Insider Pages Reviews for Soon Beauty Lab West

5 Stars: great, affordable cut (by nehbelt)

nehbelt — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:00:00 GMT

I've gone here twice to Connie and have been happy with my cut both times. I was going to Xac Anthony on 19th for a while and the cuts were $115 on the low end - my cut at Soon is only $60. They seem to do a good job with short cuts and color as well, although I don't require either of those. I would definitely recommend this salon to someone looking for an inexpensive, quality cut.

My one negative is that the salon is a little depressing - it could use some more decoration/personality overall. But perhaps it's like this to keep costs down, which is fine with me.

5 Stars: Awesome massage (by Smithitis)

Smithitis — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:00:00 GMT

I was recently at your salon and I have to say that the assistant Joey gave me one of the best shampoo massages I've ever had. I had a bit of a headache right before my appointment but the treatment I received at the salon took that away. I would highly recommend this salon. Be sure to ask for Joey for your shampoo.

2 Stars: So-so experience (by mcjays199)

mcjays199 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:00:00 GMT

A few months ago I went to Soon after reading great reviews on Citysearch and NYMag's websites. I arrived on time but still had to wait 15 minutes just to get a shampoo.
I made an appointment with a mid-level stylist and explained that I wanted layers and bangs. As my hair started growing out I realized that the cut was very uneven - the hair on my right side of my head was two inches longer than the left side.

3 Stars: What happened? (by littlepumpkin25)

littlepumpkin25 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:00:00 GMT

My husband and I got services in Dec. at the same time. He got a great haircut and wanted to make another appt. He couldn't remember the stylist's name, but I called the salon to have them retrieve the info from his last appointment. Somehow, both of us disappeared from their calendar. No names, phone numbers, nothing. The person I was speaking to on the phone just said we weren't in the system, maybe we were at the east location. No, I said, we were definitely at the west location just before the holidays. She just said, well, you're not in here. So, ok, maybe I could get a little help here? She didn't even try to suggest another stylist or help me any further. I felt like my business didn't mean anything. Just one more example of poor customer service I guess. Too bad for the great stylist who just lost a customer.

5 Stars: LOVE THIS PLACE! (by stephanie998)

stephanie998 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:00:00 GMT

I went to Soon going off reviews from City Search and Yelp, and was very pleased!

The day I called I to make an appointment the receptionist told me they had a range of stylist's available from 50 to 80 dollars. I opted for an experienced level stylist which was $70. I went in and met my stylist named Kaitlin, she was super cool and very friendly. We consulted about my hair cut for about 10 minutes and I felt like she really understood what I wanted. My shampoo was awesome, her apprentice gave me a scalp massage and an amazing long shampoo. Kaitlin was very funny and seemed super focused on what she was doing, but was also able to carry on a great conversation with me. In the end my haircut turned out awesome, and the blowdry was perfect too. I felt like a new person!

5 Stars: Great customer service (by brookkan)

brookkan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:00:00 GMT

This is a review of HOW Soon treats their customers, as I have not yet had them cut or style my hair (due to having a ridiculously crazy schedule). I was running late for my appointment with Anne and being the responsible stylist that she is, decided to not try to rush me through but rather use the time (unpaid) to consult with me about what I would like. She spent a good 30 minutes with me talking about my hair, its texture, and what long term goals for it ( having to get it out of a terrible hair cut in stages). The attention and quality of treatment were absolutely amazing and so hard to find in this city. I made the mistake of goign somewhere else that was close to where i work and could get me in at the last minute- BIG mistake. I will now go back to Anne and the other super nice people at Soon.

5 Stars: Janessa's in Chelsea now? (by keithkristofer)

keithkristofer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Is she still tapping her foil packets? She's different like that. Seriously though, Janessa's great and she takes her work seriously. A very professional stylist with lots of style. You can't go wrong with that girl.

5 Stars: Best Blonde In New York (by Sarahlovesthecity)

Sarahlovesthecity — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:00:00 GMT

I just has Janessa Flowers do my highlights and cut. I have never had such an amazing colorist touch my hair! Seriously, I never take the time to write reviews but her dedication and talent reallly impressed me. To often you get mediocre service and pay high prices. Her partial foil and cut ran me $195. Which is a steal considering after 4 weeks my blonde still looks fantastic. She got extremely close to the scalp around my face to brighten my skin she explained , and in other areas purposely kept it further to give it more of a grown in look to make the grow out process more graceful. Her cutting style was meticlous and precise and the blowout lasted for days. She sold me some Davines shampoo and conditioner which is great as well.

