Hair Caffe

Hair Caffe is the same staff as the Japan Town Japan Center Beauty Clinic up in San Francisco and I have been going to them for over 10 years. When I heard they had opened a San Mateo location, which is much closer to where I live, I was so happy! I only had a chance to go to them twice since I keep very long hair (down to my lower back) and I am sad to hear that they are closing their San Mateo location at Sola Salon Center on ⁹⁄₃. I hope they reopen a bigger more staffed location in Downtown San Mateo!
I could go on but there really isn’t much to say other than, I love the staff and you should go to their JC Beauty Clinic location in San Francisco if you get the chance.

Kenji did a very good job! All my friends praise the new haircut I have. Kenji is professional and respectful. Will recommend Kenji to my friends!

Thankfully Masa was willing to schedule him in last minute and fixed it. Masa was awesome!

Summary: splurge on a thorough, personalized haircut from an experienced and friendly professional who gives honest feedback on what will make you look great.
My friend Jen recommended this place to me last year, since she had been following this group of hair stylists from when they used to be in Japantown. Since I’m not a huge fan of battling SF traffic and fighting for parking, I put this location on my list. But I wasn’t sold on the prices, since I usually pay $ 35 pre-​tip at a local salon when I visit family in LA. However, I wanted to donate my hair, so it’s been a year since my last cut and I wanted to go way shorter than I have in the last decade. EEK! Since I’ve been saving money by not cutting my hair in a while, Husband was on board with the pricier budget of this salon. And since it was going to be a dramatic change, I agreed that it was probably wise to go to an EXCELLENT professional, instead of settling for mediocre cheapy cuts like I usually do.
I booked my appointment online, which was really convenient. I loved being able to see the different time slots and stylists available on the calendar. Also, I love the email confirmation. Woot! Heads up, this location is only Monday through Thursday. But you can go to the San Francisco location on weekends. I went with Kenji, because I wanted to book an appointment for the next day lest I chicken out. Also, there’s a promotion going on right now (also listed on their website) for 10% off for a weekday cut for spring. I didn’t know about this until I was about to pay, so that was a nice perk! Not sure how long the promotion will last.
When I arrived, I was thrown off a little, because it’s like a mini-​mall of salons with many small booth salons inside. Hair Caffe is at #25, which is in the back on the left side (check out the map when you first walk in). It’s a small shop with no more than 2 chairs and a single hair washing sink, but it’s very clean and cozy. Kenji greeted me warmly. And I was REALLY nervous. I’m notoriously bad at speaking up to communicate what I want, but Kenji was really friendly and professional, which made it a lot easier for me. I told him that I wanted to donate my hair, which he was enthusiastic about… but we couldn’t find any rubber bands, so he ran out to Walgreen’s next door to get some. Really sweet of him to put int the extra effort for me to donate my hair! I told him I was nervous, and Kenji said, «ME TOO!» Which made me laugh and made the rest of the appointment a lot more light-​hearted.
The appointment went long, since I was a little late from battling traffic, the Walgreen’s rubber band run, and I have a LOT of hair. But Kenji was very aware of time and apologized when we started going over. I appreciated a lot of the small details he paid attention to. Since we were the only ones there, when he placed a towel over my eyes to shield my face from stray droplets while washing my hair, he opened the salon door all the way, which was a nice gesture of professionalism. Throughout the cut he showed me the back of my head to make sure I was comfortable with the style and length. After we were almost finished, I asked him what he thought about adding a bang, and he gave his candid feedback («if you do it, you shouldn’t go shorter than this *points to my cheekbone*, and you should probably go sideswept since your forehead is small. So, it’s up to you!»). Just what I wanted to hear. Even though I think I know what I want, at the end of the day, I just want an expert to make me look good, and Kenji told me what would. He was super thorough, and this is the first short haircut I’ve really liked. Plus, this is basically the best bang I’ve ever had. Kenji identified that my hair was thick and there was a lot of it, so he thinned out the inner layers a lot, which has made it easier to maintain than I expected.
Parking was SUPER easy, so I hope they maintain this location for a long time. It was really convenient for me to come here on my way home from work. After seeing my cut, my husband was really interested in coming here himself for his own cut, since he always settles for mediocre and convenient. It’s a little pricey for him, since he gets his haircut once every 3 – 4 weeks. But I think we’re both won over on the idea of spending more for me to have a great haircut. I’m sold. And I really want to come back again.

Kenji was my stylist when he was in Japanese Beauty. He is very patient and kind and skillful! Now 4 previous famous stylists come to open this new shop, giving convenience to people living in bay area. Plenty of parking and easy to make appointment on their website! You should not miss this, especially Asians!

I had a hair cut and color last Thursday. Below are my experience:
Pros
–Good location with free parking
–Environment is clean and bright
–Hairstylist is detail & listened to your thoughts & provided professional opinion
–Haircut turned out great.
Cons
–The color dye cream they used SUCKS! I mean VERY VERY SUCKS! I had my color done last Thursday like I mentioned before. I normally wash my hair every other day. So from the day I had the new color until today (³⁄₁₄), I washed my hair 4 times and I still have ”color” coming out during shampoo. All my bath towel/​hair towel ALL messed up with color coming out from my hair. I have been dyed my hair for at least 6 – 7 years. I never had this happen to me before. Even though sometimes I used those drugstore hair dye cream. as long as I wash off all color dye cream in the initial shampoo and I didn’t have color transfer to the towel. BE AWARE if you are thinking to have your color done here.
Overall, I recommend to come here for hair cut ONLY. (I’m not sure if I would consider coming back again.)

Summary: I’ll definitely be back and I recommend Sohei.
I had an appointment with Sohei for a cut and color. I made the appointment online and it was so easy and seamless – definitely recommend. When you make the appointment online, it will send a request to the salon to confirm that the appointment still works so just a warning that you have to wait for the confirmation of your appointment email.
This was my first time seeing Sohei and he definitely knows what he was doing. The cut looks great as is (aka, love it!!) but I can tell this is one of those cuts that will look even better as my hair grows out. This is the first time I’ve done an all over color so I’m not sure how it will look in a couple of weeks but as of now, I like it.
The location does have free parking and is easy to find (same little shopping center that as the Walgreens). It’s a collection of hair salons which is pretty cute. It’s not a fancy space but it’s clean and bright – I like it.

Update!!!
Check out their brand new location in SF:
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This is now the new locations for Masahiro and Michiaki.
Great location — free parking. :P
The salon itself is beautifully decorated. They have all the latest machines and products. As always, service is impeccable and I am extremely happy with the results.
Come and see them!

I have been seen Masa for almost 10 years ever Since I start keeping long hair. He is amazing for every cut, super detailed and super focus on his work. The other guys there are also good as some of my friends are loyal to. I am loyal to Masa, for life.

Three cheers for Japanese hairstylists! I’m super excited for this new location!
Japanese hairstylists just have a natural knack for cutting Asian hair!
Free parking lot parking is always a plus!