MC College

I was a little bit weary to have a student cut my hair, but only a little bit. Really my slight trepadation came from everyone I told that I was coming here to get my hair done, not from any thought of my own («Really? You’re going to trust your hair to a student? Good luck!»). I was in need of a change with my hair and was feeling adventurous and so off to MC College I went.
The student I met with was lovely, if on the quiet side. She gave a pretty thorough consultation, asking me all sorts of questions about my hair, scalp and skin, personal preferences and what I wanted to come out of the cut with. She wrote everything down, had me pick my hair dye and then confirmed with her instructor before starting the process.
I won’t lie, the whole thing took a long time. I was in the chair for over 2.5 hours and I have a pixie cut that I was getting to be reshaped, at a regular salon I know it wouldn’t have taken that long. However part of the process is getting most steps of the process checked by the instructors. Yes that’s a bit tedious but I’d much rather have that than an unfixable mistake take place because nobody was checking – my hair is already short, I don’t have much to lose!
My highlights looked great, my hair colour is awesome and the cut is almost exactly what I asked for. I think it looks great and happily let the (soon-​to-​be!) stylist take a photo for her portfolio. When the instructor came to check for the final time all she did was clean up the edges a tiny bit and offer some styling tips (to the student, not me).
All in all I paid $ 55 including tip for a cut, highlights and colour. If you have the hours to spare I would absolutely recommend making an appointment here. I’m definitely going to go back the next time I need a colour, it was a fantastic colour and the price can’t be beat.

I’ve been going to MC College for probably about 10 years now (in Calgary and Edmonton) for both esthetics and hair. I have probably only ever had a handful of bad experiences in 10 years. I think the best way to have a good experience at MC is to 1) understand your service is being provided by students. This means they may not be as smooth, efficient and fast as at a normal spa or salon but for the most part they are trying and learning. 2) Don’t expect it to be a normal spa and salon experience like you would have at Evelyn Charles or a hotel spa. Space is tight and you’re service is most likely going to happen in a room with other people where the only divide is a curtain. With that said, prices are quite a bit cheaper than at a full salon or spa (ex. $ 10 – 15 for a ladies hair cut, $ 25 manicures, $ 35 leg wax), you get a discount in the spa if you check in through Unilocal and they usually have monthly specials like 50% off of perms or colours. So if you have time and don’t care so much about the spa and salon experience compared to the final product then I would recommend giving MC College a shot

Made a phone call requesting a spa gift package, so we may bless a single parent for Christmas. Marvel replied, OF COURSE and the package was beautiful. When I enter this salon, the technicians are polite and of excellence. The staff also are so friendly and approachable. This is an excellent company and would and have recommended many to this facility.
Elaine Dyrberg
Inner City Outreach Minister @ Thrive

I booked a spa pedicure here for $ 40 to try it out before my vacation and it is close to work. When you go up the stairs, you get the hair salon and the spa is on the 3^rd floor. My appointment was for 1PM but I had to wait about 10 minutes. Since they had a group for pedicures at 1:30, they set it up for me to get a pedicure on one of the massage tables. So far I wasn’t so impressed. I sat in a chair and soaked my feet in a bucket covered in plastic. Again, I didn’t think this was going to be a great experience.
But, I think it really depends on the student you have. My student was about halfway in the program and she spent at least an hour and half on my feet. She took her time filing my feet to ensure they would be as smooth as possible. I also had the paraffin wax on my feet which also helped.
They don’t have as many polish colours as the salon but I was able to pick one that I liked. They have sandals but I had my own so that made it easier. They also had the polish that you could buy ($ 8) so I could was able to have matching fingernails.
I’m not sure my experience would have been so positive if I had another student but I’m lucky she was efficient and took her time to ensure my foot was smooth and looking lovely! She deserved a tip and was grateful to receive one, instead of expecting it which can’t be said for services in a spa.

