Progressive Cuts

Although I am not a huge fan of Unilocal in general, it did help me find Danae, and so like others I’ve made this account solely to write this review. I moved to SF a few years ago & liked the idea of an independent stylist cutting hair in their own home; she had great reviews & had a ridiculously reasonable rate, so I emailed her and set up my first appt – which was incredibly easy. I had long, curly hair back then, which Danae has skillfully cut into layers, shaved both sides, styled into a pixie, maintained well during grow-​out phases… this woman has done so many things to my hair, and it always looks fly. I’ve received numerous compliments over the years, and frequently have referred others to her. My best friend is a notoriously picky, kinda neurotic New Yorker & she loooved the cut Danae gave her a couple years ago. At this point, Danae has probably cut my hair dozens of times; she also has a rate for bangs only.
I think one of Danae’s major strengths is her ability to execute more «radical» cuts/​styles in addition to straightforward, classic/​simple cuts or layering. I don’t really know of any stylists who have her skill set. I’ve seen all sorts of people get cuts from her, curly/​straight haired, short/​long, fades, etc. I trust her with any hair related decision of mine; she will give very honest and practical advice & will never make unwanted alterations, always checking in with you the entire process. She is seriously the bomb & and an interesting, very pleasant person to boot. I genuinely really like her as a person and value her skill as a stylist.

Danae was great & it’s nice of find a stylist that does a nice razor cut. After some email exchanges, we set an appointment & at the last minute she was able to fit my daughter, who was visiting, in for a cut too. We were both very, very happy with the results!
No frills & I love that we were in & out. She is very pleasant. I even learned of a new product, clay, which has been working out beautifully. I ride a scooter & having helmet hair at work is a pain. I’ve tried so many different products that didn’t work so to find this one, I’m thrilled.

Really nice lady, great at cutting hair. I would recommend it. No frills, but who needs them!

I hate to write this but I could not honestly recommend Danae.
Her salon in her home is very nice and she’s a very pleasant conversationalist, but I did not walk away with the cut that I wanted. When scheduling my appointment with her over email, I sent over at least 4 photos of what I was looking for which were long layers for my already long hair. I asked that the shortest layer be only a few inches than the longest part of my hair, and that’s not what I received.
At the end of my appointment I walked away with chin length layers all around my head and a huge differential between my shortest layers and the longest layers, which reach to my mid-​back.
I’m lucky to have long straight hair that I’ve never had to blowdry or style with my usual cut, but this one is so unflattering that I’ve had to blowdry my hair after every shower, even just to go to work.
Danae did not give me the cut I showed her pictures of and paid for, and now I’ll have to grow my hair out for months. I feel traumatized many weeks after the haircut, and I know how traumatic a bad haircut can be for others as well, which is why I write this.
Two stars for Danae’s personality and responsiveness over email, but I will not be seeing her again.

Danae is extremely great and wonderful! As a human and hairstylist. There are so many people who have cut my hair over the years who profess that they will make it ‘low maintenance’ but lie!!! And said cuts actually require much time and many tools and products to look good (never great, because I never care enough to get there). Finally!!! Danae means what she says and I have a haircut that not only looks great but requires zero effort– literally. And I know what literally means. This is incredible and I am only sad it took me until the ripe old age of 35 to encounter the 8^th wonder of the world, Danae. Who, by the way, is also a pleasure to talk to, unlike many people who have cut my hair over the past 35 years. Perfect! And all at an unbeatable price. Too good to be true? Maybe, but I have not yet found the flaw.

Danae is great! I have really thick, long, curly hair, and she cuts it so my curls curl instead of frizzing, and layers it so I can actually wear my hair down without looking like a block head or pyramid head (you curly haired people know what I’m talking about!). Super reasonable prices and a relaxed atmosphere.

I love Danae. I’ve now gone to her several time and each time she is very friendly and easy to talk to, cuts my hair fast and well, and it is one of the cheapist cuts in the city. I hope she always has room for me in her chair.

WOW! Wonderful! I have had notoriously bad luck with hairstylists, and my habit of moving to a new city every year or so hasn’t helped me in finding a stylist I like and trust. I got lucky this time, Danae was the first person I called, and I’m so glad I did! I am happy with my hair for the first time in years. She is so nice, and was very attentive to what direction I wanted to take my hair. I got one of the best cuts I’ve ever had for half the price of what I’ve paid elsewhere.

