Sassoon Academy

Do not be a hair model for them. I was scheduled today for a 1:30pm blowout by a girl named Hannah. She said she was able to fit me in for 1:30 because she had a bit of «wiggle room». She then texted me yesterday confirming my appointment with me and I said yes I’ll be there. The train was delayed so I texted her saying that I’ll be there in 5 minutes. I arrive exactly in 5 minutes like I said and when I arrive, I sign a sheet of paper that had my name, the time of the appointment, and the stylist. On the sheet, it clearly said 1:30pm. She then brings me to the waiting room where I sit on the stools of the counter because there was no space on the couches. I then sit there waiting for 15 minutes until someone came up to me. She introduces herself as Hannah’s instructor and apologizes saying that she can’t take me because of the time (1:53pm) when I was supposed to be here at 1pm. What? I have texts that show that I was supposed to be here at 1:30pm… Even the sheet that I signed clearly read 1:30pm. I then told her and she goes to tell Hannah and comes back out telling me that Hannah double booked someone and is already working on another client and then asks me if I can come back at 3pm. I obviously couldn’t come at 3 hence why I asked Hannah if we could do 1:30pm and she said yes. Instead of waiting till I came to the salon, why not tell me ahead of time to not come in instead of having me wait an additional 15 minutes until someone came up to me. Or how about better yet, do NOT double book someone the same exact time. This is ridiculous. Free service but not worth the hassle.

DO NOT BE A HAIR MODEL FOR THEM! I was lured in by the idea of a free hair cut and I got what I payed for. I said they could do what they wanted with my hair as long as I kept my bangs. I got the stupidest hair cut I have ever seen and the instructor cut my bangs so short they are less then and inch and a half long. Going here was a massive mistake. I had to get a second hair cut to fix the crappy one they gave me. On top of that it is going to take forever for my bangs to grow back out. I wish I had never set foot in this place.

I went there in April when Chad was supervising and teaching the course, and received the worst haircut I have ever had. It will take months for it to grow out and return to a decent do. I could have got a much better cut at Supercuts for sure, and would just say that when Vicki was in charge of the program she really made sure the stylists knew what they were doing. Chad is no Vicki. Beware!!!

I’ve hair modeled a lot. For the past 4 years, I haven’t paid for a single full price haircut. I love the opportunity to learn about what a stylist is doing and to walk away without having spent my life’s fortune on a great haircut. There have been a plethora of bad haircuts in the bunch, but none trump my recent one at the Sassoon Academy.
First, I was asked to be a demo model for the instructor. This seemed like a good idea (who would turn down the more experienced stylist?) but during the haircut I discovered what this meant: I was nothing more than a head of hair to be watched by 6 people and my requests for what I wanted were completely ignored.
I came in with long hair that was longer in the front than the back, and some grown out side bangs. I asked for those bangs to be integrated into my hair and to keep the length but get rid of the angle. I lost nearly 5 inches in the front and several from the back. To make it worse, my hair when it air dries no longer makes some lovely waves but looks like a 6^th grader frizzy bob. My «integrated bangs» have turned into Farrah Fawcett’s lioness mane. Perfect if I were going to a Halloween party. Horrifying on a regular basis.
Enough of my ranting. Talking to others who have also been to Sassoon, the vote is out. One friend loved it, and went for every hair cut for several years. The other two had horror stories of dramatic haircuts that were not what they asked for and didn’t work for their hair type.
Moral of the story: Go here if you want a dramatic cut and are willing to risk it. Otherwise, visit one of the other salons in Chicago with advanced training programs who give exemplary service (i.e., talk to you, not just to their coworkers about your breakage) and fantastic haircuts. I’d recommend Trio, Swerve, an Art + Science.

I was bored so I took a look at
to see the latest deals in beauty in Chicago…
Yay for a free hair wash and blowout here on Tuesdays :)
Whats not to love? She did a great job at giving my hair a sleek, smooth look.
Perfect place for a blow out.

I am a licensed professional who occasionally takes the advance courses this academy offers. every time, the highest standard of hairdressing is exemplified. their classes are structured to be very small and intimate about 5 students usually in my experience, they provide a huge amount of models to work on during the courses (no other hair school or advance academy gives you as many as two models for almost each course day!) they teach a vast amount of information, and get into every detail. they explain everything and they are perfectionist at executing their technique.
I am always amazed by their teachers, staff and curriculum. I consider there method of cutting/​coloring and their professionalism to be the highest bar set in the industry. and Ive never seen another school, another salon or another stylist; be as skilled, trained and professional as Vidal Sassoon hairdressers. I personally judge myself and other hairdressers by what I see and learn here! my rating is 100 stars! :-)

I like this place for their price policy, $ 10 for students! No kidding. They have new students all the time, so you never know who will do your haircut. Even though professional stylist/​tutor knows what to do and she is extremely good, students sometimes don’t. First time I went there I had an excellent hairstylist, she was just perfect and I regret I didn’t ask her phone number to come back to her. My haircut got so many complements! Second time I came to the academy, I’ve got a very young girl chewing her chewing gum really loudly and always talking to somebody.
Obviously, she wasn’t professional at all and the result was OK, but only because there was a tutor watching her.
Anyway, I’ll come back to this place, but next time I’ll leave if I see someone like that girl.

