The Academy NYC Salon

Went here a few times for a haircut when my hair was shorter and was pleased with the results at that time. The students are engaging and the front desk is for the most part friendly. They are eager to set you up with a follow up appointment and push their house brand of products.
If time is of the essence I’d skip this place because they are learning as they work on clients so it does take that much longer in the chair.
All in all it was a fun experience and id suggest you try it out at least once.
And its cheap too!

I walked in there with box dyed black hair that I had for years. My hair is thick, and past my breast area. For the cost of 3 bowls of bleach, 2 bowls of dye, and a blow out it was 72 dollars. My hair is now red and wasn’t damaged at all (however it was healthy prior to walking in)… Thank you Paul Mitchell beauty school for helping me achieve what I never thought I would’ve having black hair!

I’ve been going to Paul Mitchell on and off for years. I have had a various amount of teachers and students work on my hair. I’ve gone from box black to platinum blond, from long to super short and I have never had one complaint. The prices are great, though the last time the woman at the desk told me it’s cash only when I know I have used my card in the past. She claims they never accepted cards. I’ll be making an appointment for next week.

WHY would anyone get their hair done here? It’s a SCHOOL the girls doing it have no idea what they’re doing! I don’t know why I even took a chance here. NEVER again! Sure their teachers «help» them but that doesn’t change the fact that the students are the ones with the scissors!!! My hair is RUINED!!!

Horrendous. Absolutely horrible never ever again. I scheduled an appt to have my hair colored. I showed them the way I wanted my hair and the teacher was completely confident saying she can do it. The student was very hard on my hair, pulling and tugging like I was a doll. The end result was nothing like the picture and I could have achieved the same results with a box dye. I was fuming. They wanted me to pay 82 $ for the worst job I’ve ever had done on my hair. I walked out with half my head blown out and the other half wet. I was there for well over 3 hours. Do NOT go here. Pay the extra money and go to a better salon. I highly recommend Bamboo on Richmond Rd. Ask for Brittany she’ll give you the best hair ever. Can’t wait to see her in a weeks.

I took my daughter here one day to have her hairblown out. We ended making an apt to have her hair dyed for another day. Spent well over 4 hours on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon only to see the end results look no better then what she could have achieved from a box of hair dye. The student blamed teacher for not taking her advise and I walked out paying $ 75 plus a $ 20 tip. They invited my daughter back to correct their mistakes and they wanted to charge me $ 45 more to fix their mistake! They apologized to us on our first visit and the teacher said we will not charge you but that was obviously a lie since my wife walked out with my credit card receipt in her hand because I was so upset I chose to walk out rather then make a scene especially since the student who worked on my daughter was just a week away from graduation. It took a lot for me to even walk back in there again and only did so for the sake of my daughter but there was no way I was going to allow them to rip me off again.
Trust me, don’t be a ginny pig for them, let them practice on there plastic models. Leave your hair to the professionals and go to a regular salon. There is nothing worse then a woman who is disappointed with her hair. Joe the manager is a nice guy and was the reason why I made the original appointment after meeting him but some of his staff/​teachers are not that talented and could use a little re-​schooling them selves.

How did this place get 4 stars?! I went to go in for a single process to get rid of blonde from my hair. I usually went to bamboo but their prices were getting a little too outrageous for me but besides the point. I asked for the darkest brown they did that. It took me 1 hour to have a seat with an appointment! Then when they did my hair they washed it and not one person but 2 student blew my hair out! While the girl who dyed my hair was blowing it out she was saying how she so desperately needed a cigarette and my hair was taking too long. I found it a bit rude and disrespectful. I will NEVER BE BACK AT THIS PLACE DO NOT GO HERE FOR A COLOR. My sister went and asked for RED hair they gave her PURPLE HAIR. This place is HORRIBLE. THE WORST HAIR SALON. I understand their students but they have PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE THERE THAT COULD CARE LESS. Trust me they will RUIN your hair and make you never trust a stylist again.

