Star Image

Amazing! This place is truly top of the line. Not only does Ray make sure you get a good haircut, but also makes sure you get good treatment. With his hot towel, face massages, and shave he makes sure you walk out fresher then ever. He is a old school barber with over 50 years of experience. Ray honestly knows what to do and how to do it. I highly recommend him.
His salon offers many things like nails, waxing, eyebrow threading and women hair stylist.

With the rave reviews, the husband called in for a cut. He phoned in wanting to know if they take walk-​ins and if so what time he could come in. The man who answered the phone was rude and impatient. He kept saying he was busy and then click! The guy hung up. As if! Look, I understand things get busy and maybe he was having a bad day but there’s no reason to treat phone customers like that.

I bought my husband a gift certificate for a «real» shave & haircut for Christmas. He’d never had the full «man spa» treatment before so I thought it might be a unique treat for him. Getting the GC was easy but one thing to keep in mind — they accept cash or personal checks only for all services here.
Husband Unit came home the other night after finally redeeming his certificate and I have to say he looks quite dapper! They even tamed his eyebrows, something I’ve been after him for AGES to let me do. Ray did a great job tuning up my man! Adam was more than satisfied and has already made another appointment for next month. I may have created a monster… but a well-​groomed one.
Only one objection: a little less aftershave next time? I could smell him before I could see him! ;D

Need a manicure, pedicure, gels, waxing??? Mai is who to ask for! She is the best! I have been going to Mai for years. She was at another local salon close by but moved to Star Image and I’m so happy! It was suggested to me by Mai to see Daniel for a hair cut and color. I took her advice and he was great! Did a wonderful job and was a pleasure to talk to. It’s a small shop but I get the feeling of family when I’m there and everyone is so friendly. The owner is a lovely man and from what I have seen an old school barber. As you can see from the other comments, he is highly recommended. So remember… Mai for Nails, waxing, and Daniel for hair. They are my top picks but it seems everyone is loved in this shop!

I wish I could give him 10 stars. Ray is the man. Takes appointments and never has you waiting. Takes his time on your hair and make you look good. He will bust out all the old school barber techniques; straight razor, steam cloth, eyebrow cleanup, nasal clip, and ends it all with a quick shoulder massage. Charges are very reasonable and I always give him a nice tip. Keep up the good work Ray!

Mai, the manicurist is fantastic. I started going to her when she worked at another salon close by. I was sad when I found out she no longer worked there but happened to walk by this place and seen her working here :) Needless to say I’ve been coming here ever since. She does an awesome job on nails & eyebrows. Highly recommended =)

Threading with Lilyana at Star Image!!!
I will never wax my eyebrows again! Even though i am light & blonde, I get lots of peach fuzz & Lilyana always does my brows to perfection!!! She is lovely, professional, & detail focused. It’s obvious that she has extensive experience. I feel so beautiful after a visit with her; my brows are well shaped & perfect! And i no longer get painful irritation & a breakout like after waxing.
The friends I have encouraged to visit her also have been thrilled with her work!
Super highly recommend Lilyana for any threading/​hair removal needs!!!

Ray’s great! I saw the other reviews, made an appointment and went to see what he could do. I walked-​in a little more than five minutes early for my scheduled appointment. So, Ray took me a little early. He has a nice, clean shop with a comfortable chair. He cuts hair really well, very precise and I guess he has that old school barber service: shaving side burns and back of the neck. He even pulled-​out this huge chrome plated wrist strapped massager and finished the cut off with a upper back massage (a little awkward when he pulled it out since I’m not a massage guy). He then slaps some aftershave/​cologne on you and you’re done. The price was good too and he’s a pretty nice guy. I’ll keep going back.

Ray is an excellent style innovato who knows his stuff. He took his time to carefully cut my hair, gave me the classic razor shave around the hairline, followed by a cleanup with a hot towel, quick shoulder massage, applied some cologne and gave me a few styling ideas. I will definitely be returning.

Best barber shop on the peninsula, Ray «owner» and operating barber is one of the few best trade carriers left in the field, its more of a specialized hair cut for men not just the typical super cut.
His new shop is really modern and it also has a spa feature to it with the interior section designed for hair dressing, and nail care.
I feel excited about my appointment with Ray all the time and it definitely feels great after…
Star Image Barber Shop Rocks.

I just got a great haircut from, I think, Ray. He’s an older Jordanian fellow and… he creates a luxury experience. A little shaving, some massaging… it reminded me of a scene from Mad Men where Don Draper goes for a shave at a fancy barber shop. A+
I used to pay $ 40+ for a nice haircut in the city… no more. The experience was better and the hair cut looks great. Thanks, Ray!

