Santa Clara Beauty College

I’ve gone here quite a few times now for just a typical (or maybe slightly more than typical) men’s cut. The students are always excited to give it a try with what I ask for, and each time I’ve gone I’ve been pleased with how each of them has interpreted and therefore styled my look. Also, it’s hard to beat $ 7.50 for a haircut in Silicon Valley.

When I went in November, it was called «Santa Clara Beauty College». I assume they changed their name a while back and nobody’s since gone in.
Actually, that seems pretty accurate, nobody going in.
When I went, it was a Monday, probably around 2/​3pm. I walked in, and the first thing I noticed is «wow, this place is a mess». It looks like it’s still in the early 2000’s, and hasn’t been cleaned at all in the last few years.
I went up to the counter, and explained that I’d just washed my hair, and wanted to have someone flat-​iron it so it’s pin straight and turned in at the end. Not that difficult. The woman at the front desk seemed very confused by this, and I ended up having to grab a magazine and show her what I wanted. Finally, she understood. She took the intercom and called some student to the front to pick up her flat iron. The woman in the front said to wait, so my student stylist could let the iron warm up. Okay then… I waited 10 minutes, then i finally went to the woman and asked when my stylist would be ready. She called the stylist over, and she didn’t have any other client. In fact, she looked like she was just sitting around, doing nothing. I went to the stylist’s area, and took a seat. My first impression was that she had an earbud in one of her ears, and was listening to music. She proceeded to listen to music the entire time. It’s a bit off-​putting, especially given that she was a student. I would have much preferred she put her earbuds away and focused on the task at hand. She sectioned off my hair, and, without brushing it or anything to get rid of the knots, she yanked the flat iron through my hair. I could hear, throughout the hour it took for her do do my whole head, hairs snapping and breaking as she worked. She pulled my hair so hard that I actually winced a few times. I told her that it hurt, but she did nothing to fix it. At no point during this entire hour did I see an instructor or anybody walk by to check on her.
It’s a beauty school, so I understand that these people are still learning, but how to flat-​iron hair (that isn’t even that difficult to style) is something so basic I cannot fathom why my stylist couldn’t do it well.
You get what you pay for, and I’ll leave it at that. If you’re looking for cheap styling, go to Academy for Salon Professionals right down to road. So much better!

I came in just to trim my long hair, but came out with not only a trim, but with some nice-​looking bangs and tamed eyebrows. Candy did a great job with my hair; she paid attention to what I wanted, worked her magic, and even took the time to ask her busy instructor and relay to me (while I was getting my brows done) what she said on how to take care of dry ends! Saba, the lady who did my brows, also paid attention to what I wanted and shaped my brows so well, it looked like it was done by someone who worked at an Anastasia Beverly Hills salon. Both Candy and Saba were great! I will definitely go again — especially to see these two. I wouldn’t be surprised if a prestigious salon snatched them up!

Great for getting hair color. The greatest!!! One of the best experiences I have ever had. I went in to get my roots dyed blonde and tone in down to a natural blonde. BJ did a great job. So many ‘professional’ salons I have gone to in the past and asked for different toner shades, none of them were able to provide me with options. They mixed the toner in the backroom and came out saying that they have picked the best toner for my hair. It usually came out yellow/​goldish. Nothing wrong with that but not what I asked for. BJ made my hair perfect. I am very happy with the result.

It just so happened I was there and I needed to get my eyebrows waxed. Hazel did a fabulous job. It only costed me $ 6 so I gave her a $ 2 tip. Super worth it!!! I am planning to try their facials next time.

