Color specialist salons differ from general-service salons because the stylists devote the majority of chair time to lightening, toning, and corrective work rather than splitting hours across cuts, blowouts, and styling. A color-forward studio invests in foil maps, lift charts, and bond-builder protocols such as OLAPLEX No.1 and No.2, which are added directly to the lightener bowl to protect disulfide bonds during a Schwarzkopf BlondMe nine-level lift. The technical distance between balayage and foilayage matters here. Balayage is a freehand hand-painted technique that produces a soft, diffused grow-out, while foilayage wraps the painted sections in foil to drive a higher level of lift on the same strands. Color correction is a separate skill set entirely, since it involves removing unwanted tone, rebuilding the underlying pigment, and depositing the target shade across multiple appointments rather than a single visit.
Nashville stylists who pursue a Goldwell Master Colorist designation, a Wella Master Color Expert (MCE) certification, a Redken Color Specialist credential, or American Board of Certified Haircolorists (ABCH) Board Certified Haircolorist status have demonstrated formula proficiency under exam conditions set by those programs. The three studios below were chosen because the owners and senior stylists have built their chair work around color rather than treating it as one service among many. Each salon publishes its color menu, lists named stylists with verifiable training paths, and operates from a fixed Nashville address rather than a rented suite. The selection focuses on color-forward studios distinct from the general-service salons covered in the companion guide.
Quick Comparison #
| Salon | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Style House Salon | Four-stylist Master Stylist tier (Holly Rexroat, Krista Hatcher, Bonnie Spears, Abbie Addotta) with L'Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist training; founder Lee Wright; Green Hills storefront. | Balayage, multi-dimensional color, corrective color, full and partial foils, single-process root retouches, and gloss toners with new-client consultation. |
| Oxana Salon | Founder Oxana Meade as Master Stylist and Educator; Vidal Sassoon Academy (London) and Master Balayage Academy (New York) certified; three-location Nashville, Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet footprint. | Balayage and lived-in color as house specialty, plus custom color, hair treatments, color-matched extensions, and dedicated headspa service. |
| Green Pea Salon | Founded 2007; two Nashville studios; long-tenure colorist roster trained on Goldwell, Redken, Davines, Aveda, Schwarzkopf, and Bumble and Bumble. | Color correction, hand-painted highlights, dimensional blonde work, multi-brand toning, and named-specialist routing by service. |
1. Style House Salon #
Style House Salon operates from a Green Hills storefront at 4004 Hillsboro Pike, Suite 165, Nashville, TN 37215, a few minutes south of downtown along Hillsboro Pike. The salon was founded by Lee Wright and built around a four-stylist Master Stylist tier with color specialization: Holly Rexroat, Krista Hatcher, Bonnie Spears, and Abbie Addotta. Each of the four Master Stylists holds L’Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist training, which covers the L’Oreal Professionnel lift charts, the Majirel and Inoa permanent lines, and the Dia Light demi-permanent toner family used for gloss services.
Color Menu Built Around Multi-Dimensional Work #
The color services published on the Style House Salon color page cover balayage, multi-dimensional color, corrective color, full and partial foils, single-process root retouches, and gloss toners. Multi-dimensional color sits between a single-process all-over shade and a full balayage. The colorist applies two or three pigment depths across the canvas to mimic the natural variance found between the root area, the mid-shaft, and the ends. For clients walking in with prior box color or grown-out highlights, the corrective color path is booked as a longer first appointment so the stylist can strand-test the existing pigment before mapping the lift plan. Phone bookings come through (615) 915-2066.
Master Stylist Tier and Continuing Education Culture #
Style House publishes “Kindness, Creativity, and Continuing Education” as the three cornerstones of its culture, and the four Master Stylist titles are tied to ongoing class attendance rather than a one-time test. Holly Rexroat, Krista Hatcher, Bonnie Spears, and Abbie Addotta each maintain L’Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist standing, which requires periodic re-certification on the brand’s updated lift charts. Precision haircutting, smoothing treatments, and reparative conditioning rounds out the menu, but the bulk of the chair time across the Master Stylist tier is booked for color appointments. The shop accepts new-client color consultations before the first lightening or corrective appointment so the formula can be built against the client’s actual canvas.