My first time today! I walked in without an appointment and only had to wait a couple minutes.
The salon itself is very clean. They also sanitize the scissors right before cutting your hair.
Lauren was my hair stylist, and she was great! I just needed a trim, but my hair is pretty long. Lauren washed and cut my hair. During my wash, she made sure not to get any water & shampoo in my eyes. I know she had a lot of hair to work with, so I appreciate it! My cut was straightforward. I just needed an inch or so trim cut across evenly. The best part was the blowout. Lauren spent a lot of time blowing out my hair. She made my ends wavy & pretty. Overall, I was impressed with the service here! Definitely worth the trip & money ($ 15)! My experience here makes me want to get a haircut more often! I would love to return and just get a wash & blowout! I highly recommend this place. The one issue keeping The Academy NYC from getting 5 stars is that the hair stylists graduate and move on with their career, which means I won’t be able to request Lauren when I return.

3.5 stars.
This salon is part of a cosmetology school. You can get discounted services in exchange for being brave enough to allow a student to work on your hair. I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous, especially after I had to sign a waiver.
I’m relatively happy with the work I had done. I got color, a cut, and a blow out for $ 55. That includes an $ 11 charge for an extra bowl of color. The cut is slightly uneven, with one side a touch longer, just enough to be noticeable. The instructor suggested I leave my current highlights in to frame my face, I loved the idea. They used color block to preserve them. There’s a little bit of zebra stripe going on in one spot– multiple people have told me they can’t see it though. But, I know it’s there. All of that being said, I paid about a quarter of the price that I’d pay at any other salon on the island.
Another big factor to be aware of– these are students working on you and it takes significantly longer than it may normally take in a regular salon. I was there for over 3.5 hours.
I went back and forth about making an appointment– so, here is my advice. If you are not having anything major done– go for it. There were several girls coming in for blow outs and they all looked great & seemed very happy with the work that was done. However, the only other girl who had color done was quietly crying in her chair when she saw the results. She made some big changes though, including ombré and highlights, and to me it seemed like more of a miscommunication than low quality of services. Which brings me to my final piece of advice– come prepared with pictures and a detailed vision of what you want done. Again, these stylists are still learning and it’s not as simple as just showing them a picture, plus I think they want to ensure that they are providing you with exactly what you want. They asked me a bunch of questions and I wish I was a little bit better prepared for that.

Just went there last night for some highlights and a cut. The ladies that were working on my hair were so professional and worked together nicely to teach one another. They did such an amazing job so it goes without saying I will be back. What is another plus about this salon is that they take walk ins. I didn’t know that so I booked in advance, but will remember that in the future if I feel like getting a quick affordable blow out or treatment. The salon is really nice too doesn’t feel like a school at all. Great job ladies. Thank you!

ZERO STARS! Went blonde from jet black at the Paul Mitchell School in St. Louis (I highly recommend). I had 1.5 inch roots by the time I hit this salon. The supervisor assessed my situation and chastised me for letting my roots get so bad. She said it would be hard to do, but it could be done with «developer» and it would «tingle.» It burned so bad, my eyes were watery and I thought I was going to puke. It took them 3 HOURS to get to blow drying. When they were finished, there was a horizontal white band going around my head. Apparently, my hair was so damaged that it turned ashen. I should’ve prefaced this with the fact that the girl doing my hair was probably 17. I wasn’t too worried, because the girl in STL was only 19, and she did a fabulous job. Anyway, supervisor comes over, because there is obviously a major fuck up. Supervisor tries to put the blame on me: «The last salon damaged your hair.» «Did you have highlights done before?» To which I respond, No I have natural blonde highlights!!! LOL my natural hair is obviously black…
Let’s get into phase two. They really don’t want to spend more time on me, they already toned and gave me a blow-​dry. I was thinking, are they seriously gonna leave me in this state? They asked if I wanted it fixed now or tomorrow. Ummm now. I’m not spending another 5 hours (final count) at this aint shit salon tomorrow. I was also very thirsty, so I asked for some tea from their machine. They wanted to charge me $ 1, nevermind then, can I have some water? After another process, wash, and blow-​dry, they’ve «fixed» it.
IT WAS NOT FIXED, my scalp was burned so bad and I was there so long that my skin was already beginning to turn from pink to brown (scabbing). The white band was still there. Then the supervisor gave me another blow-​dry. I had tears in my eyes, because she was not gentle at all. Obviously poor judgment, because my hair was ready to fall out. My scalp was screaming at the hot blow-​dryer and brush to stop.
It’s 7pm. I got in at 2. I’m paying for this crack job? YES they charged me full price and then charged me for the materials they used to correct their own mistakes (they should ask about past hair processes BEFORE working on hair). I was so drained by the experience, I couldn’t even stand up for myself. I’ll be honest, this experience was partially my fault. I should’ve told them to stop when my scalp started to burn, I should’ve refused to pay. Either way, this is never happening again. I scratched and peeled my scalp for a week. I got my roots done at Ada’s Salon in Midtown, quick and painless. So I can safely say Paul Mitchell products and staff at this location are surely below par.

