Fantastic Sam’s

Mariam is a pleasure. They are all great. I like that I can ask for styling and a tailored cut but without the high price of salons. Thank you Mariam.

I just want to say I go to this place every time I need a hair cut ! Maryam and all of her staff are beyond the point of wonder !! They know how I like my hair, and provide excellent customer service. Their prices on their products are way better than any competitor. I would recommend them to everyone looking for a beautiful hair cut, and or style. One more thing they do eyebrows !! Threading ! Best place ever ! If you are going to any other place you’re out of your mind. Thanks a lot ladies !
–Richard Gaynor

I go to Fantastic Sams for the past 3 years now for hair color and haircut and they always do great job! Everyone is very nice and friendly and professional. The place is super clean and very good customer service. I love Kobe, he’s their mascot, super cute and sweet:)
If Marian is not available, Nahid is my go to person. They are both great hairstylists:)

The lady that cut my hair rushed it. She also poked my scalp with the clipper instead of smoothly running it through my hair. She also had many many issues with the cash register. I will not be coming back

I have been getting my haircut from mirian at fantastic sams for many years. The haircuts are great and she always makes time to fill me in even when I’m short on time. The prices are very reasonable and I am alays extremely satisfied with my haircut. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a new hair stylist in the area.

Thanks Miriam for taking care of my husbands Hair for over 5 years. I love getting a conditioning treatment and blow out from you. We will see ya soon!

It’s clean and very professional, it’s been two years now. I’m happy to go there every three weeks. Should try.

Miriam destroyed my hair.
After reading all of the reviews, I was confident that she could pull off a simple hair cut.
NO!
I showed her a picture of a hair model with the same length of hair as mine with long layers.
She said that it was a very simple cut.
I walked out with short layers, and my hair was 3 inches shorter.
The cut is so bad that I can’t even hide it by tying it back. Nothing!
Whoever keeps putting up fake reviews for her should be ashamed.
It will be at least 6 months till my hair grows out of this terrible mess.
I would put 0 stars if I could.

Horrible place for men hair cut. I went in and instructed the barber (omitting name) not to cut my hair short and I just want medium cut. She nodded like if she knew exactly what I was expecting which made me comfortable.
So when she started cutting I felt that she was cutting them very short. I reminded her that I wanted medium size hair cut and again she nodded, ensuring me to trust her expertise.
When she was done and got home, I noticed variety of long hair on the back and extremely short hair on the top.
My hair were ruined. I look so ugly with these hair now and sadly to say that this visit concludes my journey to Fantastic Sams for hair cut.
I hate this place. If you love your hair and don’t want to look ugly find some place else.
It was complete waste of my time, gas, and of-​course money ($ 20).

Consistently great service. Inexpensive haircut. Very cute beagle named Kobe. Very charming and talkative stylists. Good location next to Starbucks, Subway, and a Dry Cleaner’s, so you can knock multiple things off your to-​do list that day.

Didn’t have a great experience here. Called up to ask if there’d be a wait if I came in 15 minutes, was told there was no wait, and put my name in on the phone. Then when I got there 15 minutes later, I was told there was a wait without being given an explanation. (And when I asked how long the wait was, I was given a vague «10 or 15 minutes», but after I sat around for about 5 minutes it seemed like the wait was gonna be a lot longer so I left and got some food and came back later.)
When I finally got my haircut, it wasn’t a good cut. First of all, I asked the cutter in advance to not leave it too long on the top, and suggested she show me the length before she finished so I could tell her if I wanted it shorter. But when she eventually showed me the length and I asked her to shorten it a bit (because it was definitely too long), she got all pissy and implied she was right and I was wrong and I was messing up her great cut. And then she did a VERY quick, half-​ass shortening, and when I got home I saw the hair was still long in the back on top and it looked crazy.
Overall, though, the people were nice here (my cutter included, except for that incident), and it’s not expensive (for Santa Monica), so feel free to give it a shot if you’re looking for a cheap cut.

They have ZERO hair books for men, and about 10 for women, this place is sexist. Also smelled horrible.

So this review is ONLY for the Asian lady who trimmed my bangs recently. I decided to make a quick stop here during my lunch break to get my bangs trimmed cuz it’s overdue. Waited patiently since all the stylists were busy with other clients. Few minutes later, a blond hair Asian lady came back from her lunch break (assuming). She took me on since I was next in line and I’m only here for a trim. Anyway, she seemed nice enough and I had good experience with other stylists from my past experience (even though I don’t come here often).
So I told her exactly what I wanted: same as I have it now but just shorter for my bangs, and I want it to be eyebrows length. She said okay and she started trimming my bangs. As she started the process, her scissor got extremely close to my skin. I was nervous cuz it was just too close for my comfort. Thought to myself «omg, please don’t poke my eyes» granted my eyes were closed. And sure enough, the tip of her scissors got super close to my skin that I felt a sharp poke right above my eyelid (YIKES!!!). I yelled «ouch» and she was like «what did I do?» I told her that her that her scissors poked my skin. So she went easy after that. We went back & forth about the length of my bangs. I had to keep telling her that it was still too long. It needed to be shorter and my bangs still covered my eyes. So she kept on fixing my bangs but she kept putting her scissors so close to my skin. They were pretty much pressing on my skin and of course I felt another sharp poke. And this time IT HURTS!!! I let out a lil scream when her scissors poked me. She asked me what she did and I told her again that she poked me with her scissors. It was just very uncomfortable to let her trim my bangs. I couldn’t wait for her to get it right so that I wouldn’t have to put up with this again. Alas, we finally finished… took long enough but it was finally what I wanted/​had asked for.
I wasn’t sure how much I should tip her since she was making me feel very uncomfortable. Regardless, I still tip her well… maybe even over tipped her (40% of the service fee)… my fault for my generosity.
After I had left the place & went to check myself in the restroom mirror, I saw a bloody spot right on my eyelid. I was mad. She apparently had cut a bit of my eyelid skin (WTH!!!). Seriously, please be careful when you (The Asian Hairstylist) cut someone’s hair, esp the bangs. Is there a way to trim someone’s bangs without cutting their skin off? I had my bangs trimmed here before & never experienced that until today. UGH!!!
I’m now scared to come back here again and pray that I won’t have the same person cutting my hair.
Fantastic Sam, please talk to your hairstylist about not cutting client’s skin off when trimming/​cutting their hair. Thanks in advance…

