Rainbow Room Academy

Popped into the training academy for a trim. Brilliant cut from Cree Seager!

I must admit I’m a bit of a hairdresser junkie and also I like to ‘try’ new ones out. This came from having first been to many pretty bad places or just having had many bad haircuts in the past…
Hairdresser: ‘I’m CERTAIN the Flock Of Seagulls hairdo is coming back into fashion…‘
Me: ‘You sure…‘
Hairdresser: ‘Oh YES! Would suit you!‘
Thus my hunt to find a decent, honest and not to expensive hairdresser begins.
I first came to the Rainbow Rooms Academy about 8 years ago and I have to admit my first experience was not a brilliant one at first — I seen to have landed myself THE most junior of juniors who at every stage of my haircut had to call over the ‘director’ to check her work, this is quite unsettling, especially when the ‘director’ gave a pause and sigh. Eek! Turned out she done a not bad job actually & (at that time) I only paid about £8 for this. Yas.
I have since been back here quite a few times and never had anyone that was even slightly unsure of their skills — in fact they’ve all been very professional and I wouldn’t have been able to tell they were a ‘training’ stylist at all. In fact one time I turned up and the girl that cut my hair had indeed graduated and was just waiting on a shop to be placed into so I effectively got a ‘normal’ RR’s cut & blow-​dry for less than half the price! Yowza.
I’ve been here for cuts (usually £16 for an Academy stylist or £18 for a Graduate) and also colour ~ both root touch-​up and highlight/​colour also. If you’re on a budget (or you’re just not a big fan of spending more than £30 on a haircut. Who can blame you?) then this is a great place to go for a quality but cheaper haircut. I have honestly never had a bad haircut here. If you need to get your roots touched up and like to do it at a hairdressers then this is also a great place to come but I wasn’t so impressed when they highlighted then coloured my hair — to be fair my hair was black at the time and she wasn’t keen on doing it to begin with BUT she gave it a go and the results was just ‘okay’ and it also cost a lot more than I expected it to. Boo.
If you’ve never been to a RR salon before then just to let you know they give all customers an AMAZING shiatsu head neck and shoulder massage — this is DIVINE :) I already love getting my hair cut/​touched/​played with (nowt dodgy like!) so this wee massage is just a wee tasty cherry on top of a hairy pie… oops, now THAT sounds dodgy… youknowwhatImeananyway. Hut-​hum. Also the coffee & biscuit in here is lovely too ~ another wee bonus.
So if you’re in town and fancy a wee bargain haircut in a great salon then this is a good place to head (and Shoulders ~ sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Awful! After reading mixed reviews I thought just go for it really wished I hadn’t! Lovely salon lovely stylist but went in to get a half head of highlights and didn’t come away with that! My roots looked half done, they went an awful orangey colour and the girl doing my hair had been there a year and a half so it’s not like she was jnr. Never had this in a salon before and thought a salon with a reputation like this would make such a mistake! Never had this happen before. Also I felt the price was misleading said online £39 for half head which I assumed included a haircut (seeing as I’ve had highlights and a cut for £25 at other academies). Nope, they charged an extra £18 for this on my final bill without explaining it to me at any stage. So £57 at an academy that doesn’t even colour your hair not worthwhile! Go elsewhere won’t pay much more for a cut and foils elsewhere and they’ll do it properly.

I attended for a cut and colour in January and I am returning tomorrow.
I was made welcome and was happy with my stylist, Rachel, who listened to what I wanted. She consulted her senior re my colour and my cut was carefully checked by the senior prior to me leaving. I may add Rachel cut my hair well and no changes were necessary.
Timing was perfect, all charges were explained and were value for money.
I also required a skin test and lotions were posted out to my home address prior to my appointment.
I have recommened the academy to friends.
I was surprised to read the negative comments and I can only assume the stylists must have been very junior.

