Lawrence knows his business, best hair cut ever! Lovely atmosphere in the salon. Love that he brings his super cute pup to the salon.

Simply said ... the best hair cut I've ever had ... and I'm mot a teenager so have had more than my fair share of haircuts! It is also a pleasure and fun to spend time with Lawrence. read more

I rarely leave negative reviews of businesses, but I feel like I must share information about a very aggressive interaction I recently had with Lawrence outside of his salon. I live directly across the street from Tips, and this past Friday a friend from out of town drove to Boston to visit me. She was idling in the bus stop outside of Tips with her hazard lights on for no longer than a couple of minutes waiting for me to run out and help her find visitor parking. As I walked to my friends car, Lawrence began yelling at my friend to get out to the bus stop, and she apologized to Lawrence and said that she was watching to ensure a bus was not coming. I spoke up at this moment and apologized, telling him that we would be leaving immediately. Lawrence continued being aggressive towards us despite my continuous statements that we were leaving, and as we pulled away from the bus stop, he told us that he "Hoped we had a bad night". I was stunned, and responded that I lived in the neighborhood, to which he responded "Good you are NEVER welcome at my salon". Honestly, I couldn't believe how downright rude and disrespectful he was in this situation. As a business owner in front of his own salon, I was shocked that he would speak this way, especially given I live directly across the street from Tips. Overall, this situation was very unfortunate and has made me feel extremely awkward in my own neighborhood. My partner and I plan to share this story with our friends and neighbors, as we could never recommend a salon with such a disrespectful owner. read more

After work last Wednesday, I had an appointment at a new salon to get my hair colored, something was desperately needed. Tips in the South End is so named because they don't accept them! It is a cozy, two floor salon with hardwood floors and the funniest two male salon owners ever! One of them has an adorable white bulldog which is actually the reason I stopped to make an appointment in the first place. I was seated and had my consultation, then was offered wine! With a glass of red in hand, and some trashy magazines, I was quite happy with my hilarious company and comfortable seat. Paul gave me a book of color, I chose one, he explained the process and the expected outcome, and we were on our way. He was very sweet, quick, and thorough. I have not been this happy with the outcome in a VERY long time. And it was super cheap for Boston, only $75. For the quality of the work and the relaxing experience, they could definitely be charging more! It was a good way to end another not so great day. read more

I switched to Tips from Athena in the Back Bay, and I have had two appointments with Tips this year. Both were fantastic- at Tips, you feel like you are getting your hair cut and colored by two friends of yours who happen to be incredibly talented stylists. They make you feel at home. Also, they have an adorable bulldog named Captain who spends most of his days at the salon, which is enough to make anyone want to stop by! I have been particularly happy about my highlights with Tips- they look extremely natural, and the guy who does the highlights is willing to spend as much time as necessary to make them look perfect- even if you're just getting a partial. Also, because they don't accept tips, the price ends up being about 20% less than most local high end salons. I would HIGHLY recommend Tips to anyone who's thinking about going! read more

So, I used to go out to Worcester to get my hair cut & colored b/c I'm very very particular and hard to please. About a year ago, my mom started going to Tips & got me a gift certificate. I was unsure about going, but went anyway and am so glad I did! Lawrence (not Larry) gave me the best haircut I've had in a decade while I drank cocoa with homemade marsh mellows his partner made and Paul did a kick ass job on my color. Despite earlier reviews, Paul knows what he's doing. He perfectly matched the color from my old salon and left me with beautifully highlighted hair! I won't let anyone else color my hair. I always leave this salon feeling great and looking great. I consider these guys my family and look forward to hanging out and catching up when I get my hair done. Great job guys! Big hugs and see you soon! :O) read more

Wonderful!!! I always enjoy the time I spend here. Lawrence is truly an expert in cutting hair, he does a really great job that makes me come here every 40 days for a hair cut! I highly recommend this salon.. read more

Lawrence is a total gem. His customer service philosophies and business model are incredible - like a spa for hair and soul! He has a single chair so he can focus on you the entire time and I gotta say, it's luxurious! He was very helpful in providing consult between a few styles I was deciding between, and was able to execute with precision. Would highly recommend!! read more

Owner promises your two cuts for $80 and then reneges on his promise these are hard times for us all but he should honor his contract

This is the best haircut I have ever had! Lawrence was wonderful! I went to the salon and requested a consult, Lawerence was able to fit me in the next day. During the consult I felt heard and appreciated Lawrence's expertise. On the day of my haircut Lawrence took his time to understand my hair and my needs. I love that I received close, individualized attention; the fact that only one customer is seen at a time, there is only one chair, is a plus! Lawrence heard me and quickly suggested cutting my hair dry; it was the beat idea! I am so happy with the result and will definitely continue getting my hair cut by Lawrence! read more

