Walking into a new salon for the first time can feel surprisingly vulnerable. You’re trusting someone with something you wear every single day — your hair. Whether you’re new to the Chicago area, switching salons for the first time in years, or simply ready for a fresh start, knowing what to expect makes all the difference.
At Gordon Salon, first-time guests are welcomed into a space built on over 26 years of family-owned expertise, five generations of hairstyling legacy, and a genuine commitment to making every person feel seen, heard, and taken care of. Here’s a step-by-step look at what your first visit will actually be like — from the moment you book to the moment you walk out the door.
Before You Arrive: Booking Your First Appointment
Choosing Your Location
Gordon Salon has six Chicagoland locations: Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Wilmette, Algonquin, and Chicago’s Lakeshore East neighborhood. Each salon is an Aveda Lifestyle location — meaning the same commitment to quality, sustainability, and elevated service carries across every door you walk through.
Start at gordonsalon.com to find the location most convenient for you, or call 847.266.7777 and a salon coordinator will help you choose.
Choosing Your Stylist Level
One of the things first-timers often wonder: how do I pick a stylist? Gordon Salon’s team is organized into four experience tiers:
- Emerging Artist — newer to the team, rigorously trained
- Professional — established stylists with a strong client base
- Master — advanced skill and education credentials
- Senior Master — the highest level; extensive experience and specialty expertise
If you’re not sure where to start, call the salon and describe what you’re looking for. The coordinators are genuinely good at matching guests with the right fit — not just in terms of skill, but personality and aesthetic.
Booking Online vs. By Phone
You can book online at gordonsalon.com or call the salon directly. If you’re booking multiple services — say, a cut and color — the coordinators recommend calling so nothing gets missed. Online booking works great for single services; just read all service notes carefully before confirming.
One practical note: the system will ask you to save a card to your profile when booking online. This is standard — it helps with contactless checkout and covers the cancellation policy if needed.
Should You Wash Your Hair Beforehand?
This is one of the most common first-timer questions, and the answer is: it depends.
- For color and cuts: washing beforehand is usually unnecessary.
- For a blowout or special occasion styling: come with clean, dry hair unless your stylist advises otherwise.
- For a dry cut: clean, dry hair is the way to go.
When in doubt, ask when you book. The coordinators will tell you exactly what to do.
Arriving at the Salon
The Atmosphere
Gordon Salon’s spaces are designed to feel like a genuine retreat — not a rushed, chaotic floor. Each location has been thoughtfully designed with sustainability in mind. (Pam Gordon, Senior Master Stylist and head of R&D, won the Salon Today Top 200 Interior Design Award for the Evanston location — no small thing.)
Expect a calm, modern environment with natural elements. The Aveda ethos — rooted in the connection between beauty, wellness, and the natural world — influences everything from the products used to the air you breathe when you walk in.
Check-In
When you arrive, the front desk team will check you in and get you settled. If you’re early, you may have a few minutes to relax, look through inspiration, or browse the retail area. Gordon Salon carries Aveda’s full line of botanically-based products alongside a curated selection of other team-approved brands.
The Consultation: The Most Important Part of Your Visit
Every first-time service at Gordon Salon begins with a consultation — and this is genuinely the most important part of your visit. Don’t rush it. Don’t downplay what you want. This is the conversation that shapes everything that follows.
Your stylist is trained to consider your face shape, hair texture, hair type, lifestyle, and styling habits before making any recommendations. They’re not just looking at your hair in the moment — they’re thinking about how your hair will behave at home, on a Tuesday morning, with five minutes to spare.
Come prepared with:
- Inspiration photos — even a rough idea is helpful. Screenshots from Instagram or Pinterest work perfectly.
- An honest description of your daily routine — how much time do you actually spend on your hair in the morning?
- A clear sense of what you don’t want — this is just as useful as knowing what you do want.
- Any concerns — thinning, damage, texture, previous color work, sensitivities.
The consultation isn’t a formality. It’s where great hair starts.
During Your Service
What “Aveda Lifestyle Salon” Actually Means for You
Gordon Salon is an Aveda Lifestyle Salon — a designation that goes well beyond just carrying the product line. It means the entire experience is shaped by Aveda’s philosophy of holistic beauty: that looking good and feeling good aren’t separate goals.
In practice, this means:
- Botanically-based, sustainably produced products used on your hair
- A sensory experience that’s intentionally calming — the scent, the touch, the pace
- Stylists trained not just in technique but in how to care for the health of your hair and scalp over time
The Service Itself
Whether you’re in for a haircut, color, smoothing treatment, or something else entirely, your stylist will walk you through what they’re doing and why. First visits are a two-way education — they’re learning your hair, and you’re learning what’s possible.
