Fantastic Sams Hair Salons

So I came to California almost 5 years ago and starting from the first days I found this lovely place. I met Maral and Karine and after that day I never switched hair salon. I live kind of far away from Hollywood but still drive all this way for a haircut. I have plenty of Hair Salons in my area but I prefer Maral and her professionalism. Not only I am having fun and super interesting conversations but also professional haircuts and fair prices. I never waited more than 15 minutes in waiting line since they work super fast. Don’t get confused by their speed because they are fast and GOOD! Days when I have to wait I usually sign in and go walk around. Western and Hollywood Promenade is busy and full with variety of stores. Ross, Marshalls, Aaron and Brothers, GNC, T-​Mobile, CVS, Chase, Ralph’s etc all there in one spot. I mean you will definitely find 15 minutes of waiting useful for just hanging around.
About salon. I absolutely in love with the new atmosphere and services. New owner keeps place super friendly and relaxed. To be honest I am not a fan of salons but with Maral and our conversations I spend my time for a good. She is not only greatly skilled with haircuts but also professional cosmetologist. That’s my secret to you guys. If you have questions about skin care ask her she will give you tons of tips and suggestions. I had problems with my skin and scalp. Few suggestions from her regulated my problems. I mean it’s nice having few things done at the same time. She’s very friendly and gentle. She asks and talks to you before doing anything in order to provide best service and satisfying results. I am working in Art Photo Studio and my hair suffer all the time from all products, dying, styling and stuff and always I am coming to her with my dead hair smiling and asking if she can at least make it less dead. She smiles and voila in 20 minutes my hair is back to life!
The days when Maral is not there which is not a thing now since she’s full time there now, but before with other owner there were days when Maral wasn’t there and Karine took her shift. Same. Very interesting person with skills and professionalism.

I had a terrible experience that is still ongoing, and I’ll come back and update my review, dependent on the final outcome.
I have extremely curly hair that has been chemically relaxed. It’s still extremely curly (think Merida from the animated movie «Brave» — just shoulder-​length, and in dark, dark, nearly-​black brown.) I also had color about two years ago, and that had grown out to about three inches from my scalp.
I have a lot of grey hair that was making the curls look bleached out and dry, even though my hair is in good shape. So I went in for a cut and color. I can’t afford to go to my favorite hair stylist anymore — the salon is very expensive — so I’ve been having my hair trimmed here. Nothing fancy, just keeping the shape under control. But the grey hair was really bothering me, so I decided to risk an all-​over color.
First, she flew through the cut, which was a bad sign, because curly hair wet lies much differently than curly hair dry, and the resulting cut is very uneven. But second — the color started washing out of the grey THE VERY NEXT DAY. The shampoo suds were turning YELLOW. I called, in a panic, and was told that it was common for color to lighten a bit, and that they needed to see it.
I couldn’t go in until a few days later, so I didn’t wash it for several days, but I did rinse it — and the water was turning really, really light yellow/​brown. And the grey was getting more and more noticeable.
I went back, and the woman who did the color did a lot of fast talking and looking at my roots, and said they looked fine, and it was the hair that had been colored previously that was fading, and that it was common. (!?) I kept trying to show her where it was coming out (not at the part, where there was little grey to begin with, but she just showed me HER roots at HER temples and said it was the same color and she even had bits of white, too. Quite frankly, her hair looked fine to me, and was so much lighter than mine that any grey was basically blended in. But my hair is DARK DARK DARK, and the grey SHOWED SHOWED SHOWED. She said when I came back to have my roots done, she’d do the whole head again and only charge me for the touch-​up. I wasn’t happy, but left.
So, here it is a few days later, and the grey is pretty much back. And starting at my scalp, too, where the previously-​dyed hair HAD GROWN COMPLETELY OUT, so the new color was on uncolored hair. Her explanation is false.
I am so unhappy that I almost feel sick about it. THE WHOLE POINT OF GETTING MY HAIR COLORED WAS TO COVER THE GREY, AND IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK THE GREY IS BACK. I noticed that some of it has the faintest, barest, only-​in-​the-​right-​light-​reflection color in it, but it’s almost just a trick of the light. So I paid $ 100 for what’s turned out to be non-​permanent color, on top of what I paid for the cut. And then I’m expected to pay AGAIN to basically re-​color what had already been colored.
Today I’m going to blow dry my hair straight so the grey can more easily be seen, and go back. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I’m going to demand a refund, at least for the temporary dye job. This is just disappointing.
EDIT ¾
So, I go back and talk to the owner, and she tells me the exact same thing, and even adds that it can take dying the hair three or four times to cover the grey permanently. I checked around, and spent some time talking to the manager of a beauty supply store (the kind of place salons buy their supplies from), and she pretty much confirmed my suspicions. The owner of Fantastic Sam’s was correct — if they use the really cheap dyes, so you have to keep coming back. There are dozens and dozens of types of hair dye, and when I went to a high-​end salon, they showed me numerous boards of sample colors, from many different companies, whereas F.S. had one board.
So, in conclusion, I would like to say you get what you pay for, but in this case, I paid more than the dye job was worth, AND I’m expected to come back and pay for the cost of a roots touch-​up so they can give me an all-​over dye job again, AND I’m supposed to expect that to wash out and need it redone several more times before the color sticks to the grey.
No, I don’t think so. I’m never setting foot in this — or any — Fantastic Sam’s ever again.

