About 2 and a half years ago, I was driving down Main Street with a head full of split ends and bangs down past my nose. I was desperate for a cut and a style, as I was going to Chicago for the weekend with my friends and didn't want to look like a cat who had just been dropped in a bathtub. Without an appointment, I wandered into the Salon, pleaded my case, and they got me in right at that moment! Kari cut my hair that day and I can say that since then, no one has touched the hairs on my head. I only briefly explained to her what I wanted and to my delight, she made it happen. The staff is always nice and in high spirits. They all seem to get along with each other. One thing you will notice when going to the Salon is that the staff all seem to know their clients very well. They are very personable and always focused on their client. The products they use are top of the line and really great. They always make my hair feel so strong and healthy. They also have a very nice selection of cosmetics and will help you pick out shades and products. While I don't have any children, I've seen several kids come in for a cut, and would recommend the Salon to someone with kids. I've mostly seen Josh doing kids cuts and he is so good with them. He makes them feel comfortable and makes jokes with them. I've even heard him tell children that the products he is putting in their hair (mostly detangling spray after washing) is magic. While it's definitely not the place to go if you don't want to drop a pretty penny, I always recommend the Salon to people and will continue to come back for every haircut. read more

Alan at The Salon transformed my sad lifeless hair into beautiful locks I can't wait to show off! I will be returning again because I had such a great experience! read more

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I visited the Salon on Dec 15, 2018 to get my hair done for graduation. I have really long, poofy, and thick hair, which is why I did not want to attempt to style my own hair. Karissa Welch was my stylist and she was amazing! In the past it has taken 3 hours to curl my hair, but Karissa had my hair curled and styled all within an hour! My curls also stayed in place for the rest of the day. I highly recommend coming here for any styling needed for special occasions. read more

I've came two times to The Salon for different services and both times I've been pleasantly surprised. The first time I gave myself horrible bangs and Alan was able to fix them up at no charge; the second time I went, I got my brows done and Andrea did a great job! read more

Not even close to what I wanted I asked for caramel blonde and got green brown with some white stripes on top then sent me on my way without blow drying my hot so I didn't even know the damage done until I got home. To top it off, they wouldn't refund me my money but rather said I could come in and they'd fix it. No thanks!! read more

If I can give negative score, I will. This is my first time getting hair cut here. I gave her the photo of the hairstyle I want. She said that it is really easy. And I warned her be careful and the style fades to one side and have many layers. Because I had that haircut in other place before. When she first used the clipper, I knew I am screwed. She cutting me like cutting her home garden' grass without even thinking. After she finished, she think it's good. But my look sucks and it is completely different than the pic that I showed to her. Be careful if you are trying to get a truly good man hair style. I gotta take some time to get a new cap. Peace. read more

I love the staff at the Salon! They're friendly and not judgmental when I come in after work, tired, gross, & split ends up to my ears. The salon itself has a clean, modern feel that's reflects the quality of their stylists. Their pricing is appropriate for the service you receive. I was referred by a friend to see Allie H. & I've been recommending her to other friends ever since. I highly recommend this place, and have only recommended the Salon on Main when anyone asks me for stylist suggestions in Ames. I won't go anywhere else. read more

