Magic Cuts

Woo… woo. woo oh-​mazing, This place is nice, people work at the salon are friendly, and customers happy to come, If you love your hair you need to come here, she’s your gal, She brightens you up and somehow makes it look natural. seriously talented with color, and beyond sweet
Since I know this place, now I am Rich.
I am highly recommended!

My first time here they gave me Amy. She is horrible and I would never recommend anyone to have her work on their hair. I believe that’s her name. She’s been a blonde asian for the past year or so. She either doesn’t listen or doesn’t understand. Either way she doesn’t care. Chopped a giant gaping section out of the middle of my hair. I immediately stopped everything and asked to work with someone else. They gave me Hai, who I implored to fix what she had done. He looked at my hair shaking his head, could not figure out what she was thinking. Hai was a saving grace. He really did try his best to save my hair but it was really beyond saving, which he also stated. However, he carefully and meticulously cut it, to the best he could to salvage my hair.
I have really long hair that’s also ridiculously thick. I also like unconventional hairstyles so this is not really the place for that kind of thing. The cuts are affordable and if you go for conventional styles that are straight forward, Hai will serve you very well. He is sweet, attentive, and skilled. Just stick to traditional styles. The cut for long hair will run you ~$ 40.
Another knock on this establishment is that the salon owner saw the disaster created by Amy, saw that I was leaving that day with a messed up hair cut and still charged me full price, plus a surcharge because I’m guessing it took so long to fix. Newsflash, this whole ordeal took some time to fix because one of your hair stylists is a horrible wreck who has no business taking on new customers.

My husband and I both got haircuts here. He gets a pretty standard, conservative haircut (none of this fade nonsense or anything like that), and I usually opt for a long layered cut.
Hai (dude with the poofy ponytail and glasses) cut my hair. I didn’t feel confident at first because the salon was empty, there was a language barrier, and Hai was almost timid in how he approached my hair. He was REALLY quiet, but actually did a good job! My husband’s stylist was more friendly/​chatty, and his haircut turned out great, too. It seems like they gave us a package deal (either that, or they miscalculated!). Either way, it was a great price for two quick, pleasant haircuts and we both plan to make Magic Cuts our regular salon.
A few notes:
–Hours are 10am-​7pm.
–Most of the stylists are men. Just FYI, if you’re weirded out by this and prefer a female stylist.
–They only put a small towel down to protect your clothes during the shampoo, no robe or salon cloth provided until the actual cut. Don’t wear silk or any other kind of clothes you care to keep dry!
–Sunday 10:30−11am was a great time to go. Only 1 other person in there! By lunchtime, the place started filling up with middle aged and elderly Vietnamese ladies as well as random «American» folk like me, attracted by the Unilocal reviews and Unilocal sticker on the door. ;)
–Be sure to bring cash for the tip. Bring a little extra so you can grab a bubble tea or snack in one of the neighboring shops!

I started coming to Magic Cuts a few months ago when, on a whim, I decided to shear my mane (well, full disclosure– I have a receding hairline and it was just a little too long…). I came in and was immediately greeted by Ben. Ben is a man of few words, but he guided me to get my hair shampooed and after coming back, asked how I wanted my hair to be cut. Ladies & gentlemen, I can rebuild an Audi engine, but I cannot for the life of me pick my own hair style. «Do as you see fit!» I instructed the man.
Ben’s scissors glided across my head like the Zatoichi of hair stylists. Within minutes my shaggy, pre-​homeless look was converted to a fashion forward, non-​creepy and confident man! I had the same barber for 15 years when I lived in MD. I’ve always had a hard time finding a good barber, but once I find one– I hang on. Ben is now my go-​to guy.
Prices here are exceptionally reasonable. If you’re a dude looking for a great haircut, strongly recommend you come see Ben at Magic Cuts. Tell him Joey sent you. He’ll have no idea who you’re talking about, but it will seem official!

i recommed this guy name Hai. He’s really talented and gave me a beautiful haircut! The layers looked perfect on me :) tbh i think hes better than kelly lol ask for hai!

This place does nice quality haircuts for a bargain price. Is it the best haircut you will ever have? Probably not. But it might be the best price for the quality in the northern VA area. I paid $ 35 for a great haircut that included shampoo and style. My stylist, Harry, was extremely friendly and really knew what he was doing. Also I went in the afternoon on a Saturday and was served immediately, so extra points for efficiency. A few things made it a little less professional than a top-​notch salon: my shirt got wet while I was being shampooed, and he hardly used any product on my hair so the style didn’t stay that long (I’m also not sure about the quality of their products — didn’t recognize any of the brands).
In short, I was thrilled to find a place in the area that charged reasonable prices without «chop-​shopping» my hair like in and out places like Great Clips. I will be going here from now on!