There’s new management and this place is better than ever! I can always count on this location to give me a great, consistent haircut. It’s a shame that the reviews for the past owners are still on this page because the business has been revitalized and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the results. Everyone here is also super super friendly and I don’t have to feel awkward as I sit in the chair. I actually really look forward to my conversations with the stylists. Check this place out! Thanks so much for making me look good! Seriously.

I started Unilocaling just to give this salon 5 stars! Came in here yesterday and got the most amazing hair cut and color. Maral was my stylist and she was fantastic! She’s talented, skilled and works super fast and did an amazing job on my hair. I’m very picky with my hair so I was glad she asked what I wanted and gave me exactly what I asked for! I have gotten so many compliments today. The salon was also very clean and organized. Thank you Maral!
I will definitely be back.

This place has fair prices! Karineh did my hair both color and haircut look great! Very quick service and very nice lady.

Under New Ownership! Leila isn’t there anymore, but the new owner picked up where she left off. awesome job guys!

I’ve been coming here for several years and I’ve been delighted with the results. Layla was my stylist. I went in yesterday only to find that Layla retired. I got a haircut by the new owner. Worst cut I have ever had in my entire life. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I will be with lots of friends. I don’t want to go out of the house or even look at. Myself in the mirror. Don’t go there. There are two owners. The younger tall woman is worth a try but the shorter woman is the one who ruined me.

After being Maral’s customer for well over 3 years, I was very excited that she has decided to open her own business and take over another business. She is absolutely amazing and has always cut my hair to my specifications. She’s also made great recommendations that were on point. Her knowledge in latest trends for men’s haircuts is awesome. She can do everything from traditional to contemporary. I’m so excited to be coming to this newly opened location!

I went back today (09-​22-​2013) for a trim, since I came here for the first time about 6 weeks ago. I asked for the same «stylist» Layla who cut my hair during my first initial visit exactly the way I wanted it. That time she even styled it with blow-​drying my freshly cut hair. All that for $ 17.00 plus tip.
This time, however, she totally jabbed me! — She not only cut it way shorter than a TRIM would be, she also did not style it like she did the first time. This time she put in some weird smelling funky-​kind-​of styling product, that did absolutely NOTHING to my hair. — I asked her to please blow-​dry it to give it some sort of style and she said «go ahead and style it yourself»! REALLY?!
She said that if she had to spend time on it she would have to charge extra for it.
Well, guess what … I am not going back there.

$ 40 for blow drying my hair, when prior to doing it I was quoted $ 25. Their excuse for the upcharge was «the amount of time spent on my hair». Unexperienced hair stylists and poor management. Nothing Fantastic about this Fantastic Sams.

Their are places you go to get a cheap hair cut and your presently suprised and their are places where you get what you paid for. This is a place where you get what you pay for.
It’s a quick cut them and move them out type of place. They don’t care about you hair or what you want. They really only asked me questions about the length and went to town. It almost felt like the woman cutting my hair was mad at me for having curly hair.
I gave her specific instructions with the razor number and everything (the same specific instructions I’ve given to the people at Super Cuts and other places and have gotten great results). She chose just to cut a lot more off or did by accident and then kept cutting short to even it out I guess. I’m not sure, I didn’t ask because their was a bit of a language barrier and It didn’t matter after the fact. The damage was already done.
Anyway, definitely not going back here again. Was extremely disappointed. They just don’t seem to care about how your hair looks, and they should considering that’s why people pay them.

My hairstylist was super amazing. She gave really good advice and really listened to what I wanted. This place is quick, cheap, pleasant and they give good haircuts. It was actually a really relaxing experience

Walked in today to get the kids haircut for $ 9.99 and the person in charge which is an older lady refused to do it. She said that because my daughters hair is longer she had to charge maybe $ 15. I said well the commercial says $ 9.99 and she said no!!!
Wtf I thought all Fantastic Sam are the same. Well I decide to go to the one on 7111 Sunset and the entire personnel was really helpful and they said the $ 9.99 special is welcome. Ended really happy with the whole experience there.

