Salon Ava

It turns out that racial profiling is NOT the key to a good haircut. If you’ve ever read my Unilocal reviews, you may know I’ve been bouncing around trying to find a new stylist for years.
I haven’t been «happy» with a cut in quite some time, and keep searching for the elusive holy grail of hair. Part of the problem is that fine, but thick, blond hair is such an anomaly, no one knows how to cut it. (I hear about my hair composition every time; I’m not making this up.) Thus, I end up with chunky blunt cuts that don’t work with my hair, no matter how hard I try to prep the stylist upfront.
I was getting desperate.
Enter Salon Ava. I called because a friend had gotten a dramatically refined cut there years ago and I kept them in the back of my mind. My not-​subtle assumption was that I’d end up with the same problem-​cut, since a location in a Korean strip mall does not inspire confidence in the ability to cut non-​Asian hair.
And yet, I was wrong. I went in to clean up the last cut I’d gotten 3 weeks prior and had been unhappy with ever since. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to improve an *ok* cut, so I hoped for the best. She delivered!
Customer service is odd at Salon Ava, at best. Or maybe «non-​communicative» is the right word. My first visit was, incidentally, the only time a stylist has removed the hair-​cutting cape and abruptly walked away from the chair. No mirror to check out the back. No «that’ll do it, come this way please.» No «how does this look to you?»
Just… Walked away! Good thing I DID like the cut. I’m not sure there was an option.
I timidly followed her to the register while waiting to be chastised for getting up without permission. A bit of guidance would have gone a long way!
I’ve been back twice and I’d say it’s been a consistent experience. I leave happy, and it’s currently the only place I will go, and she even offers coffee or tea while you’re there. Give her a try!

This place has made me very happy a few times now. Ava is so sweet and so is her new employee that I’ve just met. You can tell just by watching Ava that she knows and cares about the quality of work in her salon as she often needs to multitask, which doesn’t bother me because she isn’t gone long. On my last visit I went in for deep conditioning and was explained the different options and prices. I left with a straight perm as well, which was really exciting because I have wanted to do that for so long but was told by someone else that I couldn’t because I colored my hair. It took such a long time because I have long hair but they worked together and did a great job. I no longer need to straighten my hair every other day which makes my life so much simpler. I’m just curious to see how long it will last

Was debating whether or not I should say something, but maybe someone would benefit from my experience. I even wrote a really long and detailed review, then deleted it because I felt bad, but here’s the short and simple version:
I came to Salon Ava for a Japanese Straight Perm touch-​up twice. The first time they did an awesome job, everything was perfectly straight and there was hardly any damage. I went back about six months later because their prices are pretty fair.
Second time, the lady was training somebody on my hair and it’s the worst straight perm I’ve ever had. They broke off my bangs, which I didn’t notice until they started growing out, and I am still finding wavy sections of hair at the nape of my neck and behind my ears especially. They were careless and not thorough, and not to mention, they were totally rude the second time. Oh, and did I mention she was late to top it off?
The lady pointed out the damaged pieces framing my face after the process (they fried it!) and asked if I wanted a trim– I said yes please, take off the dead ends. She basically ran shears through it quickly, barely slashing it, then charged me an extra $ 40! I was going to give them a decent tip, but not after that…
I don’t trust Salon Ava to do my hair again, so may not go back. Once again, this is the worst straight perm touch up I’ve ever had, and I’ve been having it done for four years.

Really great little place! Came out of hospital and needed a wash and cut because I couldn’t shower due to surgery. I let the assistant do his thing, and trusting him paid off. Brandon turned my mop-​top into something beautiful and comfortable. Great service and a passion for what they do.
Thanks Brandon!

Really high quality haircuts. I only get my hair cut from Yong, aka Ava, who is the best hairstylist there. Trust me, you will leave feeling refreshed and more than satisfied. Great deal as well. After going here I can’t imagine going anywhere else. My standards are just too high now.