This place is OK for trying out a haircut. I admit I was not certain of the experience when I came here. I realized that it is a school but did not realize that getting a haircut here would require upward of 2 hours. The quality is decent although you are basically acting as a guinea pig. So buyers beware (caveat emptor)! I happened to get someone decent, but it was clear that he was a student and was not confident of his skills. I sat there for a total of 2 hours just to wait for him to get feedback from the head instructor there regarding next step and overall style improvement. Believe it or not, the very end finish by the instructor was actually the worst move overall as her cut ruined my front combing hairs. I think she was just in a hurry to move on to the next student so did not realize. All in all, if you are curious to try and learn more about what giving haircut involves, this could be a one-​time experience.

Honestly, this is the first haircut I ever got that I loved from the second my stylist started cutting and guess what? It looks *fabulous* every time I do it on my own!
Look, picky people like me have their reasons for being picky. The stylist listened to what I wanted to end up with and was able to not only conceptualize and communicate, she was able to deliver. I’ve been to some of the trendy expensive salons & walked out thinking, «It’ll grow back». I have finally found a salon the demonstrates expertise, controlled creativity and excels in performance.
BTW, when I arrived, I was in jeans & a t-​shirt. Everyone who worked there is tastefully striking, including pinks & blue hues in their hair & tasteful, classic clothing. Seriously, everyone is aesthetically beautiful here– and they had attitudes to match.
Stop wasting your money and tormenting yourself over how you’ll deal with your hair. Visit the Sassoon Academy or Salon. You’ll be so glad you did!

I really didnt want to write a bad review of this place, because the academy itself was nice, but I am seriously distraught over my hair. I went in with hair down to the middle of my back, and asked for a couple inches off and layers. Now my hair doesnt even reach my armpits, and I cant decide if the look is more little girl or soccer mom.
When I told the stylist what I want, I thought she understood. She even held up some of my hair and showed my where she said she was going to cut it. Then when she started cutting the back, she kind of mumbled that she did it a little shorter than she said (she seriously must not have been paying attention). When she walked away to get the instructor I noticed how short it was. When she came back and saw me she said «oh, are you freaking out?» Uhh… YA! You just cut 5 – 6 inches off my hair! She assured me I’d love it when it was done, but I sure dont. And on top of that she cut my bangs too short, after I specifically asked to keep my bangs longer since the rest was so short. But dont worry, this gal was from out of town and only at this salon for 3 days, so it seems like the stylists change frequently.
Everything else about the place was nice. Nice facility, nice instructor, nice receptionists. But I hate my hair. I hate it so much. It will take me years to grow it back.
Price — $ 10 (student)
TIme — 3 hrs
Quality — complete luck of the draw

I had a really good experience with a student cut a year or two ago, so I was excited to discover this place. And it was lovely when I went to pay and they were like, «Oh, actually it’s free this month.» (I still tipped $ 10 – I’m not a total dweeb.) And everyone was super gracious about the fact that I was 30 minutes late. (I know, maybe I got a crappy cut as payback. But they definitely didn’t run out of time… I was told at booking to plan for 10:30 — 2:30, but it only took from 11 – 1:30. Pretty sure the universe was just warning me to reconsider my appointment – it was the first time I’ve been late for anything in quite a while!).
Ultimately though, you have to rate an establishment on the quality of service offered. I went in with cute, spiky, short hair… I asked for a little more angular, asymmetric textured cut with the same sort of look as a photo which was pretty much what I already had, plus a little structure/​texture… And I came out looking like I went to Supercuts for a men’s cut. Not what I asked for. I know my hair’s hard to cut, and I know short hair is harder than long hair in a lot of ways. And I know I can go home and fix up the sides with clippers to go more sexy than Fresh Prince. But if you don’t know how to do what I ask for you… Ask the instructor. It’s a class, and I have to live with the cut you give me.
So if you have long hair and want a basic cut, definitely check this place out. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it. That said, I’m still looking for a decent stylist in Chicago. So… good luck!
P. S. Unilocal keeps getting a «server error» when I try and upload photos of the carnage. So message me if you’d like a before/​after, and the photo I used as an example.
Update: I did receive a gracious message offering a free appointment to correct my haircut. As a current massage student, I value the role that student clinics/​salons play in developing talent, and I was disappointed that my clearly expressed dissatisfaction with, for example, obvious scissor lines, was attributed to my head texture and head shape rather than acknowledged as the result of my stylist’s inexperience with short hairstyles (which she readily admitted to her instructor when she asked her to take over) – not by the student, but by the instructor. I understand that responding to a dissatisfied client is a stressful position to be in, but hopefully the instructors and front desk staff will respond to future clients immediately rather than requiring a customer service representative to reach out after the fact.

