Aveda Institute Birmingham

You get what you pay for… they’re students. It will take quite a while because of the wait and the students’ inexperience. But it’s pretty descent in terms of quality of the cut and then they style it at the end. The instructors are there to clean up any unevenness.

Aveda is a good place to get your hair cut on a budget. Its definitely better than those chain, strip mall places, in my opinion. I rated it 4 because most of the time when you call to make an appointment you have to fit in around the students classes which is understandable. But trying to fit it into a workday can be difficult.
I got there and was greeted and offered a cup of the Calming Tea (which is amazing stuff!). My appointment was at 2:45 and I arrived about 10 min early. I wasn’t seen until 3:20. But luckily the haircut and the friendliness of my stylists (student and instructor) made up for it. They listened to what I wanted, heard me when I said it was too thick and heavy (my hair went down to my waist and I have a LOT of hair!). I was out of there within an hour. I do recommend this place, just make sure you have a couple hours free!

Went in for a pedicure because of the great $ 15 price. I originally had my appointment set for 11, changed it for 11:30 and had to wait over an hour. I had Gel on my toenails and they couldn’t take it off because they didn’t have acetone in the building. REALLY? They gave me a complementary manicure in which they didn’t cut my cuticles. My friend sat there for 2 hours to get her nails painted. Needless to say pay the extra and go to a pro.

I have a few particularities that I entertain when it comes to my appearance: regular hair trims and a tiny addiction to eyelash tinting. I feel best when split ends are banished and my eyelashes are super dark (sans mascara). Aveda Institute is my go-​to for both services. The instructors and house managers are professional and friendly while the students are engaging and skilled. I have a standing appoint every 4 weeks for my lashes and every 8 weeks or so for my hair… While wait times and service times are variable (don’t plan for a quick in and out, they are students and the process involves instructors checking in on them), I never leave dissatisfied. They keep good track of your preferences and despite changing stylists the outcome is always consistent. That being said, I don’t have anything complicated done so I’m easy to please (just don’t chop off more than I tell you to, which they never have). The price point is *right*: $ 10 for lash tinting and ~$ 18 for hair trims… unbelievable given I have friends who regularly pay a combined ~$ 100 for these services. I highly recommend their quarterly customer appreciation events which allow you to preview the location/​services for free.

I am in love with Aveda products and I have had mostly good experiences at other Aveda schools, but this time it was pretty bad.
If you have what they call «ethnic hair» you may want go somewhere else. While they have some familiarity with it, they have little to no experience working with it.
However, my experience to day was crazy. I wanted a very simple low cut (It was almost a shaved head style). They charge $ 75 for a relaxer, which is more than some seasoned salons charge. (Apparently, they went up on their prices)
After my relaxer, my stylist cut my hair only to find that the relaxer did not get my roots which were now exposed, because of the cut.
They offered to rerelax my hair, which I declined. I am now natural on accident and I ended up with caesar style cut to even out my hair (check my profile pic)
I love short hair and I have been natural before so I’m confident enough to rock it, but it is completely different from the picture I showed them. Not only that, but I ended up being there for almost 3 hours for a hair cut that could have take 30 minutes tops.
The customer service at Aveda is the only reason they have two stars instead of one. They apologized, didn’t charge me for the service, and offered to reschedule an appointment with an Aveda stylist to fix it.
Remember that although sometimes you get a good price for the service (not relaxers), you are taking a risk to go there b/​c ultimately your stylist is a student who is still learning. Depending on the luck of the draw you may end up with a great stylist or you may not. Whatever you do, try to keep it simple so you don’t end up with a shaved head.

have had my hair cut and highlighted here twice; the students were nice and helpful both times, and both times the ‘dos came out pretty much exactly like I asked — a great deal for spending less than 50 bucks. Aveda makes some of the best hair color, but it can get pretty pricey at a regular salon. it takes a little longer here, but if you have patience and and bring pictures of what you want, you should be pleased. I would not recommend a teaching school for anyone who is super wishy-​washy, though.

