WHERE WE’D ACTUALLY GET OUR HAIR DONE IN TORONTO
Finding a new hairstylist is weirdly personal. You can try a new coffee shop because someone on TikTok said the matcha was good; handing a stranger scissors and asking for “long layers, but not too many” requires considerably more trust.
The best hair salons in Toronto aren't interchangeable either. Someone can do an incredible lived-in blonde and still not be the person we'd choose for a shag, Korean perm or major colour transformation. If a friend asked us where to book, these are the four places we'd send them — but for very different reasons.
By CELESTE FERNER SEPTEMBER 11, 2026
BEFORE YOU BOOK ANYONE
Our first move is always the stylist's portfolio, not the salon's homepage. Look for someone who regularly works with your hair texture and whose recent clients already have the kind of hair you want. If you have thick dark hair and want soft layers, ten beautiful platinum bobs on someone's feed aren't particularly useful information.
For a bigger change, we'd book a consultation and bring two or three realistic references. Ask about maintenance too: how often the colour needs refreshing, whether the cut needs daily styling and what happens during grow-out. We'd rather know that before committing to bangs that apparently require a round brush and emotional stability every morning.
Left This Way is where we'd send the friend who says, “I want my colour better, but I don't want it to look like I just got highlights.” The Dundas West studio is especially strong in lived-in colour: balayage, babylights, dimensional blondes, root melts and softer transitions that aren't supposed to develop a dramatic line of regrowth a month later.
We'd book it for creamy blonde, dimensional brunette or subtle brightness around the face, especially if we want the colour to age well between appointments. If you're changing your base significantly or correcting previous colour, we'd contact the salon first rather than guessing which service to select online.
This wouldn't necessarily be our first recommendation for someone asking for a very experimental haircut or vivid blue transformation — that's where LES makes more sense. Left This Way is the friend we'd call when the brief is simply: make my hair look expensive, but don't make it obvious why.
LES is where we'd send someone who is bored with their hair. The salon works across shags, mullets, pixies, curls, creative colour and more directional shapes, with gender-neutral services based on the work involved rather than who's sitting in the chair.
This is where we'd finally take the screenshot folder we've been building for six months. If we're going from long hair to something much shorter, adding serious layers or changing the whole shape, we'd look through the team first and find the stylist whose cuts already have the movement we're after. For colour, we'd use the consultation to figure out what's realistically possible before mentally committing to a shade our current hair may have very different opinions about.
LES makes the most sense when we want to leave looking different, not simply freshly trimmed. If your ideal appointment is conservative highlights and a perfect blowout before an event, we'd probably send you elsewhere.
If someone sends us a Korean haircut reference — airy face-framing layers, soft bangs, glossy movement or that suspiciously effortless volume — we'd tell them to look at PERFECT X before booking a general salon.
The team specializes in Korean hair techniques, including layered cuts, digital and cold perms, root and bang perms, straightening and colour. The useful part is that individual stylist profiles show specialties, so we'd choose the stylist first and location second. If we're specifically booking a perm, we'd look for someone whose portfolio contains the exact finish we want rather than simply selecting the earliest appointment.
We'd especially recommend PERFECT X for Asian hair or anyone wanting a Korean-style cut where the placement of layers and how the hair falls afterwards are the whole point. Bring references from several angles and ask how the style behaves without a salon blowout — because we want the haircut, not a temporary 45-minute illusion.
SALT is where we'd send someone who wants the polished Yorkville version of the appointment. The salon does cuts, colour, balayage, highlights and extensions, with stylists working at different experience and pricing levels, so there is more room to match the person to both the service and budget.
We'd consider SALT for glossy brunette, refined highlights, a significant colour refresh or an important haircut before a wedding, trip or event. It's also the one we'd look at when our hair needs more strategy than experimentation — especially if previous colour means the desired result isn't going to happen in one casual afternoon.
We'd expect to spend more here, particularly once colour becomes complicated, so we'd get a proper consultation and understand the full plan before starting. Hair is one of those areas where discovering halfway through the appointment that “this might take three sessions” feels considerably better when someone mentioned it beforehand.