I visited Sassoon Academy this Wednesday for a free haircut and received a so-​so experience.
I arrived to my appointment on time. Unfortunately, the salon could not take me in until for another hour. The clerk informed that I would be receiving my free haircut from a more experienced hairdresser. Therefore, I would end up with a better experience.
I went to the salon an hour later and had to wait to receive my haircut. While I was waiting, the instructor kept assuring me that it would be a few moments. I ended up waiting for an hour which disappointed me.
The hair stylist finally took me in. He was nice and laid-​back. I enjoyed talking with him while he cut my hair. I ended up liking my haircut.
To sum up, I was disappointed that they had me waiting all that time. I thought it would have been better that the instructor honestly told me that I was going to wait for a long time. I did not like the instructor assuring me that it would be a few moments.
However, I have received a nice free haircut. A lot of people have been complimenting to me about it. Therefore, I would recommend this place to others and still return to this academy.
Note: This salon posts on
their free haircuts. If not, this salon only charge $ 19 or $ 10 for students with ID.

I’m starting law school in the fall so saving money is a major concern at the moment. As someone who has paid full price $ 85 at an actual Sassoon Salon, I was excited to see that they had a school in the area with significantly cheaper prices. I’ve gone to other beauty schools for cuts before and the thing that I like about Sassoon’s is that the «students» have actual real world experience. They’ve been working at salons for years and are not just beginning students. Granted, I was a little concerned when while waiting for my cut, I over heard the fact that most of the stylists were younger than me (under 25) and most only had a year or so of experience. I really didn’t need to worry though.
When you schedule your appointment, they do inform you that it may take up to 3 hours to get a cut. That may turn some people away, but for a $ 10 cut, I didn’t mind waiting. Like other reviewers have said, the instructor comes around at every step of the cut to oversee, check work, and explain the next step. I was at the end of the line so there was some waiting around but I was able to chat easily with my stylist so there weren’t any awkward silences.
A lot of the other clients were getting the typical short «Sassoon» cut while I have longer hair. I didn’t want to loose any length, just wanted my layers defined more. My stylist did an excellent job. I have wavy/​curly hair but straighten it normally when it’s not summer. My hair was wavy when I arrived and the styled it curly so the big test for me was the next day wash and straighten. I am happy to say it looks as good straightened as it does curly.
I will def. go back in the future. I recommend checking here on Unilocal because they often have deals (it’s normally $ 19 for a cut). And my cut only took 2 hours (and I was one of the last done so the 3 hour time frame may not actually be needed).
One negative, that’s really minor, is that they don’t offer water or anything so I recommend bringing your own. I was pretty thirsty at the end.

When you think of a salon school, you think lower quality. But at Sassoon, I have always been impressed with their work. Don is an amazing teacher and he always knows what looks good.
I have been getting my hair cut at Sassoon for two years now. When I go out, my hairstyles are chic enough to turn heads. If you are into fashion and love trying something new, this is def the place for you!

I’ve been here once and it was a great experience. I saw on Unilocal that they had a promotion for FREE haircuts. I automatically thought… sign me up! Free is my favorite!
I had a nice girl from New York cut my hair. She did a great job… the only downside was every so often the hair stylists have to stop to get feedback/​directions from the instructor. I ended up being there 3 – 3 ½ hrs. (Note: my hair is quite long & very thick) I would and have recommended the Sassoon Academy to friends. The staff is great, their work is top notch, the prices are a steal!

Total Price w/​Student ID: $ 10
Total Time: 2 – 3 Hours
I KNOW 3 hours is a long time for a haircut, but all three times I’ve been here it’s been worth it.
If you are really picky about what you want, this isn’t the place for you. The attitude to have is having a certain length in mind, but to be flexible, the instructors are experts and they will suggest to you a cut that works for your face shape and the amount of effort you want to put into your daily routine. If you’re open to trying new things, you won’t be disappointed.
The Sassoon Academy is a continuing education school for licensed stylists, so you won’t get your ear chopped off, but they are trying out unfamiliar techniques. However, Don, the instructor comes by at every step of the way to make sure your cut is PERFECT (hence, why it takes so long).
My haircut is amazing. We decided to try something out of the ordinary with my bangs and I love the look. Swept to the right, my bangs are asymmetrical and really edgy, blended into the rest of my hair, they give my hair amazing volume, and swept to the left, they are soft and yet dramatic. It was a risk that I took, not knowing what it would look like in the end, but I am totally pleased with the results.
Take chances.
I LOVE THIS PLACE.