Hey, the cross-out in tips means no tips, but it also means a great haircut and a lot of fun chatter/vibes. Ok, so I was freaked by the $75.00 price, - after I tip for shampoo and operator on Newbury Street, this is about $10.00 more - so what makes it worth the price? Well, for one thing, there's the mid-cut trim. Lawrence, the main man, invites customers back for a neatening . I went, and it gave me two more weeks between cuts, so I'm not spending more - I'm just looking better. My favorite moment is when the bottle/can collector guy comes by and stops in for a Hiya (and maybe a few cans). He gets treated with respect and friendliness, just like the customers in this pretty, open space. read more

I just moved to Boston, and to the South End, in September and was hunting around for a hair salon. I had walked by Tips a few times, as it is very close to my house. After searching around I decided to try Tips. I have gone there several times now and have had great success with both haircuts AND coloring. My hair looks fantastic! Not to mention the fact that I get to enjoy a complimentary glass of wine as my hair is being done. Tips has a very relaxing atmosphere. Tell all your friends! :) read more

I have been going to Paul for over a year or more now and he is great. The color he does is so perfect and detailed people think this is my natural color. I get more compliments for my hair than is decent and Paul and Laurence treat all of the customers so well its a real pleasure to go to to the salon and relax. I actually look forward to going and its worth every penny. read more

This salon is FANTASTIC! I had the best haircut of my life there. Lawrence is so nice, listens, offers suggestions and take his time while doing your hair and blow out. They have a very relaxed atmosphere and the salon is immaculate. They use a variety of products and do not try to push anything down your throat. Aside from the fantastic service, and reasonable pricing, the dog Kaptain who chills out in the window makes it all worth while. read more

After moving up to Boston about 3 years ago from Atlanta I was tasked with the terrifying situation of having to find someone who could cut my hair just how I like it, because if not, I would look like a cross between Justin Bieber and Ellen Degeneres...yikes. After a couple failed attempts at places and 3 months going without a haircut I finally did my due diligence and landed on this place. All I can say is I deserve a pat on my own back for picking the right place, and Lawrence deserves two pats on his back for how outstanding he is. I have never had a person take so much time to understand exactly what I was going for with my haircut. He even busted out his iPad so we could determine exactly what I wanted. Next was the hair wash/head massage - amazing. Almost fell asleep! Once we got around to cutting my hair he brought me an iced tea and starting digging into my mane. Scissors, straight razor, you name it; he pulled out all the stops to get me exactly what I was going for. I walked out of that place about 2 inches taller with confidence and can't wait to come back for my next cut. You can truly tell this place is great because of how many people stopped in just to say hi to Paul and Lawrence and well you will be treated when you come in. This is a top of the class establishment. Also +100 points for the bulldog. read more

This is the best hair salon I have ever been to! Lawrence will give you the greatest cut you've ever had and Paul is an amazing colorist! Consistently beautiful haircuts! So friendly and knowledgeable! The atmosphere is laid back and very comfortable. Best salon in the south end! read more

These days, depending on where you live it can be a challenge to find a good hair salon with a barber who knows what they are doing. As a New Yorker who moved to New Hampshire 7 years ago I had a challenging time finding a hairdresser that was equally good to the one I went to in NYC. I tried a good number of salons in the part of New Hampshire I live and they all sucked. They have no artistic sense or skill. They are the type of people who could be in McDonalds flipping burgers. Luckily because I live only an hour and fifteen minutes from Boston, I tried a couple Boston salons. I was not a fan. Then, a few years ago my family and I discovered TIPS while strolling around the South End. Boy we were lucky we did! There are only two guys who work there and run the salon. One is Lawrence, the hair cutter and the other is Paul the colorist. They are both really nice guys who have a great sense of humor and are fun to be around. They love what they do, therefore, they take pride in it. They treat their job like it is an art and want there customers to go out looking good and feeling happy with their experience. The salon itself is very pleasant. It is clean and modern with big glass windows that look out onto the street while you are getting your hair done and has two floors. Then, while you are getting your hair done, Lawrence or Paul always offer you any beverage from iced tea to hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows and even a glass of wine. The price is $75 with no tip. The price may seem high but is not. It is actually a great deal because you get a free trim a month later each time you get a cut. Also, from Tuesdays-Fridays Lawrence's adorable white bulldog hangs out in the shop! One of my favorite parts about this salon! Then during the holiday season and some other times, they sell and have samples of these delicious homemade caramel candies that Lawrence's partner loves to make! Must try! In all, this salon rocks! I would definitely vote it the best hair salon in Boston! I always walk out in a good mood and with an awesome hair cut! Lawrence knows what he is doing and never messed up my hair! He always does what I ask him to do and does it perfectly, which goes the same for both my parents and sister who get their hair done there as well. If you are in Boston looking for a good hair cut, TIPS is the place. read more

