Douglas J Aveda Institute Salon

I’m really glad I decided to come here to get a haircut. I just happened to want to try something new and bleach my hair as well, which I’ve never done before. For a men’s cut + double process, it came out to be 63 $. That’s a great price for the services I received.
I’d like to say that the student I was assigned and the instructor were extremely professional and knew what they were doing. They always ask you what you want them to do with your hair and any ideas you may have. I brought a picture to show them my past haircut, which definitely helped.
The student and instructor worked together to figure out my thick, layered Asian hair which is quite difficult for a lot of salons and they did really well, trimming the layers slowly so the length would be up to my standards. Better safe than sorry, and I really appreciated that!
As for the color, I had some idea of what I wanted, but not exactly sure. I simply knew I wanted the color on half of my hair and asked them for advice. They gave me some ideas to think about and I went with one I thought would turn out rather nicely, and it did. I have very dark hair, and a lot of it. I was impressed by how well they bleached my hair and how evenly it turned out. There was no spotting and the transition from my ‘normal’ hair to the bleached part was smooth. The instructor always came to check up on the student’s work, and very regularly. I’ve read reviews where people talk about having the instructor check twice, but that was not the case for me.
I appreciated the genuine care the instructor and student both had for the outcome of what I wanted and overall the service was just so great. I was very impressed in the Institute. On top of the price, which was again, excellent, they use high quality professional hair products. I was also very impressed by how they handled my thick Asian hair and wanted to put that here so that people searching around for that in the area can know that Aveda Institute does a great job at a great price.
I will update with the student that cut my hair if I get permission to do so. I will also update with pictures of my hair once I get a hold of good ones.

As a school, Douglas J Aveda is horrendous. My cohort there was the most dysfunctional bunch of kids you ever want meet and the teachers claimed they could not control them. I had items snatched, stolen, my bags thrown on the floor when I went to the bathroom, and a girl tried to trip me as I walked down the classroom aisle. When reported to the teachers I was told, «We know– think about what WE have to put up with!» and, «We can’t control these kids.» Despite a decent cosmetology education, it was a sad excuse of an educational institution. Several of the students (the one who said himself to the whole class that he came to school drunk every day) should have been expelled to send a message to the rest but quite the opposite happened. (All the women there– instructors included seemed to be mesmerized by this handsome idiot). The old battle axe who ran the place was utterly miserable and probably responsible for the overall dysfunctionality of the place. If you must enroll– BE CAREFUL and remember: Report them to the State of Michigan if you are expected to put up with abuse and/​or any type of bullying which is against all education codes. Get witness statements as well because they will try to turn it around on you. I was not the only person dealing with very weird stuff there.

If you’re looking to get good salon services at rock-​bottom prices, have extra time, and don’t care much about ambiance, Douglas J Institute is the bomb.
I got a full dye (my first ever!), as well as a cut and conditioning treatment for $ 73. I had to pay a little extra because of how long my hair is. You cannot beat that price anywhere. And it looks great.
It took quite a while, but that’s partly a good thing! The student who did my hair was very meticulous and made sure to check in with her educator at every step. The only downside to working with a student is if you’re like me and have no idea what you want to do with your hair and don’t know what would look good, they don’t have enough experience yet to help you with that.
The salon is clearly a school, and not a ton of room between chairs. They do offer tea or water, which is nice.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you go elsewhere, you’re going to be paying for a fancy ambiance and a faster service. That’s not worth double the price.

Great for a haircut… you can’t beat 16 bucks… BUT NOT FOR COLOR.
The instructor overseeing my case was clearly annoyed with me from the start – which is odd since all I had were a few questions since I am not a big hair person… just looking for a change. She had WAY too many students under her that night and made me feel rushed. I will spare her name. The highlights were chunky and the color was off. Some started, I kid you not, about an inch from my scalp — looking like it needed a touch-​up the moment I got home! I went to a salon for a consultation on how to fix it and they were blown away by how bad it was. Yes, the girls and guys are learning, but the instructors should be on top of them for these types of things. She was so glad to get me out of there because it was taking so long. The poor girls need to get each step «approved» and this takes forever… which I would be okay with IF THE INSTRUCTORS HAD GIVEN GOOD INSTRUCTION IN THE FIRST PLACE. Now I am paying for this to be fixed elsewhere. They would fix it for free, but no way. Trust is lost.