Solid men’s haircut.
I almost didn’t come by because one of the previous reviews mentioned this place being better for women.
I got a typical men’s haircut, which was $ 20 with a shampoo. Walked in, and I did not have to wait on a Sunday early afternoon.
I got my cut by Hai. He is there apartmently Fridays-​Sundays. He asked for what I wanted, I explained, and he got it right.
No complaints. Solid cut. I’ll be back again.

The secret to my magic look – been going here since 1995.
My first hair lady retired after ten-​ish years. Now on my second girl (Amy). We’re the same age so I’ll probably be bald before she moves on.

Heart broken. Distraught. 101 homicidal thoughts ran through my mind as I look in the mirror and my virgin hair looks like shit!
Lisa is no longer with magic cuts, she moved to Texas. I was absolutely hurt being that I drive so far just to come to this place for my hair cut. So like I always do when she’s not available I went to Amy.
Amy has cut my hair in the past and she was very good but the visit I had before my vacation to the bahamas was a complete disaster. I wanted a cut and color this time and asked for an ombré (my natural color fading into blonde at the ends) Amy claimed she could do it so I took a leap of faith and said okay.
It was a very busy day and customers kept coming up asking for Amy which is why I believe I got the half ass rush job that I did. My color speaks for it self, SH! TTY! My bangs didn’t even blend in with my cut, it was uneven. It was an ombré from freakin hell! NEVER AGAIN! From now on I will be going to bescene in Bethesda!

Another great angled bob cut from Kelly! Even though she was busy, she didn’t overbook and took the time with me to get the right style with walk in clients waiting. Do note that she tends to make cuts on the shorter side so if you have a specific length in mind, just remind her during the process. Make your appointment, bring in a picture, and let Kelly work her magic!

This was my first time here at the salon. I came here for a haircut on a Monday because I knew it would not be busy. I’m not sure which hair salon is good in the nova area so I gave this place a try. The lady washed my hair and cut it for $ 40. The lady took her time cutting my hair and cut it to the way I liked it. I am satisfied with the results but will be trying other hair salons in the future.

I have been wanting to write a review for a while. Magic cuts and Kelly came recommended by a girlfriend that frequents Eden Center. Her and her family has been getting their hair done by her for YEARS. I have never been happier with my hair. I’m Asian, but do not have fine straight hair like many do. Something happened along the Asian gene pool, but I have THICK/​CURLY/​WAVY hair. I used to always tie up my hair because I hated it, but the cut she’s given me over the past year makes me love wearing my thick and curly hair down:). As long as you communicate what you want or the look you are trying to achieve she will try her best to make it happened.

I didn’t like the haircut Kelly gave me. I should have known better. First of all, her hair looks bad — the cut and style. I used to tell myself that I’ll never have any hairstylist with a bad hair to cut mine. But I thought it was rude to back out, so I didn’t. Then, she asked me how I like my hair cut and that’s it. No recommendation whatsoever! She seemed as if she didn’t want to be there. She reeked of smoke and a bit grumpy. She only spent 30 minutes or less on my hair which is very fast. because she didn’t layer my hair right. She just cut it straight at the bottom and a litle bit of angling on the sides, which I could have done myself for free.
What a waste of time and money! I shouldn’t have given her a tip. I’ll try Amy next time. She looked good and seems very nice. I was jealous of the person who she cut the hair that same day I was there. That person left the salon pretty happy and I wasn’t. I’d like to go to Salon Mint but it’s so hard to get an appoinment there.

On the left upper right inside Eden. Next to Rice Paper.
I came here super early and they weren’t open at 10 so I made my way to the nail supply store and picked up some polishes. Came back around 10:40 and they were open for business. Didn’t make an appointment but after quickly finishing an older man’s balding hair I was whisked away to shampoo and cut. I think Kelly was the one who cut my hair since she spoke English. Loved her, she gave me really good advice about my hair (asked about waxing whispy sideburns). Shes also totally honest and said to never color my hair (she said, «even though I’m a hairdresser» since my natural color is very nice. The cut was precise, quick and looks fantastic.
Those of you afraid of the women talking about you in a different language. Don’t be. I find this assumption to be strange; automatically assuming people must be talking shit about you just because they speak another language. How do you know they’re not complimenting you? Cause thats totally what happened with me. Kelly n another hairdresser were just chatting away and I was totally zoning out (haircuts are relaxing for me). Apparently, (told to me by Kelly) they were talking about my hair and complimenting it. I kinda figured since the other hairdresser was straight up sitting next to me and eyeballing my hair the whole time as they talked.
Well anyway, I’ll be back in a few months for another cut.

