Luminous Hair Design

Michelle is amazing! I’ve been going to her for years and would never go anywhere else. She’s an expert with hair color and always accommodating to my new ideas. Today she just did a gorgeous blonde balayage on my dark brown hair and it looks perfect and beachy for the spring. Call and ask for Michelle you’ll be happy you did!

I have been a client with Kathy for over 10 years. All of the women working here have
a unique passion for life. The view out of the window is the classic tall palms in Ocean Beach.
This salon is a slice of paradise!

Great little salon, conveniently located off the main avenue in downtown OB. Very comfortable atmosphere and a fabulous trio of gals with many years of expertise and talent to satisfy all your hair styling needs. My all-​time favorite gal is Michelle Roberts… She has been my hair stylist since 1999! She is so absolutely awesome, and she pays close attention to all my needs and requests. Michelle is very personable, and I trust her to take great care of me and my hair. I can’t imagine going to anyone else! Very reasonable pricing too!

I’ve been going to Kathy for quite some time now and could never picture myself going to someone else. I love her. My hair always looks gorgeous. If you’re looking to get highlights she is your girl. I’m going to let my photo speak for itself. I would highly recommend her. Very friendly and professional!

Karen did a wonderful job on my cut! Stepped into this little salon with no advance notice and she was able to squeeze me in. Haven’t had a real haircut in like two years so my hair had grown out and was damaged. Plus, I have naturally super-​thick curly, even coarse hair and she gave me a flattering new look without hacking off too much length. 99% of my split ends are gone and my hair has a much better shape to it! I have had cuts where they promise they will only take off a little length, but then they hack off half your hair. She stuck to my lengthier look and used a great Moroccan oil product on my hair to give it incredible softness. The one thing that worried me is she didn’t fully straighten my hair so it did look kind of goofy when I first came out of the salon, but I still could tell she did a great cut… sure enough I did a little home styling and it looks fab! Thanks again Karen!

friendly staff, great location, comfortable setting, normal price range, great color and cuts

Amee has been cutting my hair for a few years. I came to Luminous because of her, when she moved from that place on Newport. I usually just let her do her magic and my hair feels and looks great. I love that she sends me a text reminder ahead of my appointment. She’s got a personality too so I don’t have to invent a disingenuous conversation to pass the time. She’s a character. And she’s crazy talented. I definitely recommend her.

Karen Kirby is awesome!
She took care of my hair for 8 years and prices are very reasonable.
Time flies while talking to her, shes so much FUN.
A year+ ago I had to change stylist due to schedule conflicts. so it was time to change.
She is very talented, a good professional with many years of experience, always listened to what I wanted as far as changing hair style /color.and I’ve always got compliments about my hair… needles to say more :)

Amee has been cutting my hair for years, and I wouldn’t go to anyone else. I have fine hair, so it’s hard for me to get much volume in it without adding a ton of product (which I can’t stand). Amee layers and sculpts my hair in this amazing way that give me loads of texture and volume, so I can just blow dry my hair and it looks fabulous. I have a friend who lives in LA, who comes down here to get a haircut from Amee. That’s how awesome she is.

As I visited Pomas the Italian eatery next door, I couldn’t help but feel the sting I felt the day I first walked in to get a hair cut from here. What can I say? This review was long over due 4 years ago. My big problem with Luminous Hair Design is that I came in to change my already short hair into a different style. I had hair that was passed my ears and laying on my neck and she couldn’t do it, but Instead she chops several years of hair growth I’ve been trying desperately to grow because I’ve had 3 years of hair growth from a shaved head, so you could imagine! All I wanted was a different direction with my hair and she failed, miserably! I WAS NOT PLEASED. I feel succumbing your likelihood in another persons hands that trust has to be built first, but this is the hair salon business and basically without word of mouth or a portfolio we usually rely on our gut instinct and rely on what we see and feel, and just go for it! Unfortunately, she was recommended through word of mouth at a salon up the street from her, because the little old lady that recommended Luminous Hair Design didn’t trust herself enough to touch my short, wavy hair. MY LUCK. So what went wrong? I was heart broken when I left her shop and wondered WHY ME? I feel a woman’s hair is basically a very important factor when it comes to her appearance and all around her well being, and generally feeling better about oneself (besides body image!), it can make or break you! But when she took a razor to the hair behind my ears, I didn’t know what I was thinking, but more importantly, what she was thinking. Maybe stylist Karen doesn’t like attractive girls of ethnicity? I couldn’t help but feel she had a problem with me after this dreadful and offensive experience. I don’t know if the owner is hard of understanding plain English or she needs to clean her dirty ears and more often, but I suggested that I really needed to keep the little length I had of my short hair I had at the time, so basically I asked to put shape back into my hair. I left dumbfounded, irritated, heartbroken, and betrayed all in one! So you can imagine how I felt and YES, I CRIED, because instead of 3 years of hair growth on my head I’m now back to about 2 years of hair growth on top of my head, and that’s a whole year of hair growth that is vitally important at that hair stage, considering how short my hair was to begin with. I’ve cried only one other time besides this time, when I was a teen, over 20 years ago, over a BAD HAIRCUT. It’s happened to most women, am I right or am I right? Probably NOT. But humor me. LOL!
In regards to the owner’s comment down below, I have to say that she can’t be mad at anyone but herself. I wrote my review in hopes of this never happening to another unexpected victim again. If the owner doesn’t like my review she has no one to blame but herself and maybe she will think twice before she treats anyone who comes thru her salon, because she shouldn’t treat any customer, new or old with, a slither of disrespect that I had once experienced here. As far as her stating I’ve attacked her 4 times, I have tried writing my reviews but you can imagine how flaming heated I was calling her names and use foul words. So now this review should stick, and stick it will.
(WTF?!? I hate myself for coming here!!! AAAAHHHHH!!! If I could kick my own ass for coming in here I WOULD x10 !!!) ~~~~~ There’s some crazy for ya!

