Connie’s Hair Design

I think it’s called something else now, and the owner told me they were newly opened. This has been literally the only place I’ve been to so far in the Bay Area that has agreed to cut my hair (and shampoo it) for 20, and do a pretty good job. I’ve tried Korean places in Santa Clara (long wait, can’t just walk in, won’t shampoo without adding on extra cost) and places in SM (around 30 – 40 at cheapest and not detailed at all). This place did a very detailed job, cut my side bangs well, and was quick (20 – 30 minutes with shampoo). Bang trim is only $ 6, super cheap. The owner (lady with long, dyed hair and blunt bangs) is pretty good and works fast — she’s there every day. I am definitely getting my hair cut in Oakland Chinatown from now on because it’s been hard to find cheap places to cut hair that do a competent job. However, parking will cost you here — most spots are metered or garage. It is, however, near a lot of nice food establishments such as Shan Tung noodle, Quickly’s, a café around the corner, and also a BofA if you need cash for the cut.

There is an ownership change. Connie has moved to Salon Avant, 303 11^th street, oakland.
Her cell phone is 510−857−3970.
She’s off on Tuesday and Friday.

Please note there has been an ownership change for this salon recently.
The new owner Hua is very nice and sweet. She did a good job with my bob style. The price remains the same as before. I had a cut only and it cost $ 15 plus tips. I recommend this place to anyone!

Recently moved to Oakland. There aren’t many cheap haircut places in my area ($ 50+ average) and my co-​worker recommended this place. I was kind of scared because the reviews are mixed and I believe in the «You get what you pay for» saying BUT it was the best haircut I have ever gotten! It was so cheap too!
For a shampoo, cut and blow out I paid $ 20 with $ 2 tip. This place is amazing! Highly recommend!

Worst haircut I have ever gotten. I walked out on the verge of tears.

After my last two terrible haircuts here I’ve given up. I should have known it when other customers came in and wouldn’t let her cut their hair. If Connie reads these reviews she should consider getting better hair cutters.

I always take my boyfriend here for $ 8 haircuts. Come on, you can’t beat $ 8 haircuts! I think she was the owner, probably Connie, who cut my boyfriend’s hair. She speaks english so it’s easy to describe what you want out of the haircut. Hard to find parking, so it’s not a place to go specifically just for a haircut. Do some asian grocery shopping or dim sum while you’re in the area!

$ 15 Trim
i got the younger hair dresser. i tipped her $ 3 for being quick.
i got my hair yanked, my ears combed, my scalp and forehead scratched by her nails. I asked for no layers and no thinning and came out with a chop shop job for my trim with reversed layers and stray chunks of hair longer than others.
serves me right for being cheap

I didn’t catch the lady’s name, but I overheard her say on the phone that she wasn’t Winnie. She was very friendly to me and really took the time to hear what I wanted, and checked with me to see that the length wasn’t too short. What I liked most was that she didn’t treat me less like a customer just because I was younger like most other places I’ve had my hair cut.
Plus the TV was on with a TVB series, so I wasn’t just awkwardly sitting there waiting for my hair to get cut.
I really liked the atmosphere. It was very comfortable and that’s pretty important to me if I’m going to sit there and have my head attacked. :P
and for the price of $ 15 to cut hair that reached down to my lower back? That’s pretty cheap.

I have been going here for atleast 4 years, Winnie does a good job and speaks English. Winnie is great haircutter, however, she dissapeared after being my regular hairstylist. Connie cannot explained where Winnie went as she speaks minimal English. So frustrating. Anyway, I still go there to get hair color, its just sign language I use. Clean place, pleasant people, price is reasonable. Wish I know where Winnie went.

$ 15 haircut for my long hair (no wash), $ 8 for my boyfriend. Ironically, his hair took longer to cut than mine. They speak both Cantonese and Mandarin here, and my stylist was very attentive and friendly. I really can’t complain too much about such a cheap haircut. My bangs aren’t perfect but my hair is pretty rebellious and I don’t spend that much time on it so I don’t really expect anyone to get it perfect. =P I really liked my boyfriend’s haircut though, and the stylist took a while on him so it was pretty carefully and thoroughly cut and faded. We’ll probably be back here again!
Get a cheap haircut, then go around the corner and treat yourself to some delicious cheap eats at Shooting Star Café. =)

loved my $ 8 haircut so much, i gave the woman who cut it $ 15 :) second time going, and i’ll definitely be going back!

I was a walk-​in after seeing the reviews for this salon. I’m not sure who actually did my hair, but it seems like there are usually 2 women working there, so others will likely have a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance of getting a haircut from the same woman that did my hair.
Bottom line, I wasn’t happy with my results, and I don’t plan on going back.
The cut was $ 25 (I did a cut + shampoo) and I specified that I didn’t want her to use clippers. She complied, but in the end, my left and right sides were uneven, and I found many strands of hair that were missed. I ended up having to use my own clippers to even out some areas and get rid of some of the stray long hairs that were missed.
For $ 25 ($ 23 + $ 2 tip) I don’t expect to have to go home, use my own trimmer, and stand in front of the mirror for 10 minutes fixing mistakes. I don’t suggest this place if you have medium length hair that requires a bit of attention to detail.
Now it’s 2 weeks later, and I’m looking to get another haircut to fix what went wrong the first time around.