5 Stars: Soon West Rocks! (by goldenba)

goldenba — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:00:00 GMT

I live in the neighborhood and I have been walking by Soon for 4 years. I always assumed with its sleek decor and chic staff, that the prices would be astronomical, much like some of their neighbors. On further investigation on their website, though, I learned that a senior stylist charges between $80-$90 for a cut. I booked with Jessica and could not be more pleased with the service she gave me. I have curly hair that I wear straight sometimes - a stylist really needs to understand and listen to a client's needs. Jessica absolutely did. She cut my hair beautifully for curls and then straightened it with a blow-dryer so we could see how the layers were falling. I told her it was a bit fuller than I wanted - she looked, agreed and immediately fixed the issue. Love her. Can't wait for my next cut!

3 Stars: Spotty (by tory06)

tory06 — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 01:00:00 GMT

I have had two great highlighting experiences at Soon - one with the owner Melissa who is just great - however the rest of my experiences have been less good - my first haircut done by a junior stylist ended up looking good, but was much shorter than I had asked for. The most recent visit resulted in a color job that was far darker than i had asked for and truly don't like at all along with a very mediocre haircut for $80. I would only recommend going if you are willing to be incredibly trusting of the stylists.

5 Stars: Soon Gave Me Peace of Mind (by ggfan)

ggfan — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:00:00 GMT

A few days ago I went to another very highly rated salon in NYC. When I left, the cut looked all right, but since I never style my hair, it looked different when I let it air dry. It turns out that I don't like choppy cuts with chunky layers. I don't blame they stylist since I had given him a lot of freedom (I was tired of my bland hair), and on someone else it'd probably have been fine, but when I found myself "trimming" bits and pieces for the 3rd time to try and make it look more uniform, I knew I had to schedule an emergency appointment. I called Soon and got an appointment for 2 hours later the same day.

I arrived a few minutes early and was immediately shown to the changing room. When I came out, I was led to the sink, where Kristina washed my hair and gave me a nice scalp massage. Then I explained to my stylist, Kumi, what had happened and that what I wanted was softly graduated layers, and that I wanted to lose as little hair as possible as it was already a little shorter than I wanted. I knew this might be difficult because she was definitely going to have to cut some off in order to fix it, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would be all right. Kumi seemed to understand what I wanted and went to work.

By the time she'd blown my hair dry, I was feeling a lot better about my style. The sides in particular look very nice, with the softly graduated layers I had been looking for. The back was harder to fix because of how the original stylist had cut the layers, but she did a good job there too. Considering the limitations she had to work with, I think she did a very good job. I'll just say that earlier in the day I had reached the point where I literally could barely think about anything except my hair and how much I disliked it, and after my appointment with Kumi, I felt like I could relax and breathe again. Kumi herself is very nice. She's polite and listens to what you want, and asks for clarification if necessary. Highly recommended!

5 Stars: Life changing experience...seriously. (by ptownexpress)

ptownexpress — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:00:00 GMT

This place saved my life! Soon was reccomnded to me by a friend after my then-boyfriend and I decided my hair "situation" had become intolerable. Let me explain. I am a gay man who has had extremely long hair for most of my adult life. This never seemed to be a problem for me dating/hooking up-wise however, until I moved to New York two years ago. After a month or so of failed hookups it became GLARINGLY obvious from the feedback I was getting that, in the NYC gay community, my long luscious hair was simply "not on." Well, after almost a year of putting it off, I finally walked through the doors at Soon...I was terrified, not certain what kind of cut I even wanted, and visibly shaken. That is, until I met my stylist, Jenny. I began explaining my apprehension and fear concerning the leap into the void we were about to take together, when Jenny sat me down in the chair, smiled reassuringly at me in the mirror and said with an absolutely hypnotic confidence "don't worry, I've done this before." The rest, quite simply, is history. She divined almost instantly what kind of cut I had been longing for for a year without my having even realized it and the whole thing was over before I even knew it. I left the salon feeling and looking, quite literally, like an entirely different person. The cut Jenny gave me was nothing short of astonishingly liberating and her relaxed, cool yet cooth attitude made the experience one of utter pleasure, rather than the terror I'd been prepared for. Since that day, I've never looked back and have reccomended Jenny to a host of friends and co-workers who have all had similarly fantastic experiences with her and Soon in general. At such modest prices and with cool, confident, and obviously talented stylists like these, it doesn't really get much better than this in the city.

