Kay Does Hair

Kay is great! I originally found her through a groupon about 3 years ago, and although I live in Marin, the appointment was in SF. There was a bit of a booking mixup when I got there, but Kay did her best to smooth things over, and I am so glad I did not let that keep me from coming back as a loyal client ever since. She has made my hair look wonderful, every single time I have seen her. Kay is responsive to my needs, working with my color to ease my rapidly encroaching grey hair, and cutting my hair exactly how I like it. She does not push services or product, but did suggest I try the keratin treatment and it has made my curly hair manageable and frizz-​free ~ totally worth it! I love her one-​woman shop set-​up ~ I have never liked the big salons with multiple people handling me. Kay is sensitive, professional, artistic and very talented.

Drop-​dead hair and a lovely way to spend an afternoon? Check, and check. I’ve worked with a number of strong stylists in the Bay Area but Kay, hands-​down, is far and away the best. She has an uncanny ability to take my pain-​in-​the-​neck hair (cowlick, widow’s peak, S-​wave, fine yet frizzy — you get the picture!) and turn it into near perfection.
She’s put up with my changing moods and handled requests for long layers, angled bob, blunt shoulder-​length, bangs, no bangs with aplomb. I’ve done the keratin smoothing treatment with her several times and am always amazed how long it lasts and how soft and frizz-​free my hair gets, but without the stick-​straight side effect of the old school defrizz treatments. Have never done color with her (I’m cheap — my colorist is Revlon!) but unlike other salons, she doesn’t give me attitude about my at-​home efforts. In fact, she’s gone out of her way to suggest shampoos and styling tricks to make the color last longer and keep my hair healthy.
It’s a testament to Kay’s insane cutting skills that I actually went 6 months between haircuts recently — and it still looked great when I finally got into the chair!
My current cut is a super-​cute graduated bob with long layers, and she made sure I can wear it several different ways and still be able to pull it into a ponytail. As always, I’m thrilled. I tell her she’s a magician with the scissors.
And aside from skill, she’s a lovely human being. She’s warm, friendly, and a great conversationalist (but she also respects your silence if you stick your nose in a book or magazine if you’re feeling introverted). Her studio space on Piedmont is darling; it always feels like a mini spa vacation when I’m there. Overall, I can’t recommend Kay highly enough.

I went to Kay for a cut and highlights for the first time last month and was thrilled with the results. I can honestly say I have never received so many compliments on a hair cut in my life (and I have visited my share of salons)! The other nice thing about Kay is that she only has one customer at a time so there are no other customers to distract her attention. Finally she is a delightful person and pleasure to spend an hour or two with.

Having lived in Los Angeles, where I frequented the top Beverly Hills salons, I can honestly attest that Kay Joyce is far and away the best stylist I have ever had. Though she cuts with absolute precision, her styles are flowy, natural, and sexy and they last months. In addition, Kay does the most effective, long-​lasting keratin treatments, especially for curly frizzy hair like mine. Her salons are bright, airy and charming. I refer all my friends and family to her and they are always thrilled after.

Went for a cut & color at her piedmont ave location. Kay was wonderful. Lovely, easy going personality. Great consult. Gave me best long layered cut ever! Blew my hair out in nice sexy waves. exactly as I had hoped for. Glamour girl hair :) Would absolutely go see Kay again.

I stumbled upon Kay through a livingSocial deal since I was new to the area and I’m so grateful I did! Kay does a great job with my color — giving me the natural Cali highlights I love without the fake blond look. I was also pleasantly surprised by her ability to take my thick straight hair and give it some volume with some great layers that still allow me to throw it up in a ponytail. Great find in Kay! You won’t be sorry :)

Yes, I still only trust Kay with my cut. Her new digs in both Piedmont and Sf are awesome – kinda like my hair. I have naturally wavy curly hair and can only get in the salon 2x a year… She’s always right on target with my hair, so worth the $$. Get in there!

I went to Kay for a cut and color after a LONG period of neglect. She listened carefully to what I wanted — asked a lot of good questions and gave me the perfect cut and beautiful color. I actually received a complement on my hair from a stranger which has NEVER happened before.

In just a few words I was able to explain to Kay how I wanted my hair cut and she really got it immediately and proceeded to give me a terrific cut. Also, on the color I went with her recommendation and am very pleased. She’s a real professional.

Kay was fantastic! I got a coupon from groupon and I am so glad I did. My hair now looks amazing thanks to her. I got a haircut and partial highlights. I highly recommend her!!!

Recently, my friends were lamenting that they don’t have regular hair stylists. They simply hop from one Bloomspot deal to the next Gilt City coupon. I was exactly the same way until I bought a Bloomspot for highlights from Kay. My experience with her in the salon was great. Kay is charming and funny and easy to talk to. But it wasn’t until I saw a photo of my new highlights that I realized, «Wow, Kay is really good.»
So now I get my hair done by Kay. And here are all of the things I like about her:
1. I wait a really long time before getting a haircut or color, because I am cheap and lazy. But Kay doesn’t make a big deal or give me a guilt trip about it. You know, like the dentist does.
2. Her San Francisco space is right across the street from Ross Dress for Less, and on Kay’s awesome advice, I popped in there and found a dress for $ 9. Bonus.
3. Kay has a lovely British accent and I always wanted a British friend.
4. I am not really very uptight about my hair. I’ve had bad haircuts before. It’s not the end of the world. But I just totally trust Kay with my hair. She gets it, she’s cool, she doesn’t do mom hair. I don’t need to bring in 492 photos of celebrity hair.
5. Kay is wonderfully warm and friendly while still maintaining her professionalism. I just scrolled down and was shocked to find a negative review. That’s just not possible. Kay is sweet and sane and perfectly lovely. Plus, she makes my hair look good.