If you are thinking of attending this school for cosmetology, nails, or make up do NOT waste your time and money. When I came for a tour I was told I would be taught hair, nails, make up and that I would have a chance to sign up for a separate hair extension class. They failed to mention that they don’t physically teach you nails and make up, they just have you read a chapter in the book then you take a written test on it. No actual makeup techniques being taught.
You do get a makeup kit from the school but its nothing fancy and when it comes to the make up class they just tell you to partner up with another student play with each others faces for an hour while the teacher (who is probaly only a few years older than you, the only requirement to be a teacher at this school is 2 years experience in the salon, which by the way is nothing because most salons make you apprentice for 2 years before they even THINK about giving you your own chair) sits on her phone all day and plays favorites with the students she likes.
You wont learn much about hair color unless you get alot of hair color clients because the school charges you to use real color on your manican, even during color class! So unless you want to pay 11 $ per bowl of color (which isnt alot of color) you’ll end up using conditioner to practice with which is pointless because you wont see any kind of results.
When it comes to cutting (my favorite) it was really annoying because they only give you 2 manicans and the first one ends up being bald by the 6^th week of school because they have to show you all the basic hair cuts, the 2^nd one wont last much longer because obviously the hair on the manican doesnt grow back so if you plan it out carefully you might get a good 4 hair cuts out of it, and even if you dont want to cut your manican, you still have to cut it during cutting class so eventually you will end up spending about 100 – 200 $ on manican heads during the course of the program .
I do recommend going to a Paul Mitchell school, just not this one because it is a PARTNER school which means that it is only co-​owned by Paul Mitchell. When you graduate and they give you a certificate IT DOESNT EVEN SAY PAUL MITCHELL ON IT ! it says you graduated from «The Academy NYC»
When I came for the tour i specifically asked the admissions officer if my certificate would say «Paul Mitchell» on it, she said yes, so ?? This school loves lying to perspective students, anything to get you through the door. so dont waste your time, Try Arrojo in the city or Vidal Sasson

This place is absolutely amazing! I had my first (and certainly not my last) experience here on Tuesday October 16^th 2013. I was greeted at the door by a few of the staff as soon as I walked in and was surprised at how comfortable and welcome they made me feel. Super friendly (and not in that phony kind of way), and attentive. ESPECIALLY my stylist Anthony. He was absolutely amazing. He listened to me, did exactly what I asked for and did suuchhhh a great job at it. (I got full head highlights done) This was all around a fantastic experience and would recommend anyone to come here. I can’t explain how satisfied I am with the experience as well as the outcome.

I love the Academy. I’ve been coming here for over 2 years now and I have never had a bad experience. I’ve seen at least a half a dozen different students and their «learning leaders» and have always been happy with the job they’ve done. Some students have been better than others, but I’ve never had a cut that was bad. The main difference was in the blow dry and styling.
I have very straight, thin hair so I have a very simple cut but I’ve seen what they’ve done with other customers as well. I’ve seen some beautiful work on other customers and I have never heard anyone complain.
Remember this is a school so it’s going to take longer to get your hair done than it will at a professional salon (mine usually takes a little over an hour), but it’s also going to cost you less than half as much.

