Eden's Rain Salon in Champaign, IL

Melissa is, by far, the most talented stylist that I've come across in the area! She gives amazing, and very flattering, haircuts. She truly understands what looks best on her client (at the same time as she listens and gives you what you ask for).

I'm very picky about who does my hair. So much so that I usually go years without a proper cut. I did a lot of research on salons in the C-U area and finally decided to try Eden's Rain and I'm so happy I did! My curls are back to being defined and full of volume. Melissa listened to what I wanted and gave me advice on how best to wash and style my hair. If you have curly hair I would highly recommend Eden's Rain. I felt safe the entire time I was in the salon. Everything was clean, masks are worn at all times. It was such a great experience.

After a very long time looking for a good hair stylist in the area, I decided to visit Melissa in Eden's Rain Salon based on the reviews. I have medium length curly hair and I've been using the same boring layered hair cut for years, until Melissa happened! I only told her two sentences about the length, and left the rest to her. I am so glad that I did so. She took her time examining, cutting and treating my curls, and I am in love with the end result. It is definitely the best hair cut I ever got, plus, with reasonable price. Besides her professionality, she is also very nice and fun to talk to. I am so relieved now that I know where to go whenever I need a hair cut.

I went here for a massage with a gift certificate. The therapist was very nice but the massage was more of an awkward heavy petting session. I kept telling her she could use more pressure but it didn't happen. This was the worst massage I've ever had. I definitely would never go back for a massage.

So I'm warning you, this is a long one. I wondered for a long time whether or not I should post (especially seeing as she has so many outstanding reviews), and whether I was taking my experience too personally. Here goes.. I went in over the summer for a balayage and cut, I had just finished my first semester of grad school here and it was meant to be somewhat of a treat to myself. I had Melissa do my hair and she seemed friendly and considerate at first. Positives: The cut was fine and the dye job wasn't awful. Negatives: I had barely been sat down in the chair for 10 min when Melissa exclaimed 'wow your hair is soooo thin!' ok so this threw me off guard a little bit.. For one, my hair isn't exactly super thick, but it also isn't super thin either and besides that, I would think a hairdresser would know better than to make those kinds of comments. But ok, moving on, I chalked it up to insensitivity. Strike 2, we were chatting and she asked me 'where are you from', 'England!', 'oh but ethnically?' 'ahh my dad is iranian' 'ahhh! so thats where the thin hair comes from'. I kid you not, her words exactly. Who says that??? Way to make me feel like shit about myself. Third strike comes in the form of 'you have grad student hair, what happens is grad students don't eat properly, and they're stresses and then their hair starts to fall out'. Ok cool. At this point I have no choice but to put on a smile because I'm stuck in this chair for a good 2 hours or so. So the fourth strike comes when shes washing my hair and exclaims 'your hair feels nasty!' I'm literally gobsmacked and mumble something about 'It's probably product buildup..' she starts going on about how its from dying my hair too much and how hair dye strips the hair - guys, I haven't dyed my hair in 4 years and I say so, instead of accepting that I would know if I'd dyed my hair she replies with 'hmmmm are you sure, because hair dye causes damage like this..'.................................... Honestly at this point I'm on the verge of tears but holding it together. I've lost count of the strikes. Then comes the so called balayage. It wasn't what I wanted - didn't look faded in, she did such fine layers that it ended up looking like a weird blob of colour. Perhaps this was my fault and I should have been more clear, well at one point I said to her 'I know you know what you're doing but could you do the layers a little bit thicker but less of them' she gave me this look as if to say 'I know what I'm doing' and just said nothing. I've attached a picture of my hair that I took immediately after getting it done. This is just my personal experience but I would not recommend this place. There are much more talented hairdressers in town.