Monarch serenades the lab

To kick off the Rifflandia festival our good friends from the Seattle based band Monarch dropped in to give us a little sneak peek of their highly anticipated concert. They also got a crash course in how to wash and style hair. We told em to keep their day jobs...

Check them out Friday night at the Upstairs cabaret.

Lab loves RIFFLANDIA!

The biggest little homegrown festival around is almost here! One more sleep til the tube amps warm, guitar pedals click and needles hit records. If you haven't "Riff"ed before, now is the time to start. This year is bigger, better and more bad-ass. 150+ artists at around a dozen venues means you get 4 days packed full of music. Never a dull moment!

Wristbands are only $65. Get a wristband at the Rifflandia office (lower courtyard of market square) and you'll get you into every show, save %20 off your service at Lab (and other awesome local businesses too), and be able to enter Winlandia to try your luck at winning a whole schwack of awesome prizes. Not too shabby!

Lab is a proud title sponsor of Rifflandia. Things like this are what make Victoria special, and the more special people around here the better!

Lab Audio collection

With Rifflandia approaching we thought it would be a good time to introduce you to some of our latest work.

Wristband connect saves you money!

Fall Inspiration.

Allow me to speak the obvious, Fall is upon us. Fog, dew, storms, wind, rain are back again and that means fashion is changing. Here's some visual inspiration we are drawing upon as we reflect on the Summer lost and the chill to come.

New music and a new music event!

direct download click here

So what's an "ALIVE promo mix" you might ask? Our friend TOUCH BASS explained:

"Alive is a new electronic music oriented monthly held on Thursdays at Upstairs Cabaret. There's not a lot going on for people that don't listen to the radio in this city, so we thought we would have a nice accessible night where you can dance and party and sweat the night away. You don't have to get weird to be involved, we just want people to have a nice uplifting night of our favorite dance tunes. The first edition of Alive will happen on Thurs Oct 21st. See you there!"

you can get more info here: Facebook Group
and check out their blog here: VictoriaisALIVE.tumblr.com

That sounds like something we can all get behind!

5 ways to save this school year!

School is about to begin! Soon summer cash reserves will be depleted, student loans won't go as far as you'd hoped, parents will be called. Things will have to get a little bit creative to keep your hair looking just right. We want to help. Here's a list of 5 ways you can save on your hair at lab.

• #1 --- STUDENT DISCOUNT. - Well lets not waste any time and get right to the easy savings. Every Monday, we offer a special student discount. You'll save %20 just by showing us your valid student card when you check out. How's that for a nice effort/reward ratio?


• #2 --- JUNIOR STYLISTS. - Don't worry, we don't mean student stylists that might start crying in the middle of your cut, just the stylists that haven't built up their clients yet or haven't moved up the price ladder. At the time of writing, Caroline is our one and only junior stylist and in addition to receiving the "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing from everyone at lab over her awesome work, she also has some of our cheapest rates. A men's cut is just $25 and a ladies just $39. Holy crow thats a good deal.


• #3 --- REFERRALS. - Here at lab we like to make people happy, and we want people that are happy to tell other people how happy they are. Because of this, we started a nifty little referral program. If you give a referral card (which can be picked up in the salon) to a friend that hasn't been here before, that friend will save %20 and when we get 5 back with your name on them, you get a free haircut! Not bad.


• #4 --- GIFT CARDS. - Pretty self explanatory, but birthdays and gift giving holidays are perfect times to ask for the gift of good hair. Any denomination with a nifty little gift sleeve. We also donate $300 worth of gift cards to charities a month, so you might be able to get your hands on one if you are generous person. Hair Karma.


• #5 --- CUT-A-THONS. - Twice a year the team at lab sharpens their scissors for a day of cutting for charity. Keep your ears and eyes on the Lab blog and facebook fan page for announcements of upcoming events. Last time we offered full on haircuts for $20 and the one previous we asked only for a warm winter coat. Can't beat that with a stick!

Hopefully that gives you some ideas on how to stay thrifty during those tight times. Feel free to give us a call if you have any more questions. 250.386.6183

UPDATE: I almost forgot about our contest! Get your entry in before school starts and you could win a back-to-school package worth $500! Package includes: Color service or a brazilian blowout, Osis product package, and a professional flat-iron. You can enter in person at the salon. 541 johnson st.

What a weekend! Part 2

After our big day of family fun on Saturday, Matty decided to treat us all with a little bit of grown up activity. Sunday was a perfect sunny day for a LUCKY LOVE BOAT! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, thats okay, lucky love boat is smaller on the scale of epic parties, but boy does it pack a punch. 200 seafaring partiers in aquatic themed costumes were shuttled away to a secret island in the pacific to enjoy some good tunes and some adult beverages. This year a large contingent of lab staffers painstakingly recreated the costumes from the cult classic Wes Anderson film "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"... huge success. Even though it only lasts 4-6 hours the love boat feels like a lifetime of partying, dancing, and merriment. We have to take our red toques off to the staff at lucky for throwing a magnificent party replete with foozball table, makeshift DJ booth, emergency only bathrooms, BBQ, and kegs. Team Zissou will definitely be love boating again, it was the party of the summer! Thanks Lucky!

And now, the tame photographic evidence.