$ 10 to get my stick straight mid back length hair in a wonderful cascade of curls that lasted through the night.
it took about 1.5 hours (i have a lot of hair), and initially it looked really curly, but she explained to me that in a few hours it’ll be perfect and that the curls will last longer. and lo and behold she was right! by the time i finished getting ready and arrived at the wedding my hair was perfect :) received a compliments about how nice my hair looked and i couldn’t believe it only cost $ 10 (plus tip).
i would have given it a 5 star rating but as other people have said. ambiance is kind of weird. it is a school. and the students sometimes chat with each other and since you don’t know what they’re saying, you never know what they’re saying.
i’d go again though. its a lot easier than doing my hair myself :)

Originally, I visited this afternoon to get a deep conditioning treatment: shampoo, conditioner and blowdry. I paid $ 15. Nice vietnamese lady at the front desk greet me, I think she was probably the instructor.
Mukti, a young Hindu Indian gal serviced me. She’s completed 600 hours so far out of 1600 that is required. Cosmetology class (hair, skin and nails) costs $ 5,000 for those of you wondering how much it costs to attend Beauty College. In addition, I asked for brow threading, $ 6. So $ 21 total for today, no tip.
Mukti used Joico products and sat me under a dome hair dryer. I gave her 4 stars instead of 5 cuz of a few minor glitches. Water got in my ears when she was washing and rinsing. Hair stuck to my face during blowdry. I think she doesn’t really consider the direction she’s blowing… hint hint… try to blow hair from front to back of the face, and the same goes for the heat that comes out of the hair dryer. The heat is really hot, nearly felt like my scalp was burning for a minute. I had to tell her to turn it down and not hold the hairdryer so close to my scalp, and point it away from the scalp, not towards it… logical you say, but some people have to be told; go figure!
Brow threading was really good, didn’t hurt at all. It just took a little longer than I wanted it to, but she was very thorough. She didn’t cut me. very little redness, no swelling at all. and for $ 6, I couldn’t pass it up!
The ambiance is not good. Alot of students looking at customers wondering what they’re getting done. I observed people talking in their foreign tongue about me so I couldn’t understand… not good too. I noticed the hispanics with hispanics, the whites with whites, the Indians with Indians, etc… almost like high school all over again. Very young students.
Well, the prices are cheapPPPP!

I got a facial and a pedicure. The same girl did both. The facial was decent… really relaxing. The pedicure was terrible. Uncomfortable chair… and pretty much had to hold my own legs up because the foot rest would otherwise slide, she cut/​filed my nails too short and now my toes hurt… and the paint job was sloppy. She should probably not make nails her career… or maybe just practice a whole lot more. For 14 dollars for a pedi, def not worth it. Its like I paid to be uncomfortable and to redo my toes later. I probably won’t be back

This place is disgusting and unprofessional. I went in to get a haircut and a manicure. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how dirty and small everything is. The student I was paired with hardly poke any English, and it was hard to communicate what I wanted. I showed her a picture of the haircut I wanted, and she went to work. I went in to get my split ends cut off, and by the time she was done, I still had split ends! It took her two minutes to cut my hair (not exaggerating) with just a RAZER. I had to ask her to cut off more with scissors. She refused, saying it looked good. She didn’t style it at all when she was done, she just blew dry my hair. I didn’t feel like I had gotten a haircut.
Don’t even get me started on the manicure. It was awful. It took her 45 minutes to do something I could have done myself in 5 minutes. First of all, they don’t have an assortment of colors? They just have the colors the students bring. Second of all, I got the same girl who didn’t speak English. It was so hard to communicate what I wanted! She was sloppy, and got nail polish all over my finger! I had to ask her to correct it, because it sure looked like she wasn’t planning on it. After she was done, I had to correct her messy mistakes. OH, and I had to ask for a second coat of polish, she was only planning on putting on one coat of polish!
To sum it all up, don’t go here, the people who work here are really young, some of the people look like they are still on high school. If I were to recommend a beauty school, I would suggest The Academy for Salon Professionals. They are under a close eye of teachers, and they have better quality all together.

