Van Michael Salon

This was my first time going to Van Michael Salon on North Highlands based on the reviews. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was making an appointment with the specific «hairstylist,» which was recommended by the staff at the desk. And I put the word hairstylist in quotes because this person is far from that. I ask for an A-​line bob, and I come out with a cut so opposite of what should have been done, not to mention the chuncks of hair cut out of my left side and the front of my hair where I had 4 inches cut off on the right side. Make certain you get a recommendation from someone who has been serviced at Van Michael and likes their cut before you take the recommendation from their front desk because they have not a clue. The salon is crediting what I paid, which was no small charge either. I would rather have not had my hair totally ruined.

Arrogant staff. Never recommending this place. Five minutes late for the appt and the guy was gone. And this was at 1pm not even end of day. Horrible customer service and staff attitude.

Always a good experience at any of the Van Michael locations but in Sandy Springs Jamison and Lola (New Talents) cut very well. I go to Laura for brow wax and tint. Rayne for color.

Awesome experience with some very talented individuals. I had someone do my highlights and someone who did my haircut. I was very pleased with the service and am planning to return this Friday coming up.

I went to the Sandy Springs location and visited the new talents for a cut. My stylist was Amber, who was very nice and seemed like she knew what she was doing. We talked a while about what I wanted, I have long curly hair and a great base cut so all I really needed was for her to trim off my dead ends and shape up my layers.
Instead of doing what we talked about she completely butchered my hair, cut about 4 inched off the bottom and did a horrible job with the layers, the cut I ended up with is completely rectangular which does not work with curly hair. I look like a little boy out of an 80s hair magazine. I am going to see a different stylist today at the Buckhead location and hopefully he can fix it.
Overall, my haircut experience was great, the people were nice and everything but the haircut itself is the worst I’ve ever had. I would much rather deal with a rude staff or a long waiting time if the stylist knew how to cut my hair. I want to give Amber the benefit of the doubt that she is a good stylist, but if you have curly hair you’re better off with someone else.
Needless to say, I won’t be going back.

I have tried for almost 4 years to find awesome cut and color in Atlanta. I finally found it at Van Michael Sandy Springs with Zoe (cut) and Ilya (color). I live in Buckhead, but am totally willing to drive for their awesome services. I have very thick hair, and both of them really listen to what I want and know how to work with difficult hair.

I came to Van Michael for (among other things when I’m in town over the years) hair and makeup for my wedding. I cannot speak highly enough to the experience I had!
Jenny did my hair, and it was perfect. I had a trial with her a couple of months before the wedding, and while it was beautiful, it started hurting and falling apart a few hours after I left the salon. As I live out of town and wouldn’t get another chance to see her until, literally, my wedding day, I was pretty nervous I’d have a hair disaster. But when I met with her the day of my wedding, she could not have made it more perfect. First, she cleared out my family and gave me a much-​needed hour of pampering. Second, I described my issues with the hair trial, and she totally solved every one. My hair looked perfect for 12 hours, and I never felt a single hair pin. If you have a LOT of curly, thick hair, and need a wedding up-​do, Jenny is your girl.
I also worked with Laura on my (and my bridesmaids) makeup. She is so sweet and calming. I am not a big makeup wearer, and she gave me a face that was pretty, flawless, and felt like nothing. I could have slept in that makeup and woken up looking basically perfect. One tip– because they have to use disposable mascara wands, if you want a big eyelash look, bring your own mascara! She’ll apply it, but you’ll have the benefit of the fancy brush. My eyelashes still looked amazing, though.
Because we had a very teeny wedding party, we had our appointments in the salon, which was actually really fun and efficient. Jenny and Laura are the best, and one of the few reasons I wish I lived in Atlanta!

Best haircut EVER! If you have curly/​wavy hair, ask for Jamison. He has curly hair too and knows just how to handle it. Every hairstylist does layers in my hair to avoid making it look like a triangle or puff-​bull, but his are by far the best. He also had great tips on how to air dry my curls to minimize frizz. Highly recommend!

