John Michael’s Salon

UPDATE: I’ve been going to John Michael’s Salon for over four years and I’m just as happy with the service as the first day I walked in. Penny is now my stylist (Christy left for a brief period to move to New Orleans, but she’s back now and taking new clients). Penny is just as amazing as Christy – I thoroughly enjoy my time with her every time I come in and I always leave with a fantastic haircut and color. There are several other great stylists there and you won’t be disappointed with any of them. Give this salon a try… you’ll be happy you did!
10÷3÷2010
I can’t say enough good things about this salon — friendly, knowledgeable staff, reasonable prices, charming atmosphere. I recently found this salon through my neighborhood listserv where it was receiving rave reviews from my neighbors. I was looking for a new stylist and decided to give Christy a try. LOVE HER!!! She took the time to listen to my needs and I’ve left my appointments with new cuts that I could easily manage on my own (which is a feat for me!). And, the shampoo/​cut/​style was only $ 33.00! When I leave John Michael’s Salon, I feel like the prettiest girl in the world!

Penny is a wizard with hair. I constantly get compliments; none of which I can take credit for because I’m a dry-​and –go kind of girl and rarely spend a lot of time on my hair. She is also the sweetest Texas lady you will ever meet and takes a genuine interest in her customers. I’ve been going to Penny for probably 3 years now and I can honestly call her a friend.

Tough review as I got a great cut from Krista on my first visit for a reasonable price. The mistake I made the second time was calling the shop directly and making my appointment with Krista. The owner somehow forgot to write down my appointment and when I arrived, Krista was off. While he squeezed me in and gave me very good cut, he also charged me $ 10 more than I would have paid with Krista had he not «forgotten» to write down the appointment. While I should have complained and asked for the original, I still think he took advantage of the situation.

This place isn’t fancy, but Kevin Griffin can sure cut hair. I have very thick, wavy hair which can be overwhelming. I have been trying to grow it longer for years, but most cutters don’t know how to handle my hair. Kevin does. He also doesn’t have to thin it out. He cuts directionally (whatever that means). All I can say is I have finally found someone who can handle my hair and will honestly work with me.

Ok, I’ve always been reactive to hair dye. Like burning crazy reactive. But with age my skin has been chilling out, and I think the products have been getting less abrasive. So after a vacation dye that went well, I decided to branch out from the henna that I’ve been using for years and let Penny dye me.
I told her «red» and let her go for it. She and Allison consulted over some color combos and Penny went to town. I obeyed the command of «don’t wash for 48 hours». At first I thought it was too dark. But I waited… then washed. And dang but if it isn’t nice. She totally got it when I said «no purple!» Its a nice, rich red auburn with great depth. It looks like I have highlights when I didn’t get them! Plus, I wanted to keep the length on my grown out hair and she turned it into something long but stylish and beautifully defined.
Also she’s totally fun to chat with. A great conversationalist and the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet. Several hours there, and we just chatted away. Another five stars, and she deserves all of them.

Lorna G is exactly right – this place is NOT exactly the high fashion, modern atmosphere that you find in most salons these days, however the quality of Kevin’s work has been consistently better than any of the hoity toity salons I’ve had the unfortune experience of patroning.
Kevin knows Italian Spinelli dogs and motorcycles, but more importantly the man knows HAIR.
After a long string of neglegent and ignorant stylists (hence some more unfortunate reveiws…), I FINALLY found Kevin.
I was desperate for a color update for a very important company event. When the stylists at Garbo I booked with told me that the blonde would look terrible on me (and also refused to color me because I was 4 minutes late), I called seven salons trying to grab a literally last minute emergency appointment.
Kevin saved the day. He was very kind and very patient with me. And guess what?
THE MAN MADE BLONDE LOOK GOOD.
I hadn’t felt great about my hair in a while, but I walked out feeling like a fox. His prices aren’t outrageous, but they aren’t cheap either! Still, I bite the bullet and write the check because the quality of Kevin’s work is so damn good.

I’ve seen Kevin twice before, and I have another appt this weekend. He is awesome, y’all. He’s a biker dude, very easy to talk to, and man, does he know hair! The first time he worked the natural curl in my long hair just right; the second time he blew it out straight, and it was gorgeous. I hardly recognized myself! I think I’m going short this time… just going to let him do his thing, now that I trust him completely. I love the fact that this place is close to my house, totally unpretentious, and affordable. Try John Michael’s, you’ll be a fan too!

