Mozart the Salon

I’d like to first point out that this salon hosted a fundraising event for the Women & Children’s Crisis Shelter. Most salons & stylists do not work Sunday’s but these unselfish professionals were giving their free time for a worthy cause.
I’ve never been to this salon before so for the donation price for a haircut to go towards charity is a way to give back & come out looking & mostly feeling great that I could help.
Yes I will be returning to see master stylist Jeff T. He also loves kitty cats too!

Went in for a trim and came out with a root touch-​up, conditioned, cut and blow out! LAWRENCE YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!! Highly recommend him!

Love the place. Lorne is the best did a great job on my mom and I hair. He fix my mom hair so nice he did a great job in the blonde and hair style. And he cut and blow dryed my hair really nice. Everyone love it.

Finally a place that gets it right!!! Nikki is spectacular, precise and amazingly talented. I drive all the way from LA to see her because I know she will do a fantastic job!

Brent was so nice and did a great job on my hair. I was a tad worried I wasn’t going to get my hair done same day because I originally had an appointment with another stylist who informed me Brent was better with extensions, which I appreciated because he was honest with me. I was lucky enough to have Brent squeeze me in. He works very quickly, which I really like because I tend to get antsy, but he is very thorough. I was glad to just happen to find this place. It’s a very clean salon and everyone seems friendly, which was cool because some salons have snooty employees. All in all I will be returning. I left with exactly what I wanted.

Came here because I was given a gift card and was pleasantly surprised! Alfonso is the best! He was super sweet and quick.

Do not EVER go to this salon! I had a 4pm appointment for a blow dry and cut. I walked in 10 minutes early and was told that my stylist John T. had left his phone somewhere and was running late. After waiting another 15 minutes, I was told by a different employee that he «left his wallet and is stuck in downtown LA traffic». I asked what time he would actually be getting there and they said they had no idea. I heard the employee talking to the stylist on the phone telling him I had a gift certificate and at that point everyone was rude and stopped speaking to me!
I tore up the gift certificate and told them to expect my honest review on Unilocal.
This is being written one week after the incident happened because I was so upset at the time and I wanted to be fair in my assessment.
This is honestly what happened. Both upsetting and humiliating. My friend that gifted me the certificate has been going there for two years and now she said she won’t EVER go back!

In spite of the thesis written by Spencer below, I have had nothing but excellent, personable service at Mozart. I used to live in Whittier, and found the place by accident when walking uptown one night.
I now live in Orange County, but will make the drive up there even just for retouches. I feel sorry that someone had a bad experience with one person there, but I have gone to two stylists there without incident. I have been using Al, the owner, for the last several years, and will use him as long as he is there.
I have long, bone-​straight hair … which is not as easy to cut well as it may seem. My cuts and color with Al are always excellent, even now when I have to cover up more grey than I care to admit. My biggest fear with my dark hair is the fake-​ish black look you see on many people, or some weird color not found in nature.
Al addressed my concerns, and my used-​to-​be greys match my normal hair perfectly. It looks healthy and shiny, just like it did decades ago. In fact, my dad was even surprised that I colored my hair, since he couldn’t tell a difference.
With any stylist, communicate and be honest about what you want, like or don’t like. It makes a better experience for everyone. I would heartily recommend Al and Mozart. You don’t stay in business for as long as he has without providing good service.

Everyone at this salon is totally awesome I love each and everyone that works there they can help with any look or occasion def recommend this salon for all your beauty needs :)

New customer. Wanted face framing highlights with an obre twist and was scheduled with Brent. He was very down to earth, didn’t make me feel out of place or anything. Kind and talkative if I wanted to chat or just concentrating on his job otherwise. When the color was finished I really did love it– I am super picky! The only thing I noticed when I got home (and out of that amazing salon lighting that just somehow makes everything look perfect right away) was that one side of the face framing ombré (so just the part right around my face– granted I have mid back length hair– was that one side was ‘lighter’ than the other side. When I thought thru this it made sense since he started on my right side and did the entire right side first then moved over to the left side of my head– probably if he does it again I’ll mention this and see if he can go back and forth and do one highlight on one side and then switch to the other side of my head– o.k. that would be a crazy ton of work… but it’s kind of the strategy you’d have to use when applying the ombré if you want to achieve the best evenness. Of course, next time I go in he’ll probably have to do the left side first and then the right side to even it out and then when I’m back for my 3^rd treatment he’ll have to go back and forth… anyway, I really was happy with the job it looks very nice. He charged me $ 150 and I tipped him $ 20. So all in all for $ 170 I would say it was a good job, but I would have been happier at that price point if the evenness would have been more perfect. Keep in mind I realize most people leave a salon for about $ 120 – 170 but usually they are getting a cut and color. He just colored my hair– that’s it. So I felt like it might have been a bit pricy, but o.k. I was a little thrown that when I called and I asked what «full head highlights» cost and she said they start at $ 75 I’m thinking o.k. well I have long hair and thick hair so they will probably charge me like $ 120– but I was not expecting double. I think Brent rents his space from the salon so he sets his own prices, etc… but I did book with him on the receptionist recommendation and so I’m shocked she didn’t say «Brent’s a bit more expensive, you might be looking at $ 120 all the way up to $ 200 depending on what he does» You can’t say starting at $ 75 when you know the stylist and what they charge and then walk out and have your price doubled on you– that’s just something I would have liked to know before going in. And now that I think of it I did tell the receptionist how long my hair was… So those two things. My sticker shock and the color perfect evenness make it a 4 star for me rather than a 5, but I do believe in trying a stylist and salon multiple times before making that ultimate judgment call. So I’ll check back in around May/​June when I’m thinking I’ll go back again. :)

