and after photos can speak for Cassie’s talent. The reason why Cassie is the only person I trust with my hair is because she listens to what I want and if my ideas are too crazy, she doesn’t throw out the idea right away. Instead, she patiently finds a way to process my hair safely and somehow ends up giving me better results while still saving the integrity of my hair. After hours into the night, patiently waiting with me through multiple processes, and with the help of Olaplex, Cassie managed to lift my bronze blond hair to platinum blond. To those who don’t have Asian hair, this result is nearly impossible to do and Cassie did it. I want to point out that my hair took about a year to lift from black to bronze blond but yet my previous stylists weren’t able to lift my whole head in one tone. Cassie to the rescue! Not only did she got me to platinum blond, she color corrected every patchy spot so my hair became a beautiful single tone. That kind of dedication and attention to detail is hard to find in many stylists so I always tell people how lucky I am to have found Cassie. Plus, she has the funniest personality so I always look forward to my hair days with her. I’ve been Cassie’s client for a while now where she took me to the next level to silver metallic using Guy Tang’s Metallic line for Kenra Professional products (see pictures). I’ve received so many compliments every time I leave Bella U– whether after a root touch up, hair cut, or trying new colors. As much as it pains me that my favorite stylist and go-​to salon is no longer my secret anymore… Unilocalers just discovered my secret and are now free to make appointments with Cassie. Tell her I sent you :)
Bleaching Tips: if you have black hair, red hair, boxed colored hair and want my silver look, please go see Cassie for a consultation first. I get people asking me how I got to silver all the time but they don’t understand this did not turn overnight. My natural hair color is black and I naturally have thick straight hair that can survive bleaching processes than most people (I’m lucky). Like I said before, it took a year for my hair to lift from black to bronze before I came to Cassie so expect to be in the chair for multiple bleach sessions. This may take multiple appointments between weeks or months as everyone’s hair has different sensitivity to bleach. Bella U is more affordable than other salon I’ve been to in Portland with better products and customer service. But keep in mind keeping, these fun colors requires high maintenance. Once you decide to join the «Elsa Platinum/​Granny Silver/​Hair Besties Club», be prepared to switch to higher end styling products to keep your color maintained and be sure you can financially afford root touch ups every month or so. Silver and platinum hair is a lot of work but if you can do it, it is definitely worth the result.

Lily is the best ! I love my color. I found the stylist I trust. She is amazing, friendly and super sweet !

Slow and overpriced, I feel ripped off paying so much $ for stained face with color die nice way to let your clients go home :(is that a new trandy way to keep them coming back? I know I won’t be back for sure I like to feel and look clean when I spend half of the day in hair salon.

Most horrific experience I’ve ever had! Nicole burned my scalp to the point where I had to go to the urgent care! I ended up with patches of orange color hair mixed with overbleached white strands.

Love this place! Lilly always does a great job! The salon is beautiful, always clean. All the girls who work there do a great job as well.

Needs to explain to customer what exactly they’re doing and not by using hairdresser terms.

It’s not often you find a stylist you trust so implicitly that you follow her anywhere. But that’s how I feel about Nicole. She is one of the few stylists I trust when I want to do crazy things to my hair; you know, those days when life seems so frustrating that you’re convinced the only way to make it better is to chop off all your long blond hair in favor of a bright red pixie cut. Nicole listens patiently and guides me in the right direction; She knows my preferences and helps me make choices that she knows I’ll be happy with. The Bella U Salon is clean and very stylish. The only suggestion I have is that the salon needs more parking spaces.

My first time here and such a great experience! Nicole was fantastic. I was hesitant to book a balayage appt but so many people recommended this salon. I couldn’t be happier with my experience here! All the stylists were friendly, professional and knew their stuff. Will be making all my hair appts here from now on.

First of all, the first time a booked an appointment here I did it through Unilocal and it did not transfer to the Bella U calendar, that being said. when I showed up there was no one available to cut my hair. Lily felt so bad that she asked me to come back the next day and she would cut my hair for free.
I came back the next day and received the best hair cut ever! Seriously. I recently moved so I had been going to the same woman for 11 years and it does not compare to the quality Lily did.
She didn’t try to give me the hair cut she wanted to do or wanted me to have, she gave me the hair cut I asked for and she asked my opinion the whole way through. So happy!

Horrible customer service! I booked an appointment online with Lidiya because the reviews were so good. When I showed up for my 10 am appointment no one was there yet. At 5 after 10 the staff rolled in only to tell me that Lidiya was out of the country and unfortunately there was no one else available to accommodate my appointment.

For anyone who has anxiety or fears trusting hair stylists because of horrible past experiences, Lily is an expert.

Honestly, this is the best salon I have been at. I did my hair here and Lily knows what she’s doing, and even if you don’t know what you want Lily will help you decide. She’s very passioned about her work, and with her help you will love your new look… This is a place where professionals work and you will love the outcome. Very reasonable prices and outstanding costumer service…