I bought a Bloomspot coupon for the keratin express treatment with Kay. The regular Coppola Keratin treatment left my hair feeling heavy, so I was curious to try this lighter product. I set up my appointment with Kay via email, and a few weeks later I had my appointment with her at Frange Blue in SF.
Kay was personable and friendly without being in my face the whole time. The process took about an hour and a half, and man, was my hair straight when I left! But upon first wash, I was thankful that I still had my curls, only less frizzy and way prettier. I’m looking forward to a follow-​up visit with Kay next month.

I just recently visited Kay, as a new client, and I loved it! She knew exactly what I wanted as far as color and style. She did a fantastic job with my blonde highlights and I would recommend her to all! I plan on visiting her again :)

I’m a new client of Kay’s, referred by a friend who has notoriously difficult hair to cut (extremely curly, dense) and color.
I’ve gone twice now and am very happy. She tweaked my color, which was getting bleach-​y (admittedly at my request to my old hairdresser to go blonder and blonder as I am getting older and older!!) and gave me a great cut that suits my ridiculous global lifestyle (which makes even taking a shower in the morning difficult w/​early morning meetings). It’s wash and wear now, and also looks great straight, when I have the time to do it.
The color is brilliant. Very natural but still *hot* and blonde…:)
I know some of the other reviews thought she was «uppity» or whatever, but honestly they just must not be used to other cultures. She is sweet as pie and very easy to chat with. Really enjoyed my time in the chair — and will be going back!
(now…about breaking up w/​my old stylist … that’s another situation!)

As all my friends know I’m a huge fan of Groupon… it is a bit of a weakness. So it was only a matter of time until I tried a haircut. Wow was that a mistake!
I read all the glowing reviews on Unilocal before I purchased the Groupon, but now that I’ve been to Kay I have lost faith in Unilocal.I should have been clued into the fact that almost all of the people that have reviewed Kay have not reviewed any other place — a little hard to believe.
I digress… In short, I went to Kay through a Groupon and she proceeded to give me the worst haircut I’ve ever — which is pretty difficult to do because I have the easiest hair and cut ever.
Before the cut I explained how I wear my hair (straight and tucked behind my ears — pretty basic). I again explained how I like to wear my hair in the middle of the cut. So when she parted my hair down the middle and started chopping I told her that I thought that kind of cut would make my hair lopsided. She then argued with me (whatever happened to the customer is always rights) and then pleaded with me to trust her (big mistake). After the uneven all over cut she proceeded to give me «light layers» or what it really turned out to be a fringy mullet (not what I wanted).
I was near tears when she finally showed me the final product and now more than 6 month later (and 3 cuts) I am still trying to cover up the bad haircut. Needless to say I would never go back to Kay and I would never recommend her to anybody.
As a new client if you are considering going to Kay… you should also question that while many of her so called reviewers have been going to her for 10 years, why then if she has a good healthy business of repeat customers would she need to do 2 Groupons 4 months apart… kind of suspect if you ask me.

My new favorite hair-​cutter, KAY! She is amazing at what she does. She listened to what I wanted and gave me exactly that, except better! So happy with the results. And… Kay is a sweetheart and has a great personality.
Next time I need a haircut, guess where I’m going? :) To see Kay!

As a student, nice haircuts these days seem like a luxury so I was extremely excited to find a groupon for Kay.
I live in Marin so I set up an appointment with her in Mill Valley. The salon was clean and there was a lot of natural light.
I’m always a little nervous when someone new cuts my hair, but Kay made me feel at ease right away with her good natured personality. She asked me a lot of questions to get a sense of what haircut I wanted and went to work. I was so happy with the result.
I wanted to wait a little while before I wrote a review because sometimes you leave the salon with a fabulous hair-​do and then try as you might the next day, you can’t get it took good. Well, it’s been a week and I’m still pleased with my haircut.
I would recommend Kay to everyone: O)

Another fabulous cut by Kay today! We also played around with the curling iron and created some fabulous waves. Now I’m waiting for G. to get home so we can take my hair out for a happy hour.

Kay is an amazing stylist. I’m growing my hair out after several years of very short cuts, and she gave me an excellent cut that lasted for several months. Previously, I’ve had to get hair cuts every couple of weeks because my hair (as does everyone else’s probably) grows differently all over my head, but with Kay, she seemed to «get» my hair and it’s quirkiness, and cut it so that I could still style it nicely even after three months.
I highly recommend Kay.

I have to agree with Jill K. Kay is indeed a genius. I told her I was growing out my hair and somehow the cut she gave me actually made my hair look longer! I don’t know how she did that, but she did, AND it grew out so well, that 3 months later I was still getting compliments on my hair. I’ve been on a little bit of a budget lately, but decided that it’s worth the cost. Kay is one super hip lady, and hip in the good way, not the snotty hipster way — it’s like having a haircut with an longtime friend. She listens, tells the truth, and makes you look stylish, but not overdone! I can’t recommend her highly enough. And noooow, I’m going to email her and see if she can fit me in for a cut!