Written byKhatuna Basiladze, hair stylist & makeup artist · 8 min read

How to Choose a Hair Stylist in Batumi: 9 Questions to Ask First

A bad haircut grows out in two months. A badly executed bleach or smoothing treatment does not. Which is why the first twenty minutes in a new salon are better spent asking questions than settling into the chair.

The short answer: a good specialist answers questions calmly and asks plenty of their own. A modest interior, a small space or the absence of a published price list are not warning signs. What is a warning sign is a question that irritates someone — or a vague answer where a specific one was entirely possible.

Below are nine questions, each with the reason it matters.

Why this matters particularly here

Three local realities make the choice harder:

Seasonality. Summer brings temporary specialists into the market. Nobody knows the long-term story of their work, because by September they are gone.
A weak review culture. Many excellent stylists exist only on Instagram and have not a single Google review. That does not mean they are bad — it means you need other criteria.
Tourist flow. Anyone who expects to see a client once has less incentive to care about how the result behaves in three months. That does not apply to everyone, but it applies to some, and these questions are how you tell.

The nine questions

1. “Do you do a diagnosis before starting?”

Why it matters: the same product behaves differently on bleached, virgin, porous and coarse hair. If nobody touched your hair or asked about its history, processing time and iron temperature are being guessed.

A good answer: they ask what has been done to your hair over the past year, and they touch it both wet and dry.

2. “Which product line do you use?”

Why: a brand name is not a guarantee in itself, but hiding it is a signal. If they cannot name the product, you cannot verify anything.

A good answer: they name the line and will show you the bottle if asked.

3. “Is this keratin free of formaldehyde-releasing agents?”

Why: many older-generation formulas relied on them. Alternatives exist today. A smell that stings your eyes is not “normal for keratin”.

A good answer: specific. It is an equally good sign if they ask you about pregnancy before you raise it.

4. “How long will it take?”

Why: cutting time is the most common hidden saving. A four-hour service squeezed into two comes out of either processing time or iron temperature.

A good answer: a realistic range, not “we’ll do it quickly”.

5. “What’s included in the price?”

Why: the wash, a trim and the finish can each be charged separately. That is acceptable — as long as you were told beforehand.

A good answer: an itemised list before the service, not after. The pricing article sets out everything that should be in there.

6. “Can I see your work on hair like mine?”

Why: a beautiful portfolio built on fine, light hair says nothing about how this person handles thick, dark, coarse hair.

A good answer: they show you. If they have not worked on your hair type, they say so plainly.

7. “Do you do a patch test before colour?”

Why: it is standard practice for a first colour or a change of brand, and it is done 48 hours in advance.

A good answer: yes — or a clear explanation of why it is not needed in your case.

8. “How do you handle tools and towels?”

Why: this is rarely asked and tells you a lot. Clean individual towels and disinfected tools are a baseline requirement, not a luxury.

A good answer: calm and specific. If the question is taken as an insult, that is itself the answer.

9. “What happens if the result isn’t what we discussed?”

Why: this question tests tone, not guarantees. There are no absolute guarantees in this industry — but there is accountability.

A good answer: they tell you in what circumstances it gets corrected, within what window, and on what terms.

Portfolio red flags

Every photo at the same angle with the same filter. Filters shift tone, so you cannot assess colour at all.
The “after” photo has longer hair than the “before”. That is either two different people or undisclosed extensions.
The same photo captioned as several different services.
Only flawless studio shots and not a single honest daylight photo.
Someone else’s work. If you have doubts, a reverse image search takes thirty seconds on a phone.

What is not a red flag

Just as important is not rejecting the right person for the wrong reason:

A small space or a modest interior. It often means the money is in the products rather than the decor.
A price that is not published as a single number. A price that depends on your length and hair condition is more honest than a headline figure that changes in the chair.
No Google reviews. In Georgia, a great many good stylists work entirely on personal recommendation.
Being turned down for a service. “I won’t do this today, your hair isn’t ready” is the single best sign you can get.

If you are a tourist or newly arrived

Three extra pieces of advice:

Start small, for example with a blow-dry — a wiser first appointment than a bleach. One small service tells you a great deal about a person.

Sort out language in advance. If you do not speak Georgian, make sure you will genuinely understand each other — misunderstandings about colour and length almost always start with language. Photos help both sides.

Plan the timing. Colour and keratin both take hours, and after a keratin treatment you cannot wash your hair for 48–72 hours. Book at the start of your trip, not the day before you fly.

What I do

Plainly, with no grand claims — here is what you can hold me to:

A diagnosis before every service. If the hair is not ready, I say so directly and we move the appointment.
I name the product when asked.
I quote the price before your visit, once I know your length and hair condition. There is no single “average” figure published anywhere on this site, because it would be wrong for almost everyone.
What I don’t publish: invented years of experience, certifications that do not exist, or testimonials nobody wrote. This site contains only what I can stand behind.

More about me, services here, and my Facebook page.

Booking from abroad: what to sort out by message

If you are arriving in Batumi and want an appointment already in the diary, five messages settle almost everything.

Dates and flexibility. “I’m here 12–19 June, ideally the 13th or 14th” is far more workable than a single fixed slot.
What you want, with photos. Two or three images and one sentence about your current hair.
Your hair’s chemical history. Last colour, last bleach, any smoothing treatment, with approximate dates.
The price for your length, asked directly. A good salon answers this in a message.
Duration and any after-rules. Especially relevant for keratin, which needs 48–72 hours before the first wash — that affects which day of your trip works.

Do that a week or two out and you arrive to a confirmed appointment with a known price. Leave it to the day before and, in summer, you will mostly find full diaries.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate consultation appointment? Usually a phone conversation or a photo is enough. A separate visit is worth it when a big change is planned — going from dark to blonde, for example.

A salon refused to do what I asked. Is that bad? The opposite. A refusal usually means the person is thinking about the result rather than about one payment.

How can I tell whether a product is genuine? You cannot know for certain, and that is the honest answer. What you can do is ask the name, look at the packaging, and notice how freely the question is answered.

Is an Instagram page enough to choose by? As a first filter, yes. As the only criterion, no. Photos are editable; a conversation is much less so.

What should I do if I don’t like the result? Contact the salon as soon as possible and describe calmly what specifically is wrong. Most situations are fixable when raised promptly.

Should I stay with one salon? Ideally with one person who knows your hair’s history — especially for colour. That is practical, not a matter of loyalty.

Next step

You do not have to come to me. But wherever you go, ask these nine questions — the answers will tell you in five minutes what a feed of photographs never will.

If you would rather talk it through first, call or message on WhatsApp. No obligation to book.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, have allergies, a scalp condition or hair shedding from the root, ask a doctor first. Durations such as “3–5 months” are typical ranges, not a guarantee for your hair — I confirm them after seeing it.