Keratinbar

I used to go to Keratinbar on the Upper West Side, where I met Jamie. Now I go to Chelsea because Jamie is AMAZING. She does such a great job and really cares about what you want. I always leave super psyched about the work she does. She is also really good about working around my schedule. Highly suggest going in to see Jamie :)

This went from 5 stars to 1 for me. I returned here for a Keratin treatment that I purchased via their website. I booked with Charles, who I had heard great things about. No one ever notified me that he would be taking the day off. I showed up and they just randomly placed me with someone else. Who does that? I booked with a particular stylist.
My new stylist discussed the keratin options with me and suggested the K-​Gloss (a $ 50 upcharge from what I purchased). I questioned it, as I went to the KB website and it just wasn’t really marketed as a true keratin treatment – it sounded more like a gloss. She assured me it was a true/​standard keratin. I have naturally curly hair that i wear blown out and gets frizzy in humidity. I’ve been getting keratins multiple times a year for 5+ years. I know a good one!
Well — guess what? It’s not. It does ZERO for frizz/​humidity. ZERO. I reached out to Keratin Bar to discuss. I had to reach out to them FOUR times before anyone got back to me. And the only thing they offered? You can come back THIS WEEK and get something re-​done. You can’t just keep putting this stuff on your hair over and over on top of each other.

Went in to have my keratin treatment refreshed. Almost a perfect experience, but with one huge flaw. My stylists were kind, courteous, gentle, explained things well, and the person washing my hair was delightful. They offered me tea. Never take an offer to tea for granted! Good people.
The only problem is, I don’t think they were prepared to deal with my super-​curly hair. The second stylist in particular seemed to have a terror of getting anywhere near my roots with the flatiron, even after having this pointed out. As the whole goal of the visit for me was to get my new growth keratined to combat breakage, this was a problem. If I had straight or wavy hair, I suppose the weight of the hair would pull the roots downwards, and «extra lift» or «body» or whatever would be a thing I cared about. But as it is, of the 2 inches of new growth I went in with, I still have about ¾ of an inch at the root that is still standing straight up in tight 3c/​4a curls, particularly at my temples (very visible and obvious) while the rest of my hair has been much more thoroughly done, requires no heat to style, and can be softened into waves with just a wet braid-​out. I worry about avoiding breakage managing the two distinct textures.
I would recommend this salon for people with looser curl patterns in a heartbeat, but not for me.

Charles was my original stylist for my blow dry. I have received more than a dozen blow outs from keratin bar, which have all been great. Never in my experience have I encountered someone so unprofessional and rude. First, he didn’t greet me when I sat down in his chair (rude) and then without asking me immediately sprayed product into my hair. I had said after that I don’t like product in my hair and he gave me a rude look.
He then starts drying my hair by pulling it so hard with his hands to the point that it really hurt me and I told him so. He didn’t say anything expect give me a rude look AGAIN. I then asked «do you not want to do my hair? You’re giving me attitude.» He walked away and someone else ended up doing my hair. I hope no one ever has to encounter this asshole.

My stylist Michelle did a great job on my highlights, really happy with them. Subtle and perfect shade.
Really dislike the salons tacking $ 50 onto my tab for «toning». Besides this slimy feeling policy, happy with my hair!

I had a cut and wash here a couple of weeks ago. I chose this salon as I thought a keratin salon would be used to curly hair. I found a coupon but decided against using it as I thought I might not get the best cut. My stylist had curly hair, so I thought I would get a good cut. She did not speak with me throughout the cut. I was a little concerned about what was happening, but did not question her — I should have.
My stylist layered my hair at the sides — without asking me. It looked OK when I left. However my daughter told me it was a bit ‘old lady’. When I don’t take the time to straighten it, my hair looks like a mop.
I will go back to my regular salon in my rural hometown where I get a more trendy, easier to manage cut and style.
Very disappointed in my ‘big city’ cut and style. Cannot recommend.

I go for blowouts and ALWAYS have a very nice, stress free experience.
Book online, you arrive, no drama, no stress.
Alejandro is amazing. my hair comes out fabulous and he is a sweetheart. Extremely profession.
My New Years resolution… More blowouts at Keratinbar!!!

I had a very positive experience here overall. My stylist was Charles and he was wonderful! I have very long and thick hair. I got a full set of highlights and trim. Charles was very thorough about understanding exactly what I wanted and he has great knowledge and experience to get you the color and style you are looking for. I LOVE the end result. The highlights turned out great and blend really well with the rest of my existing highlights. I definitely recommend Charles for highlights, color, cut, styling, Everything! Thank you Keratinbar.

