Jean Madeline Aveda Institute Salon

The person who cuts my hair is retired so I headed to Jean Madeline for a cheap-​o cut. Sure, you have to be willing to take a risk on a student. But to be honest, I think they take their time, do a great job and then the teacher will come and modify anything that is not perfect. There is no better option for this price.
That being said, I have pretty boring hair. For a more styled cut, you probably want someone with experience!

The worse experience i ever had.
I had to cut it all over again with another barber once i left.
I asked for skin bald on the side and she said its ok and then she came back after she cut my hair and told me” oh sorry we dont do this here, you can leave to another barber if you want to!!!“
I had no other choice just to stay in hoping at least the final result will be fair enough.
I really don’t like to criticize anyone but im so unhappy with the haircut. My student doesnt have any skill and none of the teacher came to make sure if im happy or not with the hair cut.

This has been my best haircut experience ever; crazy, because it’s at a school. I normally go to Joseph Anthony’s and pay $ 30 for a haircut. Here, it’s $ 12. Granted, the haircut takes a bit longer, but you get a haircut and a shampoo with salon quality shampoo/​conditioner for such a little amount of money. Students are so much more attentive to detail too. My student Brianna was very meticulous and made sure I was happy with my haircut. All of them are supervised by an instructor who periodically walks by and makes sure that everything is going smooth.

Let me start by saying the Aveda products are exceptional and the students are dedicated and committed to their craft. I’ve received services in the University City School at least 4 – 5 times over the last 2 months or so. I was so pleased I took my elderly mother as well as having an appointment for myself. The student accidentally allowed water from the wash bowl to spill down my mothers back. Her two shirts, sweater and the top of her jeans were soaked. The student was apologetic and was helpful in getting my mother as dry and warm as possible. I asked to speak to the manager about the situation and she made me wait almost an hour before she would come talk to me, she initially said there was nothing she could do because it’s a school and we signed a waiver. I was simply looking for some empathy and an adjustment on the bill. After heated discussion she snatched the bill from me and told me not to come back (implying if I did something bad might happen to me). I asked why the school was no longer the place for me to come, explained I run two small businesses and why customer service is of the utmost importance. The manager/​director called the cops on me. I waited to hear her explanation and talk to the officer for myself. She slinked away with a sulky attitude. He said this was a customer service issue and she should have never called. The manager/​director is angry, ignorant and a poor model for customer service. I hope all the students will exponentially exceed the poor customer standard exhibited today. Also, the director was unwilling to give any higher management information explaining she was the highest level. It is an independently owned franchised but the key is ‘owned.’

I would give zero stars if I could … apparently the students are not able to twist natural black hair.

when i made an appointment and left my former review i had not taken steps to find another education/​salon experience. well, yesterday i set out to Empire Beauty School in Center City. the tuition to attend this school is clearly more reasonable — the facility is less luxe than the «institutes,» and as a result, the cross-​section of students and patrons (ironic, since Aveda’s better positioned to receive business from nearby campuses) is significantly more diverse. this meant that i was not greeted with the slightest bit of attitude, and the stylist i had was attentive and fearless! she did a great shampoo & cut & took her time. i CAN say that Aveda offers better supervision, but the supervisor was the one who was especially rude to me. The price was nearly the same (unless rates have risen from the $ 9 i paid at Empire), but the feeling was worlds apart! in short, if you felt unwelcome at Aveda, give Empire a shot. AND NO, i am neither a stylist nor a student of cosmetology. i should also add that Empire monitors the comments and gives input. it’s almost as if Aveda doesn’t care!

The experience can be a great one (decent haircut at cheap price) if you have time in your hand! Make sure you go with 1.5−2 hours in hand for a hair cut. The student cuts your hair and the teachers would supervise and improvise on their work. The students are super friendly! 5 stars to the student who cut my hair, Leilani!

I’ve been here for multiple haircuts and colorings, done by several different students, and each time they did a fabulous job. The atmosphere is professional, modern and cosmopolitan, but still with a friendly neighborhood vibe. I like my haircuts artistic and edgy, and every student who worked with me totally supported (and was enthusiastic about) my wild hair ideas, even when the cut was new to them. Appointments generally run a little long, so make sure any plans you have afterward are flexible. All in all, I love this place, and will continue getting my hair done here for as long as I’m in Philly.

This was a truly great experience. Yes, you are a training model for an up and coming student, but for $ 12 ($ 8 if you’re a local student with the discount) it’s a great way to get a cheap, but QUALITY haircut (and shampoo) that is investing in education.
My experience was with a totally new student who had never dealt with what I asked. She brought her teacher and they ended up giving me one of the best cuts I’ve had. The only downside I’d say is that it took an hour for the cut, since the teacher had to mentor. If the student somehow messes your cut up, the teacher will simply step in to fix it.
If you have the patience and willingness to try something new, this is a great way to get a $ 50+ quality haircut for $ 12. I will be coming again every time for my haircuts.
PS: They don’t make money, so why not tip them!

