Rocket Salon

I had a minor social emergency, and Neil was kind enough to fit me in right away. He did a beautiful job on my hair, and I have incredibly difficult hair to cut — cowlicks, lots of wave, etc. He’s efficient, friendly, and I’ve already made my follow-​up appointment.

I have been an avid fan of Rockets since Lisa has been a stylist there. Lisa is a high level experienced colorist and stylist. She always takes great care of me. Lisa, Neil and Carlos always have an atmosophere that is warm and friendly. I have never had a bad experience with people not returning my calls. If you want a great hair cut, color, highlights etc. this is the only place to go in Palo Alto that is worth the extra bucks!

***This is pretty much a direct blow by blow of my experience and would not have bothered with the salon if I had any idea of what I would be in for… I’m still kinda in shock and speechless about this whole experience.***
I too called Rocket based on the feedback of fellow Unilocalers.
It took the salon 2 full days to call me back to schedule an appointment… isn’t that a bit long to return a phone call? But whatevs because Neil can see me on my only day off from work.
Date of the appointment comes and I go early… thinking I have about 30 minutes, I settle down with a bunch of celebrity magazines to pass the time. Since I’m so early, I tried to be as unassuming as possible.
Neil engages me in some small talk while he waits for his next appointment to arrive. That person is a no show so I’m pretty psyched that I can be seen early.
Keep in mind that this is my very first time at this salon and the first time meeting the stylist… As soon as he begins cutting my hair, he starts talking to me about his personal life. Friends, this was no common chit-​chat session.
This was him telling me way personal stuff about his very personal life and very personal relationships. Holy moly! His life has all the makings for a Lifetime movie of the week including love, travel, betrayl, and tons of drama. To make things even weirder, at one point during the haircut he actually cried while telling me all this! WTF!!!
Bottom line is thatl I really don’t mind hearing about someone’s personal issues if I ask (plus I am usually doing this when I work and am getting paid for it, lol), but this was my day off not to mention I am paying for a professional beauty service, and don’t forget I’ve just met this man.
Perhaps the worst part of the whole haircut was when he left cutting my hair to answer the phone! Yep, he answered the phone while working on me when it took me 2 full days to get a return phone call.
I’m thinking that this is definately one of the strangest freaking haricut experience in my life.
Frick…I should have explicitly asked for a cut with Lisa. Oy vey! The search begins again for a new hair salon… Rocket = good and reasonable priced haircut but not very professional and drama galore!

I wear glasses and without them I can’t see myself in the mirror. Getting my hair cut is a total act of faith because I can’t see what it looks like until they are done and I put my glasses back on. (Insert screams or tears here) I used to let my hair grow forever (not the best look for me) because I’d had so many bad experiences.
Now I like getting my hair cut and love my hair!
A friend of mine recommended Rocket about a year ago. I’ve had both Lisa and Neil cut my hair and both did a great job. Neil’s cut it the last 2 times and I’ve gotten more compliments in the last couple months than ever before. He takes his time and it’s very relaxing. It’s the best cut I’ve ever had. I can put my glasses back on without fear! Sometimes it does take a day or 2 for a call back about an appointment but I just plan on that now. It’s definitely worth the wait.

Rocket is a small salon where Neil will take his time, lavish his attention on you, and do really fancy things to your hair.
Unfortunitely, he uses Redken dyes. What this means is that, while I walked out of the salon with wonderfully colored hair, my $ 150 dye job washed out like the cheapest henna rinse you ever had. Literally, I could see my roots again in A WEEK. (which I’d usually shrug off, but a week after I went to this salon was my wedding day. Oh well, at least the veil covered a lot of it)
I don’t want to be harsh in giving Rocket 2 stars, because Neil is a nice guy and he obviously wants to do a good job. And no, I did not use the frou-​frou shampoo he recommended — mainly because shampoo has never quickly affected any other dye job I’ve had, so I thought this would be no different.
If Rocket switches to Paul Mitchell or some other dye that doesn’t shreik at the sight of normal hair washing, add a couple of stars to this review.

I found Neil at Rocket Salon after a long search for an affordable but lux place that would make me look fabulous. There are plenty of fancy salons in Palo Alto, but yikes! the price! Hair International, though affordable and passable, just wasn’t making my gorgeousness quotient rise. Enter Neil! He treats you like a movie star, with a full head and shoulder massage before every cut and is a genius with a scissors. He takes his time (at least an hour) and makes you really feel like he is focusing and working hard to make your hair perfect. I LOVED my first cut from him, and it lasted 2+ months! Practically everywhere I went people were calling my hair «fabulous». If you are looking for a modern precision haircut including a spa like treatment from a cool non-​pretentious artist for under 75 bucks, this is your place!

This guy genuinely cares about your hair, elevating it to an art. I’ve been to countless salons, and Neil is the first to really seem to care about how I’m going to look. He spends time thinking about it and his instincts are spot-​on. And — this was a very welcome surprise — it’s not ridiculously expensive (like other salons in the area). I became a regular after the first cut. Highly recommended. One note: don’t go in a rush; he takes his time, and it’s worth it.

I’ve been thinking about how much I like my hair after a visit to Rocket… and I LIKE it!
I trusted my looong locks into Neil’s hands, and walked out with a terrific short choppy bob! I’ve been waiting to see how the hair handles in a few weeks — many cuts are great for a week, and then your hair gets SLIGHTLY longer and it all goes to hell… Well, not this cut!
Thank you Neil! LOVING my hair — I forgot how sexy short hair can be! for one it rarely gets in the way! ;)