Banzai Hair Studio

Banzai hair studio is amazing, I go there to get updos from Char, and hair Color from Brandi. They really care about their customers and very professional with all the decisions they make. They recommend products, but never push you to buy them.
Last year for my prom, char did an amazing updo that kept intact during the whole night of dancing.
I highly recommend Banzai hair studio for their customer care and great value for the cost.

Really good service — not pretentious, but it’s a nice high end studio (they recently moved to Main St). Good pricing compared to other salons I’ve been to and they don’t push their products on you.
I would highly recommend Winnie — she’s very skilled and listens to what you want. She’s also very good at making recommendations if you’re looking for something new.
I’ve been coming to this salon now for about 2 years and love it.

I haven’t been this satisfied for a looong time!
Yesterday, being a holiday, I could barely find anywhere to go that was open. When I saw the special for this place I stopped by and begged!
They were so kind (and I’m guessing it was the manager) that they agreed to take me in on such a busy day. Parking was going to be waaaay better than dt.
Charmaine was lovely. She spent about an hour and agreed to add some curl to my wavy hair that usually looks frizzy when I do it. Nakry was equally as great, and I felt really lucky to have had both of them style it.
Today, my hair is still bouncing with curl and is neither sticky nor stiff.
As with all «finds» I was reluctant to write this, except that they were so incredibly wonderful.
My stylist was a former Suki’s member, which happened to be my former salon. Next time I need my hair cut/​coloured, I’m going to give this place a chance. It’s classy and the stylists are all nice and cordial.
They really made my day!
Total cost $ 48 dollars with over a 20% tip and included a $ 20 conditioning treatment and scalp massage.
So if any man happens to be reading this… now you know why we women expect you to pay for us on a date if we get «dolled» up. It has nothing to do with chivalry or women’s lib; little do you know that we’ve already spent at least $ 300 before the night has begun.

So I decided to give this place another try because the owner/ (manager?)/ stylist Chuck PM’d me on Unilocal kindly asked me to try the place again.*
I booked an appointment with my sister (both she and I have been here before and felt a-​ok but not stellar about it. So we were both willing to give this place another try.
I’m glad I did because I realize that it is ery difficult to rate an entire salon based on the experience of one of their stylists.
This time I was reccommended Karen. And let me tell you she did EXACTLY what I wanted.** What I loved about Karen is that I told her exactly my issues and she listened and did what she could to accept it. (unlike other places where they either refute that they are issues and/​or decide to not listen)
For any other east asian haired ladies, this is usually what I tell my hairdresser (YES, I’m SO low maintenance that I’m actually high maintenance when it comes to a salon– but if i’m paying good money and you are trained well I expect you to listen and do what I say***):
–I cut my hair once a year and it NEEDS to grow out well.
–I DON’T OWN a comb, conditioner, hair products. I’m strictly a shampoo everyday, airdry and leave the house kinda girl. Styling involves me running my fingers through my hair and sayin, «that’s about right.»
–If you use a stright iron on my STRAIGHT ASIAN HAIR I will hurt you.
–I don’t do razors. Just say no if you’re even thinking it. C’mon, just use scissors.
–I want to avoid altogether the «frizzy triangle» (you know what I’m talkin about)
–And I need them to thin out my hair and get as much volume at the crown of my head as possible because I have thick hair, and a lot of it, that easily falls flat at the end of the day (which also coincides with the «frizz triangle»)
Karen listened and gave me a pretty sweet cut. she double checked with me to see if using conditioner and product was ok with me and she did a really quality job ensuring it looked like how I wanted it.
I ended up with some sort of rocker chick, ultra layered, BIG do. Think borderline elvira/​shape of a Q-​tip. Haha, I know that isn’t the nicest description but it is basically the exact shape I wanted because I will tell you– there IS no such thing as flat or frizzy-​triangle with THIS cut. which is EXACTLY what I wanted.
My sister got a really clean cut bob– which is also what she wanted. I forget the name of her stylist but she was super cute.
Oh, and the shampoo boy (josh?) does a pretty good head massage even though I avoid touching at all costs. (he styles too at cost b/​c he’s training I think)
highly reccommend Karen as a stylist.
And, ps: new customers get 25% off NOW
pps: they gave my sister 25% off even though she wasn’t a new client.
Good place– would definitely go with Karen again.****
*I really appreciate it when business owners make offers to Unilocalers– I really like how business owners respond to feedback and try to do better for their customers.
**You can read my horror stories of other places where I have given extensive reviews:
***Note, I don’t request it in that sassy of a manner– this list is true but the phrasing is for humourous purposes only.
****They have different price ranges here– Karen is on the upper end– you can check out their site. she probably borderlines slightly over the girl I see at Suki’s
I’m torn between which stylist I like more– I think it really depends on whether I’m in the mood for a bigger salon (sukis) or a smaller one (banzai)

If you need a trim and aren’t particular in any way about your hair, go here.
If not, move on and fork out $ 10 more for a good cut.
I went here twice. Once, I really only wanted a trim and it was good… well, because it was not complicated. Although, come to think of it, it could have been better. The second time, I was very specific, requested a haircut I’ve actually had before and walked out with something I didn’t ask for, looking like I had a helmut on half of my head and bangs that look like mom did… making my head look longer and weird and having to wear my hair up for over a month! They are nice there, but not passionate about hair and didn’t communicate with me about what they were doing. Who does that?!! I have yet to find a salon in Vancouver that I got to more than once… ho-​hum…

I have been coming here for years for my colour — but not my haircut. I finally came in to see Jeff for a cut and he is INCREDIBLE. Very precise and really listens to what you want. He has a great eye and anyone should trust his judgement

A friend referred me to Bansai about a year ago, and since then it has been the only place I’ve been going to get my hair cut.
It’s located conveniently on Granville St and despite the high end location, it is pretty inexpensive.
I get my hair cut from Nakry, she’s talkative and fun.