I’ve never gotten my hair cut at a place before (always just buzzed it with clippers on my own) so I walked in completely unsure of what I wanted. Amanda was attentive and helpful, running ideas by me and giving me a picture of how exactly things would turn out. Ended up with a great cut that I obviously would not have been able to do on my own, nor would I have thought of asking for it if I went somewhere else (shampoo and product included, too)… and for 12 bucks ! I was worried when looking for places to get a haircut in Philly because everywhere else was charging 25 $+ for a cut, when all I really expected was a quick buzz. I wouldn’t have paid 25 for a buzzcut, I would’ve just bought my own pair of clippers and gone off on my own.
Remember though, they’re students! Which means they might take slightly longer, or the instructor might come by to see how things are doing, but most importantly, THEY DON’T GET PAID FOR THIS. You’re paying the institute, sure, but the person cutting your hair gets no cut of it. So tip them!

I came here for a basic manicure and was sorely disappointed. The polish was uneven and did not cover the entirety of my nails (although she managed to get polish on my skin around the nails). There was no attempt to fix it and I even tried to fix it myself. Cuticles were barely touched, nails were barely filed, and it was just a disappointment all around. The woman who took care of me was very nice, but I have paid $ 8 for a basic manicure at other places (and I think it was $ 12 or $ 15 here), and have received much better service. Perhaps it was inexperience — but in that case, she should not have been assigned to do this for a paying customer.

I’ve never really had a bad experience here, but you have to come into this place knowing that they are students. Just had a good quality trim with Maria and I am very pleased!

I dont know what happen! My shampoo was so so and my cut was terrible. The student tried but the directions from the teacher was horrible. Then management comes up ms. scrow and she is the worse experience of it all. She goes to tell me how long she has been working at this location but not trying to help at all. I could care less if she started off as staff an is management now. How will that fix my cut? She swings this dead blonde hair around on me and was no help at all. Who ever was incharge this day did a horrific job in satisfying the client. I will take some weeks off from service here. Good luck!

I would recommend calling them first before going in and making an appointment. Sometimes they’re too busy to get you in right away.
Your mileage may vary: depending on who you get, they might not be very experienced. And their supervisors can only do so much.

I was just here the other day (Friday). I’d been here before and the cuts I’ve received were average, but I also only went in for trims. NEVER go in here for a drastic changing cut because YOU WILL REGRET IT. The students have no idea what they’re doing.
So, I went in on Friday to get some layers in my hair. One of the first things my hair cutter told me was how much she hated working there and how much she actually hated cutting hair. I should’ve seen this as a red flag. She told me she was also working there since August. 8 months. How bad could it be?
She puts me in the chair and starts cutting, slowly, but she’s a student, so I know that I’ll be there a while. I tel her not to cut off more than ¾ of an inch. She cuts off 3. She finishes and her supervisor comes over and is dumbfounded because this girl RUINED MY HAIR. Long platinum blonde hair that this woman CHOPPED to PIECES. She hacked my hair apart. Her «layers» were just cut straight across, no blending AT ALL. Her supervisor was working to fix my hair for about 15 minutes, to no avail. Needless to say, my hair is ruined and I need to have my normal stylist cut it into a short bob tomorrow because it is truly that terrible. I’m walking for my college grad in May and this woman has just obliterated my hopes of having long, beautiful locks by then. I am devastated.
Please, do yourself a favor and DO NOT get a real haircut here. You will be sorry. My stylist was even graduating soon. That is a frightening thought.

Look, you get what you expect here. It’s a training school, and so hairstylists are, presumably, in training. As in, less likely to be able to make flash decisions about what to do with your hair, and less likely to check in with you over checking in with their instructor.
My haircut was meh, and the color was WAY too yellow. I toned it myself at home and it turned out closer to the color I wanted. Would’ve been avoided if my stylist didnt rush to wash it out even after his instructor said leave it in for longer. And the cut itself, a pixie, is super thick and heavy in the back. All I said the whole time was «short at the bottom and long on top, long enough to tuck behind my ears.» Instead, I got a clump of hair to tuck behind my ears and then… short hair cut straight across above it??? It’s passable, but I actually felt like crying halfway through. Sigh. If you’re okay with playing Russian Roulette with your hair and just want to pay less, go here. But if you want actual quality, and can pay slightly more, go to Penn Hair Salon or Saturn Club or something.

