So I returned to Parlour today and Francis was super helpful. And honestly appreciated that I came back to tell him it wasn't quite what I had wanted. He sees it as an opportunity to learn, expand his skills. We talked hair colour for a good while, looked at my hair in different lights (front of salon, bathroom, natural light etc...) I showed him a photo of what I didn't want to go back to (bright blonde) and I wish I had brought more photos but I was a bit too sleepy this morning to remember (!). We looked at hair colour swatches and decided on low lights and toning down the blonde highlights. He let me know that it might still be somewhat warm toned, but there isn't a way around that at this stage.
Once we were decided on colour, Franz (Francis) and I had great chats about music, movies and life in general. He's probably one of the most down to earth and disarming hair dressers I've ever met.
The final result is a beautiful shade of dark ash blonde/brown, there is wonderful texture b/c of all the high and lo lights and it looks great with my skin tone. (my profile photo is my hair now)
Francis gave a good run down on how to care for very processed hair like mine; and put a hair oil on it while drying which made my hair feel like silk. (so good I bought some without any upselling/pressure from Francis whatsoever.)
All in all, I'm super happy I went back. I was nervous going back to express disappointment but Francis' attitude was wonderful. I'm not 100% sure that I love my hair, but it's better for sure.