Cutaway

I have gone here for over 4 years now every time I am in the area and have never been disappointed once. That’s all I have to say.

Every now and then the other nearby $ 17 hair salons are closed or my favored hair cutters are MIA. At this point, I have sometimes out of sheer desperation gone to this place.
It’s always the same experience. There are no other customers. It’s costs more than the other places. The same woman is the only cutter available.
She speaks with a heavy accent, and I honestly get the feeling she likes it this way, because it’s a convenient excuse to cover up her incompetence, i.e. she really only has two haircuts, short and long. It doesn’t matter what you tell her, she’ll nod her head mechanically, grin, and then give you cut A or B. I think her biggest concern is seeing just how little time she can take to get you out of the shop, i. e counting pennies by second at your expense.
She does all those little cheap shot things that make you not want to come back, e.g. cash only, removes the apron before showing you the backside of your cut, dances around holding the mirror like it’s a ping pong paddle so you can’t see anything, cuts unevenly, etc.
It’s so bad, I wonder to myself, how is she still in business? Does she own the building or something? Why would anybody come in here who wasn’t clueless or desperate like me? Did she steal the awning from somewhere (because there’s no way she’d of paid money for that)?

I’ve had a few great haircuts from one of the stylists here, but I just got one of the worst haircuts of my life from one of the establishment’s other stylists.
I asked for to have half an inch removed from my hair, which was reasonably long this morning. The stylist instantly took a buzzer to the top of my head, leaving me with half an inch of hair instead. Obviously, there was no going back after she started cutting that dramatically, so now I’m left with a haircut that looks nothing like what I asked for.

I needed a haircut before a job interview, nothing fancy just a nice modest mens haircut. I don’t know how they managed to fuck it up. I’m usually the guy asking for pink pixie cuts or mohawks or a rat tail. I’m used to having to explain terrible haircuts to talented people, and this was exactly the opposite situation. Whole reason I didn’t go to by usual barber is because I figured this was such a simple request I could just go anywhere and save a few bucks. Nope.
The good news is that when they screw up your haircut, you can go around the corner to Blow Salon and have it fixed.

I have came here twice. This place is a little boring since you really don’t see anyone else getting their haircuts or other employees working. Its very dull the lady that works their is quiet but sometimes its hard to hear what she is saying. First time I came here is was nice but the 2^nd time I came I was not happy because she cut my hair too short as if I was getting a buzz cut. any first timers needing a haircut in Berkeley avoid this place at all cost.

Worse service and worse style I’ve ever seen. They don’t really speak English and the lady is super impatient and rude.

been going there every 4 weeks for 15 years and I’m still going. I’m a guy with straight hair and I like a nice haircut. Scissors on top trimmer on the sides. I got a $ 50 haircut once and that was nice I admit, a bit nicer than cutaway but I feel that I get 90% of the value for a third of the price ($ 17). may not work for everyone but definitely works for me.

Allow me to bring to your attention a modest business. I just relinquished my time, money, and hair to The Cutaway; A small alleged hair salon run by a wonderfully quiet Asian lady I’ve known for years but have never got her name. It’s my number 1 go-​to for efficient hair removal. I walk in, say Hi, she smiles. She gestures toward one of three out of three open chairs, strangles my neck with that peculiar butcher paper, and dresses me in an amaranthine frontal cape before asking «What do you want?»
«Shorter.» She knows. This is consumer efficiency at its finest. Where else can you go and give the business the vaguest bare minimum customer request and they fulfill it without fail? Can you go to a bar and order «drink» or «food» or point the mechanic to your car and say «fix»? Not usually, but at The Cutaway this flies.
The next 15 minutes are spent in quiet contemplation as I face the mirror in front of me but gazing just below its bottom lip. I prefer to be surprised. I prefer to meditate. KOIT radio’s cacophony is trimmed by the sounds of clips and scrapes, brushes and buzzes.
This is why I like this place. Maybe I’m also attracted to its Bauhaus-​esque logo or its convenient price. It’s not a $ 17 haircut but a crisp $ 20 floats more elegantly out of my wallet than most other prices. At $ 18 I would feel like I’m maybe under tipping. And $ 16 would mean I would probably keep a stray dollar in my wallet. Physical currency like cash is an irritant. A pest taking up valuable wallet real estate. It must be exorcised.
Her process is simple. Scissor the top to the width of one or two fingers then slap on a standardized buzzclip and clean up the sides and back. I believe I’m a «3» or sometimes a «4» if I’m feeling conservative. Fade the neck and score behind the ear. The feeling of those last two is the human equivalent of when you scratch a dog’s hind legs to the point of kicking in place. The process ends with a vigorous lashing of a badger brush and two part massage involving a towel then water.
I could easily do this at home at the cost of one haircut. But then there’s no ritual. There’d be no support for local business. There would be no meditation.
The Cutaway provides a comfortable and efficient marriage. I have cheated on her with Supercuts but they are too demanding of more information and are often judgmental. My last experience involved a flirtatious stylist practically begged me to drown my tuft in product. No thanks. I endeavor to be faithful to my quiet Asian lady.

I have been going here for years and I am always pleased with results.

I just got my haircut today and I liked it. I looked at some of the reviews on this Unilocal page and I just have not experienced the things people are saying. I am a guy and I like my hair cut short. They gave me a good styled short hair cut. Just that simple.
Last time she cut a little bit too much off top and it stuck up for awhile, and you know what I did this time, I told her what happened and she made sure it was done right this time. I have never had to wait. I always come during the week though. She cuts my hair, does not talk my ear off or cut it off. I’m easy like Sunday morning.

