Hot Head

I’ve been here twice now and both times I’ve bounced out of the door with a big smile on my face. Why? Because they listened to me when I said I needed a change! I reckon those words must strike fear in most hairdressers because ones I’ve been to previously have just followed the lines of a previous cut. Here both times they listened to what I wanted adding some suggestions go their own. I haven’t been disappointed. I’m so happy with my new style! I thoroughly recommend Hot Head :)
It seems like quite a busy salon but they try and get you in when you want. Not only is the ambience inviting and unthreatening (you know like most salons can be) they have a help yourself section of coffee and tea and biscuits… always nice to have a biscuit :)

I get my hair chopped regularly here as I love the laid-​back vibe of the place & the interior is super-​funky. There is a nice little sofa corner where you can chill with a coffee & choccy biscuit if you need to wait at all, or even if you are waiting on your friend getting their hair cut. This time around I took my kids in for their haircut, 2 boys aged 2 & 4. I reckon it’s probably a hairdressers nightmare when faced with fidgety young ‘uns but Lousie (the owner & stylist) had agreed to do the both of them in one sitting. She was very patient & understanding with them & we managed to get both of their barnett’s chopped with no tears & little fuss — success! What’s more they both came out with funky little styles which I was very happy with. Well done on all counts HOTHEAD!

I just moved here and am super particular about my hair, as it is quite long, and spent a lot of time researching the best place to try out. Before I even read the Unilocal reviews I asked around and several gals told me they got their hair done at Hot Head and loved it. I also found the price (35 pounds) to be very reasonable.
When I arrived I was greeted warmly and offered a seat with the option of tea or coffee and some amazing looking chocolates on the table. I didn’t wait that long and was taken over to have my hair done by a lovely girl name Chloe. She thoroughly listened to what I wanted and my previous bad experiences with trying new places. I showed her some pictures and she added some small suggestions for my hair type, which in the end turned out so well! I was super thrilled with the way she cut it and she walked me through it the whole time about what she was taking off and how she was going to cut it.
Maybe that is a bit much for some, but I really liked her keeping me informed about what she was doing, just incase at some point I maybe didn’t like what she was doing. BUT I loved it! And they do complimentary fringe trims when you need it.
I am so becoming a regular at this place. The salon is lovely, relaxing and the staff was super friendly. I would recommend it to anyone for something new. My hair looked and felt great after I left. I also asked for it to be super easy to take of on my own, and it still looks great and is quick to style each morning as promised!

I’m going to kick this up a notch.
Returned here yesterday to get a trim and a slight restyle. Again, the hairdresser listened to me and did exactly what I wanted.
That’s a two-​fer.
I may start getting my hair cut more than once a year now. Particularly since the price is reasonable and they have late opening Thursdays.

I usually always stick to the same hairdresser at the same salon in the same place so this was totally foreign to me, and I may have been freaking out a little.
Freak out a little I need not have. This lovely little salon is brilliant! (And the interior is totally cute and quirky!) The staff are soooo friendly, free coffee and biscuits (that’s just an extra little bonus!) but more to the point… my hair looks *freaking* AWESOME.
I decided to get it all cut short, and to go red. Not horrible, garish red, just red. Jess, my hairdresser really got this. The colour is spot on, just what I had imagined in my head even if I didn’t manage to put it across to well in words. The cut is perfect and I left here with the biggest grin on my face.
The ridiculous amount of compliments I have had on it since I have had it done simply says it all. This place is quality.