The other 2 reviews on here point out that Victoria is what the world of hair and cosmetology needs. I came here not really knowing what I was going to do. Half way through she was like, «why don’t we do a fade?» Victoria explained what she wanted to do and I went with it. Great decision!
She was awesome and cared about making it look great. She showed me some of her other work and she’s very talented. Seen her twice already and I recommend her to anyone! Go see Victoria if you want a great hair stylist!

For the price this cannot be beaten. If you have an hour to burn (maybe longer if you’re a woman), then the $ 16 price is unbeatable. It’s fun to chat with the students as they work on you, and they use high-​end Aveda products in the process, leaving you feeling fresh and smelling nice.

I always come here to get my hair cut. Overall, they are very good, but it can really depend on who you get. I’ve had girls a couple times who were on their first day or first week working and they can be too timid. I would suggest Aveda for every simple haircut you need, because you can’t beat the price. But for anything more dramatic, I would go somewhere else. They charged me $ 100 for simple highlights, and I could have gone to a professional for not that much more money.

The WORST pedicure I’ve ever had. Poor experience, bumpy polish and the capper: the nail polish fell off of four entire nails by 3 days after the service. Not only that, but they can’t refund me the money, and instead have just offered a complimentary (and probably super crappy) student massage. I paid $ 37 to feel super frustrated and crappy. Never, ever, ever again!

Crap shoot as to your experience here depending on who you get to do your hair. My nearly complete with her stint there hairdresser should probably begin a do over because she was not good and I’m scheduling an appt at a real salon because I just can’t take how it turned out. She didn’t seem confident and thought it looked good when I did not. I then had her blow it straight as opposed to leaving it curly. Beyond her lacking abilities as a stylist was just her plain ignorance of the salon itself. Just general questions she didn’t know the answers to — like how long had this Aveda Institute been in Ann Arbor and such. This is a relationship and unless you have a pretty simple hairstyle, you should probably just find a salon and stylist you like and cultivate that relationship with them so they understand you and your hair.

Usually my experiences with student and staff is great so I’m rating based on that but I have had some bad trips. Cheap prices with a spa like atmosphere. You have to be prepared for the service to last long than you think because of the nature of it being a beauty school. If you sign up for the text messages you can get some great deals.

I was a little nervous after reading some of the reviews, but I had a great experience. I recently moved to Ann Arbor and have been surprised by the steep haircut prices. A $ 16 haircut is unbeatable. I asked for a trim and got a better haircut than some that I have received in recent years. There is a lot going on in the salon and it is fun to watch.
I received a scalp and a hand massage before my hair was washed and conditioned. My stylist, Victoria, was very thorough in assessing my hair and deciding the best course of action. It is nice that an instructor participates in the consultation portion and checks the work of the student twice. They do try to sell their products at the end but are not pushy. Overall, I would recommend to others who don’t mind taking a risk and/​or are trying to save money.

I rarely leave reviews, but my salon experience this morning at the Institute far exceeded my expectations.
We recently moved to A2 from the west coast, and my hair was due for a cut. I decided to check out the Institute because of their reasonable prices despite the mixed Unilocal reviews, and tacked on a color job too.
My cut and color service was impeccable! I’m often only 80% satisfied after walking out of salons because I’m extremely particular about how I want things. Victoria and her instructor Kate completely got the look I wanted and delivered 110%. I asked for subtle balagye highlights, and BAM they made it happen. I LOVE LOVE my new highlights!
I may have «lucked out» since Victoria is at the end of her training, but I didn’t notice any unhappy clients leaving the salon nor did I see nervous/​unprofessional students. Everyone seemed polite, attentive, and meticulous in their work. Not to mention EFFICIENT. I have no idea why other reviewers said their appointments took 3+ hrs. My cut and color took 2 hrs, and that’s just because the specific color line they used on me needed to formulate for 40 mins.
Bottom line: I will definitely visit again.

I come to the Aveda institute a few times a year to get my hair trimmed because it is so cheap! A shampoo, cut and a blowout is $ 16, and if you receive their text messages they usually have $ 5 coupons.
The experience is usually a hit or miss, you may get a student who is talkative and confidant in their work, or a student who is still nervous with the cutting scissors. For the price though, I can’t complain. The risk factor is that you have a student cutting your hair, they may be supervised by a licensed professional, but at the end of the day you are their learning process.
The only service I would seek from the institute is a trim, I would never get a drastic amount of hair cut off. I usually ask for ¼th of an inch off, however I have had times where they cut off an inch. Thankfully, I have long hair that grows back quick so this is not an issue for me.
If you want a top-​notch haircut, do not go here. There are many other salons to choose from.