Yikes! Their name is perfect! Cutaway is right! I wish I had read the reviews before coming here but I was running errands in downtown Berkeley and just needed a quick trim and thought they would be able to do a decent job. I gave two stars instead of one because my hair isn’t horrible. But then again, only because I intervened when she started trying to do the opposite of what I asked for.
The sign said $ 17 and when I walked in she told me $ 21. I asked why the difference and she said because my hair was layered. Uh, isn’t all hair layered when it comes down to it? So, in reality she charged me extra for not just plopping a bowl on my head and cutting along the edges or just buzzing it with clippers, I guess. *eye roll*
I was VERY specific about what I wanted and the woman (who had HORRIBLE garlic breath all up in my face!) didn’t listen. I had to keep saying, «STOP! No, I said I don’t want it like that.» I seriously almost got up halfway through my haircut and ended it. I have long layered hair with bangs. I am VERY particular about my bangs and go into excruciating detail about how I want them cut before any haircut. I told her I wanted them thick and blunt with slight layering on the top so they didn’t lay heavy, a la Bettie Page. She busted out the thinning shears and started to make them all wispy and flyaway. I had to tell her to stop. WTF? And when she was trimming them, she was close to my face and her breath nearly made me gag. Dude, eat a fucking mint if you breathe in people’s faces for a living! Sheesh!
I was so glad to get out of that chair. She almost started cutting my bangs way back into my hairline and I had to stop her. Do I look like fucking Emo Phillips to you? I will not be returning EVER again. Again, the only reason I gave them two stars instead of one is because my hair isn’t fucked up, but only due to my intervention.
I usually go to Down at Lulu’s but they never called me back when I left a message on their machine that said, «If you want to make an appointment leave a message and we’ll call you back shortly.» That was five days ago and I still haven’t heard a peep so I’m annoyed at them right now, too.
But it’s all good. I still look cute. Take that, bitches!

when i went in there just minutes ago i should have specified. don’t give me a 2 minute haircut, i should have said. give me a good one instead.
oh well. too late. can anybody tell me how long it’ll be till my hair grows back? because i’m counting the minutes till my hair’s long enough that i can AVOID this place.

I’ve been getting my hair cut here for almost 8 years now.
But I won’t be returning anymore. EVER.
If you want a legit hair cut, get it done by the owner. The other workers are nice, but they lack. I haven’t had the other workers touch my hair… cause you’ll end up unsatisfied and the heck can you do after they buzzed all your hair off? Nothing. In the earlier years, the owner did a great job giving me the dopest spiked hair for the Asian kid. My taste gradually changed, and requested for a different style but she constantly gives me the same shxt! What’s worse is she shaves all my side burns off! WTF x 2.
It’s all good, cause hair grows back eventually… but having to face humiliation, FK that. I rather cut my own hair with clippers and mess up laughing at it than throwing out $ 20 (with tip) and looking like an idiot for 4 weeks. Instead of dishing out extra cash for tip, here’s my tip: YOU FAIL.

The name of the salon (Cutaway) says it all. I should have read the reviews before I went in, but since there were only four before I posted this one, I didn’t even see it on the list.
I’m a guy and my hair is pretty simple to cut. Number four clippers on the sides and trim to shape up on the top. She got the sides right, but left the top a little too long. I asked for the top to be a little shorter, and showed her how short, but the next thing I knew, she was using a number five clippers on my entire head!
The only reason I gave two stars instead of one is because before she gave me the hack-​job, it was almost a good haircut.
Also, they only take cash and there is no sign saying so. I had to leave my driver license there and find an ATM to get some cash. They could at least up at «Cash only» sign in the front window.

Oh what a perfect name.
I’ll keep it short and sweet – My hair was long (about 7″)
I said I wanted it shorter, «About medium length, not too short» I said. (I guess I should have been more specific)
The shortest haircut I’ve had since I was 12 – and I looked about that old afterward.
Never coming here again – If your hair is anything but perfectly straight, I recommend you don’t start.

i paid $ 28 for a hasty shampoo and sloppy haircut.
i hadn’t had a haircut in 6 months, so the ends were pretty ragged but somehow they came out of the haircut even more ragged than before. i wondered throughout the haircut if she had ever had any training because her hands seemed really awkward, unable to manipulate my hair.
my hair was still very wet she she signaled that she was done, so i ask that she dry it a little more. she said of course, that she was going to but then left my hair still very wet on a cold night.
i’m getting a real haircut to fix this next week. it was a waste of time and money.

Stay away from the Cutaway!
I have never been treated so horribly! I made an appointment in advance and showed up early, but the hairdresser acted as though she did not have the time or interest in cutting my hair. Five minutes into my haircut, the hairdresser said «hold on a minute», and rushed off to tend to another woman’s hair. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been a brief interruption, but the «one minute» turned into thirty minutes! I sat in the chair for a full half hour with my hair partially cut as the hairdresser chatted with the other woman while completely ignoring me! She didn’t explain or apologize, and the other hairdressers didn’t help even though there were no other customers in the salon. After she wasted half an hour of my time, I removed the apron and hair clips and walked out. There are a lot better places to spend your time and money!

What can I say? The haircuts they give to me (a male) are good, just what I want, fast, and reasonably priced ($ 14.95). Better than your experience at the average supercuts but also easy and drama free.