G’s Urban Hairstyles

I have been going here for about 5 years. I have been through three stylists. Cherie, Mike, & Joel. I love the products they use and I have never had a problem with my stylists. They never trimmed more than I asked and my hair always looked great after a blow out. $ 65 for a blow out is just my speed. My stylists always occupied the last chair in the salon which I think may have something to do with the pricing. Not sure.
I always hated the raggedy waiting area couches and wondered why they never made an attempt to make that look better. Reception leaves a lot to be desired.
One time I was charged twice for a visit. The charge was done 2 weeks after my initial service so that was very suspect. But when I brought it to their attention they took care of it and I just vowed to use cash going forward.
I’m due for a trim now and I called to make an appointment. The man who answered said that Joel didn’t work there anymore. I asked if there was someone who has taken his place. He said no and that was it. No attempt to try to make an appointment for me or place me with another stylist.

I’ve been going to G’s Urban Styles since 2002… I migrated from having chemical hair to starting my locs with Garvin and Raymond (both of my stylists). I have spent years at «ghetto» salons all over Brooklyn… when my hair was permed… and had become fed up with the assembly line treatment at the Dominican Salons… so when my sister in law recommended G’s…I jumped at the chance… I have long, gorgeous, healthy locs because of G’s. I’ve been using Aveda products since the 80’s…and for the fact that G’s is an Aveda salon… and my hair can be treated with the same great products I use at home — there is no question as to why I wouldn’t go here. Garvin and Raymond have treated me with respect and love over the years… and I trust NO –ONE with my locs…
At G’s…the receptionists are well trained — friendly. and they always follow up with you. If your stylist is running late… they always come and chat with you… and apologize… or they’ll call your mobile to give you a heads up… When a previous client is late — it backs everyone up… that’s understood… I too have spent a few hours in G’s…but after going to many other salons… I always return to them. I’ve admired and watched all of the stylists in G’s for years… they are sharp… and have exceptional cutting/​styling skills… I’m always infatuated with how the girls who have chemically treated hair always leave with bouncy/​soft curls… and their hair always looks so light and feathery… and for those with natural styles — they too leave with great styles and colour. I’ve seen some disasters walk in the door… and then leave looking like models… and I’m serious…
As for the attitude of Garvin… I beg to differ… Even when he is most busy — he always finds the time to greet new clients… and advise or assist with what you’re looking for… and he will give you an honest opinion… whether you like it or not… I appreciate that… and I think most people will. I am a loyal client of G’s …and have enjoyed the salon… his previous «G Spa». on Flatbush Ave… and most recently… his new salon/​spa on Bergen (Wayne Agassi’s Spa)… and received nothing but exceptional service…
Do not let the negative reviews sway you… Give it a try… and if its not for you… move on… But I will never leave G’s…
10 years this year — and my locs are gorgeous and touching my bum :)
All thanks to Raymond and G’s care.

All I can say is my hair looks amazing! James is a talented hair professional. Very pleasant all around experience.

I went despite bad reviews because the stylist recommended by my friend was not mentioned in the bad reviews. I highly regret giving this place a chance. I hope my girls can eventually forget the whole ordeal.
I cut my hair into a natural Afro in part to avoid salons. But having two daughters serving as flower girls in a family wedding and my being hair styling impaired, well there was no avoiding it… or so I thought. A week before the wedding I met with Joel to talk about press and curls, scheduling and timing since we had to leave the salon by 1pm and the wedding was at 4:30pm. He was very nice and took time to answer my many questions. Joel told me he already had a regular 9am client scheduled for ⁹⁄₃ but between him and an assistant, he would block off 9 – 1 for us and be able to work everyone basically at the same time.
I arrived at 9:20 and it was apparent he had an attitude. His client was under the dryer so he shampooed one of my girls. Then he proceeded to ignore us for an hour and a half as he worked on his client. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I started to worry when he seemed to only be halfway finished going on 11am. I approached him as he returned from a lengthy phone call and said that this is not what he promised at all. Then he lost his mind. He turned angry ghetto gay straight from the movies with the head, google eyes and hand gestures to match. I stayed calm and reminded him of what he promised and that we have a wedding to get to. He said he doesn’t like how I approached him in front of his client. I responded that he should have taken a moment in the hour and a half we’d been there to explain why he was not working on my girls and when he would start. He told me I should have gotten there at 9 and I will have to wait until he finished his client. His demeanor said everything. I was not going to let him touch another hair on either of my girls’ heads. We walked out. As you can imagine no other nearby salon could service us immediately so we went home where I was saved by loving family members who helped me over the next three hours to complete two flatiron and curls styles, sacrificing their own wedding prep. The girls’ hairstyles were beautiful despite Joel. Hence, I am still not convinced I need to step back into any salon. I do know I will never step back into this one.
I also agree that the place is poorly maintained. While we waited, water dripped on us from the ceiling in three different locations while we sat on a dirty brown sheet covering a couch. At that time in the morning there is no excuse for the crumbs and garbage strewn about the couches and floor. But that was the least of my worries.

