Blanche Macdonald Centre Downtown Campus

I went for the fashion merchandising program. Waste of money. Waste of time. The tuition for this ONE year program was 17 grand and you only receive a diploma. You can not get any jobs with that diploma after, except maybe for some average retail job. The teachers are not that great either. They are great at advertising the school though. When I saw all these «fashion» pictures I was fooled to go here. Stay away from this school. I do not recommend it.

I cannot possibly say enough good things about Blanche MacDonald’s students. I’ve been in a handful of times now and every single time I go in I get exponentially better service — which is hard to believe because everyone has been so amazing!
Special shoutouts to Lindsay for my all over bleach out, Norika for my first BM haircut, and Katerina for my incredibly amazing balayage transformation! Another mention to Sam, who hasn’t done my hair but has been there for all of my other ones and is really awesome to chat with too!
I will never waste my time going to an outrageously priced salon again. The students here go above and beyond every time.
Thanks to Jeff and Marcy (sp?) — two teachers that have been really awesome and encouraging toward their students both times that I’ve had my hair coloured. They certainly seem to know when to step in and when to watch from the sidelines to let their students flourish.
Just all around amazing. If you haven’t been here yet, you’re missing out!

Im being really honest here. i thought the students will be way more skilled than this. I was expecting senior students for an actual cut. However they are really the BEGINNERS.
Shampoo — they only wash top half of your hair.
Cut — Have to look at their paper many times and having trouble doing sections clip. My hair was way shorter than i expected as well.
Time — it says 1.5hr for a cut on their website but my cut was not even finished after 1 hr and 45min. I had to go so the i structor finished it. The lady who sat beside me came earlier than me and didnt get finished until i left.
They were really nice however unless you are really really desperate for money and have nothing to do, pay a little more and go somewhere else.

Really had a great experience overall here.
— I wanted something rather unique (grey highlights) but wasn’t so good at explaining
— They totally did it the way that I best explained it, using a picture
— I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted and it wouldn’t darken up at all, and after a week they still still spent 3.5 hrs to totally redo it for me, no charge
— I really love the vibe and the positive attitude from both students and instructors
— I have not yet found another place that will spend 10 hours making my hair absolutely perfect for a grand total of $ 73
— Will be back. Every 3 weeks.

Cheap & slow, which is excepted as it is students performing the cuts (which can take 3+ hours.) I have been here 2 separate times and both times the experience was very… «meh» and the haircuts were not good… at all…
Overall even though it is cheap I will NEVER attend here again for any hair cut.
1– The students are NOT confident (even the ones who were about to graduate!!!)
2– They do not know how to properly shampoo
3– they cannot even perform a simple split end trim
4– the students GOSSIP to one another while they are doing hair services
5– you KNOW it is horrible when a student is telling you HORROR STORIES about horrible hair cuts and dye jobs done by students there!!!
6– the instructors were terribly rude when you walk in and try to check in for your hair cut
7– they are all rather snobbish and act ‘better than you’ which is really funny seeing as they are lacking all hair skills
Explained further here:
The first time I went the people at the front desk were RUDE, my fiancé had a student who told him she 1) didn’t even want to be a hair stylist 2) was very, very, VERY, nervous 3) had no idea how to cut his hair (even though he asked for one of the most basic men’s haircuts…) his hair cut took a couple of hours and it was not good at all, the whole time she was nervous and kept saying how she didn’t even want to do it/​be there… he will NEVER go back needless to say. I on the other hand had a very nice hairstylist but my hair cut was not done well at all (all I wanted was a trim and some thinning which he butchered) and it was very torturous sitting through his shampooing (it hurt like hell), which I was shocked seeing as he said he was graduating in a month! I gave the school the benefit of the doubt though and just felt over all meh.
I decided to give the school one more go, the hair instructor who I went up to check in for my hair cut WAS SO RUDE he was very snobbish and brushed me OFF, the hairstylist I got was once again graduating in a months time and once again all I wanted was hair thinning and trim. She 1) was NOT a people person at all, it was like pulling teeth trying to make small talk with her which is horrible seeing as a stylist is supposed to be able to provide customer service while doing your hair, 2) her shampooing was horrible as well! water and soap all over my face 3) she had NO idea how to just TRIM my hair!!! she kept asking her instructor every 5 minutes on how to do the next step (this is so bad considering she was graduating in a MONTH!!!) 4) it took 3.5 hours… for a cut that was horrible… UGH 5) when she did talk to me it was to express her NERVES about cutting hair or to tell me HORROR stories of people getting HORRIBLE hair cuts and colours by students in her class!!!

