Fish Hair Salon

Taylor is the best - fun to work with and always has my hair looking great ?

Angela is the best stylist. Highly recommend getting in to see her!

The hair stylists here are amazing and this review should not reflect poorly on them. The stylists are why this salon is one of the best in Victoria. Unfortunately, the owner is an unprofessional bully. Do not go here if you have an invisible illness and might have to reschedule last minute. She has no sympathy and will publicly embarrass you. I had a very high-risk pregnancy and had to call to cancel and reschedule twice in a row because I was vomiting uncontrollably and too weak to drive. Plus I'm assuming having to be sick during a hair appointment isn't ideal? When I finally got to have my appointment I was SO excited for some self-care. I was very pregnant, very weak, very worried about my unborn child, and very emotional. Not to mention I was experiencing peripartum depression and anxiety. On the drive to the salon I got stuck behind a car accident on a one way street in downtown. My car was literally trapped and I just had to wait. I called the salon and asked them to let my stylist know. When I arrived 20 minutes late and explained my situation again and apologized I was told that I couldn't have my leftover appointment time and that I was no longer welcome there because of cancelling last minute. I again explained that I was having a difficult pregnancy and had to put the well-being of my baby first and that I was physically vomiting the days I cancelled previously. The owner didn't care. She just continued to embarrass me publicly in their front lobby and tell me not to come back. I checked their cancellation policy. It's pretty straightforward: if you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment you need to pay the cancellation fee. I have no problem with that. Not sure where the fine print on public embarrassment and refusing service is. My takeaway: avoid the owner like the plague. Don't be sick, don't be pregnant, and don't have things outside of your control like car accidents happen. Then you'll be okay.

After a long search in Victoria for the right person to cut my thick hair I am so thrilled I found Taylor at Fish. She did a great job and understood what I was asking for perfectly. Will be back for a colour soon.

Got a great cut from Taylor who listened to what I wanted and is one of the only stylists who styled my hair the way I like it. Usually I can’t convince stylists to not take a straighter and a curling iron to my hair but Taylor happily took the time to diffuse my hair to let it have its natural texture. She totally saved my hair from the bad COVID cut I have myself and didn’t give me any flack for it ?. She’s also affordably priced.

I just set my second appointment with Antonia and realized - I never left her a google review!!! This is a sin and I feel terrible. Well, also, I feel a tiny bit jealous of letting anybody else know about her. Because people, Antonia is 100%, definitely, positively some kind of magician. Although having said that, it's not true. What she is is a woman of talent, skill, and dedication to constantly improving her craft. I first visited Fish last year, and it was meant to be a one-off. My usual hair routine is to get it cut somewhere in a mid-range, however I had had a terrible, awful, no-good year (or three) and was about to lose my job, and I wanted to do something really super nice for myself before the final blow came. Instead of the usual mani/pedi I looked around Nanaimo (where I was living at the time) to find a really good stylist, to see what an 'expensive' haircut was like. I'm not complaining about the price, I know that time, education & talent vary and it's everybody's right to charge what theyre worth. It's just that even the mid-ranges were somewhat high for my wages, I sometimes hit the $12 haircuts in tough times (but oh my did my curls pay). Over two days of calling, nobody in Nanaimo answered, and I have voicemail anxiety, so I decided to try Victoria as it's a lovely place to visit anyway and COVID meant I hadn't had a chance to go there in a long time. Fish answered immediately, answered all my questions, and I happily booked an appointment. Note, I deliberately sought out a salon with pictures of their stylists, and I deliberately sought out a stylist with curly hair. Because my hair is naturally curly, and it has been a triangular frizzball my whole life when I haven't just cut it to a 1" long length just to remember that way lies everlasting cowlicks... one time I even went to someone who was training in the "curly girl" method that was hot for awhile and came out looking like a very old Shirley Temple. Most of the time I just got a stylist who'd style it straight despite my saying I didn't want it styled straight. Listen, what I'm trying to tell you here is that I HATED my hair. It had been a lifelong battle, I'm middle aged, I had no faith whatsoever in ever reaching any sort of a truce. If it was socially acceptable for women to be bald in professional workplaces I'd have shaved it decades ago. I went in armed with some photos like I usually do but the bloody page I'd saved wouldn't load! So I told Antonia to do what she chose. Mind, she made sure I *meant* that because I'm sure many people have done that then gotten mad at the results, but the one saving grace of my hair is that it grows like a weed - so even if I hated it, I'd say I loved it, and then let it grow out and try again. I've done this in the past! I've never *hated* it, but I've also never been able to recreate what the stylist did, so it just went back to being a wookie-like fuzzball sitting on my head taunting me. UNTIL. NOW. As I said, if it weren't an insult to the time and effort she's put into honing her skills I would absolutely charge this woman with witchcraft, because I LOVED it when she was done. I LOVED it after walking three blocks in windy Victoria to meet friends. I LOVED it the next day. And the next! And... nearly seven months later I STILL. LOVE. MY. HAIR. It sits right, the frizz varies between gone and negligible, ladies, I PREEN. I PREEN IN THE MIRROR instead of scowling and shoving it back into a ponytail or angrily soaking it down every morning to get rid of night-bred cowlicks. It's ridiculous how much I love my hair now. All I can say is, I went in for a "one-off" small luxury and ended up resolving to make my budget work, SOMEHOW, to keep driving all the way to Antonia (it's about an hour drive each way) so that she can continue to work her incredible magic on the now-tamed monster that lives on top of my head. So if you hate your hair - take it to Antonia. She's worth every penny!

I've gone to Wendy for years and she's an absolute superstar. Mind you, everyone at Fish is highly skilled, friendly, and make visit comfortable. Unlike other top salons, they don't give any attitude, just great style and friendly service.

Wendy is amazing! She taught me so much about hair and did a great job at fixing my hair colour and cut. Going to hair salons is very awkward for me and I have avoided them for a long time, but I had a really good experience here!