What an unprofessional mess this place is. Leigh, the Academy Director, has absolutely no time for anybody. She has a deep personality complex and cannot accept when she is in the wrong. She always complains about «being too busy» but this is her job! If she can’t do it, she shouldn’t be there! How anyone could consider her good enough to be Academy Director is beyond me. These comments sum up this Rainbow Room Academy:
«The trainee didnt annoy me, however the supervisor did as I felt as though I was being told ‘thats a great colour job’, when in my heart I knew it wasnt.»
«It does seem that they aren’t teaching very good customer skills, or even basic human manners.»
«There was hardly any input from anybody ment to be supervising…»
«The girl I had seemed completely unaware of what questions to ask and what she should be doing. She sat down next to me and when going through her questionnaire (that they all do before starting) she seemed very lost.»
«I also expected the teaching staff to know more about hairstyle fasions or what colours would suit you.»
«throughout the session I voiced my views to the trainer who simply told me to basically shut up as I should be honoured that he was advising on my haircut.»
«At the end I told the trainer that it still wasnt fixed which his response so a shrug of his shoulders.»
This place is by far the most unprofessional «Academy» I’ve ever heard of. This is all down the to the way it is run and Rainbow Room would do well to replace their staff before this place, and namely their Academy Director, ruins their reputation completely.

I would be reluctant to go back to the Rainbow Room. I have had one cut there, which was ok — but I did feel like i wasn’t listened to properly, and my hairdresser was a bit sullen and unfriendly. I repeatedly asked for more to be cut off and ended up just giving up, so I did need to get it cut again pretty soon! It does seem that they aren’t teaching very good customer skills, or even basic human manners.

I’ve put down a low score due to my last visit. The first few visits I had were quite impressive however during my last appointment I was totally put off going again. The girl I had seemed completely unaware of what questions to ask and what she should be doing. She sat down next to me and when going through her questionnaire (that they all do before starting) she seemed very lost.
It took half an hour before she even worked out what to do. After sitting around for ages getting my roots done I realised when she was drying my hair that she had missed a huge section at the back. I questioned her and I had to ask for her supervisor to come and look at it. The hair had to be redone which meant sitting around for an extra hour to get it sorted. Since leaving I’ve realised how uneven my cut is.
I think I will go back to see a graduate but I won’t go back for a colour as there seems to be no price difference between that and a real hairdressers.

Although this is a training salon you would except the trainees to at least be trained to a certain standard and know how to cut hair.
I also expected the teaching staff to know more about hairstyle fasions or what colours would suit you.
Boy was I wrong, i am pretty pale and the I wanted my hair dyed, so i asked for blode streaks or something quite light, I specifically said I did not want to go darker than i already was (light brown).Next thing i know I have black hair that was far to dark for my colouring, throughout the session I voiced my views to the trainer who simply told me to basically shut up as I should be honoured that he was advising on my haircut. :-(
And as for the girl cutting my hair she was hopeless and should not have been aloud to cut peoples hair.
She left half my hair uncut and straggly, she was told 3 times by the trainer to fix my hair and couldnt which resulted in me going home with a half done job that took 4 hrs!!!
At the end I told the trainer that it still wasnt fixed which his response so a shrug of his shoulders.
SO I WOULD ADVISE TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AND SIMPLY SPASH OUT AND GO TO THE PROPER SALON WHERE AT LEAST THEY ARE PROPERLY TRAINED TO BE CUTTING HAIR.
i WONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN

I love this salon! Rainbow Room are very famous and GOOD hairdressers who aren’t afraid to try something different or unusual. I just couldn’t afford to go there often so I was so glad when this place opened.
You can have a hairdressing academy student cut your hair for only £14 and a graduate for £16 — and absolute BARGAIN at about half price of the usual cost! You can get a trained hairdresser or the director to cut your hair though at the usual £40ish. The salon is bright and modern and always busy, there are plenty of magazines available for ideas and I like to see what other people are getting done around me. They also offer you tea and coffee and the odd biscuit!
To be honest even if you get a student doing your hair, you are going to get the director’s input as she comes round and examines their work and neatens up tricky bits and so she is technically cutting your hair too. I have never had a bad cut from there and getting an appointment less than a week in advance is easy enough. They also do free fringe trims if you walk in, no booking needed, after having your hair cut by them– even if it was weeks ago!
If there is any criticism it might only be that sometimes they expect you to know exactly what you want, and want to just get down to doing what you tell them but sometimes you may want the stylist’s input or opinion on what would suit you or want to try something entirely new.