KC Beauty Academy

Best Hairstylists ever. I’ve been going there for the last two years and I still continue to go. The haircut I get is consistently excellent for the price and quality of service

I had the best experience at KC Beauty Academy! From the moment I walked in, I was greeted
and everyone was so sweet! I had the Keratin Treatment and I loved my hair afterwards. Kei did my treatment and she is amazing!!! The place is Fabulous and I would recommend going there to my bestfriend.

Came in for an updo. I was put off a little by the look of the salon, but they did a great job.

Had a Brazilian Blowout by Kia and she did a fantastic job! The appointment took a little over 2 hours and I am back in love with my hair. KC is a little hidden gem in Little Tokyo. Will definitely go back to KC Salon and Kia.

Very satisfied with the haircut I got.
So I made an appointment here for 5pm on a Friday, with a Groupon deal. The Groupon deal basically lets you have cheaper haircuts, but the caveat is that your hair is going to be cut by a student who goes to this academy (they don’t have a license yet). When I arrived, they somehow thought that I cancelled my appointment, so the student who was supposed to cut my hair was not there. So then a real, certified guy (he was Japanese – he was certified in Japan, worked there, and came to LA to get an American certification) cut my hair instead – sweet! Anyway, he was really friendly and we talked the entire time (in Japanese… he just came, and apparently he doesn’t speak English well).
I don’t think they have a legitimate parking lot though… So finding parking can be tough, since it’s in downtown LA. I was able to find street parking on the street behind KC salon, so you can look into that area as well!
Even though I have to drive 20 minutes to get here, I’ll definitely be back for my next cut!

There is no doubt the owner of KC Academy is a talented artist however… It was recently brought to my attention that this KC Academy conducts their teachings in a very sketchy manner; to foreign students in particular. I heard that the students pay an astronomical amount to learn new creative techniques; nonetheless are forced to work in the salon as part of their training. Their accommodations that were part of the fee, the students were left over night at the salon sleeping in the back of the salon with dangerous circumstances. Also the owner has said inappropriate offensive things to the young students, often making them feel very uncomfortable.. I also was informed that there are students from Japan who are planning to sue due to their horrible experience with KC Academy hence not fulfilled from what was promised per their education. The parents of these students are completely disgusted and urge everyone to beware of this place. Please note I have never been or heard of this place. However I was asked to advise others based on these factual comments from people who had firsthand experiences from KC Academy. Please do your thorough research and due diligence prior to attending any schools.

Love this place. The students have at least 300 hrs before joining this academy.
I started with my son’s haircut and it was awesome. He loved Yuske so much and keeps asking for him.
I finally had mine done by a master stylist and it looked and felt fabulous. With the cutting she was doing, I was getting nervous but i swear, my hair seemed longer! I think she did a great job of layering so when she finished, I looked at the back of my hair and was shocked! Perfection.
I can’t wait to go back, especially for a set of 3D nails!

I been going to Chiyuki for about a year now. Couldn’t be happier she always does an amazing job on my hair and we always have a good time catching up on life. They often have Unilocal and group on deals so that might be a good way to check them out. They are listed as «KC Salon» on groupon instead of «KC Hair Academy» FYI.

I’ve come here quite a few times for a deep condition and blow out thanks to groupon. Each time was good and gets better. They offer you coffee, tea, etc and give great head massages. Only once the wash took way too long (neck was getting sore), but that’s the only negative experience I’ve had. This was similar to whenever I went to a beauty school for service. You shouldn’t expect an as quick color, cut, or blow out like at a dry bar or salon from pro stylists. Be patient and direct them to what you like/​need. The décor and staff make it worth it to come back to when you’re on a budget.

This review is for their Groupon offer only. Purchased a package for haircut, blow out and conditioning for $ 35 at a value of $ 125. Called to make an appointment and was told this only applies to student stylists. Was a little surprised student cut could be priced at $ 125 originally but showed up nonetheless. The cut went okay mostly because I picked a relatively simple one. Although my stylist worked really hard, and communication problem is understandable as he does not speak English that well, at one point I was really nervous when I asked him to thin my hair and found out he had never done it before and had to ask for his colleague to teach him on the spot. It turned out okay but I would expect at least a minimum level of experience in order to treat real customers? Then as I was checking out, apparently my stylist was not aware that I bought the Groupon deal, and he told me the whole thing cost $ 20. I clarified that I already paid for the deal and paid the tip and left. However I am really confused, i.e., the deal is supposed to be valued at $ 125 (very overpriced IMO), but apparent it costs only $ 20 without the Groupon? Also their website does list student cut at $ 20, which leads me to think the Groupon deal is a gimmick, if anything.
I wish the business were more transparent and honest about what they are offering. I had nothing but good things to say about KC in the past when I worked with their master stylists, all very skillful and considerate. But this incident has tarnished my impression unfortunately.