Best place I have ever been to! I thought it was expensive since it was Paul Mitchell but they are cheaper than the regular salon. I just got my ombré yesterday and it came out just like the picture I showed them! I do reccomend bringing a picture so they could have something to work with. Everyone was so very kind to me they offered me something to drink or a snack to eat every 20 min! I got a ombré up to my collar bone and it was not just a straight line they did it like it was a waterfall. Prices for ombré start at $ 35 and then going up. My hair only needed one bottle of color and then they darkened it since my hair was virgin, if you need a extra bottle/​bowl it’s a extra $ 11. So for one bowl of dye a darkener and blow dry which was extra it came out to be $ 46 which was a bargain because I went to my local salon they charged me $ 60 for up to my chin and they don’t even use good product in my hair! Also if you wanted to curl it its a extra $ 10 and if you wanted a cut to that will be $ 5 extra which is great! Overall my first time was amazing and I will definitely be back again!

I personally didn’t think my hair would be cut as wonderful as Amanda, a beauty school student, cut it. I came here because it was cheap and I was tired of paying $ 50+ for a haircut. Everyone is really sweet and nice! There is a student and their teacher who cut your hair. I wanted a trim, in a V cut shape. The teacher told the student how to, step by step, cut my hair. It took a little while since the student was cautious but it was exactly what I wanted. Plus the blow out was beautiful as well. Thank You AMANDA! Good luck to you.

PLEASE AVOID THIS SALON IF YOU ARE A CUSTOMER — AWFUL SERVICE — I brought my elderly Mom here Saturday for a perm, cut & style, and a haircut for myself. We had an appt. for 11:00 am. We left at 4:30 pm. My mother’s hair was straight — pin straight — after the perm, and her hair was not styled at all after the cut, which was so far from what we asked for. There was no styling — we both were left with flat hair, parted in the middle, just hanging down. The results of both were awful. Over the course of the afternoon, I asked several of the instructors to intervene and help move things along, but I was told these were students and they are taught to cut correctly instead of quickly. What a joke! Full price was charged — I asked the stylist at the register «how does my mother’s hair look to you, after being here 5 hours for a cut and a perm?» He looked me straight in eye and said «Normal». Clearly, customer service is not something that is taught at this place. I can’t believe they let customers leave the shop looking like we did! I believe the students who were assigned to us had never performed any services prior to us. And, I don’t fault the students at all — I do blame the instructors — at some point, they should step in and get the job done for the sake of the client. There are dozens of stylists running (literally) around there like it’s a party, or a reality show, or an episode of Glee, and the customer is getting screwed. I have never, ever written a bad review of any business, but this experience pushed me over the edge. After we left there, I brought my mother to a local, small beauty salon near her home and begged them to at least even out her haircut and style it, so she didn’t go home with chopped, uneven hair hanging in her face — thankfully, Jeanne, a wonderful stylist at Beyond Hair on Richmond Rd in Dongan Hills, took pity on us, and fixed that hot mess for my Mom. She left there looking beautiful! Our business will now be going to Beyond Hair — just STAY AWAY FROM PAUL MITCHELL.

The absolute worst customer service. I went in for low lights, hair cut and blow dry at 6pm. At 9pm the student just finished putting on the dye. At 9:10 the teacher comes over and states that they will not be cutting my hair because it is too late then at 9:30 she comes back and states they will not be blowing my hair dry either because the have to close by 10. Then have the nerve to charge my $ 45 for an incomplete job and send me out in the freezing cold (it was 40 degrees outside) with a wet head. I went into the restaurant across the street to wait for my sister to pick me up when she did 20min later, we pass the salon and there is the teacher blowing out the students hair !!! They kick me out because they have to close then hang out and do each others hair. I will be letting everyone know the unprofessional work ethic the team at Paul Mitchel has. This is what they teach new Stylist to screw the customer and kick them out when you don’t feel like finishing what you started… Unbelievable! I expected the time line to be longer because they are students but didn’t expect to get kicked out with a wet head and no haircut! Horrible~~