This place is great! I was really mulling over just getting dreads after all the bad reviews I read about some of the nearby salons. After deciding I wouldn’t look good with dreadlocks and taking some time to look over some reviews I decided on Hot Head.
Thank God I did!
I arrived at 10am (early bird I am) and promptly waited for no less than 10 seconds in their comfy couches. This might be a perk to some but I was somewhat tired and wishing so badly I could have snagged a cup of their freshly brewed coffee. Have no fear! My stylist noticed I didn’t have any and offered to fix me up a cup! Perfect experience already :)
After chit chatting a bit about what I wanted my hair to look like (she even recommended a few ideas that I hadn’t thought about loved!), it was time to wash my hair and then get out the snippers to cut off these God-​forsaken dead ends.
All in all, it was the most pleasant experience I could have asked for. My hair was silky smooth and cut exactly how I wanted it and worth every penny!
Definitely recommend and will definitely be coming back!
*I think the stylist I had was named Lee but I can’t quite remember.

Not so much of a review as a comment I wish hothead would get a website or even just a free blog so I could find out their prices!

I go here for my haircuts, mainly because my hairdresser moved there.
However, I really like the relaxed atmosphere and the coffee and Tunnocks Caramels that are on free vend!
Prices are reasonable for Edinburgh (I pay £20 less than I used to at PSA).

After receiving their striking mailouts through the post I was very interested by the idea of Hot Head — their aesthetic and the whole ‘tea & biscuits’ thing really appealed to me. I’ve been needing to get my eyebrows done so I decided to go for that first to see how I felt about the place before committing my money and hair. As I was out anyway I popped in to make an appointment and unfortunately the five minutes I spent in the salon has put me off going back.
They didn’t seem to have a receptionist which is understandable in a small place but the layout and the way the girl approached me immediately made me feel like I was bothering them. I said that I would like to make a booking but she told me that that it’s a separate company downstairs and that I would have to phone to make a booking. Her manner was not rude but it was certainly dismissive.
It might not sound like a big deal going home and phoning up instead of making a booking then and there but it did not feel like good customer service — It didn’t encourage me to go back and I got them done elsewhere instead. I appreciate that if the companies operate separately there is probably not much she could do — but they promote and name their businesses as connected and it’s not unusual to come in off the street and make a booking over the counter…
Some of the other comments I’ve read here seem to back up the overall impression I got which is nice décor, good idea but a bit ‘too cool for school’ when it comes to service.

Before I ever visited Hot Head I was bought over by their flyers, which have a cool green design and makes the salon seem quite laid back and almost fun. I was searching for a waxing place, which they are amongst many other things, and felt it was perfect; it’s not too expensive, and is extremely close to the George Square University area.
Sadly their waxing specialist seems to work a little independently of the salon, and was away during my time of need, so I had to go elsewhere. Depending on what you may want to have done, it could cost anything from £15 for a bikini wax, to about £25 for a full (CRAZY!) brazilian.
They also offer a whole range of beauty treatments such as manicures and pedis, facials, and most importantly massages! The ladies getting their hair done seemed to be having more of a fun tea break than a hair cut, and if they had any idea what to do with African hair, I would probably give them a try!

There is a great, relaxed atmosphere at this hidden away salon on West Nicolson Street. As a curly haired brunette it is good to walk into a place that isn’t full of razor straight haired blondies with identical haircuts!
This was my third visit here and I almost expected to be disappointed, I usually go off a place after a couple of appointments but this place is a keeper.
Comfy sofas and lots of drinks option as you arrive– they even have a bowl of retro biscuits to satisfy your sweet tooth while you choose your new ‘do’.
Lovely staff who gave me a great head, massage while they washed my hair with some fantastic smelling stuff. Good banter with my hairdresser who gave me my favourite haircut to date.
I took advantage of my last week as a student and got 10% discount, and left feeling thoroughly satisfied with my visit.
I haven’t tried the beauty treatments that they offer but I look forward to trying them out and will enjoy them if they are even half as good as the haircutting experience.

I went to Hothead to get my hair dyed and cut, after reading some of the reviews on here, thought I’d give it a go… extremely poor service, I had my hair coloured by one stylist and cut by another and neither of them made any conversation with me. I’m Canadian and clearly have a different accent and neither stylist made any notice of this. It was awkward sitting in a chair for hours with no conversation! At least a where r u from? My hair turned out good, but was expensive, 90 pounds. And not worth the poor service and lack of effort… if you want no personality or conversation but good hair, hothead is for you.