This year was my first visit to this particular salon but Aimee has been doing my hair for several years. I frequently get compliments on how great my hair color looks. She always does a fabulous job and listens to me when I decide to change things up, which I frequently do. Big thumbs up!

Karen Kirby is the best!
I went to a friend to get my hair cut and colored. Long story short the color was terrible and the cut was even worse, not to mention she cut 4 inches off my hair when I only wanted a trim. The cut was so bad I couldnt even wear my hair down. Last night I found Luminous Hair online and called this morning when they opened. Karen said she could see me today and I was happy to get my hair fixed. I came to Karen with this terrible reddish, orange hair and she totally fixed it. I wanted blonde without the red and that’s exactly what I got. My color looks amazing. She then fixed my cut without having to cut my hair much shorter. She also showed me how to curl my hair so the curls would stay! Karen was great and I will for sure be going back. I am so happy with my experience!

So happy that Stephanie is back in Ocean Beach and once again I can have her cut and highlight my hair. She does such a fantastic job and is truly talented. She takes her time and really cares about what YOUR needs are — not just what is the latest craze. So if you’re searching for a real stylist that cares, then Stephanie is the one for you. You will be so glad that you went to see her!

I’m a busy mom and don’t get my hair professionally cut but once every quarter — sometimes semi-​annually. I previously got my hair cut at my son’s kiddie salon (I know, how sad, right??), but then I decided I wanted to go to a «grown-up’s» place. So I chose Luminous.
Karen Kirby is wonderful. She really listened to what I wanted, paid attention to the photos that I brought, and made some other suggestions to improve upon the cut… overall, the best cut I’ve had in forever. Plus, it’s at a very, VERY fair price.
You can tell Karen really knows hair and has a real eye for styles and hair types. I LOVE my cut — it’s exactly what I wanted: virtually wash & wear, very little styling involved (with two kids i don’t have time!!), and lots of volume. I will be going back for sure.

Had my hair done by Stephanie today. She knew what she was doing, and was friendly. Good price for men’s hair design.

First off, there is a ridiculous amount of salons in the area. Like within a couple block radius, there must be at least 8. Anyways for quite some time now, I’ve been growing my hair out long. It’s cheaper, I only need to cut it a couple times a year, and well, the chics dig it! Now that I have these lovely locks of love, I couldn’t just go to a barber, or just any hair place. I needed to find somewhere good, but apparently most of the ones in OB live up to that description.
so. I just walked down the street, and kinda just picked Luminous because it’s sort of the closest. I don’t know really why, I think I like how it seemed more low key, and maybe more so, because it’s a stop on my quick journey to the beach.
For prob around the last year, I’ve been getting my haircut from Karen. She’s great, we shoot the shit, and I usually have a nice relaxing time. Oh and now to the haircut. Having long hair can be a bitch. It makes you much more picky, and there’s way more room for error. I don’t get anything crazy, often just a razor cut, but she does a freaking great job every time. I know want to expect, and I know how it’s going to look. Just a great job and no surprises. The only place I get my haircut, and I’ll be back for my next cut in 3 months!

Karen did a great job taking my hair from bleached blonde back to its natural color. She gave me lots of ideas on what I could do to make the transition not so intense. We had great conversation throughout the morning. She has definitely won my business and I would absolutely recommend her to my friends!

Karen is good people and she won my business for now and the future.

I had dark roots on my blonde hair and Danielle fixed me up! She is absolutely amazing and I would recommend her to anyone!!!

I have long curly hair and have been dying my hair dark brown for a couple years (as a natural blonde). I wanted to start the transition back to blonde and was in OB on vacation for a couple weeks.
Jennifer was my stylist and she was fantastic. The conversation was great and her knowledge of how to handle my unruly hair was impressive.
She ended up highlighting my hair exactly how I wanted it, cut and deep conditioner. I can’t say enough great things about Jennifer — her bubbly attitude and expertise will definitely bring me back next time I am in town.
You can’t beat the pricing (especially when compared to other salons nearby).