Thank You Jenny!

3 Stars: worst haircut ever! (by serveert)

serveert — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:00:00 GMT

I came to Soon after recommendations from friends (who have really cute hair) with high hopes and a lot of confidence. I left two hours later with an awful haircut and a lot of frustration. I requested a senior stylist when I made my appointment and realized soon after I sat down that my senior stylist was only recently promoted. She apparently did not listen or did not hear what I asked her to do: a simple short haircut with bangs. She gave me a mullet! One side of my hair was razored and trimmed while the other was left almost untouched--totally lopsided--and the back was longer than the front! I literally watched her confidence wane as she realized she couldn't fix the mess she had made after an hour and a half of trying to. She was very sweet and tried to make me happy, but simply lacked the talent and skill to give a good haircut. For $80, that should never be the case!

5 Stars: Carla's where it's at! (by eyenoeverything)

eyenoeverything — Wed, 10 May 2006 02:00:00 GMT

I have had my hair cut at both Soon's east and west locations. I prefer the west because of it's close proximity to the R/W/F/V on 23rd street. Carla is my stylist, and the stylist of two of my friends. We all adore her. She is an absolute sweetheart with a knack for GREAT hair. She always makes sure you leave with what you want. AND...you just can not go wrong with the 10 dollar in-between trim!

5 Stars: GREAT HAIRCUT! (by lauryntrk83)

lauryntrk83 — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 01:00:00 GMT

I took my boyfriend here last week for his first real haircut in 5 years and they did an outstanding job. His hair has been long for 4 years and he was ready for a big change and she was very patient and made sure she gave him what he wanted and gave him the perfect short cut. This place is outstanding, especially considering it's $50 less than everwhere else in the area!

3 Stars: decent cut; unfriendly service (by garagegourmet)

garagegourmet — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 01:00:00 GMT

I went to Soon West on the recommendation of friends who loved their experiences at Soon in the East Village. My stylist was very rough with my hair and was generally glum and unfriendly. Overall, it was an unpleasant experience. I think the cut I got was exactly what I asked for, but I can get my simple style done at many other salons in Manhattan. I would go somewhere else where service is more of a priority.

4 Stars: great (by emily k.)

emily k. — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:32:00 GMT

This is a really good place to go to your hair cut. The inside is pretty neat and the staff was all super friendly. It cost about $60 but the hair cut was really good and it has been growing out well too, a godd sign of a good hair cut.

5 Stars: Great cut and color! (by annieg917)

annieg917 — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 02:00:00 GMT

After many bad hair experiences, I was recommended this place by a friend. I got a fantastic cut and gorgeous color for a relatively reasonable price. I went to Jessica, and she's very friendly and definitely knows what she's doing!

5 Stars: Great place - great cuts (by mariamchka)

mariamchka — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 02:00:00 GMT

I've been looking for a salon and a stylist for many years now. Having gone through awful to worst places in NY (in all price ranges), I stumbled upon this little place and fell in love. The atmosphere is awesome, my favorite stylist is incredible (although all of them are amazing), and the prices are low comparatively to the service you get. Strongly recommend this to anyone, whether you're looking to get a trim or a full make-over. They also offer in-between trims for $10, which is so helpful if you have short hair and want to keep the style for a little longer before changing all over again.

5 Stars: Excellent place to get your hair done (by Alex W.)

Alex W. — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 18:47:00 GMT

I had to get my hair cut in a hurry for a job interview the next day. They accomodated me at 8 at night and gave me an outstanding hair cut for only 60 bucks plus a hefty tip from me.

Shelli-Rose, she's my girl. Ask for her!!

There's also a location in the East Village.

5 Stars: double your pleasure (by livia1971)

livia1971 — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 01:00:00 GMT

As a long time client of the east salon, I was a little shy to go to the Chelsea shop. Getting to the new location was easier though with so many subway options close by. Of course, I was thrilled with the space, it is big and beautiful. The service is always exceptional. I was happy to find my favorite stylist, Elena, works at both locations. Go check it out, you wont regret.