Proper Salon & Showroom

I’ve been to Proper three times for a haircut and one time included a keratin treatment. Two of the three times they ran out of hot water and my hair was washed with cold water. One visit the stylist mentioned how long the keratin treatment lasted and I let her know that I had another one at another salon; she wasn’t happy. The last time I saw her (4 to 6 months after my previous cut) the cut seemed fine until I washed it and discovered the ends were frizzy; I complained about it to a friend and she agreed, the ends were frizzy. We had never seen or heard of anything like this; I’m not sure if her shears were dull or what could have happened.
I called the salon and asked to speak the stylist, she wasn’t available, so the manager listened to my concerns. She laughed at me and offered no assistance. I asked to leave the stylist a message and have never heard a word from them.
I’m so disappointed; the cuts were $ 90, the keratin treatment was $ 250, and to run out of hot water, leave with frizzy ends, then poor customer service — it’s not okay.
I’m torn because it is hard to find a good stylist in Portland who can cut curly hair — most of them seem to be at Proper.

Frenchi has been doing my hair for years. (Like 8 years.) In those eight years my hair has developed from a short new wave bob with chunk highlights to a Bridget Bardot-​esque mane that I constantly get compliments on. My hair has been able to grow into a long natural looking blonde that I don’t see very often. I’ve sent a lot of friends to her, men and women, with very different hairstyles, but the end product is always high quality. I highly recommend Frenchi and this salon!

I visit Proper Salon to see Kat (Kathleen) a few times a year. She is very talented, and I am so glad I found her through Groupon years ago! When she left her old employer, they wouldn’t tell me where she went but I hunted her ass down. Nice try, B!@ffant! I used to cycle through stylists like crazy because no one could seem to cut my very straight hair… straight! Even though I would just ask for a simple trim, inevitably previous stylists would cut it uneven in spots. But I am always really pleased with how Kat cuts my hair. Somehow, she transforms my long, limp locks into something very Bridget Bardot-​esque. Styling my hair after the cut is a really nice bonus, and it inspires me to sleep like corpse the night of my appointment so I don’t ruin it for the next day. Kat also uses great products, which smell lovely. The lady has standards is what I am saying. In addition to being a mofo hair wizard, she is hilarious. You want to be stuck with her for hours on end (take note those who do intensely long coloring sessions). It is also worth noting that Proper Salon is a really nice space, too. It is open, pretty easy to find and teeming with plants that create a very visually interesting environment.

I seeked out Nicole Bacon at Proper salon after I got a horrible haircut and it was my first time looking into extentions. I saw her for the first time in Feburary of 2014. I’ve been going to her for over a year now and I’ve went from dark brown to blonde back to dark brown and now I am back blonde again. I’m extremeley grateful that I’ve found a great hair dresser like herself. I’ve never left the salon unhappy with her work. She does an awesome job with color, trims, and hair extentions in my experience with her!

Twila is the greatest! I love a hairdresser that when I go in and ask for their opinion, they are confident to give it to me and they make me look amazing. I trust Twila to do anything to my hair. From being a redhead, dark brown, to recently going blond, she has made me look beautiful with every hair color and I never am afraid to get a haircut from her. She always makes me look great.

I’ve seen Nicole Bacon exclusively for my hair cuts/​trims ever since I moved to Portland 5 years ago. I followed her to Proper Salon about 2 years ago and I love the salon. Its centrally located on Grand and the salon itself is great! The place is clean, funky, unique, and fun… all the staff seem to love what they do and I often see them doing something different and unique for their clients. I of course love the Golden Girls art on the one wall! Id definitely recommend going there!

