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As a blonde with super thin and super fine hair, travelling around the world and finding salons that know how to process my type of blonde has been a massive challenge.
No matter where I am traveling in the world, when I find a salon that can work with thin, blonde hair, I feel that it’s my duty to pass that knowledge forward.
Listen, I know what it’s like to be in a foreign country and literally not have a clue on where to get my hair done. It’s really hard to know who you can trust, especially when there are major language, cultural, and quality barriers.
Also I don't want to undo the work my amazing stylists in Canada (Lauren Steele and Chris Pihl) have done for me over the years. gulp!
For over 5 years of travelling the world, I have heavily relied on the blogs and reviews of other travelers to help me find ‘blonde-friendly’ salons in Vietnam, Thailand, Bali, Ecuador, and so on.
So, now it’s my turn to pass along advice for other travelers looking to get their blonde hair done in my current city – Mazatlan, Mexico.
Who does great blonde hair in Mazatlán, Mexico?
Lauren Moreno at Frida House of Hair
I found Lauren kind of by accident. I had been in Mazatlán for a few months already and needed to find a place to get my roots done with foils. I was searching high and low for a place that had experience with super thin/fine blonde hair, which is not as common here as you might think.
Many Mexican women have exceptionally thick, dark hair. This means that the stylists here have to use much stronger lighteners and chemicals in order to turn the hair blonde, and they might not adjust these formulas for ultra-thin ‘white girl hair’, as I call it.
If a stylist tried to use the same formula on my hair as their thick/dark haired clients, it would literally melt my hair away to nothing. My worst nightmare!
So here I was, searching places like Facebook Groups, TripAdvisor forums, Google reviews, and other travel blogs trying to find a place I could confidentially get my blonde hair done.
I still wasn’t convinced with what I was finding, so I took the search to Instagram. Using hashtags, I came across a stylist who was in Mazatlán, but had tagged a few pictures of blonde hair work with the ‘Sherwood Park’ location tag. Being Canadian, I knew Sherwood Park was a suburb of Edmonton, Alberta – so it immediately caught my attention.
What was a Mazatleca doing in Alberta? Was she doing hair in both countries?
The answer was YES! Her name was Lauren Moreno, born in Mazatlán but had been doing hair in Alberta for the last 10 years at one of the nicest salons in the province.
I messaged her right away and found out that she had just moved back to Mazatlán and had recently opened up her own salon here.
Score!
I had found a woman who had been working with high maintenance blondes for the last 10 years and was highly trained in my incredibly thin/fragile hair. Another major bonus is that she also uses Davines products, which are natural and non-toxic, which really helps when I am bleaching my already breakable hair.
I booked an appointment at Frida House of Hair immediately!
My Experience at Frida House of Hair
The next week I took an Uber to her salon, which had just been renovated into such a trendy and cool space. She removed most of the cement on the walls to expose beautiful old brick work underneath, which gives the place such a ‘New York lofty’ feel.
She also has the best Mexican coffee brewing for clients, which was a nice extra.
My natural hair color is about a level 6-7, so I had a few inches of regrowth, plus some really yellow-blonde ends from sunshine, chlorine and hard Mexican water.
Lauren suggested doing my regrowth with foils and treating the rest of the hair with a toner to get the brassiness out.
This is the end result of my blonde hair with Frida House of Hair
From start to finish, the entire process only took about 3 hours. Lauren got me to a 10 and got all the yellow-brassy tones OUT, without doing any damage to my hair. Yes!
Lauren's Story
Talking with her at the salon I learned a little more about her and her family. Her dad is from Saskatchewan and her mom is from Mazatlán. She was raised in the prairies in Canada and she came to Mazatlán as a teenager, where she met her now husband at his family’s taco restaurant. Very cute.
Her and hubby moved back to Alberta and had their son, who is now 5.
However, in recent years (and as any Albertan resident knows all too well) the economy in Alberta has changed quite a bit and opening up her own salon in Edmonton just didn’t seem possible.
Since their family was all still in Mazatlán, and the economy here is on the rise, they figured what a better time than to move the family to Mexico and raise their son here.
She made a decision to bet on herself, take the leap, and open up her own salon here, despite the fear of the unknown.
I fell in love with her story right away.
Since getting my hair done with Lauren she has become a good friend of mine here. I would highly recommend anyone get their hair done with Lauren, whether you are a blonde or not. However, if you are like me with super thin/fine blonde hair, rest assured that Lauren knows how to process your hair without wrecking it!
Frida House Of Hair Prices
Lauren’s prices are cheaper than in Canada or the United States, which is great for expats or vacationers.
When you compare her prices to some local salons, her prices will run higher, but with good reason. She is highly trained stylist and uses really high end, non-toxic products.
Let’s say you pop into any old salon here in Mazatlán, you might find cheaper prices, but you get what you pay for.
Blonde Work Prices:
I had a partial foil for my roots, toner applied to the rest of the hair, plus a blow dry and style for $1800 pesos. ($124 CDN or $96 USD)
Depending on length/thickness of hair you have or what kind of blonde work you want done, the price could be higher or lower. She also does balayage and ombre.
Cuts:
She does women’s cuts for $200-$400 pesos depending on length ($14-$28 CDN or 10-$20 USD) and supercheap kids cuts for only $50 pesos ($3.50 CDN or $2.50 USD).
Blow Outs:
Get this… blow outs are only 200 pesos, )or the equivalent of $11 USD or $14 CAD)
Since Mazatlán is a more humid climate than Canada I have a tough time blowdrying m hair straight, but Lauren can do a fantastic job at a really affordable price!