I came here a few weeks ago and had a girl named Mayra cut my hair. I can honestly say she did and AMAZING job, I seriously walked out of there with a better cut than I’ve got from some high end salons in the city. I will definitely be going back before she graduates.
I wanted my layers redone and a bit of a trim, she did both but also gave me a few suggestions that gave my hair so much more dimension and texture.
Sure, I my hair got pulled a time or two and at one point the blow dryer was a little hot on my head but they are students, they aren’t going to be perfect, and for $ 15 I am okay with that!
The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because of the environment of the salon. Students sort of stand around talking to each other all over the place which doesn’t give it a professional feel. Also when I walked in the teacher who was behind the reception desk didn’t greet me at all, I stood there awkwardly until Mayra came up and introduced herself. Other than that I was really impressed!

I just lost words to say…
–Got the ugliest haircut ever.
–Almost got burnt repeatedly by a blow dryer.
–My ears hurting from the combing.
–My hairs got tangled and pulled repeatedly.
–Asked for little trim and thinning out but only got trim done and still took over 3 HRS.
–Being asked (exactly the same question) three times on how I can have a straight hair without any blow drying… I am an Asian, duh? and it was not a rhetorical question. She seriously either forgot that she had asked or did not listen to me.
–Weird attitude from students and instructors.
–Not worth talking long…
–Not worth saving money… just avoid this place.

$ 10 for a shampoo, cut and style? Biatchy Trannie instructors versus pissy student cat fights?! Hell ya!!! Watching self-​absorbed fashion addicts gossip and twirl their pretty, pretty hair? YES!!! Sign me up for all of it I say!!! I think there’s enough characters here at the Blanche MacDonald Centre that they can start their own reality tv show.
The good, the bad and the well-​made up.
–Campus/​Salon: very modern, well maintained and bright
–Service: Warm, friendly, except one of the instructors was a bit queen-​bee-​ish and seemed to instill fear/​respect amongst her minions.
–Drama: Fab! A few tears, choice words, and hair pulling ups the entertainment factor (JK:))
–Haircut: Fine, BUT took like almost 3 friggin hours!!! The student did a good job. It makes me appreciate the professional skills of my usual stylist! Time is money, baby!
–Price: On Wed: $ 10 for a shampoo/​cut/​blowdry, $ 12 otherwise.
Thanks for the entertaining memories and nice haircut, BMC, but I don’t think I will be back due to the time commitment.

Having recently moved out of my dad’s house in Langley to downtown, I don’t have a lot of money to spare, so I looked up cheap places to get a haircut in Vancouver (there aren’t many) and found out about this place. I knew it would be a gamble, letting a student cut my hair, but they need the practice and I needed a cheap haircut, so I figured it would be worth it – and it was! My stylist was Eli, and he was friendly, professional, and focused. He seemed a little daunted at first when I told him I was going for a drastic change — from long, scraggly, overgrown wavy layers and bangs down to my nose to a cute layered bob with a full fringe. In the end though, he did a fantastic job, and, minus eight inches of hair, I am thrilled with my new look! One of the instructors came and checked on him periodically, and helped touch up what he had done, and the end result was great! It took nearly three hours to complete the whole process (consultation, shampoo, cutting and styling), but that was what I’d expected as it is a learning environment and it was such a big change for my hair. It’s obviously a classroom environment — if you’re looking to get pampered, then don’t bother coming here — but that wasn’t a problem for me and I didn’t at all mind the «no frills» experience. The haircut only came to about $ 15 with tax, so I was sure to live a good tip for Eli since he patiently spent so long with me and did a great job! I will definitely go there again!

Since moving to BC five years ago, this is the only place I’ve gotten my hair cut. The staff are students, but they are learning and intent on giving great haircuts. I often let them do whatever they want to my hair — and some of them are taken aback by that approach, but some have excelled and did an awesome job. I’ve received some of my best haircuts from BM!
Since they are learning, it takes a bit longer, so you need at least an hour (for a men’s cut); but it’s worth the time.

So I went for my hair appointment yesterday that I had booked a week ago, I went all the way downtown & it was early cold & raining. The student was nice & friendly but often had to ask questions. I asked for a shampoo & blow out & add on hair treatment. Very simple right? They separated my hair in to 4 & started scraping my scalp… I told him to stop & said I asked for a hair treatment like a deep conditioning. & the instructor gave me a look n said «it’s the same thing «& I had caught her gave her student like I’m stupid kindda look & rolled her eyes…
Umm I’ve had many hair treatments done before I think I know what I asked for. The student didn’t even know the difference between scalp & conditioning treatment & after the teacher had known I caught her giving me the look she hid by the door and the student had to keep running there to ask questions, there next best solution was to wash my hair with «Joico conditioner»…
I’ve had many treatments before but the reception told me they use Bumble & Bumble so I wanted to try it. So that’s what I asked the student and the reply was they had run out 2 weeks ago… Uhh I wish someone had told me so I didn’t have to waste my time coming here.
This was over all bad experience & a waste of time I would never go back there again & the instructor needs to improve her attitude. If she’s like that to her client & student I wonder how the student will turn out grading from Blanche.