Confirmed 3 hours via text that my appointment was still on. Drive all the way here because I REALLY need a haircut before a big event this weekend and they didn’t even have the courtesy to call their customers let them know they’re still dead bolted, even though plenty of other businesses are open after the snow storm. FAIL.

I’m surprised at the number of 5-​star reviews for this place. A couple of weeks ago, I had my first trip to a Van Michaels salon. The colorist saw fit to lecture me on how my chosen color «just wouldn’t work» (yet afterward simpered that it «looked fabulous») — and only AFTER applying the dye to my hair, asked me to sign a form stating that I had waived a patch test to check for allergies to the dye.
The haircut itself was fine. Not the best cut I’ve ever received, but it wasn’t butchered, at least. The staff was distant and disinterested, to the point of being rude.
Overall, a rather disappointing experience. I won’t be going back.

My stylist the first time I went there was Jameson. Went there a year ago to get a few inches taken off since the last time I had cut my hair was in 2010 (I know, it was bad), and I left with my hair in perfect shape! I then bleached the life out of it over the summer and wanted to bring it back to the living, so I booked another appointment a month or so ago. I wanted to get my hair cut about eleven inches to remove all of the bleached/​dyed/​frayed areas. The stylist, Saul/​Sal/​Sol something like that, looked at me and nodded as I described to him what I wanted, showed me some pictures, and had me select one. I showed him the one I liked, and he said, «How about something like this?» pointing to a similar one but without layers. I said, «I like that, but my hair is curly so I need layers or it’s going to look like a yield sign when it’s natural. I need some long layers.» So he said okay, washed my hair, and started cutting it.
When almost all my hair was on the floor, he said, «By the way, I don’t know if this style is going to work on your hair at all, so we’re going to have to see how it turns out. You’re the guinea pig.» AFTER REMOVING MOST OF THE HAIR ON MY HEAD, HE TOLD ME IT WAS PROBABLY NOT GOING TO WORK OUT. Luckily, it turned out fine, and I left pleased enough. What I didn’t realize at the time (because it was styled all straight and pretty and sneakily) was that there were ABSOLUTELY NO LAYERS. It was fine for a little while, because it was short enough that I could straighten it in about ten minutes, but it’s been about four weeks and it’s grown two inches. Now it’s puffy, triangular, and hideous, even when I straighten it. So I just called them an hour ago and scheduled a cut for this Friday. This time, I’m pulling an Emma Watson. It’s all gone. I’ve got Jameson again, so hopefully it won’t turn out looking like crap like last time with Saul/​Sal/​Sol whatever his name is. DO NOT GO TO HIM unless you know how to assert yourself while he’s cutting your hair, or he won’t listen to a word you say.
This is the last chance I’m giving them, and if it doesn’t pan out then I may as well switch to Great Clips because at least they’re upfront about the quality of their cuts and they won’t overcharge you for a stylist who can’t hear your requests over his ego. He was complaining and cursing the entire time about the radio station to the stylist next to us. Not a fan of this guy, not at all. He was a joke and would have been better off wielding a club like a caveman than a pair of scissors.

I walked in to set an appointment and asked Jenny Donovan what she would do with my curly hair if she cut it. Boy, she had lots of suggestions, was knowledgeable, helpful and very nice. Nothing like a good first impression when you enter a salon!
Then a stylist named Christopher Barrett walked by and I said «I want my hair to look like his» and he promptly told me exactly how to do it, which product to use, how to style it, etc. I IMMEDIATELY bought Be Curly and Flaxseed just based on his recommendation.
Can’t wait to do what he said in the am and see if the combo of products works for my hair! FINGERS CROSSED!
So after these two delightful experiences I also proceeded to make an appointment to get my hair cut next week. So far so good!
PS I asked for both of their cards so I could actually put their names in this review.