Green Hills Location and Booking Detail #
The 4004 Hillsboro Pike address sits inside the Green Hills retail corridor, with parking shared across the Suite 165 plaza. The studio takes color bookings by phone at (615) 915-2066 and through the online booking link on the services page. First-time color clients are routed through a consultation slot so the stylist can document the canvas, agree on the formula, and quote the appointment length before the lightener is mixed. The Green Hills team treats every color appointment as a planned multi-step session rather than a walk-in service, which suits clients moving from a single-process base into a lived-in balayage or a multi-dimensional blonde.
2. Oxana Salon #
Oxana Salon was founded by Oxana Meade, who is listed on the studio’s about page as Owner, Master Stylist, and Educator. Her training path began at Element Salon, where she learned the balayage technique she continues to use, and continued at Parlour 3 before she opened her own studio. Her published education includes a cutting course at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in London and a certification from the Master Balayage Academy in New York City. The Nashville studio sits at 1100 8th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203, with sister locations in Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet.
Balayage and Lived-In Color as the House Specialty #
The studio publishes balayage and lived-in color as the house specialty, with the bulk of color chair time booked for hand-painted services rather than traditional foil sets. Lived-in color is a service philosophy rather than a single technique. The colorist designs the placement so the grow-out reads as part of the look at week eight or twelve rather than producing a sharp regrowth line that demands a four-week return appointment. Oxana Meade’s Master Balayage Academy certification covers the brushwork, the saturation pattern, and the section weight that produce a diffused root shadow without an obvious demarcation line. The full color menu on the services page includes balayage, custom hair color, hair treatments, custom hair extensions, and a dedicated headspa service.
Founder Background and Brentwood-Adjacent Reach #
Oxana Meade’s founder story is documented in a Nashville Voyager profile that traces her path from Moldova through Fashion Week styling work in London to the Nashville chair. The studio earned its color-forward reputation on that personal training arc, since Meade trained the rest of the team on the balayage methodology she learned at the Master Balayage Academy. The Nashville location at 1100 8th Avenue South sits south of downtown on the 8th Avenue corridor, with the Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet sister salons extending the team’s reach into the eastern suburbs. Color bookings at the Nashville studio come through (615) 265-8800.
Headspa and Custom Extensions as Color-Adjacent Services #
The headspa service offered alongside color is treated as a scalp-health appointment rather than a styling add-on. The colorist or treatment specialist works on the scalp directly to clear product residue and stimulate circulation, which matters for clients receiving repeated lightening services. Custom hair extensions are color-matched in the salon so the install reads as part of the underlying balayage rather than as a contrasting overlay. This matters technically because extensions installed on a recently-balayaged canvas need to be toned at the same level as the painted pieces, otherwise the wefts will read as a flat block of pigment against the diffused root shadow.
3. Green Pea Salon #
Green Pea Salon was opened by Kelly Mason in 2007 at 1113 12th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203, in the 12 South neighborhood. A second location, Green Pea West, opened later at 4 City Boulevard, Suite 102, Nashville, TN 37209, inside the oneC1TY development. Kelly Mason has been behind the chair for twenty-four years, and the named stylist team listed on the stylist page shows an unusual concentration of long-tenure colorists. Jen Maselli-Deaderick has been working since 2001, Mindy Reeble since 2004, Heather Chambers since 2003, Adam Barnes since 2003, and Crystal Wakitsch since 2003.
Color Specialist Roster and Brand Training #
The named color specialists on the roster cover a wider brand spread than most Nashville color salons. Heather Chambers carries nine-plus years of Goldwell training and is identified as the color-correction lead. Kip Abernathy carries fourteen-plus years and is trained on Redken, Davines, Aveda, and Schwarzkopf. Forest Bauer is the dedicated highlighting and blonding colorist with five-plus years on the chair. Craig Wickman holds eighteen years of color work, and Missy May is the in-house blonde specialist who runs multi-dimensional color services. Mindy Reeble has attended educational sessions from Bumble and Bumble and from Redken across her career.
Two Nashville Studios for Color Bookings #
The 12th Avenue South location at 1113 12th Avenue South is the original 2007 storefront, reachable for color bookings at (615) 297-6878. The oneC1TY location at 4 City Boulevard, Suite 102 is reachable at (615) 292-8648. Splitting the team across two studios lets the color specialists schedule longer appointment blocks for corrective or lightening services without competing for stations during peak hours. New-client color appointments are routed to the named specialist whose training and chair tenure match the requested service, with Heather Chambers booking color correction, Forest Bauer and Missy May booking blonding, and Kip Abernathy booking hand-painted highlights.
