08/16/08

Dumpy salon, lack of well-trained stylists, unprofessional supervisors.

by hikitty

I have been a client here for 7 years and have noticed such a dramatic decline in the quality of stylists this school turns out over the last 1-1.5 years that my last visit to this establishment this week marked the final one. The stylists have no concept of how to mix color, they do not listen to the client's ideas. They now rely on exact instruction given from their supervisor instead of applying ideas and formulations they have learned in class. The level of professionalism has also dropped off a cliff, especially with regards to their instructor/supervisors. They look at you just as a 'head'. If you sit 4+ hours for a service gone completely awry, you will be expected to pay in full and come in for a redo within a very strict 24 hours (which may also be a disaster). You will also be made to feel as if it was your fault somehow that the color came out wrong or the cut left split ends. $125+ for cut color/highlights is much better spent at a salon where they will actually respect you as a client not just a head of hair to manipulate.

• Pros: It's close to the subway.
• Cons: Ambiance, cold instructor/supervisors, lack of confidence in basic hair service skills.

06/30/08

Attention Attention! Great Service can be found here!

by LakotaLamb

Okay, I woke up and had a cup of tea and decided to phone the salon for cut and color with Kevin. The ever so polite Meghan answered. It's nice to know that the other person on the other end knows who they're talking to.. and that person was me. Okay, I asked if Kevin could fit me in the next day for highlights and she put me on hold and while the relaxing pre-recorded message talked to me about the new "pack another pair of jeans" campaign (I found it quite cute and chuckled). Okay, the hold was rather brief even though she had to run all the way up the stairs, I'm assuming since she sounded a little fatigued (poor thing), and found a way to fit me in. Now I have beautiful chesnut honey highlights and a graduated bob that fits my lifestyle (by the way, I love the guy that brings me the tea.. he gets my stamp of approval). I'de give Meghan 10 stars if I could because she is a little angel but since I can't it will have to be 5 stars then. Okay.

03/22/08

Horrible experience

by SusanS78

Upon hearing that this is the Corporate Aveda salon, I assumed that this salon would offer the upmost and professional service in the city. It is the complete opposite. The building is a bit run down and not as warm and inviting as a lot of other spa/salons with the same pricing. in fact, it looked like a cheap nail salon. I was greeted and welcomed upon my arrival but afterwards there was not the same relaxed atmosphere. It was a very cold environment. My service was rushed by the junior stylist and to top that I had to wait almost a half hour and not one person even warned me that the stylist was falling behind, they just sat me on the chair with a cup of tea. Then when I wanted a product, i found out that it was discontinued and the stylist did not even offer an alternative. I would never ever EVER have anyone come to this salon especially if they are looking for a calm environment!!

• Pros: informative staff
• Cons: only informative if they were willing to help you

03/07/08

Why gamble with your hair?

by YouHAVEtoBeKiddingMe

If you are a gambler, you'll love this run down Holiday Hair Salon. Sometimes you get a great cut and color, with exceptional service and inconsistent prices.. Sometimes you get a completely different color, delivered with an "I'm too cool to even LOOK at you" attitude, and "don't EVEN think I'm going to get another cup of tea" glares.

I have gone to this salon for color and cuts at least 5 times in the past 2 years. Only twice has the color been exactly what I wanted, and never has the haircut been outstanding. The place is run down, (just look in the bathroom) and the attitudes are ridiculous. I just assume go elsewhere from now on.

I REALLY liked my color the first 2 times, but since then it's been awful. The pricing is on par or higher than many places for a single process ($115), and the price for cuts is ridiculous (Starting at $90), and the service is atrociously inconsistent. My last visit was with a snippy little twit named Christian for a single process; it was the final straw. Oh speaking of straw, that is what my hair looks like right now. Either the developer was inaccurate - or the "blowdry" job he did completely fried my hair. I have gotten a better blowout from a 12 year old. And to top it all off when I expressed concern about the color being uneven and too light at the bottom, and the fact that my hair was PARCHED, he told me it's because my "hair is dry and I color it too much". EXACT WORDS. Hmm., that?s funny, because my hair was not this damaged 2 days ago, and I haven?t colored it in over 8 weeks.

My advise to the twit: if you don't understand that delivering great hair & polite customer service to every client is part of being a great hair specialist, you should consider going back to being a rent boy in whatever uncouth town you grew up in....

My advice to anyone considering going to the Aveda Salon: I wish you luck, you?ll need it.