A few things that commonly come up on first visits:
Conditioning treatments: Stylists frequently recommend them alongside color or highlight services. They’re not an upsell for the sake of it — for colored hair especially, a good conditioning treatment makes a meaningful difference in how the color lasts and how the hair feels.
Scalp health: Gordon Salon offers healing scalp treatments, and many stylists will mention scalp condition during consultation if they notice anything worth addressing. This is a good thing — scalp health is foundational to hair health.
Color timing: If you’re doing anything involving color, build in a realistic amount of time. First-time color consultations can take longer than a standing appointment. Let the coordinator know your schedule when booking.
The Products You’ll Experience
Aveda’s product line is what most guests notice first — the scent, the texture, the way their hair feels after. These are botanically-based formulas, produced using 100% wind power, with eco-conscious packaging. For guests who care about what goes on their hair and their environmental footprint, this matters.
Your stylist will typically walk you through the products they used and why — not as a hard sell, but as a genuine extension of the service. If something worked exceptionally well for your hair, ask about it. If you’re not sure whether a product is right for you at home, say so. They’ll give you a straight answer.
Gordon Salon also stocks a small selection of non-Aveda products that the team has tested and approved. If Aveda isn’t a fit for your hair type, ask — there are options.
Checkout and What Happens After
Checkout
Payment is straightforward. One thing to know: if you pay by credit card, there’s a 3% processing fee (3.15% for AMEX). Cash, debit, and check carry no fee. This is disclosed upfront — no surprises.
If you haven’t already saved a card to your profile, the team will help you do that at checkout. It makes future visits faster and handles anything unexpected.
Book Your Next Appointment Before You Leave
This is practical advice, not a pressure tactic: book before you leave. Stylists at Gordon Salon — especially at the Master and Senior Master levels — fill up quickly. If you found someone you loved, locking in your next appointment before you walk out is the simplest way to keep that momentum.
Most guests benefit from scheduling 6–8 weeks out for cuts, and 4–6 weeks for color maintenance depending on the service.
The Referral Program
Gordon Salon has a referral program worth knowing about: refer a friend and you both receive $20 off your next service. If you had a great first experience and want to bring someone else in, it’s a genuine win for both of you.
Tips for Making the Most of Your First Visit
A few things that consistently lead to great first-visit outcomes:
Be honest about your budget. Your stylist can work with you to find the right service combination — or suggest lower-maintenance cuts and colors that keep costs manageable over time. But they can only do that if you tell them.
Bring photos. Words like “natural,” “lived-in,” or “dimensional” mean different things to different people. A photo removes the ambiguity.
Ask questions. About your hair type, about what products to use at home, about what to do between appointments. First visits are an opportunity to learn, not just to get your hair done.
Don’t try to rush the consultation. Even if you’re excited to get to the cut or color, the consultation is where your stylist builds the foundation for everything. Give it the time it deserves.
Why First-Time Guests Keep Coming Back
Gordon Salon has been named to Salon Today Magazine’s Top 200 Salons for over 19 consecutive years. That’s not a fluke — it’s the result of a team that takes education seriously, a family that has been doing this work for five generations, and a culture built on genuine care for the people who walk in.
Tony Gordon, who opened the first Gordon Salon location over 26 years ago, built this business with a clear intention: to nurture and develop hairstylists into true masters while giving guests an experience that goes beyond a transaction. His father, Jerry Gordon — one of the first Aveda salon owners in the country and the 1990 NAHA Hair Salon Owner of the Year — set that standard decades earlier.
That lineage shows up in every consultation, every service, every conversation at the front desk.
[QUOTE PLACEHOLDER — Tony Gordon, Owner]
Ask Tony: What does it mean to you when a first-time guest becomes a long-term client? What do you hope every new guest takes away from their first experience at Gordon Salon?
Ready to Book Your First Visit?
Gordon Salon has six Chicagoland locations ready to welcome you:
- Evanston — 2018 Central Street
- Highland Park — 653 Central Avenue
- Wilmette — 3232 Lake Avenue
- Glenview — 1992 Tower Drive
- Chicago Lakeshore East — 333 E Benton Pl #106
- Algonquin — 1940 S Randall Road
Book online at gordonsalon.com or call 847.266.7777.
Your first visit is the beginning of a relationship — with a stylist who will get to know your hair, your lifestyle, and what makes you feel your best. Come curious. Come honest. Come ready to leave looking exactly like yourself, only better.