I am writing this review as the husband of A.R. Her four star review is below. It was written back in April, but she messed up the dates reposting it when she was deciding whether to write a follow up review or not. She chose not to because the experience was so hurtful. I am a software developer and run social media campaigns for large companies and feel it is our community duty to inform one another about businesses and the services they provide so we can praise the good one’s and root our the problems. The first experience with the salon was paid for with money brought in from my business so I have standing to write this review about the second encounter with Mozart the Salon.
With that said, my wife went to get a hair cut from the Mozart salon last weekend. I came home from work early and she left to get her hair cut short for the first time in 6 years! She was really excited. Brent had done a good job of her highlights about four months earlier, and she was ready to finally cut her long hair.
15 minutes after Ashleigh left, she walked back in the door weeping. When I got her settled down and found out what went wrong, I found out that she had literally been publicly humiliated by Brent and denied service. Come to find out, Brent had read the review on Unilocal that my wife had written months earlier. She had given Brent and the salon four stars! Four stars! She had been very positive (the review should be attached, just read it for yourself) with two critiques. 1) She felt the front highlights were a little uneven, and 2) she had been told the cost would be around $ 80 and ended up paying $ 150. Turns out Brent runs his own shop there and charges different from the salon and sets his own prices. Fine. That is his purgative, but the salon should have mentioned that when they suggested him after quoting her a price. Regardless, the review was 4 stars!
When Ashleigh went in, Brent recognized her and obviously had remembered her as the woman who wrote him a «negative» four star review 4 months earlier. How do you hold a grudge that long, and over a four star review? He told her he would not do her hair, and even mentioned that he had consulted his attorney because she had mentioned him by name. She felt totally bullied and was publicly humiliated. Crazy, she was a good customer and was coming back regardless of what he was going to charge her.
The scoop on legal recourse for Unilocal reviews: Before I went back to being a software developer, I was a corporate attorney. I went to Boston University School of Law and practiced in Massachusetts and North Carolina for a number of years. So for everyone’s benefit here on Unilocal,let me tell you the legal rules around this so no one tries to bully anyone else into writing good reviews or just not speaking up. Unilocal is a public forum where you can openly express facts or your view of the facts of an experience that happened. The point is to raise and aggregate awareness of factual experiences and express appropriate impressions and feelings about the experience so other individuals may aggregate those reviews to personally determine trends. AS LONG AS YOU ARE REPEATING THE FACTS AS THEY COULD BE INTERPRETED BY A REASONABLE PERSON, YOU CANNOT BE SUED. Where you have to be careful is if you were to exaggerate, be vindictive or flat out lie. In reality, if you lie, they can sue you for libel. If you ruin someone’s reputation by calling them a child molester when they’re not, why should that be legal? To recite the facts of an experience that happened while in the normal course of business is completely acceptable, and you may use the person’s name (slander by the way is when you speak it, so Unilocal would be libel because it is written).
Anyway, to sum up, my wife was refused service in a demeaning manor by Brent. This was done publicly and at the expense of her time. This was all done because he felt she had written him an unfair review. The review was a four star review that was highly praiseworthy, but did critique the evenness of the color and the change in price that was originally quoted. In addition, Ashleigh called the same day after she was refused service, hoping to give Brent an opportunity to clear this up. She left her cell number, and he never returned the call. The other people at the salon allowed this to go on and were dismissive to her when she called later. To be clear, it is Brent’s right to refuse services. It is Ashleigh’s right as a consumer to alert other consumers to the conditions and context of his refusal.
Those are the facts, you decide if those are the people you want to do business with.

