Aveda Institute New York

For those leaving bad reviews: You are not the highest paying client there, the students are. The students are learning. You sign a waiver acknowledging you are putting your hair at risk for an unlicensed future cosmetologist to perform a service on you. This is something you are consenting too. The service may be bad because there is a low tolerance for people trying to dispute this concept after the fact. So if you do not want to risk a student making a mistake, bite the bullet and go pay a professional.

I don't understand the bad reviews for this salon. I had such and amazing time. From start to finish Justin made sure that I felt comfortable in the chair and was very patient with me when I was deciding on how to style my cut. I loved how he explained to me what he was doing every step of the way and he was so meticulous with every detail. The service its self was great, and SO cheap I was shocked for the quality of service I recieved. I would totally recommend returning and I can't wait when I'm back in the city to come again

Do not go here. Unprofessional doesn't even scratch the surface of the low level service you will get here. It is incredibly difficult for me to understand how Aveda even stays in business. Twice now, I have had my simple haircut appointment rescheduled -- as in they called to bump me. Because they're scheduling is so awful and constantly unavailable, the rescheduled time/day was literally weeks out. I took special time off from my job to accommodate it. Why? Because I've had great experiences at other Aveda institutes in other cities. They called me two days prior very late (8 p.m. at night) to confirm my Saturday appointment. What happens on the day of the appointment? They call less than an hour before said appointment and say they can't handle the service and have to cancel. I call back wanting to know what happened and was given the run around. The receptionist told me that they can't promise to honor any appointment and regularly overbook their appointments -- not unlike certain airlines that do the same. I was literally in transit when they decided to call to cancel. I was not offered any kind of reimbursement or rescheduling date or anything. Just excuses, excuses, excuses. Whatever happened to common decency? Basic consideration for someone else's time and obligations? We're expected to give them adequate notice when we can't make an appointment -- which is the considerate, respectful thing to do -- but doing the same is somehow beneath them. All this tells me is that I dodged a bullet. If this is how they handle scheduling and basic customer service, I can only imagine the terrible quality of their students and the services they offer.

BUYER BEWARE PSA!!!! I went back and forth with myself a lot on if I should leave a review about this, but unfortunately, I think it's best I warn others who may be looking to get their hair done here ESPECIALLY blondes. Now, I know what you may be thinking, "Why would you go to Aveda Institute to get your hair done?" well i'll tell you why. I've been going to Aveda Institute for a looooong time. I moved from Atl to Nyc and needed a trustworthy place to get my hair done, so i went back to my roots as you might say lol. When I was going to the ATL location, they always did an absolutely outstanding job on my hair, I never had a single complaint. Now let's dive into my most recent experience here that has left my hair in utter disarray. I went in last Wednesday for a full foil, cut, and tone. I showed them a reference photo knowing it was probably not possible, but the color was what I was really looking for. A bright blonde. I was totally fine having some roots, but I definitely wanted to eliminate as much brown as possible. The first time I went in (last Wednesday, the first photo pictured), I left really happy with my hair! It was a gorgeous ashy blonde which isn't what I had exactly asked for, but I was totally ok with it. The roots still needed some help, so we scheduled for me to come in this past Wednesday..... I came in super excited to get everything finished. But oh man........its bad. My hairdresser added more foils on my roots and toned it and I dont know where it went wrong...but it went WRONG. When the stylist cut my hair, I asked for defined layers and was left with just an overall horrible cut that was also shorter than what I was initially expecting. The highlights are choppy and do not blend at all, the cut is bad, the brassy ring around my head is awful....I left and got home and saw the back of my hair and literally cried. I reached out to the stylist who did my hair and they said "some toner will fix it". I don't know what went wrong from the first two photos to the most recent photo which I took immediately when I got home from my appointment this past Wednesday. You're going to need more than toner to fix this mess :') I dont know how anyone let me leave with my hair in this state. No superviser approved the final product as they did the previous time. It's ruined and I had to desperately seek out a new salon to fix the damage they've done. This was not what I was prepared for especially since all of my past visits have been so positive. I warn people to be careful when coming here. Don't end up making a mistake like I did.

I go to school here. the school is nice staff are friendly.