• Pros: the tea is nice, if you can actually get some
• Cons: run down, bad attitudes, potential for seriously damaging your hair

02/23/08

Disagree with "DEMIAGO"........Alex is am amazing stylist and a kind person.

by navigator68

Alex has always done my hair and does an amazing job. He is attentive to my needs always and makes me feel extremely glamorous. I am not sure what the previous review is about. I will continue to go to Alex and trust him, to always do a great job on my hair.

• Pros: Great scalp massages.

01/24/08

Avoid Alex at all costs!!!

by demiago

He ruined my hair color through gross incompetence. He pulled the color through, and made it too dark, the next time, he asked me "What did you do to your hair? I thought he would put a reducer to lighten it, but no, he then pulled the color through again. i left with my hair the color of tar, it had been a chestnut color. I was shocked that a salon with Aveda's reputation allows this man to color the hair of unsuspecting victims. I called to complain and the manager agreed that he should never have pulled through the color. I am still upset after 2 months.

02/07/07

Great Color, Great Cut...

by vivaalessia

I've been highlighting my light brown hair for around 10 years, and the prices in NYC are not cheap for monthly maintenance, so I decided to go back to being brunette. In fact, I wanted to go a step or 2 darker than my natural hair color and I wanted the color to last...(If Cameron could do it and work it, so could I !) I had gone to a different salon for lowlights a few times, but the color didn't last long enough and it was just as costly as highlights. I went to Aveda after trying their "Personal Blend" conditioner and had Jimmy, a master stylist, do my double process. He first added a reddish tint to put color back into my bleached-out ends, and then did a warm chocolate on top. At first, I must admit, it was very dark...but I had a few very natural-looking highlights put in around the crown and after a month of washing it looks FABULOUS! It looked good when it was done, totally even color. Now it looks 100% natural (I am fair-skinned, so the super dark hair wouldn't work) and really healthy....I had a hair cut with Brent the same day, and he did a fantastic job. I 'm very pleased and I will definitely go back for haircuts,,,,my color, thankfully, is now LOW MAINTENCE! Love it!!

The whole process cost about $300 for cut and color, but it took half a day, i got hot tea and a head/neck/hand massage and now i only have to go back only every few months for a trim. It's worth the money.

• Pros: Experienced staff, timely, friendly
• Cons: A bit pricey for the unglamorous salon upstairs

10/24/06

This place is as friendly to the earth as it is to your hair.

by Contributor

The Scene
An amber glow definitely radiates from the West Broadway Aveda store and hair salon. Enlightened visitors can sip the custom blended "comforting tea" while reading "purefume" descriptions or sampling aromatics. Ecologically sound Aveda beauty products are developed exclusively from plant life. No animal-loving urban dweller should be without something from Aveda, as every toiletry can benefit from its customized personal blends.

The Services
Haircuts prices are dependent on whether you have an appointment with one of their new talents or an experienced master stylist. Whoever does your 'do, Aveda uses two types of plant-based hair dyes. The permanent hair color is 97 percent naturally derived and the semi-permanent is a whopping 99 percent. The "Shades of Enlightenment" will decorate your drab NYC locks with six shades of California blond.

08/03/06

worst experience of my life!

by micham76

I went to this salon to get my hair colour done..i asked the stylist for a couple of shades darker, a nice rich brown i recall asking for. whilst the colour was on my hair i reaffirmed with her that i did not want it too dark!! i also commented on how dark the colour looked when the dye was on and she gave me the excuse that it always appears darker than it is.....i knew something was wrong when they took me to the basin to rinse it off...basically i had jet black, blackest of black hair, and considering i have a pale complextion you can understand my horror....she tried to then tell me this was dark brown and what i had asked for!! they then had to strip my hair to try get some of the colour out, which has complately dried out my hair, and i left the salon with 2 tone hair, lighter on the bottom, dark on top...they actually charged me money for this...of which i paid, then realised how stupid i had been, walked back in and demanded a refund....they were actually quite rude indeed at this point!!!! point is i have to live with this for at least a month till it fades naturally- save yourself the time and money and DO NOT go here - my 3 year old neice could have done a better job with a home colouring kit!!!!! AWFUL

• Pros: absolutely nothing
• Cons: everything

11/03/02

Great Oils!

by karjoyg

I had a massage there a while back and will say that to this day it is still one of the better massages. It is not a froo froo as the other salons but gets the job done!

• Pros: relaxing, variety of oils
• Cons: expensive, upselling