How do I know if I want balayage or foil highlights?

It comes down to how you want the color to grow out and how much upkeep you want. Your stylist will look at your natural base and the look you're after during the consultation and talk through which technique gets you there.

Can you fix color I didn't like from somewhere else?

Bring in what you have and what you were hoping for, and your stylist will assess it in person before recommending a path — sometimes that's a single visit, sometimes it's a plan across a couple of appointments.

How far ahead should I book for an event?

Booking earlier gives you more room for a consultation first, especially for color or styling tied to a specific date. Call and we'll walk through timing based on what you need done.

Color that comes out the way you pictured it

№ 01Color-first hair design studio · San Diego

A San Diego studio built around round mirrors, soft light, and stylists who talk you through the plan before anything touches your hair.

Call to book See the services

Opening times

Call for hours

Find us

3808 Grim Ave · San Diego, CA 92104

Clients return to the same stylist for years
Color explained before it's mixed
Studio lit for true color, not flattery
Consultation built into every appointment

№ 03 · Services

What we do

Color consultations
01
A sit-down before the bowl comes out, where your stylist talks through tone, upkeep, and what will actually suit your hair.
Cuts & styling
02
A cut shaped to how your hair actually falls and how you actually wear it, checked in the mirror before you leave.
Balayage
03
Hand-painted highlights that grow out soft instead of leaving a hard line at the root.
Color & highlights
04
Full color or foiled highlights, mixed to your natural base and talked through with you before your stylist picks up a brush.
Blowouts
05
A finished, styled blowout for days you want your hair done without a cut or color appointment.
Keratin & smoothing
06
A smoothing treatment that cuts down on frizz and styling time, applied and finished by hand in the studio.

Not sure what to ask for? Call — we’ll talk it through.

Call to book

Talked through, not guessed

You hear the color plan and the reasoning behind it before your stylist mixes anything.

Checked before you leave

Your cut or color is reviewed in the mirror, dry and styled, before the appointment ends.

Built for the grow-out

Color and cuts are planned around how they'll look weeks later, not just on the way out the door.

A room built so you can actually see your color

Douglas Saboe Hair Design is a studio of polished concrete, glass, and round mirrors under soft, even light — the kind of light that shows a color true, not flattering it into something it isn't. Clients come back to the same stylist year after year, in part because the conversation happens before the color is mixed: what you're picturing, what your hair can actually do, where the two meet. The chairs are black vinyl, the walls are plain plaster, and the point of the room is the work in the mirror, not the room itself.

How a first visit runs

(619) 985-4238

Book it your way

Call or message — say whether it's a cut, color or both, so the right amount of time gets set aside.

Start with a consultation

A few minutes to talk it through before anything starts. Photos of the look you want help more than words.

Nothing is a surprise

Length, tone and finish are checked with you as it goes, not revealed at the end.

Leave knowing how to keep it

Ask how to style it at home and when to come back. That's part of the visit, not an extra.

Before your first visit

Four things worth knowing — whatever salon you choose

True anywhere, this salon included. A good first visit starts with a conversation.

A consultation costs nothing

Any good stylist starts with questions. If the work starts before the questions do, that's your answer.

Bring the photo

A picture of the look you want beats any description of it. Save two or three — and one you don't want.

Color needs a patch test

Skin reacts. A test a day or two ahead is the standard for new color, not the exception.

Book the person, not just the salon

Consistency is the whole game. When you find a stylist whose work you like, ask for them by name next time.

Serving San Diego from Point Loma to Clairemont

Find us in San Diego, CA. Ask about a time.

good to know

How do I know if I want balayage or foil highlights?: It comes down to how you want the color to grow out and how much upkeep you want. Your stylist will look at your natural base and the look you're after during the consultation and talk through which technique gets you there.
Can you fix color I didn't like from somewhere else?: Bring in what you have and what you were hoping for, and your stylist will assess it in person before recommending a path — sometimes that's a single visit, sometimes it's a plan across a couple of appointments.
How far ahead should I book for an event?: Booking earlier gives you more room for a consultation first, especially for color or styling tied to a specific date. Call and we'll walk through timing based on what you need done.

(619) 985-4238

Let's find your next appointment

№ 05 · Book an appointment

Find us: 3808 Grim Ave · San Diego, CA 92104
Opening times: Call for hours