Had a cut at HotHead some time back and was sadly disappointed. The place is striking with fancy brick walls and interesting deco. However the service was very poor. So poor infact that even after a while I have decided to write this review.
I forget the hairdressers name but she had dark hair and was quite funky. She barely spoke to me and I actually wanted the time to come to an end to get out of the situation, so uncomfortable I felt.
She took a huge chunk from the back of my hair which was weird and later hairdressers have said is totally dreadful. But worse my hair was in poor condition (something I was later told by a pro) and should not have been dyed. The hairdresser did not do any consultation or tell me honestly that my hair should not have been dyed due to the condition. It was dyed and after my first wash away from the salon my hair was dreadful! I asked another professional elsewhere and they were shocked. To top it off it cost me £80 — biggest waste of money ever. Poor service, poor phone skills and pants hairdresser!

This little hairdresser is often mistaken for some sort of furniture or boutique store rather than a place to get your haircut. It has a laid back style and homey feeling to it– no extreme shiny surfaces or too many posters of hair models draping the walls. If you are getting hair dyed you can hang out on their comfy couches with coffee/​tea. I have had my hair cut three times here. The first two I was quite pleased with, the last was ok– I only ever get a trim so nothing too drastic was required but somehow it wasn’t a great cut.
They do have a student deal and offer services of head massage, manicure/​pedicure and other massages. Prices can vary depending on the service– probably the most relaxing hair wash I have ever had, but careful on offers for head massage etc as this will be added to your bill in the end and lead to a possible unpleasant suprise. Other than that, lovely atmosphere! Book in advance is advisable, although twice they have managed to fit me in when I dropped by.

I went to Hothead once last year to have my hair cut and dyed for a v. important event. The salon is absolutely lovely and they put you at ease when you arrive, making sure you have a comfy sofa to sit on cup of tea and something to read while they set things up. I was really impressed by the friendly receptionist and an older lady stylist who spoke to me initially about the colour I wanted.
Unfortunately though, I was allocated a stylist called Jess, one of the other reviewers here mentions her too. Very inattentive — I was left sitting in the chair waiting for her to come and do something for ages! She then proceeded to apply two lots of dye because she claimed that my previous home-​dye job would not be covered up by just one (really?), so I had to pay for the colour twice. The cut was OK but everything took AGES and it wasn’t anything spectacular when I came out — in fact I wasn’t totally happy with it until a few weeks later when it had grown out a bit. I ended up paying a massive £95 for a cut and «two colours,» and I was in the salon for four hours, a lot of that time spent sitting in the chair wondering what was going on! Nice salon, but I won’t be going back!

Absolute disaster and a rip-​off!
If you know exactly what you want, then you may have luck in getting it done. But, do not go with any hopes of getting useful suggestions. I felt like crying when I left the shop because she had done exactly what i had asked her not to !!!
I have curly hair and i precisely told her not to make it look like a basket toppled on my head and that is precisely what she ended up doing. She was talking all this fluff of using the right products and styling it properly etc. But, then, thats that. I went there for a hair cut
Paid 30 quid for a stupid job which has made my hair to go into far worse condition. I have to just wait for it to grow now to undo the damage that has been caused!
All the Bohemian chic (of the shop) doesn’t hold if there isn’t proficiency in the job !!

I went to hot head after reading the reviews on Qype. Very disappointed. The atmosphere was nice but the service was horrible. First of all, when I booked my appointment via the phone I asked a few questions about the price and the person on the other end of the phone was very impatient about my question.
The person who cut my hair is called Jess. Unprofessional and inattentive. She looked like she was dreaming when she was cutting my hair. The cut was very very bad. I wanna cry when I walked out the door. I will never go to Hot Head again. For £35 you can get a better cut and a better service.