Liberated Salon

Great cut from someone who took their time and gave a damn, both about the results, and the general experience.
Nice looking salon too.
First one was with Kat. Going back again today and being seen by Brandon.

So I found this amazing gem of a salon/​hair mastery studio by my friend Mike’s recommendation. It’s a bitchin’ place and truly worth every cent honesty. The time spent, the cut, the styling, the care to find what works is second to none. It’s the best cut I’ve had here in LA over 6+ years so far and multiple different salons and stylists whom moved in and out of town over the years and this year wanting something new. I found a new stylist as my last moved to Austin last year. On to the cut, they fit in quickly today, Kat Ventura was my stylist and wow and oh man was this truly the best cut and experience I’ve ever had. She made a client for life and this salon a new fan I will recommend to everyone I know. Cheers and here’s to next time!!!

Love this place and the new location in Atwater is great. Megan was awesome with my long, heavy and incredibly thick hair — highlights and all. Then about a month ago I chopped it all off with Brandon — the master of pixie cuts, especially if you are going from extremes like I did (and donate to Wigs for Kids!) Would definitely recommend this place over and over.

Got a hair cut by Megan, she was nice and all. But didn’t really listen to what I wanted.
I have medium to long healthy hair, but it’s alot. Pretty thick!
I wanted to keep the length, and get weight off the back. Something simple.
But she didn’t follow through. I hardly got an inch cut off, an my hair was still heavy in the back!
I trust hairstylist’s to do a great job if I’m paying 80 $ and tip to get a simple request done!
Just sayin. Won’t go back though because I found the perfect salon in Santa Monica!

Liberated is at an awesome new location in Atwater and are better than ever! The staff is awesome and Brandon’s cuts are impeccable. I recently went in and had my hair colored by Jenae and it came out amazing! I am in love with the color and have gotten tons of compliments from friends and random strangers.

Yesterday was my first time in this shop and I’ll never go to another salon again. I was ready for a drastic change and Brandon gave me the dopest haircut. I’m insecure about my hair but he made me feel so comfortable. I showed him a few pictures and verbally described what I wanted and he did just that if not better. He pays very close attention to detail. I couldn’t be happier. I look like a bad ass now. I will never get my haircut any other place and by any other person. Brandon is perfect. The overall vibe in Liberated is very chill and relaxed. Everyone is kind, cool and helpful. Overall, fantastic place. I will be a regular.

Nicole is an amazing artist and I highly recommend her. I live in SF and she has cut and highlighted my hair at Edo Salon before. Now, she’s based in LA and I was lucky enough to catch her during my trip. She is a wizard with the razor scissors and gave me a great layered haircut and subtle and partial highlight with hints of caramel. She’s also incredibly sweet and personable. The cost is reasonable by SF standards and worth every penny:)

Let me begin by telling you a little story about my hair.
I have crazy, thick, Indian hair. Frizzy/​wavy/​course in texture. I’ve always had my hair really long so the weight would keep it in check. Never considered a pixie cut because I was so afraid it would poof and I would end up looking like Albert Einstein.
But one day I moved to LA and decided that maybe this is the place to do something drastic and «cool.»
So I researched and found this place, where Brandon has an abundance of pictures showing his hair transformations from very long hair to short pixie cuts.
I went in for a consultation (I recommend doing this if you’re going to do a drastic change) and Brandon gave me some suggestions/​ideas based on my hair type. After numerous hours of researching on Pinterest, I finally went in for the cut.
Brandon took his time to understand what I wanted before the cut. He also clearly loves hair, and knows what he’s doing. Took about two hours (plus some free glasses of wine during the cut!) After the cut, he gave me tips on how to style it (greatly appreciated!!!)
I highly recommend Brandon and this salon if you are trying to do something drastic like I did. Definitely going back for more!

I went in for a trim & full highlights with Jenae. Unlike my experience with other stylists throughout the years, she listens to exactly what you want. She was very meticulous & did a fabulous job on my hair. I’m very happy with it! The salon itself is well kept and cute. Great location. I would absolutely recommend Jenae & Liberated anytime.

