Acute Style

Ask for Becky. Obviously a great value but she walked me through exactly what she planned on doing after I explained what I wanted. Results were phenomenal. I will be going back.

Got a good cut. Haircuts are $ 10 on Sunday afternoons (at least for guys). Only had to wait a couple minutes. I would definitely come back, only complaint was that it didn’t seem to be extremely clean but it was good enough.

Decent haircut and the employees are nice, but I made the mistake of going here in the afternoon on a weekday. It was $ 18 for a really basic haircut.
Save yourself some money and go earlier in the day when it’s cheaper. Otherwise, just go to one of the other Collegetown haircut locations.

It’s hard to rate a hair place because so much of the experience depends on the stylists, which tend to have a fairly high turnover rate. Nevertheless, I will not be returning. I do not have the stylist’s name, but she is in her late 30’s and is thin. Her hair was blonde and dark brown stripes (or vice versa).
The stylist was so busy talking to me that I don’t think she paid much attention to what she was doing. I am generally pretty quiet during haircuts because I would rather that the stylist focuses on their work than make obligatory small talk. Ultimately, I got a horrible haircut that was nothing like what I requested. She thinned my hair to the point where you can see my scalp and now I am a bit embarrassed to walk around.
It is a step above the place across the street (Studio 108), but in my opinion, you’re better off going somewhere else. Hell, you might even do better giving a six-​year-​old some beers and a pair of scissors because that’s what it looks like happened to me!

Avoid this place!

This was a pretty run of the mill haircut. The stylist (the owner) was very fast and willing to work with what I wanted. Although it was far from the best haircut I ever got, it grew in fairly nicely and considering it was Ithaca/​the price, I’d consider going back. However, I could see how you could get someone incompetent if you came at a busy time.

Not the salon with the best customer service out there, but this place was good enough for me when I needed a quick, inexpensive trim.
They give you a few dollars off if you go at certain times. I suppose you could call it a happy hour hair deal.

The two stars are because the haircut wasn’t bad, but if this was based on service alone, I would rank one star.
First, the hair dresser was eight minutes late. I had scheduled an appointment for 10:00, when Acute Style opens, and was left to stand outside, as the doors were locked, lights off, and clearly no one in the salon. When the hair dresser came, she did hastily apologize, but made no further reference or any sort of compensation for being late.
Second, I was unimpressed by the service. The hair dresser cut my hair dry, not even asking if I would like a wash, then suggested unhealthy eating as the source of my dry and damaged hair, which has been like that most of my life.
The final and worse offense was the unbelievable way the hair dresser blatantly overcharged me. I made my appointment for the morning after reading on Unilocal that I would save money. There is a sign listing all of the prices right on the desk, even highlighting the price cut before noon (Women is $ 15, according to the sign), which I referred to when the hair dresser told me it would be $ 20. She laughed it off, saying the owner must have just changed that and that it was always $ 2 off before noon, so my haircut would be $ 18. My one thought of her overcharging me was that she may have naively believed me to be a young college freshman (which I am not) who may not tip, and thus included her own tip in what I was charged. I was so flabbergasted of this scheme that I paid the $ 18 with no additional tip and threw the business cards she gave me to hand to my friends in the recycle bin. I would have thought, if anything, that because of the price clearly advertised, or even the ridiculous fact that she was late without any explanation would have given me at least the correct price.
Needless to say, I will not be returning to Acute Style.

Run of the mill spot that I trust with my hair.
+1 star for the un-​claustrophobic interior (unlike other CTown locations)
+1 for responsiveness of hairstylists. If you communicate efficiently with them, they will give you a haircut pretty close to what you want. Don’t be afraid to give input as the haircut progresses!
+1 star for price
+1 star for ease of service — most I’ve ever waited has been 5 minutes.
I usually get a pretty standard haircut, so I don’t know about how they would do with more complicated procedures. Fairly young staff, which I think is a plus — older people might not know today’s trendy styles.

Quick, fast, cheap, usually waits are not too long. Quality of cut is similar to the other places in ctown which is mediocre on balance. I hear they are going under due to lack of business though… I’m not sure why since the quality of cut is similar and prices are identical to other places in ctown.

Owner/​Manager (forget name) is pleasant and does a great job cutting hair.
However… the other haircutters are terrible. One experience: I needed a high and tight. She asked me how to do it. I had to explain it to her step by step and she kept on messing it up. Couldnt even fade it.
Other experiences: awkward conversations with an unenthusiastic male haircutter who complained about everything and mumbled under his breath. I had to keep asking what?

Great haircut place in Collegetown. Beats the surrounding locations considerably. The interior is spacious and the staff is friendly, unlike the cramped place across the street. After having tried a couple of other places, I was happy to find a shop I could trust.

I went here right after a terrible experience at Studio 108 across the street. I wanted my hair in a French twist for a formal event this evening, and studio 108 screwed it up!
I went to Acute Style hoping they could save my hair, and they did! It turned out even better than I imagined. The young woman who did my hair was nice and professional. She gave me tips on what to do with my hair, and it turned out wonderfully. I can’t wait for tonight!
Since she was so helpful and did such a good job, I asked her to do my make up as well, and I was not disappointed. I will definitely be coming back!

Deciding whether or not to give a 4 or 3, I’ll give it a solid 3.5. Acute is not great a hairshop, but it’s cheap and probably the best option you have in Ithaca/​C-​town. I’m Asian so we put a LOT of emphasis on our hair.
The girl cutting my hair was so hot… so okay my review is going to be a little bit biased. I brought in a picture of what I wanted, my hair turned out pretty decent. The girl really knew how cut a faux-​hawk. $ 2 discount on Sundays ($ 10 overall and I gave them a $ 2 tip). Dang, she was hot. Okay haha enough of that.
Decent hair cut, hot stylist, cheap price, what more can I ask for?

Acute Style is great! I keep my hair simple, boring, and zero-​maintenance and they always keep that going nicely. The atmosphere is friendly; employees are nice if you want to talk, but I also felt comfortable just sitting quietly while I got my cut and they chatted with each other. Definitely recommend going for the early bird or Sunday deals.
My one issue is, being a college town, some of the «extra» employees come and go, so there’s always a chance you get someone new with a different «style». Sophomore year the guy convinced me I should use gel… should’ve stuck to my guns cuz I never put it on it the next two years. Never saw him there again either. No big deal, cut was still fine, just don’t feel like you need to veer from your routine just because the new guy tells you to.
(I don’t go to college here anymore, but my annoyed search for a new barber in Seattle inspired me to come back and recommend this place to all the freshman Cornellians.)

Definitely cheap (go before 12 on a week day for a discount!).
I’m not usually someone who likes to sit and chat with my stylist while getting my hair done, but the women here are very friendly and know how to keep a conversation going.
Good location, good prices and EXCELLENT hair cuts!

For a grad student on a budget, this place gives you a good hair chop at the right price. It’s conveniently located right in Collegetown across from Jack’s and seconds from Starbucks. Best of all, if you go before noon it’s $ 3 bucks off ($ 12 instead of $ 15 for a standard chop, no wash).
I recommend setting up an appointment with Missy. She’s a sweetheart and takes the time to do you right, even the little details.