First of all, I contacted Marvel College last fall because I wanted a perm (spiral) done on my past shoulder length hair, but didn’t want to pay the high price at a regular hair salon.
They didn’t give me a spiral perm as I had asked for, I think because I had had my hair chemically straightened 3 to 3 and ½ years ago that they thought it was a higher risk for me having damaged hair. The girl who gave me the regular perm assured me that my perm would turn out like a spiral perm.
I WAS initially quite happy with the results when I paid ($ 60 I think) on the perm. But then again, your hair always or usually looks great right after you leave the salon. In the days to come though, I found that my hair looked frizzy with this perm, particularly on top, so I ended up curling a lot of it in the front with a curling iron.
I waited until now, now that it’s finally Spring, to have a spot perm as the girl who did my perm suggested. However when I had asked for her, I was told by someone that she has since graduated. A different girl would call me back later that day, and when she did, she told me when I told her how long my hair was (down to my boobs) that the process would take too long for her exam. In the middle of the phone conversation she either hung up on me, or we were somehow cut off. Either way, she didn’t attempt to call me back. I was originally booked for the next day to have a perm, but while telling her about my hair, that was when we suddenly got cut off or she hung up.
I wasn’t impressed that she didn’t attempt to call me back after that to confirm or cancel the initial appointment, and NOW that I have had a new spiral perm done at Aveda Institute, I found that the hair strands that were permed are also now half STRAIGHT or near straight where the previous regular perm was! I don’t blame the girl who gave me my spiral perm, because she conferred with her advisor about how the rods were placed in my hair, and they were in the correct pattern, done just like the previous perm was. But I ended up using my curling iron again once I got home, because I thought my hair looked out of balance– half newly spiral permed, and half straight, instead of uniform all throughout, with an even distribution of curl.
I personally do NOT advise anyone to consider having their hair done at Marvel College. If I had gotten the spiral perm I had asked them for, my hair would be evenly curled now, and unless this is just temporary for whatever reason due to the neutralizer or whatever other hair product the girl put on my hair, I’m worried that it’s now permanently screwed up, and I’m gonna be right back to having to use the curling iron as I had to before, and like I did once I got home! :(
Instead contact Aveda Institute, located on Whyte Avenue, instead– it’s a classy, more spacious salon and is also quieter. While I had declined, the girl who gave mt me the spiral perm had asked me if I wanted a hand massage, she used a special conditioner on the ends, and I’m pleased with the spot perm I got, which cost $ 70. I tipped the girl $ 15 also. MC College is often crowded with students, so it’s kinda noisy as well as fairly cramped, and while the instructor IS good at checking in with the students to make sure they’re doing the procedure right, that’s the best I can say about it.

I have been here for several hair cuts and have always had a great experience. The students are well-​supervised and very careful, and the price is certainly right!
The only consideration is to allow yourself an hour and a half for a regular hair cutting appointment — they go carefully making sure you’re happy, and the instructors have to check the work and do any touch-​ups.

I tried out the massage services at Marvel College in hopes of finding a cheaper way to feed my massage addiction. I was pretty disappointed by the whole experience.
First of all, just booking the massage was a challenge. I called several times, and left messages. No one called me back. When I finally got through, I was told they didn’t have a single opening for a month and a half. Ok, fine. So I booked my hour long massage and waited.
When you arrive, there is no signage directing customers where to go. I ended up in the loading dock or something. Tip: go to the left entrance, up the stairs. I got up stairs, walked up to the desk and said I had an appointment for a massage. The girl at the desk rolled her eyes at me and said the spa was on the third floor, before going back to whatever she was doing. She was not pleased when I had to bother her again to find out how to get to the third floor.
I found the spa desk and waited for 5 minutes while the three people behind the desk helped the one woman in front of me. Then I was told that I would not be getting an hour massage, since there was no one available who could do it. She also claimed that they had called me earlier in the day. I did not receive this call.
Finally I got in for my massage. The girl who did it was ok. Not particularly friendly, but not quite as cold as the other staff I’d encountered. She seemed kind of unprepared for the whole thing, but I was ok with that since these are students. However, the massage table was weird and didn’t have a proper headrest. I got an extensive massage on my left shoulder only, and the rest of my back mostly got ignored.
I ended up leaving with a relaxed feeling left shoulder, and extra pain in my right shoulder and neck from the terrible table set up. But, it was definitely cheaper.
In conclusion (of this essay), I won’t be back to Marvel, and I’ll just have to start saving my pennies for regular massages.