Yeah. don’t go here. The quality is pretty low, the prices aren’t that low, and the place isn’t very clean.
First off. they charge women more than men, and charge still more for long hair. I have straight hair just past my shoulders that needs to be trimmed straight across twice a year. Sometimes I have friends do it it is so easy. But I had to wait 20 minutes while some fussy Bro had his $ 15 haircut adjusted repeatedly. I was then charged $ 20 for my five minute straight-​across trim, with no fussing. Yeah, forget it. I’ll go someplace else.
Also, they don’t even make any attempt to clean their combs, brushes, and capes that you wear. They go straight from one customer to the next. Yech ! Also they did not sweep up the last person’s hair, and expected me to walk through it in sandals. No thanks.
Next time, I’m going to get in my car and go to Floyd’s. They don’t have the dour attitude this place does, and they clean their utensils.

I saw a commercial that Fantastic Sam’s was having a hair color special. I know exactly the color I want, it’s all-​over– super easy, so I can pretty much go wherever. I’m not getting anything fancy, so why pay $ 100 or more? So, I went to this Fantastic Sams.
My bad on not getting pricing before hand. Since the commercial was already showing in LA, and the place is a chain, and the commercial said the sale had started, I assumed the price would be the same as I saw in the ad.
Nope. $ 50. For shoulder-​length hair, which my hair is not (I’ve gotten it cut since my Unilocal pic). It’s chin-​length. I would say short– which is a cheaper price. I asked about the special, and the man said it started next week.
Here’s the deal. I looked it up and different franchises start at different times. Shady. Also, I don’t feel like fighting about it, especially when there’s a language barrier. I didn’t feel like fighting about the length of my hair, either. At $ 50 plus the 20% tip I left, it’s still cheaper than any other place I’ve been. So, yeah– meh. Maybe every other trip I’ll come here just because it’s cheap.

I would never ever go back to this location or maybe even ever go to a Fantastic Sam’s ever again. I went for a quick hair cut, just a shaved head, and sat and waited for 10 minutes without being helped. I asked the guy how much longer and he told me, «5−10 minutes». To top it off the place was empty. I left and told them I was going to have to go some place else and he said, «that’s ok». I looked at him and said obviously it is.
Don’t ever ever go to this place. Straight up careless.

Ok, so I have been going to this place for about 4 years, get my haircut about every 6 weeks or so and I have never been disappointed with the results of my cut and honestly I don’t think I’ve had the same person cut my hair twice, it’s always someone new.

I love these guys best place to get hair done I take my kids been going there for long time. I have gone there a lot and usually busy but they always manage to get me in an out pretty fast and always with what I need.
Read previous reviews and never seen any Asian lady there.
Current staff is do nice and they all know what they are doing

I went here to dye my hair– I have dark brown hair with some grey hairs showing– a little longer than shoulder length. After getting the one color done, I was told it was $ 80 (no indication of price beforehand). The customer service was NOT good. I asked for an explanation of why it cost so much and was just told that «The money goes to the company.»
I called the following day to get a quote over the phone for how much the same service would be– I wanted to see if they would quote me the same price. I told them I have waist-​length hair. The guy who picked up refused to give me an estimate over the phone and repeatedly told me to come in person. After making it explicitly clear that I would not go in without an estimate, he said that dying the same color hair, waist long, would cost less than 80. When asked how much less, he said 70, 75, 65 maybe. DO NOT GO HERE. OVERPRICED. BAD SERVICE. Their prices are NOT consistent!

I was feeling a little bogged down by my hair and had some time to kill in Thai town, so I thought «there’s a Fantastic Sams here, surely they can’t possibly screw up chopping ONE INCH off of my long hair!»
But they did. The small Asian lady who did my hair couldn’t have possibly been in a bigger hurry to get me out of there as she gave me a dry cut (no spray bottle) and chopped off strands of my hair within 3 minutes. THREE MINUTES! She then «blow dried» my already dry hair to get the stray hairs off… thus covering my legs and feet in hair (WTF?).
$ 20 later and I feel like I should have just gone to that hipster chain Floyd’s to get my tresses some relief. I don’t normally go to places like these, but I just wanted a little trim. As I walked out, I met my mother and she noticed that the back of my hair was UNEVEN, so, like any tough Asian momma would, she pulled me back into the salon and told the lady to fix it.
So she puts the cape back on me and has me STAND to «fix it» because I supposedly «moved» when I was getting my hair cut. WHATEVER. Never again. !