I followed Renè to her sweet new place, Proper. I’ve been going to Renè ever since I moved to Portland 6 years ago. I first heard about her through word of mouth for being the best colorist in town. I was blonde back then and would go to Renè for my highlights and cuts. I knew I liked her immediately because she was down to earth and honest.
Finally the day came for a dramatic change. I had been contemplating going red for awhile and Renè and I had been doing a few strawberry blonde highlights in to prepare. Then the day came: I had just gotten out of a bad relationship and was ready to go red! Not only was Renè understanding and a good listener, but she made me feel wonderful! My hair has never looked better! I went from a natural dirty blonde to a radiant, deep red-​violet cake red. I love it!
I recommend Renè because she blends the color so that it lasts forever. I go every 2 months or so and that’s good for keeping up red! When I was blonde, I could go every 3 months easily. Renè won’t talk you into anyt
She’s professional and sweet and truly cares about her clients.
She’s got a fantastic eye and attention to detail that she exudes in her own style and her surroundings at Proper.

Rene is the BEST !!! She has been doing my hair for over 7 years. She is hilarious and makes you feel super comfortable. She’s one of the best both color & cut (I feel like this is hard find in one person)

I’ve been getting my haircut with Kat for over 2 years. Followed her from her previous salon.
Somehow my haircuts with her always last long, which may be less ideal for her, but great for my wallet! She’s very attentive to my requests, and respectful of the fact that I’m a very low maintenance person when it comes to hair. I dunno how she does it, but her magic makes my hair looks beautiful when I step out of that chair.
Go see her now!

Kat. My hero.
I’ve been seeing her for various cut, color, bleach, and «I don’t know, just shave that part off» appointments for 2+ years, and when she moved to Proper, I moved with her. The new space is bright and open, and the crew staffing the chairs is a good one.
As to Kat herself, you’d be hard-​pressed to find someone more passionate about hair. She has a story about everything from her shears to her dye choice. I honestly can’t express how awesome this girl is.
And here’s how I know it’s not just me:
/​/​/​/​THE COMPLIMENTS \\\\
In Portland, in Los Angeles, in San Francisco …
I actually ended up having to ask for more of her cards so I could hand them out. I will probably run out before my next appointment.
So yeah.
Go to Kat.
Get your hair cut.
Feel nice feelings about yourself.
I promise it’s a good time.

Nicole Bacon has a real passion and calling for hair.
I have a mess of curls for hair and had never really loved any hair cut I had received.
That was until Nicole cut each curl and worked her magic.
First hair cut in twenty some years that I actually loved!
Love the salon atmospher! Amazing experience all around!

When my most favorite stylist ever, Nicole, switched shops to start working here I followed. Proper salon a great space. Its a spacious, comfortable space and offers some sweet Portland flair.
Nicole is the bomb as far as hair goes. She can make anything happen. And I’ve only heard good things about the rest of the stylists there. Treat yourself. It’ll be worth it!
Nicole gets 5 stars. Only reason I rated Proper 4 is because of the difficult location. If you don’t know where it is leave a little early because finding the shop and then parking can be a challenging. This slight difficulty can also be seen as a plus because if no one else knows where it is then its our sweet secret! ;)

I’m from out of town and had an urge to chop off all my hair. Proper was super close to where I was. When I called to see if there were any openings Twila answered and happened to have an opening. As soon as I got there I loved it! It was so open and nice inside. The décor is great and everyone was friendly. I explained what I wanted to Twila and she got it perfect! She cut my hair exactly how I wanted it and was so friendly and made me feel so comfortable! When I left I felt awesome! After cutting off that 9 or more inches I didn’t feel overwhelmed from the dramatic change. SHE IS SO GREAT! Definitely recommend this salon and Twila!

Anna Daberkian is an amazing aesthetician! She is a fantastic waxer and uses a hard wax that is much less painful than traditional strip wax. She is so fun and friendly too. I will be recommending her services to all my friends. :) Thanks, Anna!