I was new in town and deathly afraid of letting anyone touch my hair. I wanted to get my hair straightened, so I knew I would have to bite the bullet and try a salon and stylist out.
I decided to try G’s because of its proximity to my job and because it’s an Aveda concept salon.
I called and made an appointment for the same day. Because they gave me this spot so easily, I assumed they were ‘squeezing me in’ and I’d have to wait awhile.
When I arrived at the salon, I was checked in by a friendly receptionist who asked me to have a seat in the waiting area at the rear of the salon. I was only waiting for maybe 10 minutes or so when I was greeted by my stylist.
My stylist, named Summer, seemed genuinely thrilled to be doing my hair. She gushed about how pretty my hair was, and how she has natural hair too. I knew then that this was going to be a wonderful experience.
Summer asked me what services I wanted and how I wanted my hair styled. We chatted a good bit while she styled my hair, because she’s so bright and bubbly. She gave me advice and politely let me know I’d need a trim soon (no bullying zone).
She followed all my wishes to a ‘T’ (no hot combs on my head, no way, no how). And my hair turned out silky straight and absolutely gorgeous! She even offered to pin curl my hair before I left the salon to maintain my style. Unfortunately, you have to bring your own pins if you want this perk.
Oh yeah, I had to subtract a star because I feel $ 95 (plus tip! But Summer earned that tip!) is a bit steep for a press n’ curl. I don’t feel any press n’ curl is worth that much, however, I will definitely return to G’s to be styled by Summer. I may even let her trim my hair next time. I’d also recommend her to any of my natural girls who like to rock it straight from time to time.