Do yourself a favor and take your money to another school. This review is your sign to NOT go here! Listen to me good don’t come to this school! This school is the worst! The environment is hostile! The rules are unnecessary and uptight ! You can go to another school and have a better experience. Most of The teachers are so rude! Honestly just rude and so is most of the staff. Imagine a rude teacher that doesn’t even know how to do what they teaching you! If you think you don’t care and want a detailed education that’s still not this school! They should honestly be shut down!!! They only care about you doing guest hair and making money for them. There is no makeup hours at this school so god forbid you get sick or have anything going on , you will have all those hours added on at the end. The kits they give you are not worth the price and most things are already broken! My whole class had broken clippers that were never used, and they didn’t give us new ones or give us our money back. Then some of the items given in the kit are not state board approved! So you have to go and spend more money to get the right items to take your board. The late policy at this school is also trash. If you one minute late they sending you home! So let’s say the trains had a delay or something happen they don’t care they will send you home! Please just do yourself a favor and pick another school! You will hate your life if you come to this institution! I could keep going about how terrible this school is but I’m gonna just end it here but trust i could keep going !

The Esthiology Educator, Gisela González has shown academic dishonesty by helping students cheat on all and I mean all of the test! This is no way to challenge your brain in the studies of Esthetics. She is a lazy teacher lol! The students will “never” fulfill the clinical hours although it is falsely printed in their contracts that you will. Clinical is the only way to independently learn without the teachers. If you want an easy way out, go to Aveda Institute, otherwise challenge yourself..

I got an appointment around 6PM, the evening class. I've never been there during the evening hours and was surprised how different the atmosphere was and the tone of instructors and students. But I had been there several times before during the daytime and left with pretty good results so I was willing to try. My student was young and very unsure of herself. I had a grown out shag that grew about 3" below my shoulders. I just wanted it shortened to just below the shoulders and have the layers refreshed. I brought several photos to make sure the student and instructor knew what type of look I wanted. I left there with a frumpy bob that not even the student knew how to style. It was disaster! And to make matters worse the instructor kept cutting it shorter in a last ditch attempt to fix it despite the fact that I told her I didn't want bangs she cut them anyway! The length was mid-neck -- the awkward length short hair becomes while it's growing out -- there's not much that can be done with hair at that length. It looks horrible and I told the student and instructor that it wasn't at all what I asked for. She didn't even know how to dry it nor did she use any product to try to style it. I ended up leaving with a mushroom head awkward bob that totally sucks! I won't go back there. It's the holidays and I have a horrible hairstyle that people I don't see all year long will see. I'm just embarrassed by the whole result. It'll take a year for it to grow back to the length I wanted. I'm just so angry about the whole sad experience. The instructor should have been teaching her but wasn't available half the time. And when I told her I didn't like the result she just told me in a flippant way that "there wasn't much there to begin with". I have thick hair and it was long. She lopped it off too short too soon leaving nothing to work with. Everyone who knows how to cut hair is familiar with the "shag". You know you need to leave length in the back to build layers over. The instructor nor student seemed to know the basics of that classic haircut. To add insult to injury I received a text from Aveda the following day asking for a review. I was frank and to the point about my disappointment. I received another text telling me to call the number so that one of the Aveda specialists could make good on the bad experience. When I called the number it was a marketing scheme to sell personal emergency alarm devices! Aveda sold my personal information to some marketing company! The nerve! I never authorized them to share my information. I will never go back to Aveda nor will I ever do business with them again!

Spontaneously stopped in Aveda School NYC on Spring St. for a holiday season facial. They were able to take me right away without an appointment. The atmosphere was welcoming--low light, soft music, other students & clients speaking quietly. The instructor welcomed me right away, and was nearby to consult on my treatment. My student aesthetician Karen Caba was wonderful--gentle, kind, attentive, positive, and professional. My face is clean & glowing. I am so grateful for her time & service, and asked if I could leave her a review to support her career--and this is it! Thanks Karen, good luck in all you do, and Happy Holidays to you & your colleagues at Aveda.

I had a service with Nathalie Ainoa she was perfect!! She very nice hairstylist and was very informative I liked her service ✅