I wanted to update my review of Proper since the stylist I loved working with left the salon (very very sad!) 2 stars for poor customer service and completely missing what I asked for. The style at least was good, but not what I was going for.
I don’t get my hair cut too often because of hair cut anxiety – too many meh or bad haircuts thanks to people who don’t really understand wavy/​curly hair (and probably too my lack of hair expertise, but it’s a stylist’s job to educate and help!). So I was bummed when I learned that my former stylist left the salon, but glad that they could recommend a new stylist, Twila.
Well, at first I felt confident when we started talking about what I was looking for. I stated several times that I wanted a trim and was growing my formerly asymmetrical cut out for my upcoming wedding. She agreed to a trim, but somehow I lost four inches. Yes, I should have spoken up at some point; it can be hard to tell how short curly hair will turn out to be, but this was waaaay too much taken off – definitely NOT a trim. At no point did she recommend taking more off or say that she would have to cut more length to even out my hair (the asymmetry was almost gone at this point). So she didn’t get what I was saying somehow, and I didn’t speak up.
During my appointment, I felt that her customer service was poor: she interrupted me to talk with other staff at the salon about personal things several times, joking and laughing with them. Overall she seemed out of it and not very professional. This is such a contrast to my former experience with a different stylist at Proper. I think you can strike a better balance of a hip salon and professional service, and this wasn’t it.

This review is mostly for Mychal who has relocated for reasons of convenience, but I will say that the salon itself was a lovely environment, and all the other people there seemed like really nice folk :)
But yes, Mychal… at last, I found my new hair wizard! If you look at my reviews, you’ll see that I had an amazing lady in California… but that’s a bit far to drive for a cut, so I tried to find a replacement in PDX.
Mychal was my fourth attempt, and she knocked my socks off. She «gets» me! My personality once again shows in my hair! :D :D :D
Even more, her attitude towards life is a great match for mine (no awkward chair-​chat). I’m a big introvert, but I find I can relax and be chattier than normal with Mychal.
Oh, and her head massages are so good that I almost forget where I am by the end.
Edit: For any wavy/​curly heads out there, I am a type 2a hair that likes to eck as much of the wave out of my hair as I can. I like my look to be, mmmm… impishly disheveled? Like I hacked my hair off with a knife, and like there ought to be some leaves caught in there somewhere. So the more wave and more different lengths, the better.

This review is for Anna Daberkian, the esthetician at Proper Salon. She threaded my eyebrows and did an incredible job. She is gentle with the threading and a lovely gal. Highly recommend her! She created a beautiful shape and arch. Very happy with her service!!!

I have curly unmanageable hair with varying textures of straight, ringlet curls, and also just a lot of frizz. I always have a heck of time getting a good haircut and finding someone that I trust. Being new to the area I googled and Unilocaled salons that specialize in curly hair. Through the website:
I came across Proper Salon. I then read the reviews on Unilocal and nervously booked an appointment. I spoke with Frenchie who said that she herself has curly hair and knows what it is like to cut and maintain curly hair.
I went in recently on a cold gray drizzly day to get my hair cut. I explained to Frenchie how I always get my haircut by having it straightened and then layered. She pointed out that I have different textures and that it would be best to cut it dry. This is something that I haven’t done since high school. She has been cutting hair for 12 years and I loved how laid back she was. She instilled a sense of calm in me which is not usually something that I feel when I get my haircut. I trusted her and she shaped my scraggly frizzy mess into a nice shape and recommended Moroccan Oil Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner for my dry hair. I absolutely love the cut and the products work really well with my hair type. I am so happy and satisfied with my cut that I actually look forward to my next haircut with Frenchie.

Have had Ash do my hair color 2 times now at Proper and she is totally talented!
Even though she just officially finished school she has been doing hair for at least 10 yrs and knows her stuff!
She’s a hair artist and I’ve seen her cuts too. She’s got a great creative sense and also a good listener for what you want. I just don’t get haircuts or I would have her do that as well.
I highly recommend Ash for your hair needs!
Just a reminder: it’s a CASH ONLY salon!

I am pretty crazy when it comes to my hair cuts. I am extremely picky!
Galen does a great job with my thick wavy hair. The way she cuts it makes my wave wavier, hair is lighter, bouncier … just better! She really listens to what I want and does it!