Today I went to 5 places in the Atwater area desperately in need of a cut. Between the retail pushiness, the early closing of doors, and the phobic locking of them. For whatever reason I found my way into this gem of a studio without even a blaring sign out front just yet! I saw Kat, who is a sweetheart, and hand to God best cut I’ve ever had! Usually I feel like I get the projection of what a barber or stylist thinks I should look like, it’s always skewed, it’s metro or arty or whatever was going on in their head. I got what I wanted only somehow all around just better. I left feeling like I found my new place, my new barber. And that it was worth it. Seriously great people here, make sure they get paid before the crazy pushers! They’ll sit you down, feed you wine, and chat you up like real homies. What more can you ask?

Still love this place and their new location is gorgeous! Atwater is nice because I can grab food or coffee, stop in a store or two, etc, it’s a great area to walk around a bit
Got a haircut by Jenae recently, turned out perfect, as expected! :)

I went in for a transformation cut from long hair (18in) to pixie with Brandon and have never received so many compliments on my hair in my life!
I’ve always had long hair and decided to finally go in a different direction. I was so impressed with his talent and professionalism and appreciated his full explanations of everything he was doing. The best part was Brandon and Jenae’s fun personalities making it all an entertaining experience! this killed any of the nerves I had about doing such a drastic change. Brandon was also great about giving me tips on how to maintain this new short hair lifestyle, which made me feel confident that I could keep it looking fabulous after I left the salon.
I’ve since been back once to get a maintenance cut, done by Nicole, and received the same high level of attentiveness and a skilled cut accompanied by great conversation and fun times. I have thick hair and a unique growth pattern in the back of my head but she tackled it no problem and left me feeling like I had received a fresh new haircut instead of just a touch up.
Although this place is a bit pricier than what I’m accustomed to, it is definitely well worth it and I plan on returning for any future hair cut/​color needs. I’ve never dyed my hair but who knows, maybe my sassy new ‘do will inspire me to come back and try it out!
One thing if for sure, when you leave this place you will feel #LIBERATED

I discovered Brett on Unilocal and was impressed with his demeanor and professionalism. My hair has never looked better. The color profile he chose for me was perfect for my skin tone. It is a simple and basic salon with very talented people inside.
Olive the receptionist did a great job getting me an appointment.
I paid 180 bucks for 2 hours of solid work on my hair so I think I received my monies worth.
Free parking in the back.

Back at my favorite salon except this time it lives in a new location! I never realized how cool Atwater Village is there is so much to do and see. This time the space is much larger! Same great platform; décor, staff, vibe, all fantastic! Stop by and see why everyone is talking. Especially the neighbors who all love the new captain of the block! Book today they are booked up and the holidays are here! Don’t sit on Santa’s lap with a lame haircut, stop by today and get Liberated! Merry Christmas!
Love,
Santa Claus
Ps. FYI great places within walking distance for coffee, food & shopping!

Liberated, and Kat, are awesome! Great vibe (very busy on a Thursday night), great look, parking was easy (meters on Glendale Blvd), and Kat is the best of the best, with an impressive resume’! Was made to feel comfortable and got a fantastic haircut. I’m very fussy about my hair, middle aged, and vain. They managed to get me Broadway ready, happy, and thrilled to leave this review. Make sure you check them out!

Liberated Salon is THE best salon I’ve ever been to. Yes, its that awesome. I’ve been into hair since I was 16 and I’ve done a bajillion things to my head — from rainbow hair to mohawks to pixies to funky hair show looks to regular ol’ bobs. I love Liberated because you can get that simple bob or ombré coloring OR the more daring shaved side cut or purple dye job, all under one roof and even by the same stylist. You look good when you come out of this place and you feel good — the name really does say it all!
I typically go to Brandon because I love short cuts and he’s fantastic at fusing his barber skills with the more feminine cuts. I’ve been going to him since his days at Primrose and I’ve been really impressed with his dedication to his salon, which is Liberated in case you didn’t know! Although everyone at the salon is always so nice and I see they put out great work (social media stalker), I’ve never had an appt. with another stylist until now. I had a cut with Nicole and who what do you know, she did a fantastic job and gave me the low down when I showed her the 5 different ideas I had for my cut. She took her time, discussed with me what was best and treated my haircut like a piece of art. Everyone here really takes pride in their work and I think its extremely apparent and that’s a huge reason why this little place turns out so many beautiful and satisfied people — men and women!
Plus, the place is adorable, intimate, stylish and not at all uptight or snobby. I can’t wait to see their new place in Atwater Village! Now go liberate yourself with a kickass head of hair!

