Toni and Guy Academy

Just had my hair dyed here this morning today! I am so pleased!
So I replied to an ad on gumtree where a Toni & Guy Academy student named Chloe was asking for hair colour models. We emailed back and forth a couple of times and then it was all booked and confirmed for today. When I got there it turned out she had accidentally double booked me, so I was handed over to a lovely student called Tom. We spent a long time discussing what I wanted for my hair and what could be done, and of course he had to check with the teachers, he actually changed what he was going to do to my hair 3 times before we started. I wanted to get my hair back to black which is my natural hair colour (as my hair was dyed brown in January) and then either a blond ombré or balayage — basically blond at the ends. He explained there was no point dyeing my whole head black and then blond on top as the ends wouldn’t lift it would be too dark. In the end I believe he did a gloss over the top part of my head so my roots and the middle where dark like I wanted, and the ends of my hair were balayage. He also explained that since my hair was dark it may not turn out blond but he would try his best to get it as light as possible. The end result looks sooooooo amazing! The ends aren’t blond like I wanted they are a sort of golden brown but it looks beautiful, and I am so chuffed with my awesome hair! I am so happy with my hair. Tom was an absolute star, kept checking with me to see if I was on board with what he was doing and made sure the teachers checked everything as well; and I liked that he said it may not be blond but that he would try his best and that’s all I can ask for. The balayage looks beautiful, the colour just blends with the rest of my hair, I am so happy! He even blowdryed my hair to make it look all wavy and bouncy! Tom was so nice and friendly and did a superb job with my hair. On the whole it took about 3 and ½ hours but it takes ages at any hair school/​academy plus the hair colour was free! Yay! I will definitely be going back to Toni & Guy Academy!

My hair has never received this much love and attention EVER! Yes, you’re there for about 3 hours. Yes, you have to be open to suggestions and deviations to haircuts. But it’s absolutely worth it because the trainee and trainer make sure that each step of the way is approved, perfect, and agreed upon. The academy has a morning session at 9:30am and an afternoon session at 1:45pm and you go in with about 8 others at the same time. I went for the 1:45pm session, waited in a line with others for a bit while they asked what each of us wanted, then depending on what the training group needs are, they send about 8 at a time (or so it seemed) to the session. My hairdresser in training was Fraser and absolutely amazing. He asked what I wanted, what my usual hair care is like, provided some suggestions on what he thought would look good, consulted with the trainer who quizzed him how he was going to go about the process and then began. Literally, after each major «part», the trainer would come by to check everything was still perfect. And mine was. My hair’s never looked this beautiful. Especially not for £5. I walked out around 4:30pm, but didn’t mind at all as I knew this was what I was in for. I hope Fraser makes it big!

I had a wonderful experience! Stefano was the best hairdresser ever– and so funny and friendly (and adorable haha). He definitely knew how to handle my hair well with precision and care (and since I am «ethnic» I’ve heard in the past from other salons that my hair was «high maintenance»). Will definitely come back again :)

+ Budget haircut (5 pounds) with a trainee at the academy
+ All process monitored and supervised by their instructors
+ Level of experience seems to vary between trainees
Tony & Guy Academy on New Oxford Street offers a super cheap haircut with their trainees. I have been here twice so far and both times I was quite satisfied with the quality of cut. I thoroughly recommend this place if A) you are short on budget and B) have time and patience to sit for 3 hours.
I was really apprehensive at first because you know, it’s a school. But I was a little short on budget at the time so I decided to give this place a go. But the whole process is monitored and supervised by their tutors. So it feels fairly safe. The only thing you need to bear in mind is that, it takes a lot longer than a normal haircut at a professional salon because they stop at each step to consult with their supervisor. Both times it took about 3 hours and a bit. The person who did my hair in my first visit said he worked as a hairdresser before but was in some sort of retraining. The trainee from my second visit had, however no working experience. So the level of experience seems to vary.
So here’s how it works. You make an appointment via phone. I believe they run these haircut sessions on weekdays. Show up on the agreed time and date and part with your fiver at the reception. An advisor will consult briefly with each person asking what kind of haircut you would like. They will then place you into different rooms where the trainees are waiting. You meet the trainee who will be doing your hair, and discuss in detail what kind of haircut you would like to get. The instructor will advise the trainee on technical aspect on how to achieve what you want at this point. Once all three parties agreed, they do the shampoo and the haircut begins.
The actual cut is fairly standard except they stop at each step to consult one of the instructors to check they are doing things right.
I’ve been satisfied with the quality of cut both times I visited here.

Hit and miss. All depends on the skills of a student. Over the last 10 years I have met a lot of bright, obviously gifted trainee stylists there. But last time. a girl could hardly handle scissors and I ended up with hair 6 cm shorter than what I asked for:(. And it took her 4 hours! My only consolation is that hair will grow out eventually and it cost only 5£.

If you have read the bad reviews you Have to bare in mind that these stylists are trainees, and your free haircut is practice!
I went in for a trim and ended up getting a free colour as well. Another thing to bare in mind is that these stylists need to try out radical styling/​colouring as well as technique, however the trainee will not start cutting/​colouring your hair before you have spoken to one of the tutors (who are always on hand through-​out) and they will ask you what it is you want. As soon as you maybe notice that your hair is starting to look shorter than you wanted then don’t be afraid to speak up, remember this is a learning experience so if you don’t say anything to them how will they learn what they need to.
I got exactly what I asked for; there were moments when the trainee/​stylist seemed unsure but his tutor kept coming to check and it came out very well.
All in all it was a really good experience and will definitely be popping back next time!