If you want high fashion cuts, styles and color in Austin without the extra fluff, then this is the place for you. John Michael and team offer exceptional service and personal consultations to help you figure out what is right for you. They strive to know your personality and how they can achieve the look you can’t quite explain.
Located in an unassuming strip mall off or Burnet road, John Michael’s Salon is a neat, tidy and artistic haven. John Michael’s passion for art tastefully adorns the salon. He has tons of experience making his own art from concrete, glass and wood so has plenty of hot tips to give you, should you have any interest in making our own art. Not to mention, he knows the best place in town for upholstering and fabric! A great wealth of knowledge!
Kevin is a new stylist brought on who has years of Aveda experience! Having been a former Aveda junkie myself, it’s nice to have a stylist to talk to about mainstream fashions, styles and trends. Kevin is a pure gem with personality and flare who can surely help you become the coolest kid on the block.

I searched around for a salon near my home in North-​central Austin for a few weeks before settling on John Michael’s Salon after seeing such rave reviews on Unilocal.
Kevin, who is relatively new and not even on their website yet, took great care of me. I have a gluten allergy, so my skin reacts to any product that use wheat components. Thus I brought my own products. He had no problems using only what I brought and expressing an interest in learning more so he’d be prepared for future customers in similar situations. He listened to my hair concerns and offered helpful advice about products as well as natural methods to try.
I’ve been super-​short in the past, and may go back to that in the future, but for now my hair is long and naturally curly, so I was really just looking for a clean-​up at this time. Kevin told me up front he is very conservative the first few times he sees a new client. I’ll likely visit him again as I look forward to hearing his suggestions when he’s not so conservative.

I’ve been coming to John Michael for years. I drive from Round Rock to get my hair cut and colored. I have red hair… and it is hard to color red and look natural. I literally have never seen anyone do blond color as good as John Michael. He’s not just good at color though. I have thick, course, wavy hair, and I’ve gotten a lot of really bad haircuts over the years. I’ve never had a bad experience at John Michael’s. I see John Michael, but all of the stylists there are awesome.

After moving to Austin from NY and having the same Hair Stylist for 10+ years I was really stressed about finding a place I could trust here in Austin. I found out about the salon when I was sent there to get my hair styled for a hair show. It was right around the corner from my house… the salon is right off of Burnet Road which was a major plus.
I got my hair styled by Christie who moved here from Louisiana. She was so friendly and easy to talk to and did a great job on my hair style. I went back a few weeks later to get a cut and I was so happy! She really listened to what I wanted and delivered! I loved my hair and the prices were really reasonable. I am about to go back from a third time and am so happy that I found my hair-​haven here in Austin!

Penny did my hair, as well as that of two ladies in the bridal party AND my then-​three year old niece for my wedding. She is the sweetest person ever. Seriously. But more critical than that, she did exactly what everyone wanted done with their hair, and was quite patient with my niece (though I don’t know that she usually does hair for little kids, not sure). Penny was very good with taking my vague ideas about what I might want when I went in for the consultation, and firming them up into a hairstyle I loved having on my wedding day. I don’t see her for my regular haircuts as the location isn’t convenient for me, but I can definitely recommend Penny as a professional stylist, and I’m really not kidding when I say she’s sweet as pie. :)

«Woohoo! As good as it gets!» — Exactly.
The short of it:
Yesterday was my first visit to Allison after almost six years of searching for MY stylist. I had just given up, to be honest, and was keeping my hair in a low bun on the base of my neck like some misplaced hippie-​prairie bunny tail. It was embarrassing. It was boring. It was ugly. Now I’m proudly wearing my hair down and strutting it. Seriously.
I am thrilled, delighted, satisfied, excited, proud and very, very happy with my haircut/​style/​entire experience. I’ll for sure be going back in 2 – 3 months for another round. It’s clear this is a woman doing what she loves.
The whole story:
I stepped into the salon, was immediately greeted by Allison and led back to her station, which is tucked in a secluded little area in the salon. The whole place has a nice feel to it, with exposed wood beams artfully holding hair products and living greenery. Its bigger than you’d think and really pleasant to be in.
After an initial consultation about my hair, it’s deep dark history, we sidled up to the shampoo station (quite comfy) had a nice shampoo, condition, and because she’s just that good, Allison also waxed my eyebrows at this point. *Awesome* (Side note: I’ve only had one other experience with waxing-​eyebrows only-​and it was very painful and left me with millions of small pimples for days after. Not this time. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad and it’s a few days later and NO pimples or discomfort of any kind!!)
So lets do this: The Haircut.
All I can say is that before I looked okay. Now, I’m HOT! (‘s right. I’m also modest.) Allison knew exactly what to do and she did it with professional hands and loving heart. What I mean is that she loves her work and now I’m wearing this love on my head. Like a hat. That I don’t want to take off. Which is good ’cause I can’t. She fixed my hair. SHE FIXED MY HAIR! I was giggling like a Harijuku girl when I left, looking at every possible mirror and generally making a fool of myself.
Let me also say that as a Curly Girl I have never had my hair straightened. After I had seen my new haircut in curly form, Allison offered to straighten it out for me and I agreed. I had never seen myself with straight hair and I was shocked! Really, really shocked. It looked so good! I was ecstatic!
Lastly let me say that Allison is an extremely pleasant and intelligent person. («If you can’t tell your hairdresser who can you tell?» is exactly what I wanted to hear in the middle of our fifteenth story). She’s just one of those people who is easy to talk to about anything and everything.
So that’s my novel about Allison at John Michael’s Salon. I’ll go back. You should go too.