I had to attend a formal event and wasn’t quite sure how to do my hair so decided to try out Marvel. As this is a learning facility they have students who provide services at a reduced cost. As a patron you are required to sign a release (acknowledging that the person about to provide a service is not fully trained) but after that it feels like a normal appointment.
The salon is quite large and they have stations set up close together so it felt a bit squishy as I walked to my chair but once I was sitting I didn’t notice that as much. The hairstylist took the time to talk to me and learn what I really wanted with my hair, she even did 2 trial curls to give me the decision on how I wanted it to look. Then an instructor was called over to give the go-​ahead. Then she did my hair, confirming several times throughout the appointment that she was going the direction I wanted and even taking comments well. At the end the instructor came back and approved the final outcome. My stylist was phenomenal — I came out of there looking like a million bucks. I am sure at a professional salon I would have paid $ 100+ and instead it only cost me $ 20.
I am not sure if I would get a hair perm or color here but lots of other people were at the same time that I was there and they looked great too. I will definitely be back to try a haircut! Overall, I think the experience really depends on WHO does your hair but for the cost I really think you can’t go wrong.

MC College is a beauty technical school in Edmonton that teaches hairstyling, aesthetics and fashion design. It’s located on 106 Street and 100 Avenue (Café Select is in the lower part of the same building). MC College (formerly Marvel College) uses a hands-​on approach when teaching their students. Students practice their skills on the public to gain experience and knowledge. The public is most welcome and anyone can book an appointment for their salon and spa services. Here’s where I get interested! I can get a decent hair cut for around $ 15 and a pedicure for $ 30. Now keep in mind the services are performed by students, but they are supervised by professionals, but there have been a time or two where I didn’t quite get the hair style I had hoped for. But most times it has been a good experience.
If you’re on a budget but still want to a decent hair cut and be a glamazon for a day give MC College a try.

This review is for people with discerning taste and who are concerned about the level of hygiene and sanitation in an establishment: I went to Marvel yesterday for a cut, colour and foils. While I only paid a meagre $ 55.00 for all of this — I now understand why Edmonton has so many poorly trained individuals who are working in this industry.
The college salon had about 100 students wandering around the salon — there was no semblance of authority, direction, work being done and there was far too much ‘heady’ chatter from students who are not given direction.
The salon was an absolute pigsty — the work stations have no sanititzing solution what-​so-​ever, the floors, sinks, work stations are disgusting. So, your chances of picking up a fungal infection are really good here as the students do not practice any sanitary techniques what-​so-​ever.
The instructors and learning objectives at this college are obviously very deficient — the girl that did the services for me yesterday was so ill-​prepared in her skills and ability and she was one week away from graduation! There is no way that she could be considered a trained and certifiable stylist.
The cut I received, I could have done myself and the colour was terrible. So, although I only paid $ 55.00, I still came out with a disasterous cut and colour and students who have had 9 months of training should be able to deliver a quality service; therefore, as mentioned above — no wonder Edmonton is lacking quality stylists with skills and ability which would give a certificate some authenticity.
From my understanding, there are hundreds of students that graduate from this college yearly and most of these folks are from Alberta and will practice in Alberta — so us as consumers are getting very poorly trained individuals who are delivering a service that has no credibility due to this really bad school that seems more concerned in ‘pumping’ them through and out and making big bucks with regard to tuition, tools, etc.
Very big business here!

Marvel College is a great place to go if you’re looking for some serious pampering but have a low budget. I used to come here all the time to get my hair cut for about $ 20 – 30, and I’d keep coming here if it wasn’t that far for me now. I didn’t know this before, but they also provide services for everything from massages and nail esthetics.
They’re a beauty school training students to become fashion and cosmetics professionals. All the work is done by students, but they always do an amazing job. If you feel nervous about that though, you can request a more senior student. I’ve never had a bad experience coming here however.
I’m not too sure if they accept walk-​ins, as I’ve always made an appointment. The stylists are really friendly and sociable though, and you don’t get that awkward and choppy silence with some hair-​stylists.
Their website is worth checking out too, cause they have great specials every month. For October, it’s $ 15 to get your nails done. Personally, I like the December special, when all back massages are going to be $ 25. Hmm, maybe I will make a trip over there after all …