*Regarding Katia's review of my review*- Believe whatever you want Yelpers, but what on earth would I gain by giving a salon a bad review? It doesn't do me any good to say nice or bad things for a salon, I just wrote what happened and felt I should warn others about my experience. I maintain that I am telling the truth, so believe me or not, it makes no difference to me. I am just here to help others make informed decisions about places in Boston. I was torn up about reviewing this place or not because my experience was so bad, I almost didn't want to write about it...but I believe it is my duty as a Yelper to tell the truth...so here goes. Long story short, I came in for a free consultation after some girls at work told me about this place. I met with Paul, the "color expert" and asked him if he could make my hair look how it did in the two photo's I brought in with me from about 2 years ago. He assured me he could, no big deal and I made my appointment for the next Saturday. Saturday I come in, get my HUGELY overpriced ($75 dollars!) hair cut from Larry and then off to Paul I go. SIX hours later, I leave in tears because my previously blond hair is now GRAY. Not just light gray either, it is black on the bottoms, white on top and brown underneath. Somehow, according to Paul, the color "expert" the low lights touched the blond in the rinsing bowl and combined with the other chemicals to create gray. Ha ha ha. I ran this theory of this past many other stylists I know (unfortunately they live out of state other wise I wouldn't have gone to this place in the first place) and they all laughed uncontrollably and told me that cant happen and he was basically trying to save his ass because he made a mistake. So I leave the salon (I was in shock at this point) and walk about 2 minutes away and call Paul to tell him I am really unhappy and I need him to fix it. Well he tells me I have to wait FOUR days, mind you, I have GRAY hair at this point and couldn't even wear it down because it was so heinous. So I wait, and go see him on Tuesday. He attempts to remove some of the black (which is mixing with the over processed blond that I will be referring to as white because no blonde was left whatsoever). It doesn't work. Then he uses a toner because the white is so white he described it as "clear." Well all this does is turn the white YELLOW so now I have yellow on top of black with brown underneath. At this point I am so fed up I leave to ask my friends their opinion. They suggest calling and asking what more he can do to fix it. So, I do and again his suggestion was humorous because it was so unhelpful. My stylist friends actually laughed again and at this point I decided he was incompetent to fix it and I needed to go somewhere else, so I ask for my money back. As if my experience wasn't bad enough at this point, they continue to make it worse. They tell me I need to come in so they can see it again before they will refund my money. Obviously I didn't want to do this because I had already been here 3 times, but I go and proceed to get yelled at by the owner Larry. He told me I needed to learn to count (because I said I had been there four times, which as your yelpers can see, this last time was the FOURTH time, he somehow only counted two times) he told me I was vain for caring about my hair and basically made me feel like shit. Finally after I just stopped replying to their antics, I got my refund. As I am about to leave, receipt in hand, hair ruined hidden in a tight bun, Larry has the nerve to say "so I guess this means you wont be back for a haircut?" HA HA HA. I will never ever go near here again and after the girls at work saw what happened to me, I can guarantee they wont be going here either. Save your money and go somewhere else. Lastly, $75 for a mediocre at best haircut is ridiculous. There are plenty of places in Boston that are nice and courteous and will not botch up your life that charge way less. On a side note, they did offer to continue trying to fix it, but my hair was so damaged by his other attempts at doing it, and it was so ugly, that I really didn't trust them to do anything anymore. However, they deserve one star for offering to fix it, even though their suggestions were ridiculous and ineffective. read more