With only a day left in Hawaii, got into the salon for Japanese straightening without a problem. They worked together and got the whole process in 2.5 hours. This is one of the best jobs I have ever done on my hair. They were very nice and I will definitely be coming back when I’m in Hawaii next. Price was very good and bought some products you can’t get on main land to help preserve straightness. Had it done 3 weeks ago and my hair is exactly as when I walked out. Love this salon. Especially affordable and great product for Japanese straightening.

Since moving back from Los Angeles a few years ago, my girlfriend finally found someone she trusted to do her semi-​annual straight perm. Ava does a great job at a good price (it’s all relative because straight perms are pretty expensive). My girl always looks great after her visits with Ava.

People are always really nice and service is great and at a good price.

My friend, Alice, and i went to this place and we were surprised by how nice the owner was. My friend had a super damaged hair due to ombré, and wavy hair. She got her hair straightened, toned, and trimmed. Everything was done with great care. She was literally begging Ava to ombré her hair, but Ava told her to wait because she was worried about how damaged her hair was. Instead of doing it to get more money like other places, she put her customer hair’s condition first. Her assistant was awesome too. Great place, awesome people! Highly highly recommend it. Btw, we were expecting the whole process to be $ 500, but it was unexpectedly cheaper.

Wow! A color, cut and straightening in just two hours! And reasonably priced too! Always great service… I give them a TEN (stars)!!

Super cute little salon above palama supermarket. Mostly Korean and Chinese speaking work here. But don’t be afraid to try them out just because there’s a small language barrier. They have great technique and styling.
Ava specializes in wedding styles and always make all of her guests look great with hair and make up. My friend who works for MAC looked at her make up and said that what she uses is like super nice.
She has an assistant boy named Brandon who does hair too. He does really edgy trendy men’s cuts.
The parking lot can get a little packed some times but there’s an upstairs parking too. And food downstairs !

I got a digital perm and color here almost two years ago, only because their prices were cheaper than other salons. My mistake for being cheap, I should’ve paid more, at least I would’ve had hair that doesn’t make me look like Hagrid from Harry Potter.
I waited on reviewing them, but now, after almost two years of getting my hair done there, my hair is still badly damaged. And I want to save other girls from looking like Hagrid, its not a nice feeling.
I wanted a digital perm and then the following week, I’d get a touch up since my roots grew out. But she said she could do both during the same visit, I though why not since it’d save me from having to come in again.
They didn’t ask me about my part, which is very important to me. I look horrible with a middle part, but thats what I got. I tried to tell the lady I want a side part. she said it doesn’t matter now, but she’ll remember later when she cuts my hair. She didn’t by the way…
The lady who did my digital perm seemed to have no experience with doing it. I felt like I was a test subject at a beauty school. I think I was their first digital perm because the guy was taking a picture of my hair at every step and talking to the other lady in korean and another lady had to redo some of the strands the first lady did. The guy taking pics had never asked for my permission, never introduced himself or anything. I was bothered but didn’t say anything. I guess I was giving him a dirty look and later he said he’s taking pictures for teaching purposes. Still didn’t ask me if it was ok with me… They weren’t very gentle and they had to use rubber bands to hold the curlers in place, so you can imagine how that hurt.
END RESULT: very very very frizzy, puffy hair that barely had curls AND I looked like a super sayian from DragonBall Z… instead of a touch up, she thought I wanted to color the whole thing, so instead of looking natural like it had before, it looked very cheap and way too bright to match my complexion. I was not happy at all.
They charged me for a full color instead of the touch up like I had asked. And o top of that I had to pay them for ruining my hair. They said they’d redo it in two weeks. But instead of redoing the digital perm, I learned later that they did a spiral perm… I HATE spiral perms:((((
So not only did it damage my hair more, make it more frizzy and give me caveman hair, but they gave me the wrong perm!
Needless to say I will not be coming back here. I am still struggling to get my hair to look healthy and not frizzy anymore after 2 years.