I went to this salon when I had a color disaster. The staff booked me with Danielle. That was well over a year ago, and I never let anyone else color my hair. The staff are always friendly and I always recieve a text and phone call reminder that I have an appointment. Danielle’s assistants are always cheerful and do a wonderful job styling my hair afterwards.
I cannot express how wonderful Danielle has been with my hair and I would recommend her to anyone, especially someone with thin and damaged hair like mine. The only downside is that everyone else seems to have discovered that she is so amazing and it is hard to get an appointment with her! Book in advance. She is worth every penny, as well as the rest of the staff there!

This past Saturday I went to Brian at this location & had him cut about 7 inches off of my hair. HE DID SO AWESOME! I can honestly say that in my 27 years on this earth, I’ve never been so happy with a cut as much as this one.
I was super nervous about cutting all my hair off, but Brian assured me it would be amazing — he was right. It looks EXACTLY like I wanted it to.
If you need an AWESOME cut, go to Brian @ Van Michael in Sandy Springs. He’s the bee’s knees.

Great place and very friendly staff.
I have curly hair and always go to Piper. She always does a great job and gets what I’m asking for!
I live in the west coast but usually come back home for my haircut so I can go here. Their prices are good and they don’t try to push me to buy products every time I come here.

I’ve been going here for years. My stylist is Chris Barrett and he is awesome!
Chris takes notes each and every time he cuts my hair, so he knows how we last styled it and what we’re trying to accomplish. I always get compliments on my haircuts and never leave with a bad cut. I recommended him to one of my friend’s and she said it was the best hair cut she ever had.
I’m almost hesitant to recommend him, as I don’t want to make my scheduling difficult ;)

I called around 4:15pm and got an appointment for 5pm. All I needed was a cut that wouldn’t drive me insane when I’m styling it in the morning.
The stylist I was assigned did a FANTASTIC job of listening to my wants and needs. He even asked about my styling routine. And when I told him I wanted it thinned out, he didn’t balk or look at me like I’m crazy like most stylists do. We talked about the exact length I wanted and I was pleasantly surprised that– in fact– my style did end up at that length (not shorter, like I usually end up getting with other stylists).
This location is a lot more inviting than the Buckhead one, which I’ve only been to once before. Perhaps it’s because I went on a Sunday evening, but it felt like a real salon whereas at the Buckhead location I felt like I was being herded like cattle.
So now I’m actually considering driving to Sandy Springs every time I want my hair cut. Hmmmm…

Whenever my eyebrows start to mimic caterpillars that are about to eat my eyes (just a slight exaggeration) I head to Van Michael’s to get them cleaned up and manageable. They do a good job of making the caterpillars head back to their cocoons.

I called to get service for a flat iron and it took twenty minutes just to find out they were basically only available for a different day, truthfully I think they are afraid of working with «curly» hair. My hair takes 45mins to wash/​blow dry and flat iron, if you doubt your staff talent u should just require a consultation. At least u remain professional
Service is lacking

I’ve been going to Van Michael’s Sandy Springs location for almost as long as I’ve lived in GA, which is four years. I usually see people at the New Talents portion of the salon, where newer stylists and colorists are in training. I’ve been going there long enough that my regular colorist, Chrissy, is now over on the Van Michael side.
The price difference is not a huge deal for me because Chrissy never lets me down. She’s patient and a good listener. I always do red, but I’ve done everything from cherry bomb to dark auburn, bordering on brown. I was laid off last year and told her I needed a color that would last a REALLY long time because I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to see her again. She mixed up a shade that was about halfway between the red I usually use and my natural color (dark blonde). It faded out so nicely and naturally, I actually asked her to do it again once I had the money to come back! Now that it’s summer, I’m back to a brighter shade again.
My luck hasn’t been as good with haircuts. Don’t get me wrong: they’re always awesome. My problem is that all the people I’ve liked have left! That’s the risk you run when you visit a teaching salon, unfortunately.
My last regular stylist was Sean, and he was AMAZING. Then he moved to the Virginia Highlands location. I loved Sean, but I go to the Sandy Spring salon because it’s a stone’s throw from my home and workplace. Virginia Highlands is not convenient for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to update my review in a few months when I find another great stylist… and hopefully they won’t leave for another location before I get the chance to write the review. ;)