The only reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of five is because of my original bad experience with Cathy. JAMIE IS AMAZING!
Update: I HAVE beautiful hair again thanks to Jamie. Jamie gave me a fantastic color correction and my hair is just what I wanted. She did a beautiful job with my color and took the time to make sure that it was just the way I wanted. I will definitely be going back to Jamie.
Original Review: I HAD beautiful hair until Cathy completely f-​ed it up. I’ve been coloring my hair for years at Kertinbar and went in for a half head of highlights. I had a beautiful balayage look and perfect roots until Cathy took to it. I specifically said I did not want any color at my roots so I could continue with a more natural look. Instead, Cathy gave me a horrible brassy color in big pieces from my roots to tip. My hair is now in chunky striped brassy blonde highlights and looks NOTHING like it did before– I could double in a bad 90’s highlights gone wrong ad. I was so upset and furious that I started sobbing when I saw the result. It’s TERRIBLE. She was also wildly unprofessional and dropped the C (C*nt) word a lot. I’m not one to be easily offended, but this was just a whole new level of unprofessional.

Charlie and Kim are the two best stylists I’ve ever had, ever.
Charlie did a keratin treatment on my hair, and apart from being extremely nice and great to be around, he was informative, thorough, and highly skilled. I couldn’t be happier with my results! He blended their keratin options to give me a customized treatment for my hair type. He cares about doing a great job, which was refreshing. He even trimmed my hair for free to fix a screwed up cut I had previously gotten somewhere else.
Kim, apart from being pretty badass, is the only person I’ll trust to give me a haircut. (Although after getting my keratin treatment with Charlie, I’d trust him too.) She has decades of experience, and does a perfect job. She’s very honest about what will work for you while still giving you what you’re asking for. I’ve never been so pleased with a haircut before. She only works on Tuesdays and Sunday’s at this location though (from what I remember).
Team Charlie/​Team Kim all the way

This is hands down the most horrifying salon experience I could’ve ever imagined. I went to get ombré, turned out with maroon roots and the rest bleach blonde. Went back again to get it fixed which they claimed would be «free» but they charged me $ 75 to get it blown dry and I «had to have a toner». Despite the fact that my second stylish is actually extremely talented, she couldn’t really do much from the first incident so it ended up too dark on top, uneven, and I spent $ 300 total to have horrible hair that I will now have to get stripped or single processed and it’s a nightmare. Absolutely do not go here.

I went back to Keratinbar after my last review for a Keratin treatment which I purchased through Groupon. After getting a great haircut by Michelle, I asked to see her again for the Keratin treatment. Michelle is awesome and here’s why:
Upon arriving, Michelle greeted me warmly and explained all of the Keratin options that were available. She was clear about the post-​Keratin process and told me how to care for my hair once I washed it.
She actually took time to read my last Unilocal review where I wrote that I would have liked more texturizing in my hair. So after getting my hair washed, she took the time to texturize my hair some more to take some of the weight out of it. This was definitely going above and beyond to provide excellent service.
Finally, as a little added bonus she brought me a coffee and we had a fun conversation while I was in the chair.
I had another great experience at Keratinbar and I think Michelle is great stylist. I highly recommend you make your appointment with her.
I am including a photo of what my hair looked like immediately after the treatment (left) and what it looked like after I washed my hair after the 3-​day wait period (right). The Keratin saves me so much time when styling my hair. The picture on the right is me just using the blow dryer and a paddle brush and took max 20 minutes.
The only reason I didn’t give Keratinbar 5 stars is because the Groupon did not specify what type of Keratin treatment was included and in order to get the formaldehyde-​free K Gloss treatment, I had to pay an additional $ 50 which was a bummer. I think management should make that clear in any Groupons moving forward.

I’m very unhappy with my haircut. The stylist cut it too short and completely changed the style of my hair (after telling me that it was dated and unprofessional, which seemed ironic because just a few minutes before she told me there wasn’t even any style to it). To start, the insults were unappreciated. Beyond that, I liked my hairstyle and wanted to keep it. I asked for a few inches off and indicated something that looked like 3″, noting that I wanted it 3″ shorter when dry rather than when wet. The stylist ended up chopping off around 6″ (but then insisted she took off less than an inch and that it only looked shorter). She also COMPLETELY changed the style.
I don’t care if she thinks it’s more fashionable — it’s not the haircut I wanted. I asked for something fairly simply. I got home and honestly wanted to cry. I know it will grow out, but it will grow out in a style I hate.
Very disappointed and dissatisfied. Will not be returning.

I bought the $ 89 coupon from Lifebooker, but was asked to add $ 50 since I have a lot of hair. Which I did.
My Keratin lasted 1 week (basically till i washed it) When I complained the manger she said (with a very patronizing attitude) that that’s how Keratin-​treated-​hair spouse to look like (at this point it was poofy, frizzy and wavy) and that NO ONE EVER complained.
I get Keratin about 2 – 3 times a year, and it usually lasts 3 – 4 months.