I got my hair done in the fall and will go back again soon. The salon is basically a student workshop so my cut and highlights did take about 40 mins. longer than it would at a pro salon, but then I was happy with the result and the student (I don’t recall her name) listened to what I wanted. The instructor had to check her work when finished and I liked how the instructor pointed out things for the student to improve on and complimented her too.

I hate to do this as I went to this school on 2 separate occasions, (makeup and esthetics) but I have to speak the truth…
First off, when my partner Jay and I arrived at the downtown campus (the older one) for his student haircut, not one of the 3 people sitting at the front desk greeted us with a simple «hi»… nor gave us eye contact… or asked us if we were meeting someone or needed help. I thought that was quite rude and unprofessional and made us not want to be there.
We then had asked front desk what we do for a student haircut and they gave Jay a form to fill out… I then called Rachel Farrelly (hair student) on her phone to come down and meet us. A few seconds later, we had cheerful and bubbly Rachel (from the UK) grab us and take us up to the 3^rd level on the lift.
When we got up to the 3^rd level, the first thing we noticed was the stained and uncared for carpets leading to the student classrooms. Rachel then lead us to where Jay would be sitting and getting his haircut. She was very professional and talked Jay through everything from how much he would like cut, the way he would style it and washed it in the beginning and end for him. She was adorable and cut his hair fabulously!
We did notice when she asked one of her teachers if Jay could go to the bathroom, she gave her a weird and sarcastic look that made ME uncomfortable! And this is the teacher! I could not believe that a teacher at such a prestigious school could be so snarly to a student in front of clients.
All in all, our experience from the haircut was fantastic and would get 5 stars! And the whole experience with the teacher and the front desk was not acceptable which is why we had left 2 stars.
We will definitely follow Rachel to wherever she works when she is out of school as she can cut like a pro! :)

Jennifer Aniston on Friends started airing in ’94 so I just can’t see how it’s possible to screw up layers in the new millennium. Now, I *have* underestimated the skill set of the common stylist on a Julia-​Roberts-​Pretty-​Woman perm back in the day but layers — it’s been over a decade now.
I’m probably going to loose all credibility by confessing that I’ve been doing Magic Cuts but I ended up at the Blanche MacDonald school after searching on Unilocal for a place that was open at 9am :)
Compared to a $ 18 hair cut a magic cuts, I’d say this is a much better deal! Unlike Magic Cuts, they also shampoo and style your hair for $ 12!
It did take a bit of time. My appointment was at 9:30 and I was out of there at 11:30 but I didn’t mind, I went in there understanding that they are students.
It’s definitely not a pampered/​salon environment. You’re put in a room crammed with students working on mannequin hair on either side of you but I thought it was kinda interesting :)
I felt like the students were well trained and unlike, Magic Cuts, they kinda like what they do! The process is to check with the instructor before and after the cut and then the instructor might do some touch ups so I felt like I left with a professional cut.
I gave a good tip to the student after too because a haircut for that price is definitely a steal!

I’ve been spoiled by having my haircuts provided free of charge by a hairdresser friend for the past couple years, but I have since moved away from his area and don’t have access to his fabulous scissor-​hands anymore.
I am also someone who wants low maintenance hair — I don’t want products or colours or shaved areas with leopard prints dyed into them… and I sure as heck don’t want to pay someone $ 60 to cut my split ends off and give me a few layers. So, after asking friends if they knew somewhere I could get a decent cut without emptying my wallet I got a couple recommendations for Blanche MacDonald Centre. Yay!
Chelsea B. rocked! She’s a student, yes, she checks in with her instructor (often), yes, the haircut took 2 hours, yes… but it looks great, and she was a pleasure to chat with as she chopped a few inches off. I’d go back again for sure. Just be aware that you’re going to spend almost double the time there as you would a regular salon, but if you’re cool with that as well as saving a heck of a lot of money I recommend giving a Blanche MacDonald student a try.

I went to Blanche MacDonald with a girlfriend to get our hair styled before going out for the night. I was less than impressed with my finished hair but my friend loved hers. For $ 10 you can’t really expect anything amazing. These are stylists in training after all.
I wasn’t firm enough about what I wanted and she did her own thing but at the end when they saw I wasn’t happy they didn’t charge me anything. My friend’s said they liked my do so I’m not sure. I probably wouldn’t get my hair cut their but for fun cheap styling I’d recommend them.
There are no frills at Blanche MacDonald. They do not offer anything to drink — not even water — which should change because it took over two hours just to get our hair washed and styled. They also did not offer magazines right away but later remembered. Still it was fun to be in the midst of all these budding stylists.