True barbers are a dying breed. Ray is an old school barber who knows all the tricks of the trade. Unlike other barbers I have reviewed Ray is awesome when it comes to appointments. An 11:30 appointment means you’ll be taken at 11:30 and out by noon. Oh and it’s appointment only.
For the actual haircut. Ray does an excellent and meticulous job. After the cut he’ll clean up the back of your neck with a straight blade (a must for any barber in my book). Instead of using the straight blade to line up the sideburns, he uses thread. Additionally for those of us who need it he will clean up between and around your eyebrows with the thread. Definitely a great cut!

So when I discovered that my usual stylist was on vacation for a month. I threw myself on the mercy of Unilocal and gave Ray a call.
A note — He lost his lease at 19 37^th Street and is now across the street at 52 37^th street in someone else’s salon until he moves to his new location on 43^rd.
I called on a Friday afternoon and was able to get an appointment for 11am on Saturday. So far so good.
The one disappointment I had was that I was looking forward to the full day spa treatment another poster had described. I did not get a shampoo or a full shave (he did clean up my mustache beard and soul patch though). Everything else including the shoulder massage did happen.
He is also a really sweet guy that makes a point of keeping the conversation going.
He only charged me $ 18 — that isn’t much more than Supercuts charges! I tipped him nicely, and will certainly be back.

After coming back for a while longer, I decided I have to take it down a notch.
Basically — minus ½ star for no credit cards and minus ½ star for visit to visit consistency (sometimes its just not as good)

Walking in to my appointment, I was greeted by the pungent smell of manicurism and a near-​empty shop. «Can I help you make an appointment?» called out the woman in the back, «I have one.» I replied. «Ah, he’s in back, he’ll be out in a bit.» So I sat down and waited.
A few minutes later, Ray walks in. «You were supposed to be here at 3:30,» Ray says, gesturing at the clock. I apologize and I’m wondering if this whole thing was a mistake.
Then Ray starts his work and we get to talking and my entire impression of the affair is upended. «Ray» is actually Rizeq; born in Jordan and of Greek descent, Rizeq learned the craft from his father as the eldest of seven. His shop back in Amman was called «Golden Fingers», which would have been even more awesome than «Star Image» in my perspective.
Ray starts with the haircut, slicing and dicing with well-​practiced hands, taking about 20 minutes. Then he lifted a lever that swung my chair back, grinned, and pronounced, «Now I will shave you.»
The shaving was a very highly elaborate procedure, involving applications of several lotions, several hot latherings, hot towels applied to the face, and a two-​pass straight blade shave followed by more lotions and hot towels. Then, more. A vigorous face-​rub with clay was followed by a head and face massage, then the most delightfully aggressive shampooing I’ve ever had, a back-​of-​the-​neck straight blade shave, and then — amazingly — he attached a vibrating mechanism to his hand and rubbed my back and head, finishing off by applying gel to my hair and putting it in place. $ 45 all told; it took a full hour.
WOW. The whole experience is more Day Spa for Men than «a place to get your hair cut». Not the closest shave of my life — a fresh Gillette Mach 3 shaving against the grain with Barbasol is pretty damned tough to beat — but one of the most fantastic barbering experiences of my life nonetheless. Four stars; I’ll definitely go back.
Changes that would have taken it to a five star experience: better ventilation (the manicuring smells were intense), accepting credit cards, and booking via Internet or email.
But definitely recommended for the whole *experience* of being taken care of in that way. Awesome.

Since moving to the peninsula, I’ve struggled to find a good barber. I tried Ray after reading positive reviews on Unilocal.My first cut was very good — a nice «high& tight» with full service: clean taper, straight razor shave, hot towels, even a nose and eyebrow trim! Bingo, I’ve got a new barber.
My second visit was an early morning appointment and my haircut wasn’t as good. Ray seemed a little less detail oriented during the cut and after getting home, I noticed several uneven spots and stray hairs. It wasn’t a disaster but it wasn’t a great cut. I’ll give him one more try and hope that my first experience was typical.

Ray is the best barber around. Period. He is old style barber, and mostly cuts hair to men only (although sometimes there are other stylists in his shop that cut hair to women). Depending on his mood, he may start with the trimer using successively different sizes of combs and then finish with scissors, s or just do everything with scissors — in any case he does it right perfectly rounded. he is amazingly good with the scissors, by the way. As final touch he may also trim down your beard and give you a short massage on the neck and shoulders with the old style hand massager. I recommend him completely, and I tried several barbers before. I only wish he would be more available on saturdays, but the fact that he is always busy should mean something, right?