I overheard one of the girls that was in the classroom with me say as we walked out with out new ‘do’s: «I can’t believe I just got a $ 200 haircut for free!»
Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say we got $ 200 haircuts, but easily a better cut than half the salons in this fair city.
The Academy was offering a few days of free cuts so the students could «learn new techniques and improve upon old». There were about 10 students in my class with one instructor who circled the room and checked on the progress of each stylist.
I had a ton of hair that hadn’t been cut for a year and a half, and while it looked like crap, I liked the length. So I told them they were free to do whatever they wanted, as long as the length didn’t change. This is sort of the beauty of the Academy — let them do what they think is best and if you are open to more funky, creative styles, all the better. They literally chopped out the entire middle section on the back of my head and yet somehow made my hair look longer and fuller than before.
The only drawback to a free haircut is that you pay in time. I was there from 10:30 to 1, and most of that was waiting for the instructor to come by, approve the stage we were at and offer suggestions for the next step.
However, if you have the time to devote, I would absolutely recommend it. I didn’t know most of the terms they used but even I learned a thing or two about styling just by listening to the instructor! Bonus!

I went during free haircut week. As beauty school haircuts can take all afternoon (or all day) I called to find out how long an appointment might take. They said «Up to 3 Hours but normally less.» I got out of there in less than 2!
I have medium long hair — in less than 2 hours I had a consultation so that she could give me the kind of cut that would work best for me, had it washed, cut, was given styling advice, and had the teacher come around now and then to double-​check her work (she got an Excellent from him every time. Always reassuring.)
They have a.m. and p.m. appointments, including Sunday. Out of the 3 stylists, all women, mine was the one I would expect to see in a Sassoon shop. It may have been the blue high heel shoes. ;)
When I tipped her $ 10 she seemed stunned. I would have given her more but I was broke. It was sad to see her so happy on 10 cuz the cut was free. What do others tip on a free Sassoon cut? Dayum. I think regular price is $ 19 anyway.
The cut is great and I look forward to going back.

It does take awhile, my haircut took just under 2.5 hours. But mine was free because there was a special on Unilocal.You’ll be matched up with a student based on what you want done and what they need to work on. They’re very careful and incredibly precise because they are students, and the instructor checks up on them the entire time.
It’s probably better if you’re a little open though. You will end up with a great haircut that flatters your features, but if you’re picky and have something very specific in mind, this might not be the place for you.

Confession: I love getting haircuts.
But I’ve had bad experiences in my day, including one «stylist» nipping a piece of my ear off with his scissors — the man scarred me for life. (That was some random salon my mother recommended. Definitely never listened to her again).
After that experience, I turned to more professional hands and started to go to the Vidal Sassoon Academy out in California. Always left with something that looked good (for cheap!) and when I moved away from California, I was disappointed there weren’t more academies.
Then I discovered that Chicago opened an Academy! Score! Time to reel in that student discount price. I decided to try out this one, particularly because I can’t afford their normal salons. This academy was smaller than the other one (but big ups for not being next to a Hooters).
I called in and signed up to get my haircut for one of the classes with the manager Adrian, who was very friendly on the phone. I was a little skeptical that things would be as good as I remembered, but Adrian assured me that Don (I think he’s like the style director/​instructor) would take good care of me.
So I went in and I kept thinking to myself, please be good like the other one, please be good. I crossed my fingers. Held my breath. Closed my eyes. Waited a few hours only to find…
that I loved it! My hair came out great. Don really listened and helped my stylist Marie figure out something quite lovely. The whole experience was very relaxing — I would definitely come back.
I really like Vidal because they’re all about structure and working with your face and your hair. Plus the cut is always flattering and interesting– I mean, seriously, why should I pay $ 100 or more to someone just so that they can just chop an inch off my hair in a straight line? My 4-​year-​old nephew could do that.
BTW — I’ve gotten different haircuts from vidal — sometimes they cut a lot off or they keep the length and just change up the style. To be honest, I find the best haircuts I’ve gotten are the ones where I let the stylist do as they please. To those of you scared chopping off your hair, um — it grows back and 9 out of 10 times it works out a hella lot better.
Additional reasons to cut it short (er)
— faster to dry/​style
— head feels a million times lighter
— less mess on the bathroom floor/​sink
— easy-​to-​achieve sexy bedhead look all the time. haha
But seriously — best reason for going to Vidal Sassoon = $ 10 for a haircut??? Who wouldn’t love that?