Ughhh I won’t be coming back.
I went in for a blow out. Although I understand it’s a teaching academy this was next level.
I get blowouts regularly and I don’t mind trying new places for blow outs cause everyone loves that fresh salon hair feel. Plus I can walk here? This is a home run for sure. I walked in for my appointment and made sure to tell them exactly what I needed «typical blow out with some bounce.»
After a rough head massage wash with sharp nails that dug into my head, I noticed the texture of my hair was strange and dry which is not how you want ones hair to fell after a fresh wash.
One the girl started to dry my hair I knew things were headed the wrong direction.
She was just blowing the dryer on my hair no brush … I started to see the frizz begin to grow … I told her «could you use the round brush instead of blowing it like that?» she then started to get my hair caught in the brush. It hurt and I could see she was pulling my hair out of the brush and ripping my ends. I was clearly unhappy so the owner and teacher came over to take over.
It got worse … I had hair that looked like the before picture of the frizz ease Commercail… not cute. To make matters worse I had to go to an important business appointment right after which only made things more frustrating on my end while looking in the mirror.
I kept looking at what was happening and instead of getting up and leaving (which is what I should of done) I somehow thought they would pull though… They did not. After all said and done I was pissed I said «this doesn’t look good this isn’t what I wanted» … She then brought out hot tools to curl my hair.
I said NO you’ve already damaged my hair enough and it’s frizzy please don’t.
She then pleaded with me «no no I will make it look good … Watch your hair is too hard to blowout other just a dryer». «What? No I get blowouts all the time it isn’t hard to do»
Like a fool I let her start curling my hair with a large iron. It wasn’t getting better. I said to stop please and I got up paid with tears in my eyes knowing I looked like a hot mess and I would have to go to my meeting like this… I even tipped her cause I have some weird concept of bad karma and no tipping even when ITS THE WORST SERVICE. They could tell I was upset but didn’t seem to care.
As I walked home I couldn’t just let them think that was ok. I called the and asked to speak to the owner. I told her it was the WORST blowout I have ever had. She asked why. I explained the dryness the ripped ends and overall frizz she didn’t care. I told her I wouldn’t ever be coming back and I was surprised I even paid for it. She didn’t offer a refund or to come back she just «oh ok».
Don’t waste your money or torture your hair. NOT WORTH IT! This place should not be touching people’s hair I can only imagine what a cut or color disaster would be like.

Everyone is very pleasant and provides the best customer service. Chiyuki worked magic on my bad haircut from yesterday. She cut it in the style I exactly wanted and even better than I could’ve expected. Very precise haircut. They give you complimentary water, tea, or coffee, and when they wash your hair, it’s link an amazing hear massage! Highly recommended. Will be back for my next haircut when I return.

Love this place!!! Friendly service and professionalism all around! Bought a groupon a couple of weeks back for their japanese hair straightening with haircut and I am very pleased with the results!!! My hair is very curly and pretty damaged due to some breakage from the last time I got this procedure done from another salon over a year ago. Although I knew that this time was pretty risky to get the straightening because of my last experience with all the breakage, I went ahead and took the chance so that I could have that silky smooth hair again lol (i have a lot of hair and the breakage wasnt too noticeable). I let my student stylist know that from the beginning and she and the head stylist gave me a professional consultation. They listened to my needs and gave me their reccommendations for the procedure (ie. risks with doing the process on already treated hair). After the consult, they got started and about 4 hours later my hair was super straight and smooth and revived with a nice trim. One of the things that really set them apart from my other hair straigtening experiences was that I could tell that they really were paying attention to how long the chemicals were left in and checked my hair for the straightness and any signs of overprocessing-​which I deeply appreciated. My stylist helped to make the experience very comfortable and would check on me during the waiting periods. Luckily having gone through several of these I made sure to bring snacks and my tablet to give me something to do. Anyways, 3 weeks later and I am still happy with the results and have no breakage. would definitely come here in the future even without the groupon.

The space is pretty neat! My hairdresser Yusuke is extremely professional. Definitely I will be back.

Great service! The hairdressers were extremely attentive and the instructor explained every step of the process. Would definitely come back again!

Got my nails and blowout done on Valentine’s Day! All the ladies were super friendly and I got the best treatment even though I was the very last client there! They didn’t really seem like they were rushed to leave, or annoyed so I thought that was great! I don’t remember her name, but she did decent work on my hair (it’s mixed african-​white so curly/​fine hair) it was a little poufier than I liked, but it settled down the next day! If anything just talking to the girls there was worth it!
I got the nails and pedicure done cheap from a groupon btw.

This place is a joke. My hair was smooth and healthy before coming here now it’s completely a disaster after getting their Japanese straightening I purchased from Groupon. They sell straight perm at a ridiculously cheap price on Groupon with their salon address then when I call they directed me to their academy location where only students who will perform the service for experience, very thoughtful but at what cost? I just made the worse mistake in my life yesterday. What I got was not a straight perm but rough, dry and squiggly hair that I had to ask him to cut them all off. Even that my hair on the top is still frizzy and damaged. Words cannot describe my desperation. Groupon buyers beware and go at your own risk.