Christina !!! Luv her. She is an OG with lots of flair and sav’ua fare. She’s the bomb diggity… Cannot say enough good things about her hand. Cheers!
Luv you Christina.
Your client Victor Ramirez

I have had some terrible haircuts in my day, to the point where I stopped getting it cut. I finally mustered up some courage and tried Mozart.
MARY, my new hair savior, SAVED ME from hair crisis.
She made me feel at ease and asked questions to make sure I got what I wanted. I had dyed my hair red from the box and she brought it to life! EVERYONE compliments me on my lovely, now healthy, hair thanks to MARY! Even when we’re in the salon, people stop and say how awesome it looks! I hadn’t cut my hair for years before I found Mary, and she saved my hair! Not only is she a talented hair colorist, and stylist, but an amazing person. I look forward to my hair appointments and feeling at ease knowing my head is in amazing hands!
Though it may be a little pricey, it is worth every penny. Mary always checks in to see if I need a trim. She squeezes me in at the end of a long day and still gives me top notch service. She always communicates with me to make sure i’m getting what I want. Mary is amazing!
I personally only write Unilocal reviews for amazing places or terrible places, and Mary at Mozart is too good for words!
I HIGHLY recommend trying out Mozart for your hair needs, and DEFINITELY ask for Mary. She is honestly, THE BEST!

Al is the best. I’ve been coming here for over 10 years and wouldn’t think of going anywhere else. I always get compliments on my hair, but most importantly I love my hair after visiting his salon.

Gerardo is a professional hairstylist that gives full attention to your beauty needs. Many times, at last minutes notice, Gerardo has made time for me. He pays attention to detail and does so with ease. I highly recommend him — he’s top notch.

I always have a great experience here with Brent! Highly recommend!
My mom and I go in together every six weeks and Brent is fast, does amazing quality color and cut, and most importantly is über affordable! You leave here paying a fraction of what the same work would cost in an LA or NYC salon (speaking from experience in both!). I was happy to have been recommended here and will continue to be a repeat customer even though I’ve now moved to the OC.

I’ve been to a bunch of places in the $ 35 men’s hair range. The décor was nice, and the customers weren’t average to above average looking. Maybe it was just me but I didn’t get that great of a stylist (wasn’t talkative, was doing other things). They may be good to others but I wasn’t feeling it. I’d go to Artika HairSpa.

I have been to Mozart two times and both times have been VERY happy with my hair!
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you make an appointment if Cindy if you go here!
The first time I had my hair colored and cut, the color was amazing! I got so many compliments on the red! Everyone was asking me what color it was and where I got it done. The haircut was really good too!
The second time, I got a haircut! I love the haircut and what I really like about Cindy is that she styles your hair really cute! When you walk out of the salon you feel like a new person!

Having been referred here by a friend who has great style, I was open. I needed a change from the usual hair stylist; I wanted a fresh pair of hands and eyes; I also needed a lower price than my usual stylist (it was getting costly).
I made an appt w Alfonso. When I got there, I waited about 30 min after scheduled time. It didn’t bother me too much as I got to look through the magazines for some eye catching looks as I sipped on hot tea.
I briefly told him what I wanted and how I usually style it. I was open, what the hey. He cut my hair with such intensity it was cool. However, when he blow dried my hair I honestly couldn’t wait for him to finish. He literally burned my ears red. I told him once that it burned and he apologized… but it happened again. I just closed my eyes and clentched my feet together. I don’t know, perhaps, he wanted to rush throw the blow dry because I was the last customer? Maybe he gets so into it that he doesn’t take notice and he almost scalded my ears?
I’m kinda in between, I love the overall new look but if I go back again, I would need to inform him to please caution the ears (which kinda sux cause stylists should know to be careful in such sensitive areas). We’ll see…
Women’s haircut — wash, cut, blow dry $ 50

After reading these reviews, I decided to try out Mozart — I’m really glad I did. I used to go to another salon in San Gabriel. They did good work but after several months — it just felt like my stylist and I were not on the same page. Plus it’s a good 30 – 40 minute drive, so I decided to look elsewhere.
I called Mozart on a Thursday and was able to make an appointment with Alfonso on Saturday. The receptionist called me on Friday to confirm the appt, which is nice — since I’m pretty busy and prone to bouts of forgetfulness.
The layout of the place is very nice, modern, and comfortable. They had a coffee dispenser which is a very nice touch. Even though I had an appt, I had to wait about 10 minutes which is totally cool with me. Gave me time to sip my coffee and check emails on my blackberry.
Alfonso is very courteous and attentive. He really wanted to know what I was going for and what style I wanted. He’s also the owner and you can tell alot from that. Meaning — if the owner does a give a shit about his customer, you really cant expect the staff to care either. Luckily, this wasnt the case. Alfonso did an amazing job and made sure I was looked after the whole time.
The price range was the same as what I paid before and it’s about average for a mens hair cut & style. I will definitely be going back to Mozart and recommending them.