I’ve been to keratinbar several times now and experience has always been good. This review is for the hair cut+ highlight that was done today. Other reviewers recommended Charles so made an appt with him. My hair color is abit blotchy due to other color disasters, Charles was great genuinely asking and listening to what I wanted and explaining what he will be doing. I didn’t know what to expect so was a bit nervous, but the I turned out great. Charles didn’t try to skip or take a fast track, and went to the length of cutting twice, before and after blow dry to perfect the bouncing hair cut. I definitely recommend him, he does not try to up sell and knows what he’s doing.
Tip: if you see any groupon/​LS type of flash deals, you don’t have to buy from the site but just call the salon directly and they will honor the price. Booking will be easier as well.
Note: I see a lot of questions about keratin treatment, before you do any, you should talk to the stylist and tell them what you are looking for. There are 3 types there. Regular Brizilian Keratin (straight), EZ Keratin (nutritious keratin) and Kgloss (crystal glossy and nutritious, least straight and bouncy). I’ve done Brazilian elsewhere and it’s more to straighten hair, I’ve done kgloss here twice, which I love doing because it’s not as flat straight but more bouncy and nourishing. If you have a thin hair, blond etc, Japanese straight should not be done since really it’s for more dense and thicker Asian hair.
Great service + price, great hair, hassle free

I bought a deal on Lifebooker and went in very optimistic since there are so many negative reviews. Staff is very friendly and the salon is very clean. Everyone’s cuts and colors looked great as they were leaving.
— Kim cut my hair and she was absolutely fabulous. She is definitely a tough personality, but she knows what she’s doing and I would 100% go back to her /​recommend that everyone gets a cut with her. It’s rare to find a good stylist in the city but she was great! I went in and just wanted my usual trim «less than an inch» and after years of bad haircuts she pleaded with me to let her fix my hair. She showed me how I should be blowdrying my hair to make it look more full, and she cut it so that it looks extremely healthy!
— The Midollo Bamboo treatment probably took 10 minutes, however, on Lifebooker it says it’s a 60 minute process, and when you google the treatment it is very different to just applying a conditioner then washing it out. I would not recommend this treatment to anyone — I would recommend ordering the treatment and doing it in your own home! This is the ONLY reason I would give Keratinbar 3 stars.

Let me start by saying the hair service was just fine. I have no complaints. But:
–My hairdresser was swearing and talking badly about the other customers.
–A girl sitting next to me was left by her stylist to go outside and «take a call» causing her to leave her client for about 30 minutes without any word on her hair color.
–When I went to pay I had a groupon, so naturally when I went to tip I didn’t think to tip from the original amount (since I wasn’t charged that?) but there was a very awkward pause as the front desk girl (who didn’t even look up from her phone when I came up) told me that the 20% tip would be over HALF of what I paid for the groupon. She blamed her manager saying it raises red flags for me. So I ended up tipping about 15% of the full price and left.
Now I suppose I could have known that, but the whole process was very rude. My hairdresser basically scoffed at my tip.
I won’t be going back.

It’s not fancy. You won’t feel spoiled. The staff ALL had their phones out and were hanging around very casually. I wouldn’t say it was clean or professional.
BUT — Juliet was good. She was clear, honest and professional and I am very happy with my results and glad I worked with her specifically.
I also really like the Keratin Product she recommended.

Words cannot express how frustrated I am with this place. The only reason I am giving it two stars is because last year, I received the keratin treatment and I actually remember it working quite well.
Flash forward to this year; I got the keratin treatment done a few weeks ago, and after 2 weeks, my hair looked exactly the same, maybe even a little more awkward since the roots are so strong while the ends stayed straight. I was very unhappy with the way this turned out, and reached out to their staff THREE times about it, requesting that I get the treatment again, or a different treatment at the very LEAST at a discounted price. I still have yet to receive a reply, which is quite ridiculous and unprofessional for a business to simply not respond to an unhappy customer.
I never post on Unilocal,and it’s a shame that a year ago, I had recommended this place to friends. After receiving less than quality treatment, and not hearing ANY response about it, I’m frustrated enough to post about it.

It’s my worst hair coloring experience. I went for ombré and I have hair colored few tones lighter than mine own color. I told from the beginning that I’m afraid to get yellow and I want to get cool blond. I even showed a picture of what I want. They applied bleacher and washed it.
I became orange & yellow. Yes — it’s ombré — my original color on the top, then bright orange, then bright bright yellow.
I asked why toner wasn’t part of the process and was told it’s additional $ 50 because I booked through lifebooker and got this nightmare for $ 150 + $ 6 taxes + $ 40 tips and not for $ 300. I wasn’t even suggested to tone them even for additional $ 50.
I had nice dark blond/​light brown color before, now I’m orange and yellow — couldn’t go to works without hiding this the next day as it looks like a cheap self bleacher.
I complained, but was told that yellow is the only way it can work with my hair and existing color. Okay, maybe this is the case, when I asked to make it cool and asked not to make it yellow — that was exactly the moment when it should have been told. If you can’t make it like client wants, don’t make it at all. Now my hair are damaged even more from the bleacher and look ugly.
Also, if client is not happy and I told that now it’s much worse than it was, you’re supposed to suggest something and not telling that you think it’s fine, because no one cares what you think if client doesn’t like it.