Today, Danae-​day, I wasn’t sure if I felt up to bright-​eyed exchanges and the bubbly, kissy-​kissy warmth that seems to traditionally permeate interactions with most stylists. Truth betold, I hadn’t left my house before the time of my appointment, which was for 3:45, and my neurotransmitters were abuzz from lack of proper stomach funds.
It was after having narrowly escaped the clutches of a certain Vidal Sassoon student stylist (who’d offered me a free «creative cut», one in which I would have had no respective say in), that I came to Danae. For the past 6 months, I’ve been cutting my own hair with mixed results and, up until recently, my pixie cut had been bevelled into a bushy & bleached bouffant.
Enchanted by her Unilocal reviews, I e-​mailed her to make an appointment. I wanted to know what all this business was about not-feeling-like-you’ve-just-been-cut but more so looking-​like-​a-​better-​version-​of-​yourself. Because, really, how can it get any better than that without one being able to stand it?
After being greeted at the foot of a mountainous staircase, I began my ascent and arrived into an apartment. Next to the kitchen was a small area with a swivel chair and other various cosmetologicial furnishings, complete with certificate, nail polishes, Nagel prints, colorful feather earrings, product – You know the drill. A houseplant, the likes of which this side of vitality has never before seen, splayed its tendrils across the vanity, daintily cradling small bins of disinfectant. Admittedly, I was having some décor-​related doubts but was very dismissive of them.
What is it about hair stylists, their very existence, which extracts all of your most hopeful but well-​guarded thoughts concerning your appearance? «Warrior princess» is one such point-​of-​reference which has escaped my lips in the past. «Lesbian chic» is what came out this time but was met with dynamic understanding on behalf of Danae. She even enlightened me as to what a Chelsea-​cut is, which I think gives me style points, hahaha.
Overall it was a positive experience, Danae worked with me step by step to construct a hair cut I was ecstatic about. Will recommend to friends!

I tried a haircut from Danae after reading the Unilocal reviews. I had the same stylist for 5 years and having moved, was intimidated to find a new one. I had photos from my last cut that I wanted to emulate and I sent her one during the e-​mail conversation to set up an appointment.
The appointment went smoothly. I told her I wanted to go back to my old cut, but shorter in the front. Danae stopped at key points along the way to ask me how I wanted certain areas and together we built a hairstyle that works for me! I appreciate the affordability and no-​nonsense approach to getting my haircut.

Wow, this was amazing. It feels so great to have someone cut your hair with so much skill and confidence. No styling, just looks great.
Although i was a first time customer, i got credit when i realized i had forgotten my checkbook and was short on cash. Danae suggested that i would mail her the remainder and even tried to send me off with some of the cash i had scraped together, so i would be without change until i made it to the next atm!
Special!

I never write Unilocal reviews for whatever reason, but I had a such a good experience getting my hair cut from Danae, I decided she will be MY FIRST.
Danae is a cool person to talk to, no bs, friendly, and I love the idea of getting a haircut in someone’s home… ah, just like mom used to make. She cut my hair better than how I was explaining or envisioning it, and understood my lazy hair needs.
Her expert skills, extremely affordable price and the experience is better than any other expensive salon I’ve tried… granted, I’ve only paid for a haircut maybe twice in my life (both times in SF), but for someone who is used to cutting their own hair or had their mom cut it for free growing up, I am actually for once in my life willing to pay for a haircut (by Danae), and maybe even get my haircut at least twice a year rather than every 2 years.

I gave this nice lady five stars because she took me last minute when she found out I didn’t live in the immediate area, not to mention the haircut was great. I felt like an indie princess when I walked out of there, and she’s incredibly affordable compared to most decent hair stylists in SF.

I actually registered to write a review of this place.
I have never been so happy with the hair and Danae telling me how to deal with it effectively, especially in these especially windy days we’ve been having.
I was able to get in later the very day I emailed her and she was a great conversationalist, too. I suck and never know what to say, so that’s always awkward but she made it very comfortable.
I’m just so pleased with my hair and the whole experience. I’d never expect it in someone’s apartment like that. The price is right, the cut is amazing, the whole experience extremely positive!

Danae was great — prompt, gave me a great cut (although, to be fair, my hair is easy to do), and we had fun conversations.
And absolutely love the whole entrepreneurial barbershop set-​up in the kitchen!

Danae is da bomb! I didn’t think there was such a thing as a mid-​range haircut in SF — somewhere between the hyper-​chic $ 55 salons, half the cost of which goes into interior decorating, and the $ 10 – 15 chop-​shops that keep costs low by selling your cut hair to wig makers (or so I suspect). Then I discovered Danae.
Not only does Danae a great mid-​range cut at $ 35, she gives a cut worthy of, or perhaps better than, the $ 55+ salons I have been to. And though I won’t speak for female haircuts, I suspect most guys would be similarly pleased — she does an excellent job with our kind, the dudes that want to look good but go in being like «UHMM…» barely possessing a 6^th grade vocabulary when it comes to talking about hair.
My conversation went something like this:
Me: «I want to look like I did in this picture, except not totally, maybe, like, changed a bit.»
Danae: «OK, how do you want it changed?»
Me: «Like. Uh… maybe not as… flat? Is that a thing?»
Danae (holding out her thumb and index finger): «Maybe this long?»
Me (as if reading pig entrails): «Yea…»
After twenty minutes it was like she had read my mind — perfectly short without looking too military and with plenty of room for play and styling. All while having a cool chat without the halting awkwardness of most haircut conversations. Thanks Danae! Just remember to bring cash or check — she doesn’t take ATM/​credit.