The worst experiences in a Salon I have ever had!
**I did not get the stylist I requested
**They left the color on my hair (it was a root touch up) OVER 1 HOUR. My scalp was itching & burning & when I told the stylist she said «Just don’t scratch it» I had to ask twice before they would rinse it out. Both shampoo bowls were being used or I would have rinsed it out myself.
**After she cut my hair she blow dried it (didn’t tell me it was another cost) then when I went to pay they charged me $ 30 extra for the blow dry! (My hair is short & thin & took about 2 minutes to dry). When I complained they just said they would give me a discount the next time I came in.
**I was there 2 ½ hours and the bill was $ 97.00!
**When I got home I saw the skin around my face & neck were discolored from the color.
This place is terrible. I am writing a letter to Fantastic Sams to formally complain. My scalp is shot & is still burning & itching.

Very impressed with the cut I received from Stephanie. She was engaged, attentive and talented. The price is very fair and I did not need an appointment mid week (although I did call ahead to say that I would be there in 15 – 20).
Thanks Stephanie!

0 stars!!! The owner was rude. I took a client of mine for a haircut on Monday 1÷26÷15. Yes I admit my client smelled but tell me why the owner loudly said that he smelled. What bothered me the most was her ignorance. Seems like miriam, the owner has never, ever ever ever seen a person with persistent mentAl illness. She could not stop staring at my client (her client). She even pulled the hairstylist to the side. She probably told her to use the worst clippers to cut my clients hair. I will never ever take a client there! Step up on second is a respectable organization that helps individuals end homelessness. Miriam will never get our business ever again!

This place just got better! From what I read in the other reviews, the rest of the team is already awesome. Congrats! However, Natalie is going to be my choice.
Why? Well, let’s start off with the fact that my hair looks great! Let’s add to that, the fact that there was no nervousness, no «how is she going to mess this up?», no attitude. All I got was attention, care, good listening (to my crazy hair sculpting ideas), good listening (to my bad jokes), and last but not least: professional execution.
But wait! There’s more!
While she cut my hair, we got wrapped up in such an interesting conversation, that she inadvertently helped me hatch a business idea which brought me a lot of success. That is a first from a haircut!
I’m going back. To get my hair AND business straightened out ;).

Why hasn’t anyone mentioned the DOG? Maryam, the owner, has a beagle! The beagle is named Kobe Bryant and he kind of follows her around, climbs onto the seats for a nap, and did not bark ever. He was also very patient while I petted him. The owner herself was also extremely nice, and I will try to come back.
That said, my actual haircut was awful. My stylist, Olga, got defensive when I told her that the cut didn’t work for me. She said that she had gotten my approval for the lengths. She got my approval by showing me this way:
1) For the base length, she showed me the 1.5 inches AFTER she had cut it off. Seriously? What if that had already been too short? SOL I guess.
2) For the second layer, she held the hair UP instead of framing it down against my face, to say, so you want it this short?
Her technique was rudimentary, but how do you call that out while you’re sitting in the chair? There was no blending whatsoever, and she was doing straight cuts down different pieces of hair. So if you grab that exact chunk she cut, it would be straight. It’s the opposite of layering and blending.
Anyway, Maryam offered to not let me pay. I paid anyway because while the haircut was awful I still believe that people deserve to get paid for their work. Also, I knew I was getting what I paid for, which actually turned out to be quite a bit once you include the cost of the blow-​dry (which I requested because I wanted to see what needed to be fixed before leaving the chair). I asked Maryam about how I could have communicated what I needed for my cut better and she talked to me about the difference between short layers and long layers (what I was given, and it looks bad on me). Maryam said she’d cut my hair next time. I’m going back to my regular stylist to see what I can do to feel better about the hair cut, but I will give Maryam a chance.
BTW, otherwise this was a 2 star experience but the store is getting a bump because other people there seemed happy plus there was a salon dog.

This place is great! I come in about once a month to get a haircut from Merriam, who I think is also the manager of the place. She is super friendly and does a great haircut :)
I live in the neighborhood and its only actually because Merriam had her dog there and I was walking my dog past the shop, that we got chatting… next thing I’ve found a great new hairdresser, mere walking distance from home!
I feel like Merriam cuts my hair according to my face type and hair type, and actually cares about what the end result look like… too many places at this price point just give you a buzz cut and send you on your way with a head looking like a coconut… no bueno!
Anyway if you are a Santa Monican and looking for a reliable, affordable, awesome cut… I would say come on in and give these girls a whirl… they’re great!

Stefanie is the best! Had a trim and blonde ombré. Beautiful job at a great price!!! Salon is clean and friendly!