Nestled in Seattle’s Madison Valley, Coven Salon is a haven, celebrating individuality and natural beauty. Owner and stylist Alexis Robinson has built this enchanting space to heal the traumas often inflicted upon those curly hair and to make everyone feel welcome.
With a team of meticulously trained, versatile stylists and a passion for curl care, Coven has earned a devoted following. Step into the world of Coven Salon, where magic happens, and everyone leaves feeling celebrated and confident. This is no ordinary salon – it’s a gathering place that will transform your perspective on hair care and make you feel truly seen.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell us about the journey of Coven Salon, which recently celebrated 10 years in business!
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What’s the inspiration behind the name, Coven Salon?
It came from the idea of a band of like-minded individuals. It was kind of ahead of the whole witchy movement, since we were established in 2014. But what a gift that everybody was digging into their witchcraft, because here we are, ready to support us all!
You always have the best artwork on the walls, and it’s constantly changing.
I love being able to feature local artists. We don’t take a commission – I’m not trying to make money off them. I really want to be able to host a space that people can feel and celebrate and show their artwork. So I feel really lucky to get to do that. I’m glad to have the home to do so.
Could you tell us more about your personal journey as a stylist?
I’m not the right fit for you, I want to be sure that somebody is. While it is impossible to make everybody feel perfectly comfortable at all times, it is highly important to me to try, and to learn and to listen. The beauty industry thrives on the otherness of others, and I want to be the antithesis of that. I want people to feel safe and comfortable.
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Coven Salon has become known as the go-to for curly hair. How did that happen?
I think that a lot of curly-haired people have experienced a lot of hair trauma. When I was growing up, I would get my hair cut, and then go home and wet it and start over.
The goal was to never let anybody feel like they had to do that. I just had a new client today and she was like, “I’ve never not gone home and started over.”
I think the reason why we’re successful is because hopefully we’ve listened. I’ve heard so many people say, “I didn’t like my hair. I didn’t know it could do this. I thought it wasn’t good hair.” We have a versatile team of people that can show you how to wear your hair in it’s natural state and still get the desired effect that you want.
I know from experience that you are pretty booked up, so how does someone get an appointment at Coven?
I’m not gonna lie, we are pretty booked, but it is absolutely worth the wait – I think that it is important to wait for the stylist that you love. I don’t think you should settle and go somewhere else and then be disappointed, and then come here and expect us to fix it.
What should someone expect from their first appointment?
I usually encourage people to come in with your hair styled most like what you would normally look like in the world. So come in with your hairstyle down and dry – no four-day ponytails!
What we do is a three-step process. We start dry, which we kind of refer to as a “rough draft”. That helps with people who have a lot of curl trauma because you can see how much we’re taking off. As you know, when your hair is wet, it just shrinks right back up. So we like to start it dry first.
Then we get you shampooed and conditioned, then we come back and we finish the haircut when it’s wet. We connect the dots. Then we usually take you back to the shampoo bowl. We rinse out all that shrapnel that we’ve been working with and then we put in your products and we style you up and we usually place you under the dryer for a couple of minutes because we want to simulate an air dry and that’s the quickest way to get those roots really dry.
If you have a lot of hair, it takes forever for your roots to dry. Curly hair needs a lot of hydration. So water is key, which is why we keep adding water to it.
What are some of your favorite businesses in the Madison Valley neighborhood?
- Kamp – those are my friends over there.
- Fainting Goat Gelato – I just met the owner – it was such a delightful interaction.
- Cafe Flora
- Baas Framing Studio
- Corner Delights just opened – they’re great. They’ve been so lovely. It’s also so nice to just have a coffee shop next door again!