I had a very disappointing experience at Innovative Hair Academy in Brick, NJ.
I scheduled a simple root touch-up to cover my grays. My appointment was at 10:00 AM. I understand this is a student salon and services may take longer, but I was never told when booking that a basic root touch-up could take 2-3 hours.
I sat in the chair at 10:00 AM, but the student didn't return with the color until 10:41. The student herself was very sweet, but she was applying the color extremely slowly and very sparingly, which is not proper application for covering gray roots. Since I had to take my daughter to a doctor's appointment at noon, it was clear I would still be there for hours.
I politely asked a teacher if she could briefly guide or assist the student so the application could be finished more efficiently. Instead, she responded rudely and said, "You should know it takes 2-3 hours here because they are students."
I then asked if I could simply rinse my hair and leave since only a small amount of color had been placed near the front of my bangs. I even offered to tip both the student and the girl washing hair for their time. Instead of helping resolve the situation, the teacher ignored me and went over to the student, who ended up crying.
Another teacher then approached me in a very aggressive manner and demanded that I still pay for the service, even though the color was only applied 2 centimeters on front of band when I needed entire head the service was never completed. The issue isn't the $22 price -- it's the fact that I was being told to pay for a service that was not performed while staff refused to even rinse the color from my hair.
I have worked in the beauty industry myself as an esthetician in high-end spas, and the lack of professionalism and customer service from the instructors was shocking. Students should be supported and guided, not made to cry in front of clients.
Before leaving, I hugged the student, tipped her $10, and reassured her she was doing a good job. Thankfully another student at the wash station was kind enough to rinse my hair, and I tipped her $5.
The students seemed kind and eager to learn, but the instructors were rude, dismissive, and completely unprofessional. I would not recommend this school. read more