An interesting place…
Get this, I had a pseudo interview and well I wanted my hair lookin’ hot or well nice. I thought, «A wash, dry, flat iron would be great.» But I didn’t want to pay the standard $ 25 or $ 30 for it at standard salons in the area.
So I was browsing a Pennisula Beauty, they happened to have a salon there but they were too expensive and as I was leaving a young, blonde girl asked if I was local. Um, no, just in the area. Then she mentioned I could get a wash/​dry for like $ 10 at the Beauty School she went to — oh wow — ok, off I went.
I’ve never been to a beauty school, so I was excited.. .. . It’s in a strip mall, not the awesome or nice kind — little run down but ok. The kind of strip mall where you make sure to lock your car — because I’m paranoid. Walking in there were seriously about 30 people bustling, chatting, pulling at decapitated hair model heads and rushing about. I was a little confused but the woman at the front greeted me and ask what I wanted. Quick, attentive, not really friendly but not rude the woman got me to pay first ($ 7.50) for my wash and dry and I waited. The seats are older, uncomfortable and there were just a few. A super old lady was complaining about the heat — I just looked at my phone and wondered how I have these adventures.
A sweet girl greeted me, has her clips and combs laid out on a towel. She was friendly and washed my hair correctly and soon I was back in the chair. The stations are crowded, everyone is seriously chatting (lots of different languages) and it isn’t personal. But hey it’s cheap. The girl took forever, didn’t realize how long hair combs or drys — but um, I left with pretty hair — well, not completely washed out shampoo hair — but it looked good.
Overall it’s kind of run down but the people are friendly and the prices are cheap. There was a manager of sorts who did come back to make sure I was getting what I wanted. Would I come again for maybe something like a highlight — maybe. .. .. it said only about $ 25 — get what you pay for or hope for a miracle?
*I was a walk-​in but they accept appointments.

Ok… so I’ve been mustering up the courage to write a review about Monterey Academy Of Hair Design. It’s a place I spent approximately 9 months as a student with the a single goal in mind — passing the State Board Examination – and yes I passed the first time. If this is your only goal… then this is the place. You will not learn to become a master hairstylist here. The school only focuses on passing the procedures of the State Board Examination. They will grill the procedures that you need to know into your brain until it’s second nature. The head instructor «Serina» is extremely patient and knew exactly what she was doing. How she doesn’t go crazy with some of those students I’ll never know. If you have never gone to beauty school… I warn you, it’s high school all over again with the drama, people with bad temperament, over the hill know it alls (hahaha), over achievers, clicks, pre-​madonnas and beauty bound darwinism-(They could make a reality show out of this place) This might be viewed as a bad thing but in reality it’s a right of passage-It’s the beauty industry. When I went to college, grades and attendance were what you needed. At Monterey Academy, you need the latter and ability not to get distracted with your surroundings-​actually I guess it’s the same thing (but easier hahaha). Price of school is affordable. and is free w/​government subsidies (check your local nova job development agencies). You can go to more expensive schools, but they won’t guarantee that you pass any more than this school will. With the money that you save going to this school… you can easily pay for classes at vidal sasson or Bumble and Bumble and still have funds left over!!! I can truly say this w/​conviction because while I was attending school at Monterey, there were two former students of «Academy of Salon Professionals» attending school here as well. If you’re disciplined and know that you already love this type of work you’ll be fine here. For those that speak a foreign language, there are bilingual instructors that may be able to give you special assistance.

It was by chance that I saw this so I ventured in to ask if they did pedicures. I was told that they did but not until 15 mins later. I went and had lunch and returned about 30 mins later. The receptionist could not find anyone to take me (she asked about 6 students) until finally one was available. In the meantime, I waited and watched the receptionist be rude on the phone and have an extremely negative attitude towards her fellow students. OKAY, so having said that, my pedicurist finally was ready for me and although it wasn’t the greatest pedicure, she was one of the nicest people I had the opportunity to chat with so that’s why I gave this a one star. She was the only positive thing about this place — an older student naturally! Sitting there, you feel like you’ve stepped onto the set of a very very bad Muriel’s Wedding/​Hairspray. 80% of the students were young with a ‘hoochie’ quality about them. There were only a few older students amongst them. I’m not sure how these students believe that they will be able to accost the real world with this sort of attitude and presentation. Maybe at a corner salon, but they will have to climb, climb, climb if they want to get anywhere within the vicinity of a Vidal Sassoon-​type salon. In any case, I had a very interesting experience to say the least.