If you have curly hair, I must warn you: DON'T GO TO JOSH. When I called The Salon to set up an appointment, I had asked for a stylist who had experience cutting curly hair. They recommended Josh. When I arrived at The Salon, my hair was very long - at least 12 inches. I explained to Josh that I wanted an asymmetrical haircut where it would be longer on one side of my face than the other when parted on the side. I know that's an odd request, but it's what I wanted. I told Josh that I wanted my hair to be thinned, but not noticeably layered. I also told him that I wanted my hair (the longest part of it) to be about an inch or two BELOW my shoulders. He was very nice, seemed to be listening, and started cutting. I'll skip the part where I worriedly watched him part my hair down the middle (no! I want to part it on the side!) and layer it to death. My attitude was, he is a professional; I am just going to let him do his thing. BAD. IDEA. When he had finished cutting, he picked up my mortal enemy, the diffuser. He asked if I ever used one. I told him no, that I preferred to let it air dry. When I walked out of The Salon I looked like Tina Turner (which I cannot pull off). My hair, when dry, was ABOVE MY CHIN. It was a bob. There was no difference in length: both sides had been cut to the same length and worst of all, it was shorter in the back. I mean, I had maybe an inch of hair in the back. And it was so layered that it just looked like a puffy ball. I was mortified. After a week, I went to a great salon to fix it. If you can, go to Blondies in Des Moines. When Ansley (who is wonderful) was cutting/fixing my hair he was astounded by the 'bad' haircut I was given. Not only was it nothing like what I had asked for, it was uneven and sloppy. He was pretty shocked that this had been a haircut by a professional. I have never left a bad Yelp review, and I was still mulling over if I should, when I ran into a curly-haired friend in Ames. She noticed that my hair was way shorter, and I told her my story. That's when she told me, HER BEAUTIFUL CURLY HAIR HAD BEEN MUTILATED BY JOSH AS WELL! He didn't listen. He cut it way too short, and she had to wear a hat or not go out in public for weeks. We both agreed, the people have to know! So here it is people: don't go to Josh if you have curly hair! read more

The friendly staff and people made me feel extremely welcomed! In fact, it was a really nice visit, and at $25 for haircut and style, you really can't beat it. However, if you're looking for something transformative or just "jump out of your seat" spectacular, then I was not as impressed. I got an average quality, "template" haircut, which made me look frumpy, honestly, for several weeks before it grew out. My stylist was extremely friendly, but I did not feel that she had enough skill to handle my hair (nor did she really handle my hair - something that surprised me, since I am used to other salons who really look at how your hair grows, and how it flows before they cut it). To me, this salon is great for someone who wants a quick cut, with great service and friendly staff. It's not a place I'd recommend for the "OH BUT YES, THIS IS ME" kind of haircut, however. read more

The only reason why I'm doing a review here is because The Salon has gotten me fed up twice in a row! The first incident, I had requested an appointment and I never received a confirmation from them. The day of I wanted the appointment I called them to see what was happening with it and the front desk told me that someone saw it requested but never confirmed it. They weren't accommodating at all on fitting me in when I was not in the wrong. I requested an appointment doing what they asked me to do online. THEN, I scheduled an eyebrow appointment at a certain time with them. I'm parked, and they called me 10 minutes before my appointment asking me if I could wait another hour and 45 minutes because the person is behind on her hair appointments and I told them I'm already parked outside and front desk said, "well if you want to wait, we can't help you until this time." THIS WAS JUST BS. I don't think I'll be coming here anymore. read more

First time going here I had a cut. It was just to get rid of dead ends. Went well. That was a year ago. My last two appointments were less than great. I went for a cut and color. (Don't remember the stylist's name, but she was blonde, stationed closest to the door). I asked for an ombré color and a V-cut, maybe some layers. I waited a quite a while before seeing the stylist. All went well. The color was okay. She added strands of highlights thought. I didn't ask for it, but it looks good. The cut, I couldn't tell. She curled my (naturally pin-straight) hair. When I got home, my curls straightened out and I could see mistakes made with color. There were blobs of blonde up high and abrupt color change from blonde to my natural hair (dark brown). There were no layers and no V-cut. I scheduled another appointment. She fixed the color. The cut... Still no V or layers and my hair doesn't match up in the front. The right side is longer with shorter strands to frame my face. The left is longer and no strands to frame my face. She didn't check my hair after cutting it. And my locks were heavy and plastered to my head. Needless to say, I won't be going back. read more

The Salon In Ames - Uneven and chunks of "layering" under my chin. - Hair Salons Near Me - Ames, Iowa

terrible customer service. made an appointment online with them a week in advance. they called me 20 minutes before my appointment, day of, and told me there was a schedule mix up and couldn't fit me in. told me the only next day they could fit me in was in another week. I told them that wouldn't work and they HUNG UP ON ME!! rudest encounter ever! I cannot believe they canceled on me 20 minutes before my appointment. In utter awe right now of how rude they were to me. Do not use this company!! read more