Great experience! Winnie did my hair — shampoo, cut, style, and she recommended a very affordable hot oil treatment for my extremely over processed hair. I must have been under the heated steam machine for almost an hour with hot oil enriching my hair. It was really wonderful. I’m definitely coming back.
She kept my length just like I wanted, and knew what style I was going after with a few descriptors. See you soon!

No complaints for a $ 12 haircut =)

With thick strands of Asian-​fro-​esque hair, hair salons always use a flatiron before they cut my hair. As a result, haircuts always seemed great right then and there because my hair would be straight, smooth and frizz-​free. So I can never be sure of a haircut until I get home and wash/​dry myself.
And this time… I think I actually left with a good cut for my hair type and length! Connie really seemed to understand how to cut hair to minimize frizz, and reduce my bushy volume by thinning it down on the layers underneath. She worked pretty precisely yet efficiently, and was willing to accommodate a late walk-​in.

My hair was really getting long and shaggy — and I have the asian — funky butch-​type of style that demands cuts every 6 weeks. I just moved to Oakland and wanted to find a reasonable priced ($ 20-​$ 30) place that would replace the place I loved in the city (Victor’s Hair Salon on 22^nd @ Guerrero).
So I found this place on Unilocal.And I should have known not to trust the representation of the 2 reviews — but decided to give it a shot anyway.
I had called ahead and made an appointment — which caught them off guard actually, since I guess they don’t really do appointments. There were 2 women working there, and one other customer getting a color treatment.
Since they didn’t speak more than a few words of english, I had to use my elementary Chinese to tell them that I wanted a shampoo and cut. The lady immediately took me to the wash station but as she shampooed and massaged my head, she started chatting with her co-​worker, loudly, and it didn’t stop until she had to ask me what I wanted for the cut. I showed her a picture of my hair when it was shorter, and she said in Chinese that technology is so great now — people just show her pictures on their phone instead of the magazines they have.
The loud chatting began again — I didn’t mind it so much at first, because I didn’t understand what they were saying, but it got annoying when I realized she wasn’t paying much attention to what I wanted. I had to get her attention (in Chinese) to get her to stop chatting a few times to check on the progress.
Good thing is she was skilled with the razor, and skilled with the thinning shears — and my hair actually looked pretty good after the cut. The entire experience was about 45 minutes — and about 40 minutes of it was dealing with their loud annoying chatter in a language that I couldn’t understand (I only speak mandarin).
I’d give 4 stars for the cut, 2 stars for the shampoo since her nails hurt my scalp and it wasn’t relaxing due to the talking. The ambiance obviously gets a 2, since it IS Chinatown — what do you expect right? It’s not about quality, its all about price. Oh — and obviously if you don’t speak Chinese you’re pretty much screwed in terms of communicating what you want.
You get what you pay for: $ 12 cut, $ 10 shampoo, $ 5 tip = $ 27.
She was surprised I gave her a tip, so it seemed like they don’t expect tips. I might go back if I really needed something quick the day-​of, but I’m going to try and find a better place for next time.

I’ve never really went out to a salon to get a haircut because I usually trim it myself or have my mom do it for me. But my split ends were getting ridiculously irritating. So I decided to go get a haircut and the cheapest haircut I can think of that you can get is of course, Chinatown.
I came across Connie’s Hair design after comparing it with other hair salons in the area. The shop was opened just a year ago, so it is pretty new. It is mostly for younger generations and not many senior customers (for I was told), so that was a plus for me.
I went in, sat down and flipped through some magazines to get an idea of how I want my hair cut. I showed Connie the picture and started cutting it with such care. My sister and mom was there with me and she chatted away with my mom, gossiping about Hong Kong stars and various things. I was pretty nervous about how it will turn out since I had several bad experiences with Chinatown salons.
After over an hour (my hair was really long), I was happy with the results. She really took her time doing my hair with care, and not half-​assing it like some other places do. It was not fobby looking at all (which I was worried about) and I felt great… all that for just $ 15.00 without wash & dry… pretty decent and inexpensive.
She did such a good job that my sister wanted to have her hair trimmed as well. The waiting was not bad at all for there was a Hong Kong Chinese drama playing on T. V and I got really into it while waiting for my sister.

In need of a under $ 50 hair cut, I headed out for Oakland Chinatown without a specific destination in mind. I stumbled upon Connie’s Hair Design, lured by the $ 8 hair cut sign.
Connie asked what I wanted and cut my hair as I had asked. She took her time and we chatted companionably during the cut. She opened her shop in March 2008 and while I was there, I saw several people coming in to ask about getting services since she doesn’t take appointments.
Cut and blow dry/​style was $ 12 and I was happy with the outcome… just as much as I was with the $ 50 haircut I got 3 months ago.