Had my first haircut with Danae today and will be recommending her to my friends! I love that her studio is in the comforts of her own home. She has great prices and doesn’t charge extra for length. I usually grow out my hair so i usually get charged extra for length, but i usually just get a basic cut and layers – plus my hair is pretty easy to work with so I always felt it was stupid that i got charged an extra $ 10 – 20 for length!
here’s what made me a fan though – she got my bangs to look guuuuud. I have only had one hairdresser ever do my bangs in a way that was satisfactory to me and she charged me WAY for than $ 35 for the haircut!
Also, she happened to have some ESSIE nailpolishes that she was selling for a buck so i walked away with a nice haircut and a new color of nailpolish!

Three reasons I love Danae:
1) Her name. She’s got two vowels right next to each other! Crazy!
2) She’s probably the first hair stylist I ever had a conversation with instead of grumpily staring at the mirror, or reading a magazine. She seems really mellow and quiet, but then she’s all, «Oh, I went to India for a month with $ 5 in my pocket. The camel carnival was disappointing.»
This is much better conversation than the time I went to Supercuts and the stylist told me about how she doesn’t like the sound of ambulance sirens because they remind her of her dead husband.
3) At some point, I had that short bob with long bangs that everyone had last year, and it started to grow out and look funky. I let Danae know that I wanted to grow out my hair past my shoulders, and to re-​shape it so it wouldn’t look funky as it grew out. Folks, that was at least a year ago and my hair still don’t look funky; it’s layered and dynamic like I got it trimmed more recently.
UHHMAZING.
Bonus reason: I like that she doesn’t wash your hair beforehand because I have thick, wavy hair that’s different on either side of my head and other stylists blow dry it stick straight before cutting. Meanwhile, I’m thinking the whole time, «My hair will not look anything like this tomorrow when I towel dry it and run out of the gym.»
Danae works with the hair you got, not the hair that’s most convenient for her. It’s beautiful and zen, man.
In short: phenomenal stylist, and you could not possibly beat the price.

Danae had been cutting my hair for the past two years in San Francisco, and for the price, I really couldn’t ask for anyone better!
I always thought my expectations for haircuts were reasonable, until I visited almost every single hairdresser I’ve been to, and it turns out that their expectation is «cut it any way I want, even if it’s the opposite of what you want.» So, yeah, my expectations may have been shifted to «don’t screw it up,» but I was sufficiently happy with the value of the haircuts I was getting with Danae.
Danae really makes an effort to listen to what you have to say and try her best to cut your hair how you want it cut. She doesn’t shampoo or wash your hair, or style it in super-​crazy, ultra-​trendy ways, but she cuts it how you like. I’m guessing this is because she feels bad when people don’t like their haircuts. She also cut my bangs for a reduced price, whenever I needed one of many touch-​ups.
If you want a no-​frills simple haircut and you can get an appointment, this is the place for you!

I love the way Danae cuts hair! Not just the way my haircut turns out (which is great), but just the WAY she cuts hair… when she’s doing my layers, she holds my hair up and snips quickly and upbeatly, like she’s doing a little dance. As bits of split ends fall rhythmically around me, I can’t help but wanna do a little jig myself!
Getting my hair cut has always been a very conscious and somewhat painful event for me, and I’d had such lukewarm to horrid experiences in the city that I’d never gone back to the same place twice. After going to Danae twice now, I feel that I can trust her to consistently give me what I want. She’s no fuss, no bullshit, just straightforward and efficient. I’m ESPECIALLY sensitive about what my bangs look like, and she has been the only stylist thus far to get them remotely to my exactly liking!
She doesn’t wash your hair beforehand, which I was a little disappointed about at first, but I understand why she chooses not to (the sink she would use is her kitchen sink, which she admitted to me doesn’t exactly achieve the utmost level of professionalism or cleanliness… I mean, who really wants their head rinsed over remnants of leftover food?).
Finally, it’s cool to know that because she’s doing it on her own, she’s not representing the salon she works at – she’s representing herself! Which makes it easier to fork over the reasonable $ 30 she charges, knowing it’s going directly to her and her craft.
Though I still may splurge for the salon once in a blue moon, I’m planning to stick with Danae for my regular hair checkups.