Vidal Sassoon Academy: A Cautionary Tale

I thought I had stumbled across a great bargain – the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica. At $21 for a cut & dry, I happily imagined myself strutting around with a trendy, stylish haircut and money left in my pocket. The problem is, more often than not, you get what you pay for.

The academy, located just off the 3rd Street Promenade on Santa Monica Blvd, is upstairs from Hooters. Good to know if you have a penchant for big boobs or buffalo wings post-cut.

As I got in line to check in for my appointment, it never crossed my mind as strange that, unlike other salons, you pay beforehand. I was too busy checking out the inventive (‘wowser’) haircuts of the students sauntering by. “Wow, that’s not a red found in nature” was one thought; another was “Wow, I’m surprised she let her hair be cut so short…is that tail-like strand a memento of her former hair length?”

Despite these observations, I never once considered backing out. These were the students’ edgy haircuts, mine would be different somehow. Yeah right!

In all fairness, my student stylist – let’s call him Keith – was polite and seemed to want to make me happy. He nodded his head when I told him I wanted my split ends taken care of with no more than 2 inches off the length. Unwittingly, however, I did agree to some ‘soft’ layers. What a no-no!

As these are students, their teacher stopped by and approved Keith’s haircut plan. I saw large tufts of hair being cut off, but there was no turning back so I hoped I was imagining things. The teacher would come by and coo at how well it was turning out so I just sat there for the 2-hour cut with a smile.

It wasn’t until my hair was dried and flat-ironed that I realized I essentially had a mullet. Yes, Keith kept his word and kept the length below my shoulders, well at least on half my hair. Problem was the other half was ‘layered’ to a length just above my ears. Yikes!

As I couldn’t ask them to grow my hair back, I went along my way, vowing to deluge myself with hair growth-promoting vitamins.

Remember that Vidal Sassoon commercial: “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.” Well, all I can say is that it rings true. Their haircuts didn’t look so hot, and I now have a mullet. Think twice before heading to the Vidal Sassoon Academy – unless, that is, you’re into edgy mullet cuts.