I really loved my experience at Jean Meadeline I got a hand massage, scalp massage, and really great service for on 16 $ I got a cut and blow out! My stylist Destyne Coleman was so sweet and really professional she is amazing I definitely would request her again.

I really enjoyed my visit– I got my long hair maintenance trimmed. I love a good trip to the salon but I just can’t justify paying over$ 30 for just trimming split ends. The Aveda school is great for this reason. The students are eager to please and really care about getting it right. Their instructors talk over the plan and will check on you when you are done to insure you are happy. My boyfriend got his hair cut at the same time and got a funky fade he wasn’t too happy about (even though I couldn’t tell!) which is the only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5.

I’ve been to the Aveda Institute twice for a cut and blow dry, so all comments I have are only related to that service. As many of the other reviewers have said, a simple procedure will take much longer than expected, but then again Aveda is a training school. I didn’t mind waiting for my hairdressers to consult with their instructors, as it made certain that they were doing everything correctly. I mostly enjoy the cheap price point and both hairdressers I had were also pleasant. I would recommend going to Aveda if you have a few hours to kill and don’t want anything too complex.

I got there on time, but it was close to closing time so I had to wait a bit to get my turn. That was perfectly understandable, given that coming in, the place was crowded. My initial impression of the place was it must be good, given the crowd. As I was waiting though, I got the impression they were taking a lot of time on their customers. So I’m thinking maybe it’s worth it.
So, I’m set up with a student who’s been part time for the last 8 or so months. I ask her that just to confirm what I’m getting. I knew I had to be patient with her, given she’s a student and it’s only natural they have to start somewhere.
I tell the student hairdresser and the supervisor about what I want to do with my hair. I just want a simple cut to make it look neat and tidy and professional, usually takes about 15 – 20 mins at the most at most other barbers, and I’ve had a lot of students or young n learning types take at most half an hour for that. But as she begins, I knew she’s going to take a long time. She did an ok job, and I don’t blame her for taking one and a half hour to get a simple cut done. I was patient with her as I understood her situation. When I try to explain the situation to the supervisor, she’s all like oh you should’ve known it’s a student school and you should maybe go to another place if you want a fast cut. My issue is, there has to be a compromise between the two things. You can’t just keep a customer on the seat for such a long time, do an average job then have the temerity to tell them they shouldn’t complain just because it’s a school. There has to be a middle way.
I would have ignored the student’s attempts as part of her learning process if the supervisor owned up to doing a bad job supervising my haircut. She’s supposed to step in if she feels the student is taking longer than usual. She’s also not supposed to tell me it looks like a stellar job when I’m clearly saying its not great for the time it took to get it done. And certainly not when I’m told to look elsewhere in that dismissive tone. I’m the customer, you’re providing a service. You’re not doing a good job if your customer is not happy, is making a valid complaint and you’re certainly not doing a good job as a teacher talking like that to your customer as you’re not setting a good example for your students.

NEVER going back.
They made me wait for an hour– turns out they had made a mistake in their system and didn’t care enough to check it when I asked twice. The staff was extremely rude and unhelpful. I ended up almost having to pay for the services that I never got– walked out after the hour. Absolute worst experience I have ever had with a salon.

I will NEVER go back to this place!
Its amazing how a hairstyle could change the way you look. The place I usually get my haircut and color done is a little expensive and usually costs me from $ 100 to $ 250 depending on what I want. I just got married and my husband & I decided to go cold turkey on our monthly budget. So I decided to go to a really cheap place to get my haircut and highlights done. Jean Madeline costs $ 16 for a haircut and hair color is cheaper too.
I get there on time for my appointment to see the whole place crowded. So I assume that its a good place. I had to ask my stylist to wash my hair since it was oily and its hard to get a good cut with that. She washed only ¾th of my hair and left the part closer to my nape. To dry it, she pulled it so hard it pained. While cutting, she took locks of hair randomly and started cutting. She then called her teacher to check it and her teacher was as bad as she was. She did the same. I had to stop her halfway while blowdrying ’cause all she was doing was blowing hot air on random spots. Got out. Called my husband and started bawling. I have made an appointment with my old stylist to fix it. Its going to cost me a lot more to fix this haircut and color it. But its worth it.

I go to the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute every six — twelve weeks depending on my schedule. I started going to the Aveda School in NYC per the recommendation of a friend. When I moved here I looked up the school and have been going ever since (roughly 3 years).
The students have all been young but appropriately professional given their limited experience. The last girl in particular (I’ll add her name later) gave me the best shampoo I’ve ever had (with a scalp massage).
I ask for a simple trim with front angles. I usually only want ½ to 1 inch cut off. I’ve never used them for dyes, highlights or fancier styles. I have had layers put in all around one time and was happy with it.
The teacher comes around before any cutting and inquires what you want and what the student plans on doing. He/​she also comes around and inspects the haircut afterwards — sometimes trimming a spot here or there as needed.
At times I’ve had it take longer (up to 1 hour) if the student is very new. Typically it’s 45 minutes from arrival to checking out.
If you’re not looking for a true pampering salon experience I think it’s a good value.

