Headmasters

It seemed like it was going to be great. The consultation was great and I was happy with the colour and highlights I was going to get.
During the colouring a lot of the dye (dark brown) exceeded my hairline. And not just a little bit. A lot. The hairdresser tried to remove it after the shampooing by wiping it. It didn’t seem so bad in the salon because my hair was continuously over my face. I got home and scrubbed and scrubbed. I understand this isn’t unusual but if the hairdresser had taken more care and paid more attention, I wouldn’t be walking out of the house today worth 2 new ‘birth mark’ splodges on my face.
The haircut was also very rough. I expect a hairdresser to check the length is even and I got home to find it wasn’t. The hair cut was also meant to give me more layers and lighten it a lot more. It feels like I have a straight cut and it’s still just as heavy and thick as it was before.
During the blow dry I could tell that my hair felt dry and brittle. It doesn’t feel healthy or look shinny at all. During this time I think the hairdresser forgot there was a head attached to my hair. There was a lot of knots which were not brushed out nicely.
After paying what i thought was quite a lot, I have arrived home extremely unhappy with the service I received today.

These people are rude and won’t accommodate your situation or schedule at all. Walk-​ins are impossible, getting immediate color is impossible, and appointments if you aren’t there in the minute are also impossible. Reasoning with them is impossible. Save yourself their smug looks and go somewhere else.

Love this place!
Not only are there always great deals but there’s always someone really knowledgeable there to help you out.
I’ve been here a couple times, once for a bang trim and the 2^nd time I brought my husband in for a revamped look. Gema (from Spain) was awesome. She really took her time (and we were a drop in) and helped out the hubs achieve his totally handsome new ‘do!

I had a very positive hairdressing experience with Headmasters yesterday.
I saw on their website that for their same-​day walk in service, they offer full cuts for £28, which is about half the price of a regular haircut with stylist. I thought ‘why not?’ and headed down there. It may be a little bit of a risk going on Saturday, but I got a spot on their schedule with no problem.
Walking in the door, the atmosphere was very professional and friendly, and I felt very welcome. I had ‘Lizzie’ to do my hair cut, and she was personable, speedy and a great advisor on what I should do. She was clearly very knowledgable and gave me some great advice, whilst obviously doing her best to push their products. When finished, she gave me a great ‘welcome gift’ of a cool looking oyster card holder, with inserted mirror and their coupons. A real marketing ‘win’ if ever I saw one!
And of course, the result: a great new haircut! Very pleased and will definitely go back to them next time.

I desperately needed to sort my fringe out, but after finding that places charge just for a fringe trim, i thought i’d go whole hog and get a trim all over. I always walk past this headmasters, and they do stand by appointments every day of the week. The deal is for £25, they guarantee your cut, but can’t guarantee who you’ll get (their words not mine). So you could get the creative director or a graduate stylist.
The woman i spoke to on the phone was really lovely, and booked me in for a 4.30pm appointment on saturday afternoon. i arrived and was promptly introduced to the stylist i had been allocated (i would have said she was somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy which is a big ‘phew’ for me, as i have a fear of newly qualified hairdressers).
i had quite a long consultation (always a good thing in my book) and was quite confident we were on the same page. she did admit that she wanted to take more off the length than i had originally wanted, which i ended up agreeing to (my hair is in pretty bad condition and the ends were dead).
i’m pretty pleased with the way she has cut my fringe, and even though it pains me to say it, i think it was a good idea to take some of the length off as i feel like i can make a fresh start on growing my hair. so pros:
last minute appointments for a pretty reasonable price (especially good if you’re allocated someone who would ordinarily charge you 3 times as much).
my hairdresser wasn’t a massive talker– she just sort of did her thing and i wasn’t forced to make banal conversation whilst worrying that she might be too focused on telling me about her holiday rather than where her scissors were going.
the salon is very nice internally, easy to get to and find.
i’m pretty pleased with the cut (although the real test will come when i have to wash and style it for myself). and the cons bearing in mind that i arrived at half 4 and didn’t leave until 6, i wasn’t offered a drink or magazines by anyone. not sure if maybe the stand by appointments are no frills and these are reserved for customers paying full price, but i’ve genuinely never been to a salon which hasn’t offered me a cup of tea.
as i think is more often the case with ‘chain’ style hairdressers, the stylist was trying to upsell other products and services. she said i’d really benefit from a deep condition treatment (at £15, i would hope so), but i managed to politely decline. then, when i was finished, she showed me over to the product cabinet and pointed out all the products she’d used and which ones i’d benefit from. again, i managed to get away without having to make £100 worth of purchases. for me, this upselling and cross-​selling is a bit of a turn off.
and the other little thing (which is actually pretty minor) is that i got the only stylist in the salon that seemed to be avoiding using a barrel brush, and preferred to straighten my hair, even though i asked for it to be straight but not flat. but to be fair, i never like the way hairdressers finish my hair, and i always re-​do it when i get home if i’m going out, so this wasn’t really much of a shock, just more disappointing. overall, i feel ok about my experience at this salon– the cut seems good and i got a thorough consultation so i knew what my stylist was going to do, and there were no nasty suprises. have i found my ideal hairdressers. no. but in times of need, i probably would return to headmasters. and i’ll just have to pipe up and ask for a drink next time.