Twelve South Roots and Continuing Recognition #
The salon has been recognized as Best Salon in Nashville across multiple years, which the team attributes to a combination of long stylist tenure and continuing brand education. The twenty-four-year founder track and the cluster of stylists who joined in the early 2000s give Green Pea a roster depth most Nashville color studios cannot match, since several of the named colorists have been working from the same chairs for nearly two decades. Color correction, hand-painted highlights, dimensional blonde work, and multi-brand toning are all booked through the standard online booking system or through the location-specific phone lines published on the contact page.
https://www.greenpeasalon.com/
How to Choose a Color Specialist Studio in Nashville #
A color-forward salon is the right starting point when the requested service is balayage, foilayage, dimensional blonde work, vivid placement, or a multi-session corrective rebuild. General-service salons that handle cuts, blowouts, and color across the same chair are well-suited to single-process root retouches and basic full-foil sets, but the longer corrective and lightening services benefit from a studio where the colorist works almost exclusively on color across the week. The three studios above each publish their color menu, list their named stylists, and operate from a fixed Nashville address. Style House Salon’s Master Stylist tier in Green Hills is the right route for clients who want a published L’Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist training behind the chair. Oxana Salon’s hand-painted balayage and lived-in color philosophy is the right route for clients who want a Master Balayage Academy-trained owner placing the color. Green Pea Salon’s two-studio roster is the right route for clients who want a multi-brand color team with long chair tenure and a documented color-correction lead.
Booking a color consultation before the first lightening or corrective appointment is the standard step at all three studios. The consultation lets the colorist see the actual canvas, run a strand test against the existing pigment if needed, and quote the appointment length and price before any product is mixed. Bond builders such as OLAPLEX No.1 and No.2, Schwarzkopf BlondMe Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener for high-lift work, and gloss toners from the Goldwell, Wella, L’Oreal Professionnel, and Redken demi-permanent ranges are all standard tools at the color-forward studios above. Choosing the studio whose published color menu and named-stylist credentials most closely match the requested service is the most direct way to land in the right chair.
Selection Methodology #
The three salons above were selected from the broader Nashville color-specialist salon field using these filters: minimum documented years in continuous Nashville-area business, verifiable trade-association membership or Tennessee license on file (Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners cosmetologist license under TCA Title 62, Chapter 4, plus manufacturer-led continuing education through L’Oreal Professionnel, Goldwell, Wella, Redken, or Schwarzkopf master-colorist programs, or American Board of Certified Haircolorists status), brand-name anchor with verifiable address visible on the salon’s own website, and a published service scope that maps to client need without bundled upsells. National rollups without local lineage and operations without a verifiable street address were excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Q: How do I verify a Nashville color specialist holds the right license?
A: Tennessee licenses cosmetologists through the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners under TCA Title 62, Chapter 4. Verify a stylist’s name and license number at verify.tn.gov, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance public license-lookup portal. Manufacturer color-specialist credentials (L’Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist, Goldwell Master Colorist, Wella Master Color Expert, Redken Color Specialist) can be verified through each brand’s professional locator, and ABCH Board Certified Haircolorist status through the American Board of Certified Haircolorists.
Q: What sets these three apart from the broader Nashville color-specialist salon field?
A: Manufacturer color-specialist credentials (L’Oreal Professionnel Color Specialist, Goldwell Master Colorist, Wella Master Color Expert, Redken Color Specialist) are the manufacturer-side filter that separates a generalist stylist from someone who has completed real color theory and color correction training, and each salon above seats at least one such credentialed stylist. The harder filter is American Board of Certified Haircolorists (ABCH) certification, which is the only third-party color exam in the United States and is held by a small fraction of working stylists. Color-correction case load (rather than only first-time clients) is the bench-depth proof.
Q: Are any of the three salons paid placements?
A: No. The three profiles above are editorial selections drawn from publicly verifiable sources. No salon sponsored placement.
Q: How should I prepare for a first appointment or consultation?
A: Bring a written list of goals or scope items, photos or references where relevant, prior color history (box dye, henna, prior lightening), current chemical-service timeline, a list of any allergies or constraints, and questions about pricing, timing, bond-builder protocol, strand testing, and revision policy. Request a written estimate before authorizing work.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.