Salon A.K.S,

689 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York 10022

"Everyone is so nice and helpful. They do everything possible to make sure you have a fantastic experience. The owner Alain is extremely kind and thoughtful, and remembers exactly how you want to be taken care of. I wouldn’t go anywhere else in NYC after coming here."

"I visited salon AKS for a haircut from Mimi. It was THE best haircut I've ever gotten. I like a blunt cut with no layers and she made sure it was absolutely perfect before I left. She knew all the special tricks like cutting the front longer so it lays perfectly. So very happy and she was so kind!"

"I had a cut and blow dry with Anya. It was my first time paying $50+ for a haircut. I was quite nervous about the cut at first because I’ve never walked out of a salon, washed my hair and liked it or even felt different. Anya changed that for me! She was absolutely incredible! She listened to what I was asking for and gave advice on products, care, and styling for my curtain bangs and curly hair. Honestly one of the best cuts I’ve ever gotten. She also is one of those people that you can tell has a kind heart and I fully trusted her with my hair. Shampoo was relaxing and very thorough. Highly recommend Anya and the salon ◡̈"

"About two weeks ago I participated in a balayage class that was supervised by a manager/ senior stylist. Rosie was my colorist and I asked her to touch up my roots with balayage highlights. After the wash and rough dry the supervisor checked my hair. My hair wasn’t straight from the rough dry so I didn’t see the dark gaps and grown out highlights. When I can home I had to wash and condition my hair again because it still smelled like bleach and was stiff. The next morning I was able to get a better view of my hair from all angles and noticed the dark gaps, previously grown out highlights that weren’t touched up and an almost white stripe underneath my hair. I texted Rosie asking if I can come back for a quick fix and heard nothing back. The following day I texted her again and still nothing. Later that day I called the salon and asked if I can come in for a fix and was told that the salon doesn’t do fixes for their models. I spoke with Carla the manager who said that the best she can offer is for me to come in for the next class with Rosie and pay the fee again. At that point I did not feel comfortable with paying again to have the person that messed up my hair and then ignored me try to fix my hair. Disappointing experience especially since the manager checked my hair after the rough dry and I’m sure she was able to see the mistakes but said nothing."

"I am leaving a bad review because the salon management is absolutely appalling. I volunteered for a color model class in the beginning of May and while I understand that because these are students in training, and there will be some discrepancies, I didn’t except my hair to be in two completely different shades of BLONDE and DARK BROWN. I’ve volunteered for other hair services not at Salon AKS and there was always an educator standing by to make sure the student needed help/checking their work. While there was a teacher present, I’m not completely sure what happened (bleach was left in for too long?) but this was pretty irresponsible. I discussed that I didn’t mind what they did as long as it was natural and low maintenance. When the student was finished with my hair, I expressed that it was lighter than what we discussed but that I didn’t mind it ( I have very dark brown Asian hair and having yellow highlights isn’t really “natural)” because I only only shown the front of my hair. However, they didn’t show me the back of my hair and I suspect that because I was the last hair model there and everyone was trying to leave/get home, they couldn’t be bothered to tell me what happened. I went home to see that my hair was in TWO completely different colors… I messaged the salon about my experience (ignored) and then the student who did my hair that evening and I won’t reveal her name because I don’t think it’s entirely fair since she did take a long time and I appreciate the technique. It was only through a lot of back and forth that I able to get another appointment to come in again to “fix” what happened. On the day I went in, the manager, Karla, had the audacity to 1) charge me the fee again for product 2) Argue that I was in the wrong because I shouldn’t expect salon results (I didn’t but I also didn’t expect my hair to be two completely contrasting colors) 3) She also mentioned that with highlights, it’s not entirely realistic to expect my hair to be the same color throughout—(Seriously? Not realistic? perhaps I would be in the wrong if it was different shades of brown but this is two different colors! To whoever is reading this, I’ll attach some photos and I’m sure that you can agree the color discrepancy is just too stark). I appreciate the two students who did my hair and the senior colorist who finally decided to give the go ahead to not charge me the 2nd time. However, I would hesitant both as a client and even more so, as a future color model because there is something seriously wrong with management and especially with the way that Karla is doing things. Did I mention that she even try to gaslight me and say that I signed the wavier and that this is just a part of the “class”? (waiver mentioned that students can’t copy technique and give what color models specifically want but no mention of anything else). Appalling, huh?"