Saison de Aoyama

i have been here for 5+ years now whole family. quiet, not too much talking and clean place. and they really comfort you with shampoo and head massages. reasonable price too. i will keep coming here.
$ 46 for my haircut $ 23 for my kids (elementary)

It’s not fair for me to judge this salon based on a make-​up visit. But if you can’t do make up, you shouldn’t be offering that service. Few years ago my hair cut here was pretty descent so I went back for a last minute make-​up, thinking Asians know how to do Asian’s make-​up just like hair… right?
I regret even tipping her for the lousy make up she smeared on me. My preschool kid could have done a hella better job. Cheap eyelashes immediately fell off as I was driving away. If I wasn’t running late for the party, I would have demanded refund. And whatever glue she used on my eyelids wouldn’t come off I had to *soak* my eyes in the warm water before peeling off that nasty scum. So I wasted an hour, lost $ 50 for an incompetent cosmetologist who used some type of super glue on my eyelids, some age old foundation/​blush on my face, and made me look like dumbo the clown. Although it was a while back but still pisses me off thinking about it. I wish I remembered her name, may have been the owner.
Learn from my mistakes — don’t come here for make up — even if they offered it for free.

Decided to chop off all my hair here awhile ago and got compliments. The lady that cut my hair wanted to make sure I got the cut I had wanted so make sure to bring pictures of the front, back, and side of the hairstyle you want. They’re also very nice! Oh also make sure to book an appointment!

Came here for the first time yesterday and Yuka cut my hair. I showed her pictures of how I wanted my hair and she cut it pretty much exactly the same way. She was very detailed, and reassessed my hair after rinsing, after drying, and after waxing and made sure to ask each time if it was ok. Excellent service.
This is a Japanese hair salon and offers the same type of service you would expect to receive in Japan. The scalp and shoulder massage were a nice touch. They also offer you either a drink of water or hot tea at the end. Place is tucked away in the southwest corner of a shopping center.
My haircut was $ 35 and I tipped her $ 6.
Note: I have Asian hair that is difficult to style. It takes a skilled person with experience and knowledge to cut my hair to my liking. Yuka did a great job.

I’ve been going to Mari for years. I’m a big fan of dry cutting and it was so hard to find a replacement when my hair dresser moved. I love japanese dry cutting. It just makes your hair lighter with more texture. First Mari cuts your hair, then she shampoos and conditions it. There’s a foot rest and hot towel and massaging involved. Hot towel goes under your neck while your hair is being conditioned, she gives you a head and neck massage. Bliss! I have to try to stay awake for the rest of the hair cut. You go back to the chair and she blow dries your hair and then trims and makes sure the ends are perfect and does her thinning out. Then another head/​neck massage, your hair is styled and your out the door! I don’t know what’s better, the massage or the hair cut. This is a cute, homely, intimate place. There are a lot of good magazines. The whole process, you’re in and out in about an hour and you get the full treatment. I’m so glad Unilocal helped me find her. All I had to do was search dry cutting torrance. HA!

Mari and her staff are excellent professionals! Mari is really an artist of technique. She is beyond experienced and always knows how to make you feel special. Every time I have gone to her salon over the years, whether cut/​style/​coloring, I am so impressed by her skills with both hair and people. You can’t find a more pleasant human being who is genuinely kind. She’ll even gather as many fun magazines for you to read so she can focus on her work or chit chat with you if that’s what you prefer. Love the hot towel treatment under my neck, the warm blanket over my body during shampoo/​rinse, and the hair shampooing with scalp and neck massages! I go here literally to get revived. Anyone even non-​Japanese will completely enjoy the experience of being pampered here. Salon also carries beauty products for hair which I have bought as gifts. And, thank you for the coffee. It is amazing that a salon can tend to every detail as though they were mind readers. Happy happy customer in Southbay

Mari has cut my hair here for over 3 years. Straight Asian hair is notoriously difficult to cut since imperfections show easily but all the stylist here no how to handle it.

came in on black Friday. My appointment was at 6 pm but i came early and couldn’t find the place so i called and she was happy to give me directions. (its the small plaza behind the Arco gas station on the corner next to Sushimon).when i walked in it felt cozy and low key. she greeted me shook my hand and right away got started on my hair. i love this place the owner is sweet and caring but her English is rough.
i came here to get my hair styled and i was scared i was going to be charged a fortune because my hair is around 30 inches long… but she didn’t charge me based on my length like other salons so i was shocked when it only came to 35 dollars.(+15 if you ask to get shampooed)
she gave me exactly what i wanted and she even assured me if i didn’t like it i could come back any time and she would fix it. The only bad thing i can say is that shes a bit messy like didn’t clean off the hairs and she seemed intimidated like it was her first time cutting someones hair… but i let her everything would be alright lol bring a photo of what you want if you don’t speak Japanese or it will be difficult to communicate.
overall I’m happy and will be coming back in the future.

