I am reviewing this business as a client/customer (not a student):…read more
I was skeptical about trying out this school based on the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had a wonderful experience and I was satisfied with my hair cut.
I called and scheduled an adult haircut and style for a weekday evening. I was told the students arrive at 5:45p, so my appointment was scheduled for 6pm. I wasn't sure how the appointments worked, thinking maybe they were first come first serve, with all clients arriving at 6p, so I showed up at 5:45p to be the first arrival (which I was). Upon checking in and filling out a form, I sat and waited for my student to come out and get me, which was about 6:10pm. I was told that the student they had originally scheduled me with didn't show up, so they had to re-assign me.
She showed me over to the chair, asked me a few basic hair questions and then took me to the wash station. My hair was shampooed twice and conditioned once. I was at the wash station for probably 15min getting a thorough wash.
I learned from my student (Liza) that she is half way through the program with over 700hrs completed. This being my first time, I assumed I would be getting a student near graduation. Therefore, Liza was still taking a lot of instruction from Miss Penny, her instructor. The overall time I was there was 1.5hrs. This was for a wash, 2 inch hair cut with layers, and a style. I believe there were 4 children and 4 adult clients while I was there. There were two instructors helping those 8 students. Miss Penny did a great job instructing Liza on my hair. Correcting her when needed and praising her when she did well. Miss Penny would usually make one or two cuts to instruct Liza, watch as she did a few cuts herself, then Miss Penny would go on to help another student and return to check progress and answer questions Liza may have.
Once Liza started styling my hair, I was able to get more information about how the school is run. She informed me that there are daytime students and evening students. Daytime students work 8hrs shifts M-F and these students are mostly straight out of high school (younger). The evening students work 4hr shifts M-Th evenings and Sat mornings. They are usually more mature age and work FT jobs elsewhere during the day. If they are not assigned a client during their shift, then they receive their hours by working on mannequin heads.
I was very nervous about going into a beauty school and having a student work on my hair, but the overall experience turned out just fine and I am satisfied with my hair cut. I will be returning.
Their pricing on services and products are well below anywhere else. A bottle of Matrix shampoo was $12, and my wash, cut and style was $12. Tipping the students is not mandatory, but if done, it must be in cash. Saturdays are walk-ins only, but once each student has a client, walk ins are cut off, so get there when they open at 9am! Most students only get one client for the day.
I would recommend going in the evening hours, as it is less busy, less chaotic, and has more mature students.