I hate leaving negative reviews but I feel compelled to save some other person from the humiliation I experienced at this hair salon so here it goes. I can only speak to this salon's customer service, which I could summarize by just saying is rude and pretentious. I called Tips on the recommendation of a friend to schedule an appointment but was told I would need to first come in for a consultation. I was a bit wary because of the man's attitude on the phone: for instance, he offered morning and early afternoon slots on a weekday but I told him I work during the day and asked about an afternoon/evening option. His answer: "Don't you think I would've said an afternoon time if there was one available?" OK.... One week later, when I got to the salon for this five-minute consultation (which was their soonest opening), I was totally amazed at how poorly I was treated. First of all, the same gentleman I'd spoken to on the phone was by the door when I entered and made no effort to introduce himself, smile, suggest where I could leave my coat, or anything pleasant or mildly welcoming. I apologized for being a few minutes late (there was an issue with the train) but he was totally unaccommodating and dismissing, and answered with his back to me, as he walked away and said, "Well. He definitely won't be able to see you now. You'll have to reschedule. Let me just check to be sure." He proceeded to go into the other room and talk loudly to some unseen person, announcing my late arrival and even getting my name wrong. This was a little embarrassing because there was clearly another client in the other room who could hear all of this. The colorist emerged, saying he had just a few minutes to chat so we sat down to talk, me still wearing my coat(!). Meanwhile, the gentleman who I'd had all my initial interactions with, lingered in the background about seven feet away. The colorist asked, 'OK. So why did you want to schedule this consultation?" This was slightly frustrating because it implied the consultation was something I had requested. I explained, "Well, when I phoned, the person I spoke with told me I would need to come in for a consultation first, before scheduling a cut and color." As I said this, the guy across the room--who was clearly eavesdropping--exploded and rudely shouted back, "That is NOT what I said! You're getting it VERY wrong. What I suggested was that it would be BEST if you come in for a consultation so we could see your hair first." I was flabbergasted at this outburst and his general aggressive attitude towards me, laughed nervously, and continued as if I hadn't been interrupted. The colorist and I chatted for about five more minutes, I scheduled an appointment for a future date, and immediately left. I hate to admit it, but I was totally shaken by the whole experience when I got outside. I thought about getting my hair cut here in a few weeks because I enjoyed my interaction with the colorist but with the space of 24 hours to process the entire experience, I realized I just couldn't risk returning to such a toxic environment and canceled the appointment. read more

I look forward to my time at Tips...always relaxing, fun and I leave looking good. Lawrence is very skilled at both cut and color, In addition he is simply a kind and wonderful person who does a lot in his community in quiet and simple ways. read more

It has been 2 yrs since I've moved from San Francisco and finally I have found a colorist that will LISTEN to me. I've been to 3 other salons and had the top colorist turn my hair that typical new england nappy blonde. I like my hair very blonde, cool and almost white- the look of a swed- Paul listened to me, as I've only been once I am very happy and I will return. We are only on our second date so its too early to tell if he will be my colorist as I am very picky- but so far so good! Oh, and you can't beat the price 100.00- vs. 350- read more

Kudos. i really appreciate all that Lawrence and Paul have done to make this place the best salon in the South End. My experience with Lawrence as a stylist is that he listens to what you want from a haircut and now how to make it happen. I've really enjoyed being a customer there, and they come with my highest recommendation. read more

yeah, i'm reviewing a salon. what of it??! tips is run by two guys, lawrence and paul, who know how to run a business. though i'm sure this is a relatively high-end salon, they run it with almost quaint southern hospitality. they are very unassuming and welcoming and put all their clients at ease. they will offer you a drink and introduce you to their guard dog, kaptain. (not really a guard dog). lawrence cuts my hair and he does a great job. he uses scissors on almost everything and cleans the back of my neck with a straight razor. this more detail-oriented approach is a welcome departure from the hapless relieance on the clippers you'll find at more traditional barbershop guys. plus he interpets my awful attempts to describe what i'd like done and makes it happen. he's also gone beyond the call of duty in educating me on how i should be taking care of my hair, now that i'm wearing it considerably longer (hippie!!). great product + great service - cloud of arrogance - $$$$ = great business. not my formula. i've heard that's the first thing you learn at harvard's mba program. can't rec them enough. read more

I've been going to Lawrence and Paul for a few years, and realized I've never written a review. These guys are both GREAT. Lawrence does the cuts and Paul does color. It is just the 2 of them, plus of course Lawrence's bulldog Kaptain, who is a very sweet girl he has had since she was a puppy. She hangs out in the window, and it is fun to watch the passers by stop and smile at her. Anyway, I rarely have to wait, but the few times I have had to, it is a hoot to listen to the banter between the stylists and clients. Yes, they always offer wine, water, coffee, or tea. The shampoo room is down some stairs. Now for the sad part. My work has taken me out of state, so I have to find someone new. I dint want to. I try to hold off until I am back in town, but I know I'll have to find someone else and I truly do not want to. My hair looks better than ever before in my entire life. I adore both of their work. As to the unfortunate souls who have had bad experiences, I feel very sorry. Their work has always been better than expected, but I guess this proves that anyone can have a bad day. I have never had anything bad happen there, and I trust them both totally to make my long hair look healthy and lush. Obviously, I recommend this place wholeheartedly. Say hi to Kaptain for me! read more

Paul and Lawrence are the best. I have been going to them for over five years and they both consistently do good work. And, they have a cute dog. read more

I have been a client at Tips since 2009 and I think this is the best hair salon on earth. I moved out of the South End but I am still returning every 4 months for my hair cut even though its a longer hike for me. Lawrence is wonderful and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. I just had my third child and even though I had no time for a hair cut in 5+ months, I still get compliments on my cut. I can only highly recommend this place (and I agree that they have the world's cutest bulldog)! read more