Oh, the horror.
I needed my hair done before a holiday weekend and my colorist was a rockstar who has only daytime hours and only twice a week. I had to cancel my appointment for today in order to work. so I thought, who can I trust?– Aveda does good color and I like their products. So I go to their website and start calling… the only salon that could take me before Saturday was one in Brooklyn. Fine, I think. It’s Aveda. How bad could it be? the name G’s Urban Hairstyles should have been a clue. I thought they were being kitschy.
I arrive at 5:30. My «colorist» is putting highlights in his Mohawk so I have to wait a few minutes, but not too long. I know I should have left at this point, but besides the fact that I didn’t want to be considered «problematic», the salon was beautifully kept up and stylish with Aveda products and candles all over the place. All the women and most of the stylists looked like they had stepped out of an Anthropologie catalog, everything city-​bohemian and perfectly accessorized.
I stayed and the stylist Darian started fixing my roots. Well, he puts the lightening stuff on them and mushes it around. Slightly unusual, but what do I know? I’ve only done this for a few months, perhaps here
are different techniques. He leaves me alone. For a long time. Finally he comes back and rinses me out. He brings me to the mirror to show me my hair. Oh, it’s pink. Pink. PINK! Like Rainbow Bright Pink. And I almost cry.
He consoles me by telling me he has toner to bring them back. I use words like, back to brown, right? a nice light brown? He puts toner on my head and abandons me for 45 minutes. Even thought it is burning my scalp I do not cry, I know how this works– it’s like photos. The more toner, the darker. All while this was going on I have noticed the stares, but I keep to myself and ignore it. I come back from my reverie to one of the other stylists making a racist joke about my presence to a client. (pasty girl in non-​pasty girl salon; I was unaware. There wasn’t a sign or anything…) Ok. I’m ignoring you, rude clientele/​other stylist lady. Darian comes back to rinse out the toner. We look. Still pinkish. I almost cry and I tell him I am very unhappy.
This is when he puts on rubber gloves and proceeds to torture me while putting another toner back on my roots. Ripping my hair in chunks, there is a time that I am almost standing to combat the pulling pain. Another hour with toner on my head and I get a trip to the head heater things. Now, I am stoic girl, a brick wall against the racist comments that keep coming. Sticks and stones and whatnot. Finally, to make a long long story even longer, we wash this one out and he decides I need to dry naturally under the old lady hair dryer for 45 minutes while he struts around in his Gucci loafers, white sleeveless undershirt and Diesel jeans. We take a look in the mirror. It’s red. Like, Lucille Ball red. He nervously asks if it’s ok. My response: ‘This will have to do; I’m not doing that again,’ as I make a gesture to the sink/​old lady hair dryer place. He repeats my response like a droid. I can read the word «lawsuit» reflecting off of his Prada belt buckle. He does the highlights, which are basically unnoticeable after the initial shock of the neon red hair. This is mostly because, by this point, he is both sick of me and trying to woo me into complacency. As he pastes on the highlighting cream, he’s asking me about my holiday, my weekend, my friend who was forlornly looking in the window at this scene, etc.
After another hour of sitting and washing, he begins to dry my hair. Just before this however, the last female stylist has left the salon for the night, as it’s 10 o’clock by this time. One of the other stylists deems me worthy of a word. He comes over to me under the dryer and smiles and tells me that I look like Barbara Streisand. And I say, «I didn’t say anything mean to you, why are you being mean to me?» He goes on to protest and claim he meant that I was a «classic beauty» etc. etc. And I say: «it’s the nose, isn’t it?» More protests, but by this time I am bored with him and become stoic girl again. I tell him I forgive him and he flits away.
This is fine, Darian does an ok job with the highlights and praise god, he has taken off the rubber gloves. I figure, 5 minutes of rapid blow drying and I am so out of there.
Nope. I guess he decided to make it up to me by «styling» my hair as well, but he blows my hair out in like millimeter sections and then straightens it with the smallest ceramic iron I have ever seen, in equally tiny pieces. At 10:35, I walk out of there, my hair destroyed and the looming bill of another appointment with my usual colorist on the horizon– not to mention having to explain to her that my impatience outweighed my loyalty. And again, all my friend– who had been waiting for hours to grab dinner with me– could say, was «how do you get yourself into these situations?»
I wish I knew.

Pros
a) Friendly and professional staff. Vanessa is my stylist is she does an amazing job with short relaxed hair. I have seen Avril weaves and they also look amazing.
b) Usually not a long wait but occasionally I have had to wait 1 hr before being attended.
c) Nice overal ambiance.
Cons:
a) The owner is a petty tyrant. I have seen him yell at his staff to the point the poor girl was in tears. His only defense is that he wanted them to keep the place neat and felt that they were not doing a good job. But still, he should do it more discreetly because witnessing that made me extremely uncomfortable.
b) It’s a bit far from NYC but easily accessible by subway 2 or 3.
c) A bit pricey, but I always look good.

