Your First Visit to Whistle & Sway: What to Expect

Trying a new salon is a small act of faith. You are handing your hair to someone you have not met, usually based on a few photos on the internet. So here is everything we would want to know if we were the one booking, laid out plainly.

We are Whistle & Sway Salon Company, at 701 Barden St, Suite 101, in the Fort Worth Cultural District. We were voted Best Salon by Fort Worth Magazine, our team is Sassoon trained, and we are by appointment.

How to book

Call us at 817-882-6188. We do not use an online booking system, and that is on purpose rather than because we have not got around to it.

Here is the reasoning. Online booking works well when a service is a fixed length. Hair is not. A correction on someone with three years of box dye and a root touch-up on virgin hair are both technically color appointments, and one takes four hours while the other takes ninety minutes. Online systems regularly book the second amount of time for the first job, and then everyone's day is wrecked and your service gets rushed.

A two minute phone call sorts that out. We ask what you are after, we book the right stylist for the right length of time, and you get an appointment that actually fits. If calling during the day is difficult, message us through our contact page and we will come back to you.

Finding us and parking

We are on Barden St in the Cultural District. Look for the black awning with Whistle & Sway Salon on it, and the number 101 on the door. There is a parking garage on the same block and street parking around it.

Give yourself an extra five or ten minutes the first time. Arriving flustered is a bad way to start an appointment where the first thing that happens is a conversation about what you want.

The consultation

Every appointment here starts with one, and for new guests it is free and takes about fifteen minutes. It is not a formality and it is not a sales conversation.

What we are doing is looking at your hair, asking about its history, and understanding what you actually want. Specifically:

• What has been on your hair. Every color, every treatment, going back a couple of years. Box dye included. We are not judging, we are predicting how it will behave.
• What you want. Photos help enormously. Bring several. Bring the ones you have ruled out too, because knowing what you dislike narrows things fast.
• What your mornings look like. How much time you actually spend on your hair. A cut or color that needs twenty minutes a day is the wrong choice if you have five.
• How often you can come back. This changes what we recommend more than almost anything else.

Then we tell you what is achievable, how many visits it will take, and what it will cost. If what you want is not possible on your hair right now, you will hear that in the consultation rather than discover it at the end of a service.

How to prepare

• Come with your hair as you normally wear it. Not freshly straightened if you never straighten it, not scraped into a bun.
• If you are booked for a dry cut, arrive clean, dry, and styled with your usual products. More on why we cut textured hair dry.
• Do not wash it for a blowout. Your blowout includes a wash and we would rather start from our own prep.
• Bring photos. On your phone is fine.
• Know your history, roughly. Approximate dates and brands are enough.

Ready to come in? Call 817-882-6188 and we will find you a time and the right stylist.

What things cost

Our full service menu has everything, but the common starting points are:

• Haircut and style from $52, including consultation, precision cut, shampoo, and blowout
• Barber cut from $38
• Junior haircut, ages six to twelve, from $42
• Child's haircut, ages zero to five, from $28
• Color or demi from $72
• Dimensional highlight from $92
• Full head highlight or global lightening from $112
• Blowout from $42
• Brazilian Blowout from $223
• New guest consultation free

Every one of those has a plus sign on our menu, and that is honesty rather than evasion. Long, dense hair takes more time and more product than short, fine hair, and a stylist further into their career prices differently than one earlier in theirs. Your exact price is confirmed at the start of your appointment, before anything is mixed or cut. You will never learn what a service costs after it is finished.

Who you will be with

Our whole team is Sassoon trained. TJ founded the salon and still takes guests behind the chair. Brandi is our Salon Director and runs the floor. You can see everyone on our team page.

If you have a preference, say so when you call. If you do not, tell us what you are after and we will match you to the right person for it. And if a stylist turns out not to be the right fit for you, tell us, because we would much rather move you than lose you.

A few practical things

Our policies page covers cancellations, late arrivals, and how we handle adjustments if something is not right. Worth two minutes of reading before your first visit.

On adjustments specifically: if you leave and something is not sitting right, call us. Tone that has shifted, a length that is bothering you, a layer that is not falling how you expected. We would far rather you tell us than sit at home unhappy about it.

Questions we get asked

How do I book an appointment?

Call us at 817-882-6188. We are an appointment-only salon and we do not use an online booking system, which is deliberate. A short conversation lets us book you with the right stylist for the right amount of time, which an online form regularly gets wrong. You can also send a message through our contact page and we will get back to you.

Where are you and where do I park?

We are at 701 Barden St, Suite 101, in the Fort Worth Cultural District. Look for the black awning with our name on it. There is a parking garage on the same block and street parking nearby. Give yourself a few extra minutes on your first visit so you are not rushing in.

Is a consultation free?

Yes. New guest consultations are free and take about fifteen minutes. For color, texture, and extensions we strongly recommend starting there, since seeing your hair in person tells us more than any photo or phone conversation can.

What if I do not know what I want?

That is completely normal and it is what the consultation is for. Bring photos of things you like, even if they contradict each other, and photos of things you definitely do not want. We will work out what is achievable on your hair and give you options with prices.

What does a first appointment cost?

It depends on the service. A haircut and style starts at $52, color or a demi starts at $72, a dimensional highlight starts at $92, and a blowout starts at $42. Every price on our menu with a plus sign is a starting point that rises with length, density, and the stylist you book. Your exact price is confirmed at the start of your appointment, before we begin.

Come see us

Whistle & Sway is at 701 Barden St, Suite 101, in the Fort Worth Cultural District, by appointment. First consultations are free and there is no obligation attached to them.

Call 817-882-6188 to book your first appointment, or send us a message from our contact page.