Vidal Sassoon Training School, Mayfair, London

I have to make a special trip to this salon as the director certainly knows what i like!

I agree with last reviewer the standard has definately gone down. The tutor used the same filthy comb on all customers without washing in between. very unhygenic. He did not supervise my student at all, with the result when I got back to work my collegues pointed out there were "long bits" in my hair which I had to cut myself!! This is meant to be a top school training students from all over the world who pay high fees, but what I got was an unhygenic, unsupervised poor cut, by a tutor who also looked so unprofessional- tatoos everywhere, sleevless vest with stinky armpits. Very disappointed.

I have used the Staff Training facility for 25 years and until recently was always pleased with the cuts. However I noticed that they are no longer supervising their students closely this year, and my last cut on 6th May 2010 is disastrous. The young man who cut my hair was pleasant, when I remarked that no one had ever cut my hair like that before he assured me that there were different ways of doing it. Had he sought help from his teache,r or had she been supervising him closely, I would not have ended up with a disastrous haircut. I wanted to believe it was not so bad and managed to convince myself it was not that bad and paid for it before I left. When I got home I was less than happy and when I washed my hair and could not make it look at all reasonable I had no doubt that I'd had a bad cut. In addition it is very short, much shorter than I have ever had my hair and therefore I have months and months to wait for this awful cut to grow out

If one a day a girl from Vidal Sassoon training school stops you in the middle of the street to offer you a haircut for £12, go for it!
She wasn’t a student though but a salon trainee and knew very well what she was doing, I don’t know about the actual students.
And make sure you have plenty of time because it takes a while (at least 1h30 for the haircut).

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Vidal Sassoon School. The cut is brilliant and I have received many compliments on it. My student was at the end of her 7 months training, and had been a hair dresser for eight years before so I had a very skilled worker. The teacher, was alert, artistic, and very in control. Why not five stars? Nearly 3 1/2 hours is a long, long time. They warn that it could take 2-3 hours. Bring a novel to read while you wait for the teacher to come around and inspect each step of the cutting process.

if you can afford to get your hair cut at a proper salon for say pounds 20, why come out with a sore bum after sitting there and a novice experimenting with your hair for 3 hours, in addition to that, you have to put up with their snotty instructors who will say VERY GOOD to all students, and make you feel like the student is really doing a good job when, at the end of the cut, you just realise, you might have to go spend 28 quid again at a salon and have it done how you really wanted., so i guess that makes a waste of 4 hours altogether and paying at two separate locations, not to mention the tube and wait times involved…..

horrible experience!

I have been to each of the Vidal Sassoon schools around Bond Street over the years and as a result know too much for a hairdresser customer. I remember I once went into a high street haridressers and asked them to cut a bob. All they did was brush my hair straight and cut a line round. Now after being in the school and hearing the technical details about how it should be done I knew this person didn’t really know how to cut hair.
I have never dared go back to a normal high street hairdresser again. So my only options now are to take an annual leave day and go to the Vidal Sassoon school or pay an exorbitant rate at a fancy hairdresser. I know which I prefer.
It does take a long time, but having once sat in a 'normal’ (by fancy) hairdressers who took at least 2 and half hours to cut the same style it does not actually seem that much longer to go to the school.
Since most of the students are from abroad and rarely speak much English there is never much of the normal hairdresser banter which is okay by me as I can quietly read a book and just relax for a while.

I will have to give this place 5 stars because the both time i have been there, not only was my haircut fab but the way i was treated was fab and professional. Both times I’ve had a chinese girl cut my hair and they are so good at it. I like the fact that they take their time when cutting to make it look perfect and just how you want it. Oh and when they wash your hair they give you like a nice massage in the head of course.

It does take about 3 hours but i think its worth it for a hair cut you’ll be happy with. At the end they usually take a pic of the final cut.

The only reason I’m giving this two stars is becuase the highlights were pretty fantastic and the girl who did these was very lovely.

The rest of my time here was a disaster. They hacked all my hair off! I told them I wanted Cameron Diaz. I came out crying. The guy dind’t speak any English which didn’t help and I should have run screaming then. Not being able to communicate with a guy hacking at your hair is not fun. The instructor was rude and just said ‘that’s what you asked for’ and that was that.

I cried. A lot. But my friend convinced me that it would look better with some colour so I went back in. They were much nicer on that side and they looked after me. They even gave me a glass of water!

And yes. My hair did look better. The colour was great. But I won’t go back. Worse than that, I’ll never set foot in a Vidal Sassoon hair salon. If they’re happy to let people leave when they’re crying, they really don’t care enough about their customers.

The whole thing took 4 1/2 hours. Never again. It’s places like this that remind me why I pay a lot of money to get my hair done.

The Vidal Sassoon training school for hairdressers is tucked away behind Bond Street station. This is a brilliant place to go if you want an inexpensive (or even free) hair cut and you're quite prepared to allow the (trainee) hairdresser to experiment. If you're the kind of person that has definate ideas about what you want and don't want anything too out there (if you know what I mean...), then perhaps the Vidal Sassoon training school might not suit you. The good thing about hair is that it can always grow back. Expect to pay inbetween 4 and 11 pounds for a hair cut or trim. Perms and various other hair services are available.