Okay so here is the deal. I alway like to start off with something positive so here we go
1. The Gentleman who did my eyebrows was so professional, soooo fine, and my brows have never looked so good. I so wish that I could continue to go to this salon, because I really would love for him to do my brows all the time.
2. Everyone is very sweet and very nice (except the owner)
3. Everyone there seems to get along, no loud talking and no fighting
Now lets move on the the horror
1. not enough dryer
2. sinks dont work
3. walls are dirty
The owner does not take care of the salon
I went to the salon 3 times and I thought this would be a good home for my hair.
First Visit — The own was an A$$ Hole … but he assigned me to a girl to do my hair she was very sweet. I told her I want to grow the back of my hair out and her listened. She used a lot of different products on my hair which I really dont like. (my hair is relaxed) but all in all i was happy.
Second Visit — Everything is the same as the first time … but then …“Hello Drama I didnt know you live you here” The A$$ hole owner decided that my stylist attire was unprofessional and sent her to change her clothes. «WHAT» here it is 12pm and you just noticed she had on a tube top? So here I am sitting and waiting. So I told the receptionist to call the own ASAP. HE said that he cant have his stylist looking this way! I told him I my time is valuable and I dont want to wait. He said I will give you a discount, I said I dont want a damn discount I want my hair done. So 30 min later my girl walks in and she is sorry and she finishes my hair. My hair did last as long and she used totally different products on my hair but all in all she finished my hair.
Third Visit — I decided that I wanted some color … LAWD why did I do this? We decided on a red brown, well can I tell you that my hair was a mess! I had bozo the clown red roots and Wynonna Judd red on the rest of my hair. I felt like the joker in batman when the doctor gave him the mirror to look at his face. I started to laugh and I told her «you have got to fix it» Thank goodness there was a brother who step in and decided to help her fix the mess. He was very sweet and said he was sorry … my stylist never said a word … not one sorry. no nothing… she finished my hair without a word and sent me on my way. I tip the guy who help me and told him thanks. My hair is still 2 different colors, but I cant even imagine what it would have looked like if he had not step in.
So I guess I could ask for another stylist, but I dont want the drama. I saw some fly hair cuts, but I dont want to feel uncomfortable seeing my old stylist, and I cant go back to her because I could never trust her with my hair.
Soooo this is why I am giving the salon 2 stars.

…I walked by G’s and decided to book an appointment after hearing rave reviews from a friend. I will say that she did warn me about long waits some times. But since I happened to be in the neightborhood I decided to stop in and check it out. (I should also mention that I had called a few weeks before to make an appointment and was told that the receptionist was on lunch and that she would call me back to schedule my appointment, which she did…5 hours later… no exaggeration… at that point I had made other plans) But on this particular day I walked in and the gentleman who greeted me was extremely courteous. Before making the appointment I ask him explicitly if I would be seem at my appointment time or if it is more like a 9AM appointment at the DMV. He assured me that the only reason they take appointments is to avoid the hassle of waiting so I felt confident in booking this appointment.
The day of my appointment, I raced from work, eager to get there on time (early even, as it was my first time) especially after making such a big deal about the time to them. When I arrived, (right on time) Vanessa was finishing up a client’s hair, and I thought to myself «awesome! perfect timing»…WRONG! she said hello and went back to work. About ten minutes later she comes over to me and tells me that she has 3 OTHER people ahead of me and through up her hands as if to say ‘oh well, too bad, not my problem’. I stood there for a secind feeling as though I were in the twilight zone and perhaps I didnt make an appointment and the guy didnt put my name in the computer but reality kicked in and I realized unfortunatley I was the victim of another ghetto, poorly organized estbablishment. Vanessa didn’t even apologize or attempt to reschedule me. She basically told me in so many words that she didnt need my business. As I was leaving, I noticed a sign on the desk stating that they will no longer honor appointments made on stylist’s cellphones… what a joke… Clearly that one hadn’t been enforced yet because my name was the only one in the computer for the time… unbelievable and inconsiderate…

not thrilled with this place. clean and courteous staff but its not a good sign when a hair salon doesn’t have a handheld mirror for customers to look at the back of their head before they leave. they apparently had one at some point in time, but lost it. seriously. ummm, i think with my $ 88 haircut they could run to a drugstore and buy one. **the worst part… my haircut was totally uneven. i have ringlets and when i finally did look at the back of my head when i got home, there were strands in the back that were significantly longer than others. so i got out my scissors and took care of it myself. i cant recommend this place.

Have been going here and seeing Vanessa for the past year. She is usually on time and doesn’t keep me waiting. I love that she takes time w/​my hair and I always get tons of compliments on my hair when I leave. I usually get a texturizer and color from her. I love, love my color.
The salon is nice — great location to trains.

Had a great first-​rate experience at G’s. I called early in the day and was given an appointment for the afternoon, and it was… ON TIME… Yes friends, it was an actual appointment at the actual appointment TIME! For the relaxer and trim I received — I have to say, it was top notch. For one thing, it is rare that you find a hairstylist that actually does EXACTLY what you describe. G’s is also an Aveda-​concept Salon, so no anxiety in trying to figure out what they’re putting in your hair. My hair — in Kali’s magic hands — was so silky — it was surreal. Most importantly, she left me feeling confident that I didn’t have to worry about my hair getting all ruined and flat the next day. It was all worth it.