Okay — I was nice the first review, but something needs to be done about the idiots Aveda hires as instructors. My friend ended up with butchered hair last week after she told them she didn’t want short hair. And as with another review, some douche-​bag instructor started snipping away without consulting her. I don’t know or care what bug these people have up their bums against women or long hair, but it needs to stop. Aveda, we PAY you. Do your job correctly, or pack it up and leave.
One of my experiences involved the student telling me all about his personal woes, including the very personal opinions: «all straight people hate gay people» and «lesbians are not true homosexuals.» Um, those were very dumb and bigoted statements to make. And the trashy gal from California that doesn’t understand «big words» may want to consider enrolling in a real college.
Furthermore, the juvenile behavior of belittling someone because they don’t want to wear their hair in one of those short, mannish «flip» dos or ridiculous «wedges», is destroying your business. Aveda, you don’t even have bad taste — you’re just tasteless.

A coworker and I went to Aveda Institute for a $ 15 manicure and neither of us was impressed. I figured it wouldn’t go well when I saw that not all of my old polish was removed. It was pretty noticeable but but the nail tech proceeded with the rest of my manicure. The next issue was that my my nail tech didn’t have all of the supplies she needed. My nails were a little longer than average and I told her I wanted them cut short. I expected her to cut then file my nails but she attempted to file my nails to the length I wanted. After realizing she was actually going to do that much filing I suggested using a nail clipper. She fumbled around in the tupperware container they use for manicures and announced she didn’t have one in her kit then picked up the nail filer and went back to work. No, you didn’t miss anything. She did not offer to go get one. I had to ask her to. Low and behold there was one in the building! It didn’t bother me at all that whoever prepared the kit didn’t include a nail clipper, but I did have an issue with her not having the initiative to go get one when one was obviously needed. LAZY!
I opted for clear polish and the bottle she used must have been old because it was dry and was left brush streaks with each stroke she made. Since she had already made a run for the nail clipper, I knew she didn’t want to have to get another botte of clear polish. I hinted that it was old polish but she stated she could get by with it. For whatever reason, I decided to let that one go.
The Aveda Institute claims that all work by students is supervised by an instructor. I didn’t see the instructor until my manicure was complete. The instructor came in and glanced at my coworkers nails then headed for me. I made sure I held my hand so that she could see all the old polish and the streaks from the new, dry polish. She gave my nails the same 2 second glance then commented on how nice my nails looked. She asked if I liked my nails with my nail tech standing right there! Since I knew beforehand that my manicure would be performed by a student, I was really trying to be lenient. Otherwise, I would have asked for a manager earlier. I gave the instructor a hestitant yes and the instructor was gone. The nail tech escorted me to the front desk to pay and as we walked I began thinking about how my dissatisfaction would bother me for the rest of the day. I should have been honest with the instructor. I decided I woud ask for the instructor at the front desk. I didn’t realize the nail tech would wait in line with me to pay but she finally left me after my card was swiped. I asked to see the instructor and admitted to her that I wasn’t honest with her about how satisfied I was because the students was standing right there. I got her to take a closer look at my nails and pointed out the old polish the nail tech missed and the dry streaks in the clear polish. I also shared the nail clipper incident. She had to agree that wasn’t a good look and offered to do my nails over. I declined so she asked the cashier to do what she could to make up for it. I was happy that she admitted my nails didn’t look so good and that she wanted to make it right. I was given a full refund!
I know the Aveda name draws many people, but I would recommend going somewhere else for nail services. Most of the students are there to learn how to do hair and they are probably forced to learn other aspects of the curriculum like manicures.
I forgot to mention that this is a basic manicure. They do not clip your cuticles.

The key is that these kids are learning – on YOUR HEAD. So to say they work more slowly than a pro is an understatement. I was in the chair recently for a color for SIX hours. To boot, it didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped (Oh hey Lucy Ricardo!), so I had to go back the next day to have it fixed. I’m happy with the way it turned out in the end, but time is money, and this is one of those situations where it might be well worth it to splurge and have better quality results.

I ‘m a spa stalker visiting Birmingham from the SF Bay Area. I know my facial treatments, from the bliss of Bliss to the zen of Epi Center and more.
This was definitely as good as it gets for a student service. and really really good for any service. Hillary, you are a goddess, and ready for the big time.

I was really impressed with the quality and most of all, the price of my services here. I really am a hair bitch but I got good service here. I got a haircut and highlights. They really take the time to do a through consultation, unlike at most salons where they can make more money if they get you in and out.
You get a highlight and a lowlight without having to pay more. Looking at the color, I wish she had done my foils a little more thickly but that is my only complaint about the service itself. I love the laid back attitude of the awesome people who work here, especially my stylist. They use all Aveda products which is a definite plus. The only drawback is time — I was there for almost 5 hours for my services!