I’ve been going to this place for 4 – 5 years now for haircuts. It’s great and the price is unbeatable. There’s a student discount that gets you down to $ 10 and I think otherwise it is $ 12 for a wash/​cut/​blow dry.
They use all salon products and massage your scalp with whatever your hair is needing. You feel like you’re in a really nice salon! I’ve never had a scary experience where the student messed up or anything. But I wouldn’t go here if you wanted anything crazy or you’re very picky. The students are really nice though.
Only downside is that it takes some time; for just a trim, the whole process can take upward of 2 hours. So schedule around that. But you’re hair will look amazing after!

I read all of the reviews for this location and the those that are 3 stars and lower are so accurate. How do I know? I was a student here for one year.
We are taught on the floor. As for my personal experience, I was not taught much about mens’ cuts, relaxers, perms, manicures and pedicures in the classroom. I was taught as I went while I was on the floor. That didn’t make me or my client feel too comfortable. It is not a very organized system that this location has and I’m hoping that for future students, this will be changed.
The teachers give the students what they are good at, without allowing them to practice other things. For example, I could do a mens’ cut in 15 minutes, while it took other students an hour. Mind you, my husband taught me how to do a proper mens’ cut while he came in for me to practice on. My teacher told me that I should not have brought him in for my first practice cut, instead of teaching me how to do it. Anyway, the teachers would give me most mens’ cuts because even though Jean Madeline is a school, they run it more like a business. They want to get as many people out as possible. I ended up leaving Jean Madeline and learned more on my own than from the school. PATHETIC!
In other words, it depends on your stylist on how great your hair is going to turn out unfortunately. In my opinion, DO NOT TAKE THE RISK! GO TO A PROFESSIONAL SALON AND RECEIVE WHAT YOU ASK FOR.

I’ve gone to this place for my infrequent haircuts for the past few years. This is the cheapest most professional haircut in the city. Notice I didn’t say cheapest. I didn’t say most professional… but it is the «cheapest most professional» haircut that you can get!
The students here, dressed in all stylish black, have to take classes for several months before they can put scissors to customers’ hair. They’re also «supervised» which just means that someone will come and speak to before and after your hair is cut.
I feel like I can get away with nearly anyone cutting my hair since it’s curly, but I may be a little more skeptical if I had a straight, styled cut. These stylists are still learning what they’re doing! The cool thing is that they also all have to learn nails and other beauty treatments… so you may be surprised what you could walk away with.

I’m sorry but… NO
HAIRCUTS: cheap! $ 12 methinks. but make sure you have an HOUR to spare — because these students take a minimum of 1 hour just for a simple haircut. They’ll get the job done, but takes for fuckin’ ever
HAIR COLOR — JUST DON’T
Experience 1: i wanted hot pink tips on my hair. The instructor said they didn’t have hot pink, but a nice violet fuschia. They bleached my hair with Volume 20 (I’m asian and have JET BLACK hair) — looked blonde-​ishh. then they added the Violet — turned black again. Failed $ 45. UNHAPPY
Experience 2: Why dafuq did they use VOLUME 20 on my hair again? My friend who is guyanese has same color as me and she uses motherfuckin VOLUME 80 on hers. DAFUQ their teachers teaching them? Even the student said «I wanted to do at least volume 30 on you. but my instructor said not to». Anyway — my hair turned out CARAMEL BROWN from black with VOLUME 20.
JUST DON’T

At the eleventh hour while getting ready for Feastival last night, I decided it would be fun to have an updo for the event. Since I definitely didn’t want to pay $ 50 – 75 like the last two I had (bridesmaid problems), I Unilocaled «cheap updo» and Jean Madeline popped up in the results. I scoped out the reviews and their website, and within an hour I was at the salon reading the latest issue of Glamour.
My stylist was Gia and she was only three weeks away from graduation, so I knew I was in good hands. I don’t know how the students get anything done with their instructors pacing the floors, but props to all of them!
I requested a modernized bun. Not one of those goofy things women are wearing on the tops of their heads these days, but something a bit classic just with some volume. Gia the miracle worker got down to teasing and pinning. The end result was a fabulous ‘do — possibly my favorite updo in my hair’s history, even!
Of course, I tipped on the price of a normal updo and the entire thing cost me $ 35. Still a total steal, considering. I will absolutely think of Jean Madeline for my next special occasion!