After a couple times coming in, had to give them 5 stars
The first time I came in was last year and I got a straight perm. The lady talked about how I wanted to style my hair and even understood when I said I didn’t want it super straight, but more natural. It was $ 250 since I had really long hair but it was well worth it.
I came in again yesterday and Mari helped me out. They were very nice and asked what kind of style I wanted and even talked about what would work best with my hair, now slightly frizzy wavy. She cut and washed my hair and even have me a head and neck massage! Both times someone offered me a drink and snacks, their green tea is great.
What I really liked was their capes had sleeves so you don’t have to sit there with your hands under for an hour, this was appreciated when I was sitting for hours getting a perm.
This place can get one the pricer-​ish side, but you get what you pay for and their service is excellent!
9÷14÷15 Came in again for a cut with Natsumi, loved the service and cut!

WTheck — 2.5 hours to dye my hair?
she put a big glop of dye on my forehead and left the dye there — so later — it left a massive forehead ring. she kept trying to remove it and the ring was still there
then she charged 72 for dye and 28 for shampoo and dry —WHAT?
all the salons I have been to for hair dye has nevered charged me for shampoo and dry because it is part of dying the hair!
Dying my hair would have been better and cheaper!

Came back for my semi-​annual haircut and Mari again did not disappoint! Decided to chop 10″ off for donation, which Mari meticulously tied up in small sections to ensure I can get the most out of it. She’s also able to replicate a short bob cut i found online and I received nothing but compliments =)
I wanted my hair even shorter after I got home, so I went back to visit Mari 2 days later. Not only did she squeezed me into her schedule last minute, she didn’t even charge me nor take any gratuity! Awesome service always! If i can give 6 stars i would.

My hairdresser is in Japan, and I need to get my hair colored. I am very thankful that my niece suggested I try this salon! It is excellent: staff is professional, knowledgable, prices are affordable and I like the ‘energy’ in the salon! I live 45 minutes away, but plan come back regularly.

I like their staff. very friendly and kind. That’s exactly Japanese customer service that you can take in Japan! After finishing shampoo, they brought tea and gave me shoulder and head massage which made me very relaxed and comfortable.
For people like me who don’t follow any hair trend and just want to keep my hair nice and look clean, this hair salon is the place to go.
I’m very satisfied of their skills, service, and price as well. =)

Nice! First time at this place, and Yuki cut my hair. She’s young, very friendly, very nice, and very good at what she does! It’s a typical Japanese hair cut experience which I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a few times before (basically it’s a haircut, shampoo, plus a head and shoulders massage).
Yuki listened to how I wanted my hair cut, and gave me her feedback and suggestions based on my head’s shape and my hair’s texture. She very attentively cut my hair. Very detail oriented. Came out looking great.
The place itself is small and clean. Nothing fancy. Music wasn’t blaring. Very comfortable.
Men’s haircut is $ 32. Compared to chain salons in the same price category such as Floyd’s and Carlton Hair, this place is far better!
Will definitely go back!

Love u, Mari! She’s friendly, helpful, and gives a great cut. I’m glad to have found a place so close to home!

I am very particular about who cuts my hair. As a result, I have only had 2 hair dressers for the past 40 years. Since I moved, I needed to find a new hair dresser. I just so happened to meet Mari Takahashi and found out that she cuts hair.
Mari is very professional and I absolutely LOVE the work she does on my hair. (short cut, medium cut, and straight perm) I get constant compliments everytime I see her. My kids see her and now a handful of my coworkers see Mari too.
Mari’s popularity makes her schedule full therefore I recommend calling at least one week in advance to make an appointment. Did I forget to mention that she is not only experienced but also owns the salon?