I’m surprised at all the bad reviews of the training salon! I went late last year with my partner and we both were quite happy with our haircuts! To be honest my hair was cut a bit shorter than what I had wanted, but really it wasn’t a huge problem for me. The downside of it is that it takes FOREVER, but we went in expecting that to happen. Considering we’re both very poor students, we wouldn’t really go to the actual salons, a fiver is enough ;D

Been this week, and no luck. I wanted to cut my long beautiful hair to change my looks as I just turned 21. It all started bad from that selection they do downstairs, the man who came asking what we wanted done, offered colour to everyone in the queue but me, and when I said to him I would like some colour, he said he had enough people, but guess what, kept offering it to everyone else. I couldn’t believe this and felt pretty humiliated that besides asking him, I was told no. He knew my cut wouldn’t be easy as I have billions of hair on my head and it was pretty long. He never gave me attention and I was put through to the beginners class. I got a nice young chap, but with no experience at all. I could see the mistakes he was making from the distance. He kept engaging conversation with others and not doing what he was supposed to do, which was thin out my hair. By this time (6:30) I was so irritated and unpleased, I could not believe what had just happened. The teacher cut my fringe and it has never been this bad. The guy could not do a decent blow dry in my hair. It was just a shame, and I am still thinking if I should go back there or phone and speak about this with them.

Unlike others who have reviewed this salon I had a pleasant experience when I went there last Friday. My boyfriend had been the week before me (also successfully) and had been asked by the trainee if he knew any girls with bobs. Luckily I was visiting a love a free haircut so I went along. I was probably lucky with my trainee as she obviously took her training very seriously and was also very nice. She asked what I wanted and did not give in and do what other trainees and the teacher assumed she would do. She gave me a lovely new haircut which I’m very pleased with. I would say that to go to this salon you have to be very open to change and don’t mind losing a bit of length. I love having new and unusual styles so it suits me, but for something very basic such as a trim I would recommend looking elsewhere. There are other salons that do cheap and less inventive haircuts in London!

This is perfect if you want the latest cut or colour (or both), but your skint and you’ve got time to kill. All students are constantly supervised (hence the long time). Go for cut and colour as then you will get the most for your money and time. usually £5 for a cut, sometimes the same for cut and colour, sometimes £20. If you are having colour, you must go for a skin test at a toni & guy salon and bring the card with you to your appointment (it only takes 5 minutes in any salon). I have come out of here with some wicked cuts, although occasionally there have been a few misses, but never badly done. I last went for a colour correction which took a mammoth 6 hours but only cost £20 and looked great. At the end of it I was asked if I wanted my hair cutting for free in another student’s class but by that point I had a numb bum!

My hair was exceedingly long. Some might say exceedingly lovely. Full and thick and shiny and curly. It was a length of joy. A tousled delight. And so obviously I decided to get it cut.
I went to Toni & Guy thinking ‘they’re cool young hipsters, they’ll give me some sexy sassy coiffure’. I told her I wanted it no shorter than shoulder length. First up she hacked off the bulk and then washed my hair. At this point I fell in love with her. It is difficult not to be enamoured by someone rubbing your head. It is a wonderful sensation.
Then she got down to business and I rapidly began to fall out of love with her as it became apparent that ‘no shorter than shoulder length’ translates as ‘shoulder length at the longest point’. The bits of my hair that tumbled over my face and slumped forlornly on my lap were longer than the bits left stuck in my head. They collected around me like beautiful autumn leaves, except they looked up at me with big sad curls asking me ‘why? why? We did so much for you! Remember when you put those ribbons in us? You’ll never be able to do that with what you’ve decided to keep!‘
And I tried to look back at them imploring that this was evidently not my choice and they should blame the girl with the scissors and lack of basic communication skills.
And as it went on my reputation as a stoic was being severely tested as it got worse and I could only hope that it would look better when she had finished/​when it was dry/​when it was styled/​when it grew back in several months. Generally I don’t make a fuss about these sorts of things. I take what I’m given and deal with it in private. But I was so disenchanted with how I looked that I actually couldn’t not say anything and each time she asked me are you alright? my face instantly lit up bright red and it was obvious that fine meant, I truly resent you for what you have done to me.
It is the ugliest haircut I have ever been the sorry recipient of. And it is so short I can only wait for it to grow out. I left the hairdresser’s and stepped out onto New Oxford Street and bawled. I tried to tie it back but it’s too short to do so and I bawled again. I went home weeping and sobbing each time I caught my hideous reflection.
I woke up the next morning, saw myself in the mirror and relived the entire ordeal and cried again.
Now, I’m not a vain person. I’ve just got really shit hair. And a few days ago it was really nice hair. I am genuinely devastated and will be for approximately the next four months.
The moral of the story is: go here for a free haircut but be IMPENETRABLY clear when telling them what you want.

Do you like the idea of a free haircut? Well if you have a few hours to spare, this is the place for you. Students training as stylists for Toni and Guy give free haircuts during the week. It takes good three hours, but it is well supervised (there is a teacher who checks all main steps and is present throughout) and refreshing to get something for nothing in London! That said, if you are incredibly precious about your hair, rather pay the £50 to have it done by a fully paid professional!