I really think this place is for (female) Asian style hair cuts only. (I saw them cut a few guys hair, so guys of all should judge for themselves.) But for ladies, I think it only really works for an Asian style. I’m Asian, so that wasn’t racist, right?
Anyhoo, I had super long wavy hair that went down to my belly button and was willing to cut 5 inches. My hair stylist, Kelly said my hair was too heavy and I needed to shape it and layers. I was okay with that, but as she started cutting and cutting. I saw about 10 inches of my beautiful locks falling to the ground and freaked out. She said it was just the front layer, but the back will still be long, like a V. I had heard great things about Kelly, so I was going to trust her and let her finish. I quietly sat there with one eye open until she blew out my hair and said she was done. AND OH MY GAWD, I LOVED how it looked! I mean my front layers are right below my chin, which was not part of the deal, but she did make me look fantastic.
However, having wavy hair and having many many many layers, isn’t that flattering. So, I have to blow out or straighten my hair to not look like a shaggy dog. I’m also not too crazy about the V and would probably ask her to even out the back the next time. I still love my hair when it’s done and would def. recommend this place.

Told you all that I would come back and I did. Came by on a Sunday and it was super busy so I although I had an appointment I had to wait for a bit. No biggie. It gave me an opportunity to go next door to get an iced coffee. Yum! Anyway, went back to Kim and she nailed the color again! :) I got partial highlights and color. The highlights were natural and the color was well saturated. Now onto the cut. She didn’t use the thinning shears too much which I appreciated, only for the layers in the front (which I was fine with). Took the time to examine the bangs and they were good! I think I’ve found my stylist, yay! For those of you who might want to try this place I out I would definitely recommend Kim and her fabulous coloring skills. Remember Eden Center is packed on the weekends so it’s difficult to find parking at times (weekdays/​weeknights would be preferred). And remember they only accept tip in cash!

I’ve been a loyal customer for over 10 years. I get great compliments about my hairstyle, even from perfect strangers. The highlights plus the layers make me stand out. My stylist, Amy, is the best!

I love it here and now I bring my 3 girls. I like the way they cut, blowdry, straighten, cut again and then style. They make sure the cuts are even esp for frizzy hair like mine. I just thought it was this one stylist, but now I’ve had 3 different stylists and they all do this.
It is a little uncomfortable for non-​Vietnamese people like me to go there because I think that they are talking about me when I can’t understand, but because of the results that I get, I usually put my hesitations aside and just go. They take walk-​ins, so even if I don’t schedule, I now feel pretty confident about getting anybody to do my hair.

I’m going to respectfully disagree that the stylists here are 100% fluent in English. I sat down with… she didn’t tell me her name… she didn’t ask me any of the questions I would expect with a first-​time client. So I told her. I wash my hair, let it air dry, and don’t want to have to do much with it in the morning. I told her that the thinning sheers didn’t do things to my hair that I like. I told her I wanted a few more layers around my face and a fringe.
The lady that washed my hair was none too gentle, but she was so advanced in years that saying anything bad about her seems like kicking a puppy. Just be prepared to have your head handled with all of the authority of a chef handling a plucked chicken.
And then the cut started. We negotiated on the fringe so that I don’t look like a third grader. But something about the way she cut the bangs just doesn’t work. She cut and she cut and she cut some more — we’d already decided on half an inch for the trim — and I’m starting to get nervous. But I’m telling myself that I have very forgiving hair and even if she botches it terribly, it’s going to be ok.
Then out come the thinning shears and before I know it, she’s slicing into my hair with them. I think that they are normal scissors and I gasp audibly as she applies them to my head. Of course, I figure out that it’s only some of my hair that’s getting sliced off by six inches, but by then it’s too late. She’s already started with the thinning sheers and you can’t have only one side of your head done… lopsided is worse than what I got: Bön Jovi circa 1986 hair.
I’m distraught. And making an appointment with the lady that works out of her house in the middle of nowhere but knows how to cut thick, wavy hair with out thinning shears. Hopefully it can be fixed.

My mother has frequented Magic Cut for the past two decades to get her quintessential Asian mom haircut. I still have memories of eating lollipops on a chair while I would watch my mom get beautified.
I never really considered going to Magic Cut for myself because I thought the place was kind of «fobby» and I didn’t want old Vietnamese ladies to talk about me behind my back like they usually do whenever I go to nail salons.
I should be kicking myself for being so judgmental because I just received the best cut ever from Kelly! Kelly speaks perfect English and was able to bring my long layered hair back to life again. All for the low, low, price of $ 35 and the best part… no appointment necessary (Audrey from Salon Mint has similar results but with a two month wait!).
The haircut was so precise that I don’t even need to blow dry my hair anymore. I wake up, shower, towel dry, comb and walk out the door! If you have long, straight, thick Asian hair I would definitely recommend checking this place out.