I’ve been going to the same hairstylist for the past seven years. However, since I’ve moved to the South Bay, I’ve been hesitant to try anyone new but couldn’t continue commuting over an hour to my old stylist. So, after reading the reviews on this place, I thought I would give it a shot. It seemed to have good reviews and decent prices in comparison to its local competitors (Van Van, Creative Cuts, etc). Since my husband is a regular at Van Van, I was familiar with their prices and their stylists. The only reason I chose to try out Aoyama was because their were about $ 6 – 10 cheaper.
I requested Mari (who is also the owner of the place). She was extremely kind and pleasant. Though she has limited English, she makes a positive attempt to understand what style you would like. I usually get my hair thinned out since I have long thick Asian hair and would prefer to keep the earth green by spending less time drying it. Mari knew exactly what I was talking about.
She has a interesting technique of dry cutting your hair before shampooing it. At first I was hesitant since I like the feeling of clean hair before they start hacking it off. However, I trusted her. Throughout the haircut, she would check in with me to make sure this is what I wanted before chopping away. Afterwards, she shampooed my hair and gave me a nice head massage at the sink. Once I got back to the hair, she served me hot green tea and gave me a head/​neck massage. It was fabulous!
The haircut was exactly what I wanted and I appreciated how wonderful Mari was. She even invited me to her husband’s concert at the end of the month. He plays in a Beatles cover band.
The only caveat I had was that I was quoted $ 38 for a haircut on the phone when I made the appointment but then charged $ 39 when I got there. Oh well. However, it’s been a week and I’m still very happy with my cut! =)

After my long time hair stylist went back to Japan, I’ve been on a long search for someone else who’s as good as her. Through this search I’ve encountered horrible experiences, from people who can’t highlight or cut hair and expect people to pay for those services.
Then after reading reviews for this salon, I decided to make an appointment with Mari. She was super nice and polite, and especially accomodating. Just little details like making sure you wash hair in the right water temperature, drying my hair in the towel before walking me back to the chair, blowdrying a little wet spot on my shirt, head massage, providing magazines and beverage, and the list goes on and on. Just very good service.
Since I have a lot of hair, I asked her to make it lighter. My hair felt much lighter but my fear was how easy it would be to maintain without looking shaggedy. After washing my hair it was super easy and looked very nice!
She highlighted my hair, and because I wanted it lighter she squeezed me in the day before she was flying to Japan. Super accomodating and super sweet!
I couldn’t be happier with Mari!

I went in after reading the Unilocal reviews and had a haircut from Akie. I have to say, you do get what you paid for.
Akie herself was sweet and tried very hard to accommodate my requests, but I think the language barrier did us in. I tried to explain that I never style my hair, I rarely blowdry (unless it’s winter, and even then, it’s only to dry, not to style). I preferred long hair that wasn’t too layered (it makes my naturally straight hair do this funky wave thing) but I *was* looking to lighten my hair a little bit.
I ended up with hair that is significantly lighter (oh, the carnage on the salon floor!!) and slightly wavy. She also gave me lots of reminders to use hairspray. Which I don’t. EVER. And I’m positive I told her this numerous times during our consultation.
I did appreciate that Akie tried so hard to please. I thought the haircut was slightly uneven, and so she blowdried my hair straight to show me it wasn’t, which I accepted because I didn’t want her cutting off any more of my hair. Honestly though, I still think it’s slightly uneven, but now with my slightly wavy hair, perhaps no one will notice. She also spent a good ten minutes showing me different hairstyles to do with my hair. Unfortunately, of the three she showed, two are more appropriate for young tweens in the eighties (can we say hair sprouting up like a fountain from the very top of your head??) than for someone reaching thirty. The third was a basic pony tail that was tied to the side of the nape and then had tendrils pulled out and reattached (hard to describe, probably won’t ever do… but featured every once in a while in style magazines).
Overall, I’m not hating my hair, and I didn’t hate the experience, But I am waiting for my hair to grow out so I can make it more even, and I don’t know if I’ll be back. Perhaps for something simple like a basic trim, but anything beyond that I’ll save for another place.

My aunt and cousin both go here for haircuts/​hair treatments, and my aunt told me about the $ 10 off first-​time customer deal, so I went last year. I got a haircut from Akie, and totally got hooked. Great prices ($ 37!), great service, great results, very friendly, great with Asian hair. I’ve been back every 2 – 3 months since.
They do book up fairly early: I would call a week+ in advance to get the timeslot you want, particularly on a weekend.
They also have a stamp card, so for every 5 visits, you get $ 5 off your next service.