I’ve been to Liberated twice now and both experiences were wonderful. After reading reviews for many, many salons in LA and looking at prices (it’s hard to gauge a reasonable price for cut and color when you’re coming from a city with a low cost of living), I finally decided to book an appointment here. I chose an appointment with Nicole because someone else mentioned how good she was with thick hair. The online booking system was a plus right off the bat! They’re moving to a new space, but I’m sure it will be just as charming and comfortable as the prior space.
I was super nervous about seeing a new stylist because I have very difficult hair on all counts. I’m naturally brunette but color it blonde, and I like it a more neutral/​white blonde but my hair likes to get brassy. I also have incredibly thick hair so it requires a ton of thinning and this whole process takes forever. Nicole makes it seem effortless! With a little advice from my previous stylist, she gets the color perfect and considers each time how to improve it. She can spot what needs to be fixed immediately in terms of cut — she actually made my hair appear longer just by cutting it correctly. And though the price is higher than I was used to, it’s not as high as I worried it might be, and the results are totally worth it.

I got tired of getting super cheap, generic, one-​cut-​fits-​all haircuts at other salons, so I did my research and went to Liberated when I decided to cut off 11 inches of my hair.
Chelsea did a great job giving me the exact cut I wanted, customizing it to my natural wavy texture. I really appreciate it when you can see the stylist actually thinking their way through a cut. I got a cool, blunt bob cut that air dries well so I don’t have to straighten it every day!
All the stylists at Liberated treat hair like a craft and they know their stuff. Highly recommend!

Megan Mooney is the best hair stylist I’ve ever been to.
Not only does she do an amazing job cutting, but she does an awesome job coloring! I’d never gotten my hair colored in a salon, I was always a bad girl and did box dye, but she really takes the time to understand what it is you want and will not do something if she thinks it wont look good! I totally respect that! She also ran up the street and got me coffee while I waited for my hair to dry. She is the sweetest. Thank you megan! I love my hair!

So, I’m the kind of dude who never had a hairdresser. I rarely went to the same place to get my hair cut twice. Getting it cut was more about convenience, timing and cost more than anything else.
I always kept it short on the sides and back with a number two razor and left about 2 ½ inches — 3 inches on top and just grew it out for a few months then pulled over at some random joint like Rudy’s or whatever and started all over again. Not very metro, I know. It’s crazy I ever got laid.
Then I met my girlfriend. My love. She likes my hair. Really likes it. Once more she really liked it when I grew it out (for her). But, now I needed a hairdresser, ugh. I needed some skills and that meant I needed to go to a HAIR SALON… fuck me.
And I am not that uptight mind you. I can do some metro-​sexual talk. You wanna talk shit about massages, steam rooms, hot springs I am all about it.
But… hair salons? Not so much.
Then I went to a party at my buddy Jorge’s house and I was crushin’ on his hair. I mean he really had a cool ass haircut so I asked him where he got it.
«My boy Brandon,» Jorge paused then looked over the room as to make sure no one else could be let in on the secret. «He’s badass. I’ll email you his info.»
One week later I met badass Brandon (then at his former salon) and he was a badass. A hard hitting punk loving tattoo blazin’ badass who not only loves what he does but he is an amazing talent to boot.
He looks at your mug and can visualize in his head what will make your ass look good and then chisels away like a sculptor with his tools.
Brandon now is the proud owner of «Liberated Salon», a boutique shop on Fountain Ave. The salon’s space and aesthetic reminds me of the old SoHo of the 80’s in Manhattan with some modern touches like reclaimed wood, 1920’s soap boxes, and rustic metal chairs and accents. (SEE…metro right there.)
There is a waiting area outside with seating and a table to relax. Wine and water is complimentary. The staff is equally as talented and friendly as Brandon and the vibe is just f’ing cool.
Liberated Salon has the spirit of an artist’s loft /​workspace and to be honest that is what I think people should want. They should want to feel they are in a real artist’s hands.
Brandon has crafted his dream workspace and I for one am very grateful because I would never survive in a ‘typical’ salon environment and it is incredibly cool to see someone reach their dream. He obviously feels ‘Liberated’ and you will too.