Loved my experience at The Salon! Everyone was so wonderful and welcoming. Not only did I leave looking great, I left feeling great, all thanks to Allie! She gave me EXACTLY what I wanted and I love it! I will definitely be back to see her in the future. read more

Recently my sister-in-law and I took our three daughters to the salon so they could get their hair done for a wedding. Two of the girls were the flower girls and they decided they wanted their hair up. My sister-in-law paid $32 for my niece's up-do, which is very reasonable. I paid $69 for my daughter's up-do which I think was way overpriced!!!! I believe the only difference was they had different stylists. I'm sorry, but $69 for a little girl's hair-do is ridiculous! And, it didn't even stay until the wedding. I had to fix it several times before pictures and before the wedding. Needless to say I was very disappointed. read more

I will never go back! I went to this Salon 4 times trying to decide if I was going to make it my new salon after moving to Ames from Des Moines. My first few appointments were okay, nothing spectacular about the service or final product, but after the 4th time, I decided I would NEVER go back. For this 8 AM appointment, Amy Derrig was my stylist. I showed up right at 8 and she had me wait for her boyfriend to arrive, so she could shave him before she took me. I thought that was kind of odd, since I was a paying customer, but was okay with it. When she started waxing my eyebrows she kept complaining to me about how after me she didn't have another appointment until 4:00 PM. I sympathized with her.. but she wouldn't drop it. It made me really uncomfortable and I felt like she was annoyed she had to come in to cut my hair and wax my eyebrows. When I called to make the appointment I did not request her, the receptionist just assigned her. After waxing my eyebrows, she washed my hair. While she was doing this, more employees started arriving. She kept talking to them through the glass and making faces. By this point I was really annoyed. Then we went on to the haircut. She did an okay job on the haircut, until it came to my bangs. I have side swept bangs and she totally butchered them. She sectioned my hair off really weird when she was cutting them, so they never turn out right when I blow dry my hair. I will never go back. read more

There are many reasons to love The Salon - the staff is super friendly, they use Bumble and Bumble products, it's located downtown - but I've sadly gotten some pretty awful haircuts there. When I first called for an appointment about two years ago, I asked for someone with lots of experience cutting curly hair. The receptionist assured me that Josh would be a great fit. At the first appointment, I told him what I wanted - just a trim, minimal length off. It was difficult to tell exactly how much he cut off until I got home. My hair was a good 3 to 4 inches shorter. I didn't mind so much because it was summer and I could still pull my hair back. A couple of months later, I went back and made the same request - just a trim, minimal length off. Again, he took off several inches. I made the mistake of going back several more times because I genuinely like Josh and thought he'd eventually give me the cut I wanted. I even brought in photos of previous cuts that I had and loved, but to no avail. My hair kept getting shorter and shorter with each visit. The first time I had to go back to get the cut adjusted should have been a warning that maybe I should find another stylist...but I went back two more times after that. (I should mention that they also made me pay for the adjustment.) At my last appointment, Josh gave me a really weird blunt cut that my curls didn't like at all. So I went back for him to fix it (again, telling him I didn't want any length off), and he completely butchered my hair. It was full and layered on top, and tapered and really thinned out at the bottom. I went home to wash and style it myself to see if I could make it work, but it was horrible. I cried for hours. I let my hair grow out for a few months before braving another trip to a hair salon, this time in Des Moines. At my first appointment, the stylist was shocked at how my hair had been cut, especially the strange thin/tapered pieces at the bottom. To fix it, she had to take off about three inches. Again, I went home and cried, not because she gave me a terrible cut (she didn't) but because my hair was now shorter than it had been in about six years. I am so disappointed with my experience at The Salon and would caution anyone who has curly hair to think twice before going there for a hair cut. For other services, though, I'm sure they're great. read more