My mom and I started going to John Michael when he was working at Avalon Salon when I was 8 years old because he would trim my bangs for free when my mom got her hair cut. Needless to say, we have been going ever since for the last 15 years. I have no idea how we stumbled upon John Michael, but all I know is we have followed him from Avalon, to his salon in Round Rock (which was quite a drive), and now to his current location. I do not know what I would do without this man. Besides being an amazing hairdresser, he always has new ideas for what I can do with my hair. He is smart, professional, and absolutely knows his stuff. I have never been disappointed in his work and could never even dream of finding another stylist. I am certain if I ever leave Austin I will have to travel back every few months just to have my hair done by John Michael. He is truly the best thing that ever happened to my hair!

I’ve been going to Allison Luce for several years now on a referral from a friend. It’s convenient to my work so I’m usually her last appt. on a weekday.
Wow! Now I can’t join those conversations about hating to get your hair done because I LOVE IT NOW.
Allison’s prices are reasonable $ 30 – 35 for shampoo/​cut/​style and $ 70 for foil highlights is about what I pay. I always get tons of compliments on the color and cut from coworkers the next day.
Allison’s really cool and intelligent, too. We always have interesting conversations –mostly about psychology because I work in that field– but I imagine she could converse about a range of topics.
The highlights even look pretty when they fade-​I only get my hair done every 3 months and my hair still looks good when I go in for my next appointment. Granted, I take good care of it, too, but Allison is definitely a magician. ;)
I’ll continue going to this salon as long as I live in Austin, so possibly forever. :)

My regular hairdresser moved out to Lakeline Mall and I needed help badly and quickly. Plus, I wanted to find a place in my neighborhood. I can’t really say enough about this wonderful salon. I found it with Unilocal and its’ great reviews. When I called to make my appointment with Allison, she was booked but said that Christie would come in if she could and help me. Sure enough, Christi did and the rest is just a wonderful experience with someone who really knows what she is doing. Very professional color, cut, highlights, etc. This was the best experience I have had in all my years of having my hair done.
To top it all off, I just got a phone call from Christi to tell me that the shampoo and conditioner I bought actually had a promotion going at the time of my appointment last week, so if I would bring in the smaller bottles she would trade them out for the larger bottles. Huh? You are kidding, right? No one ever does that! I am now and will always be such a fan not only of this salon, but of a savvy and true professional, Christi.
One other compliment to the owner, your salon was spotlessly clean which I really appreciate.
You guys rock!

Alison is awesome. She works magic with hair color (crazy good magic-​like voodoo or something), and her cuts are great, too. She also did a fabulous up-​do for my wedding that looked amazing all night!

I’ll 3^rd the Alison is amazing comments. I’ve gone from a haircut twice a year to a haircut every couple of months. Before, I had two cuts a year. The summer needs to be shorter «oh non-​denominational deity please let *insert name of next stylist on the list* not massacre it like the last five» and the winter «better trim the ends.» Now for the first time, I’m liking keeping my hair relatively short all the time because a) I know I’ll get a good cut, b) the price is affordable and awesome for what you get, and c) Alison is charming and in a perfect location from my house (Crestview).

still amazing — she’s updated her prices, though, as well as her referral bonus. not quite sure what they are, so don’t quote the prices i listed. i do know a haircut is $ 33. that’s still cheap, y’all. cheeeeeap. and so very good.
signed,
the girl with happy hair

i would like to title this review when my hair met alison.
i am style challenged as a general rule, and that rule applies to my hair as well. until now. in the past, when i have told hairstylists that i am a low-​to-​no-​maintenance hair person, they have claimed to «get it» and then promptly given me a style or cut that requires blow drying or at the very least brushing. but not alison. she understands me as no other stylist ever has. and the irony of it is that my hair looks so great that i actually find myself WANTING to mess with it in ways i never have. when my hair met her, it was in the process of growing out. we (my hair and i) decided to chop it all off instead. now, i’m growing it out again, but the point is that all of these iterations have looked great because of alison luce. she actually has a VISION for my hair, since my hair and i aren’t super great at creating that on our own. and she can modify the vision to suit me, should that need to happen. it’s like magic at that salon.
oh, and she’s cool and funny too. it’s like hanging out with your buddy, sans calories. novel idea.