I got an eyebrow wax here a few months ago. The woman who brought me upstairs was great, confident, beautiful, charming, knowledgeable — but then passed me off to a young man who didn’t seem confident in his ability to do a simple eyebrow wax. I know it’s a school where students are learning, but his insecurity took away from the ‘I’m being pampered’ feeling and turned it into an ‘I’m being experimented upon’ feeling. The final wax was fine, thank god — but I was worried. Okay experience.

I’ve gotten my hair done at Aveda twice now, and won’t be going back. The first time I went in for a cut and a color. The cut was ok, but the stylist who tried to give me an ombré was clearly unfamiliar with the technique and instead gave me something more like poorly placed highlights. The color definitely doesn’t look great, but its not so terrible that I wanted to shell out any more money to fix it elsewhere.
Recently I went back to try a different stylist. She told me she was one of the instructors rather than a student and I have to say I was horribly disappointed. The main portion of my hair isn’t bad but I asked for long bangs, something more along the lines of a thicker face framing layer than actual bangs, and provided several pictures for reference. The result is much too short, and poorly cut; it looks terrible! Additionally, she was not personable in the slightest and I felt kind of uncomfortable the entire time I was there. I don’t expect to chat the entire time (nor do I try to) but she seemed extremely disinterested and bored talking to me when she did.

I love this place! You definitely cannot beat $ 16 for a women’s haircut, and the service is great. They start you off with a quick scalp massage, and a licensed staff reviews everything each step of the way. I’m absolutely in love with their Botanical Hair Treatments, and I always check their Facebook page for complementary add on specials.

Sometimes it takes a little longer than a regular salon because they’re students, but the instructors go over their work before they style and again before you leave. I have gone several times, and have only had to go back once… that was more for my brows than my hair. I even take my 9 year old daughter for her hair, and she has crazy thick mixed hair.

I first got introduced to the Aveda Institute from my cousin who frequented the one in East Lansing. I was really pleased with my haircut/​trim from the Royal Oak location and ended up frequenting this location quite a few times.
The past few times I’ve gone, their services have been sub-​par.
I had a student run out of time and leave for a bus before my hair was done (longest appointment of my life). I went into the salon because my hair was too orange, and I wanted it to be brown. When I left, it was MORE orange. Oh well. The haircut was fine, however. The appointment was over 3 hours long and there was a lot of unnecessary waiting.
I went back for a haircut the day before my birthday, and the student got impatient or was rushed for time
Haircuts are long, but decent. Color is a grab bag. They seem to take way, way too long.
I went for a mani/​pedi once and it was such a lackluster experience. The nail polish is organic or some weird thing that is worthless. I’ve had better experiences painting nails with some girlfriends around during a sleepover.

So I’m back with a brand new edition. I went here for a bridal party updo and a manicure and I got what I paid for. The woman who did my hair and nail was really nice, but seemed nervous. I have A LOT of hair. Like take what you’re thinking is a lot and multiply that by ten and double it and you’re probably pretty close. It felt like my stylist wasn’t sure how to secure my hair or even how to get it into the style we wanted (a French twist) because its also long, like to my elbows long.
Anyway, her instructor helped her figure it out and they used a ton of bobby pins and even their amount wasn’t enough. I had to reinforce it about 30 minutes later and continuing on throughout the night.
My manicure was so-​so. The sides of my nails were missed and immediately after I paid three nails chipped off. Another stylist offered to fix them (bless her heart) and even though I wasn’t doing anything strenuous or swimming, my nails were peeling and chipped within 12 hours. Maybe it’s the polish, maybe it’s just how it was applied. Whatever. My nails and hair looked good in photos and that’s all that matters.
My hair fell out of the updo at about 11pm, thankfully it lasted through most of the reception. I’m happy, yet unhappy, you know?

I’ve had mixed success at the Institute. Nails were perfectly adequate, had a good haircut once, followed by a really disappointing cut and brow wax last time. The success of your visit depends entirely on the student you’re assigned to, and that quality can vary dramatically.
Be careful what you’re risking. Bad haircuts are easily hidden. Eyebrows, less so. You get what you pay for…