Been here twice, First time had long hair which needed dead ends cut off, took off like 4 – 5 inches and the Asian gal did a good job of both listening to me and looking at the photos of an estimate of what I wanted done. Caucasian with thick, wavy blond hair, it worked out perfectly with the bottom inch & half as a layered/​graduated cut. This first time had been suggested by G-​pon discount. Cool — had a dtr’s wedding coming up & had purchased 60 min cut&condition for them also. Next year they send me out another offer directly from Salon Ava and again, I take the bait. Only this time I get someone different. I explain what I want, now only needing a trim of the same cut of a graduated layer at the bottom inch & half. He seems rushed, more interested in the on-​going conversation of others in the shop. My hair is in natural state, not straight, got that natural wave thing going on. He brushes it and I tell him to keep the same graduated layer look just a little shorter to bring it back to where it was resting a year ago, and then he sets me to shampoo stage. The conditioner was left in for easily 10 full minutes first time. He tells me it’s supposed to stay in that long but after 5 minutes he’s back to rinse it out. Huh? Clock is right there. OK whatever, I’m not seeing this ending well.
Sure enough, the cut/​trim starts out in the right direction, but midway once it’s more dry, he’s brushing it above my head and pulling it to one side to «trim» the ends. Then I start to notice he’s working on one side more than the other. (I wear glasses and have them off so he doesn’t catch them every time he goes near my ear) It seems to me this would be making one side shorter than the other– I’ve got a center part when I came in and when I leave– no mistaking where it is. Without checking the front to make sure the two sides are the same length, he starts «styling it» blowing it to curve under. I can tell you it will stay this way for 6 hours and never be that again– I don’t do this daily. I leave with me not being able to tell what has actually happened, so I go home to check it out myself.
Yup, right side is shorter than left, I’ve got a chunk out of the right that looks nothing like a graduated layer; more like here’s one length and oh yeah, there’s the other with a huge gap in between. I get to work the next day and folks are wondering what happened… did I let my 3 yo granddaughter loose with a scissors?
I call & get ‘let me let you talk to Ava” I explain the problem and she says, come in this evening (I still need to work you know so it’s going to be @5:30 or later) and she will see whats happened. She apparently wanted to make it better but this means it’s now shorter because we have to first make the chopped right side feathered/​graduated and then have to trim up the left because it’s the length I wanted it but now won’t match the right on even a cold day in hell. Well I won’t need a haircut for another year and a half now its so short. Not what I expected — such a MAJOR DIFFERENCE from the first visit. Of course, I paid for the first time but there wasn’t going to be a charge for the ‘fix’.
And to top it off, when I came back the next day, the same dude was there and when I came in and had my back to him — he asked ‘did I have an appointment/​” Couldn’t even see the mess he made — or didn’t want to, and ‘Ava’ said quickly «No, I have it!»
I told her to read him the riot act for the lousy job he did. She kept saying, «need to remember to get the hair straight to see the cut» and I said, «he did straighten it but it was still wrong cause he kept pulling it over to the other side and kept cutting it!»

Loved this salon and had been here 4 times prior, but I will no longer be going back. On my most recent visit for a cut and highlights, the stylist (40-​ish woman with blunt cut bangs) didn’t even introduce herself or ask questions to learn about my hair or to ask how exactly I wanted my hair done. Once I sat down and said that I wanted a trim and the same type of highlights as before, she and a young guy quickly got to work tag-​teaming the appointment: She would put the highlights in. He would shampoo. She would cut. He would blow dry. No one talked to me in between and I seriously felt like a dog being worked on by some unhappy groomers.
Worst, I had my hair side-​parted, and she assumed I always part that way (since she never spoke to me), so I have tons of highlights on my left and absolutely nothing down my true center part! The color is also really cheap looking and not warm or natural at all. I guess that’s what happens when you just slap on the solution and herd someone under a blow dryer for a speedy 30 minute dye job.
I wouldn’t recommend this place if this quick, impersonal treatment is the new norm. It was cheap, but not worth it, since I went ahead and dyed over the crappy highlights anyway. You’ve lost a customer in me, Salon Ava.

