Paul Mitchell The School Pasadena - Pasadena, California

JT Vancollie

I wish I weren't writing this because the student was great, but I got my hair cut here 2 years ago, and I'm still dealing with the consequences because of their teacher.

My student hairdresser was fabulous, and really understood how I only wanted a trim in order to grow out my hair as I'd been doing for years. They really took the time to listen and I could tell they were doing such a great job making sure that my haircut would give life back to my hair while respecting my wishes to keep it long.

The teacher then swooped in, two hours into my hairdresser's work, and chopped off 4 or 5 inches of a section, very flippantly saying, "Don't be afraid to cut off a lot, you can tell her hair grows fast."

It doesn't.

My hair grows extremely slow. I knew that, my hairdresser knew that, and this teacher just came in and, by not giving a single flying hoot, undid about 5 years of growth, all because they couldn't be bothered to just ASK. It would have been such a simple question, but because they didn't care or were too invested in their own superiority, they just assumed something that I'm still paying for.

I know it's 'only' hair, but when it takes YEARS to recover from someone else's callousness, and when you have to think about it every time you look in the mirror, it's really annoying.

My hairdresser and I shared *a look* after their teacher made the first cut, but at that point, we both knew it was already too late.

TL;DR
The students are great and really care. Some of the teachers are too arrogant to give a crap about what the customers really want.

Rebecca Espinoza

I would say be as specific as you possibly can. I had a new student which is absolutely ok and the lead teacher had to do the cut as a teaching moment (I don’t mind this) but I feel like my recommendations I mentioned in my consult weren’t considered. I only had 1 layer plus my curtains bangs when I came in. I truly only wanted about 1.5 inch cut off with a subtle refresh. When my hair got styled it looked great but the next day I noticed my hair wasn’t at all how I wanted it. I already don’t have much hair so the amount of layering that was done by the teacher made my hair looks SO THIN at the bottom. My hair doesn’t event look good when I split it so braid anymore because she took so much of my hair from the bottom and turned it into top layers. Like I said I already don’t have much hair so to now have my hair look even less at the bottom makes me feel a bit insecure. I specifically said I wanted subtle attention to the 1 layer I had and now my hair looks very layered when it’s not styled - not what I asked for. I’ve had a great experience in the past with Sherman oaks so I was surprised when this happened with a lead teacher.

Jen Jalalian

12/30/2024 Today - I called to make a haircut appointment. I was told I am unwelcome there. It’s probably due to my earlier review on Yelp.

There is an instructor named Judy that called me to complain about me. She said that “people” complained about me. I asked which people and how many? It was one student that got offended because I took a call. My father had a fall. It was an emergency and I had to take the call. I apologized. The student rolled her eyes. She was very rude. She said she was graduating.

Judy told me I violated some policy. *There’s no policy against taking care of your family. Family is first. * I told her it is impossible there’s a policy that customer can’t take an emergency call. I didn’t sign a paper indicating that. If I did. I am unaware.

There is probably a policy that students and staff can’t take calls. A customer? If that’s the case there should be posted signs and some kind of agreement that you sign.

Telling people they cannot communicate? Wow?! I wonder if the Paul Mitchell knows his staff treat their customers like this.

I had brought others to this school. No you won’t be getting any referrals at all. I will not return. I do not recommend coming here.

Yolie Acosta

I had two services a works facial and a face frame trim, the service was excellent, yet very shocking and disappointed to hear a new policy students are not able to use a round brushes when blowdrying clients hair unless an additional charge of $16, more than the service cost! This is a ridiculous charge and makes no sense for neither to the students who are loosing out on practice on clients and clients are getting ripped off. Paul Mitchell needs to get rid of this new and unnecessary policy.

Anna Castaño

I been to this Paul Mitchell about 5 times to get ride of my black roots and go towards a more blond color and also done hair treatments. I been pretty pleased with the results the teachers are very attentive and also checking up on their students progress. But I do want to praise one teacher in particular Ms Shannon, once in a while meet a teacher that you can tell they truly care for their students, even going the extra mile for them. Well from what I heard from her conversations and actions with her students I can tell her heart has a teacher is in the right place. If I had a child that wanted to attend this school I would be happy if she was their teacher.

Leah Hoelscher

I've had some great hair cuts here from the students at a good price. The atmosphere is professional and the instructors are nice and ensure that the clients are satisfied with the services.

The only annoying thing is trying to schedule an appointment. Almost every time I call it goes to voicemail, and the voicemail is full so they're clearly not checking it. When I tried to book online that wasn't working either. Hopefully they can get these issues cleared up, it would improve the customer experience a lot.

Hal E

I was stuck waiting for half and hour to be seen by a stylist and it's unprofessional to be this late without any one checking in. This is unfortunate but the African American female instructor with long braids this morning said since "They are students , so it's okay to be half and hour late to an appointment with no check in with the customer." She is teaching bad practice. You prepare for the job you want, not the job you have. Showing up on time to class, for your customer and your teachers demonstrates professional behavior. People are relying on you. Granted students take longer while they are learning and practicing color and cuts and that's a given, but showing up on time does not require any salon training. It's best practice and what you do to retain customers. Hairstylists are a dime a dozen, and this instructor is just promoting bad behavior for future professionals in the field. When you respect your craft , timeliness is a no brainer, otherwise the student isn't ready to take on clients.

When people have their act together, business follows. Being 30 minutes late for a customer, with no check ins or updates with the customer is bad business and disrespectful. I love supporting students and I had such a great experience with a recent grad from the school, but I won't be returning. This experience sours the reputation of Paul Mitchell .

Anna Ramirez

Student knew what she was doing: cut 4 inches off, with face framing. Always confirmed for length but wasn't too talkative, which I appreciated. Sometimes you just want to close your eyes and relax.