I was worried about trying a new salon because I have very difficult hair, but my orig hair dresser left the biz so I had to venture out and be brave. Christy was my stylist and she was great! I was specific in what I wanted: layers, maintain the length, thinner and v shaped back, and she went above and beyond! I’m so happy with my hair, it’s so much lighter and healthier! Maybe I’m just smitten but I’m certain someone leaned out their car window and yelled, «I love your hair!» Yup, It really happened ;)

Not my fav stylist. The cut is more for Asian hair. I have really thick Hawaiian hair. I’m totally in love with J Salon’s Vidal Sassoon trained stylists.
However, they did offer a discount for 25% and gave free products.

I had a Unilocal Deal and thought… why not?! It was definitely worth the deal price but I don’t feel it was worth breaking from my normal gal at M. Matoi Hair Studio. Sorry Salon Ava! I felt a bit out of place here, perhaps it was because I was a guy but it was just an odd feeling.
The haircut was fine, it was «A-​OK» as the three star rating equates to on Unilocal.Perhaps this place is better suited for some but I’ll pass for now, just not my cup of tea.

This review is for their business practices, as I cannot comment on their services.
Where to begin? I held off writing this review because I didn’t want to post an irrationally angry review… but now that it’s a few months later, I’m not quite as perturbed, but here goes anyway:
Their service menu mentioned that perms start at $ 80, which seemed like an excellent price, so I booked an appointment for my friend and I to get a wave perm. Since my hair is long (more than past the middle of my back), I anticipated the price falling closer to the $ 100 line. When I arrived at the salon, however, I found that my assumption was completely off base. First, they tried to upsell my friend and I the digital perm, mentioning how it doesn’t use chemicals like the regular perm, without letting us know the digital perm’s $ 200 (starting) price tag. Luckily, I had read their service menu beforehand, and knew the differences between the starting prices.
After looking at my long hair, the stylists told me they wanted $ 180 for just the wave perm because they have to use twice the amount of rods. A hundred dollars more than the starting price! When I inquired about said $ 80 starting price, the stylist reported that $ 80 is for hair as short as hers, which was feathered and cropped right below her ears. When I told them that price was too much, they offered a $ 140 price tag. Adding a haircut would START at additional $ 45.
However, my friend’s hair, which is about six inches past her shoulders, would only be charged $ 120 for the perm, including the haircut.
While the two stylists discussed something in Korean, I quietly told my friend that I was going to leave, not quite believing I had to haggle for a fair the price for a hair style.
I told the stylists no thank you, and they said nothing as they watched me walk out the door.
In the end, it’s my own fault, for being such a salon whore, for wanting to try a new salon. I should have stuck with Salon Tiffany, another Korean-​owned salon a few blocks away, where I ended up getting a regular wave perm AND haircut for the flat rate of $ 120. No haggling.

I redeemed a Unilocal deal at Salon Ava for a partial highlight. The staff was very friendly and my highlights turned out nicely. I did ask for cooler tones and the highlights are definitely more coppery/​warm, although the woman who did my hair did offer to tone them if I wanted and I chose not to.
Overall a very friendly environment with a nice complimentary hand treatment while my highlights were processing. The woman who did my highlights was extremely friendly and made me feel very comfortable.
Although, for the prices they charge I think the salon could use a bit of upkeep. It could have been cleaner/​more organized.
I didn’t have a bad experience, but I also didn’t walk away wowed.

I was looking online for a place to straight perm my hair. After looking for places w good reviews overall, i checked salon ava’s site n was happy w the cost of the permanence. They usually range from 200 – 600 depending on the place. I knew w my hair being a little longer id have to pay a bit more from base price. I was happy to find out id only pay 250. As much as that is, its a lot cheaper than most places. Since I’ve only gotten it done this morning, Im not sire how it would look in a few days. So this review will mostly be on service.
Everyone that i had the chance to talk that worked on my hair was super nice. Surprisingly. The owner who was doing my perm was very nice and the assistant was very very friendly. She kept checking up on me every5 min to make sure i was ok and comfortable. There was a Chinese employee there that worked on me for a few. min but she also made conversation. Most other Asian salons i go to they never talk to me.
Ill definitely be back. Oh also love the work they did so far.