Carsten Institute of Cosmetology

Carsten institute is a good school. I would recommend this school to any one that has a passion to become a cosmetologist or beautician. The instructors will provide you with the education you need to succeed. The staff will install the skills of coloring, blow drying and even Carsten him self will show new cuts from different places all over the world. Most importantly if you are like me and have a lot going on at home, once you graduate you can come back and they will assist you with following up on on your exams both writing and practical. Go to this school if you want to become a well rounded cosmetologist.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this school! Did I mention LOVE? I used to go to the previous location in Union Square every month or so for my glaze and a nice wash and trim. After its relocation, it is much more central and convenient to access now with its proximity to Grand Central! The check in process by the receptionist is always very smooth and quick. (I am extremely impatient and have never experienced any delay.) My experience here has never been short from excellent. The instructors are always happy to help with any concerns. REMEMBER it is a SCHOOL. The students are LEARNING which is why the prices are so attractive. The best part in my opinion is that the instructors will always give you an honest explanation on what the realistic results will be. (I.e. When I wanted to be a blonde after being a red head– she said my hair would be severely damaged, and feel very dry/​plus she gave me options of lesser damaging ways of getting my blonde.) The energy is bustling and very happy. Music is a plus too! You should go for the killer blow-​dries :)

I’ve recently graduated Carsten institute. It’s important to me that i share my journey because I almost didn’t have one. For future students considering pursing cosmetology, If it’s one thing I can guarantee about Carsten its that they want you to succeed. All races all genders all sexes are more than welcomed.
Like many, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth going to college wasn’t an option for me (not that I wanted to choose that route anyways), and Cosmotology school wasn’t the smoothest ride either. But I knew I wanted to go to cosmetology school almost my whole life. And like many others, I knew I was going to Carsten the moment I stepped foot in the institute. Best decision of my life because I have a career now. As a student they understand your working towards something and aside from that you may have other things in your life that could potentially interfere with your schooling, but there’s always someone there to listen to you and most importantly work with you. As anything you do in life, it is what you make of it, but if your truly interested in enjoying your training and being a successful cosmetologist, Carsten institute has all the right resources, experienced & enthusiastic instructors, connections to the industry, top salons calling for there students to come assist at there salon because they have trust in the way we’re trained. Although Carsten institute of cosmetology is a great school, it’s not for everybody and it’s not easy. No ones going to hold your hand and make you go everyday, no ones going to force your interest, but if you have that passion, they have those resources. I wish everyone the best at there career and good luck out there! :)

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DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT go here, even if it’s your last resort! I put an ad on Salon Apprentice, wanting strictly grey coverage. Long story short the student AND her instructor mixed the colors wrong even though I brought in the right formula (a real hairdresser has been doing my hair for years; they had the nerve to tell me he gave me the wrong formula!). My hair is red. All I wanted was grey coverage. She wound up giving me BROWN, almost black (which my roots are now). They tried to correct it the next day, and I’m just going to have to deal with it for 2 weeks. She had an attitude too. SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME AND MONEY. THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE!
Please don’t review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you’re connected in any way to the owner or employees.

I’m sure it depends on the student you get, but I went for the first time today and saw Stefania, who was lovely, personable and gave me a TERRIFIC haircut. I have been having my hair cut recently in Soho by a salon owner ($ 200/​cut), to put my review in perspective. When I walked in I did panic initially because it’s not exactly a high end salon, but between Stefania’s care and the instructors’ ready oversight, I was extremely please with the end result. The kicker? $ 10.45!!! (including a coupon), plus a $ 10 tip. May not always be the same experience, but today I could not be happier!

Carsten is always giving back to others by running specials with hair cuts and services by their teachers and students and the last special I took advantage of was having my hair cut by one of the teachers named Mr. B. For the price of 10.00 and a can of food I had the very best haircut I had ever gotten. I have had a lot of luck with student hair cuts there but Mr. B with a few snips here and there he got my shag back in shape in no time. I would highly recommend Carsten for there reasonable prices and talented hair dressers both teachers and students. They also have other services worth checking out.

I had a wonderful experience today at the Carsten Institute… I am new to NYC and a month ago I went there for a simple haircut. I received a great haircut and was told I could come back as a model to the students for service. I was in desperate need of highlights and was a little apprehensive about getting my hair done by a student. Well today I was blown away by the knowledge that student Rhianna had of highlighting hair. Not only was she professional and personable she foiled my hair better than anyone has ever done before. I left there looking and feeling like a million bucks. She was taught the right way and took her time. I would recommend Carsten to anyone in the city. I will absolutely be back for my touch up. And I have to mention how affordable it truly is. Thank u Carsten for making my day!

It really depends on what kind of a student you get to do your hair. My first time here I got a great student to do my highlights; it took a long time, but the result was excellent! My second time around the student turned out to be a failure who is looking to pick up more hours of working with a real customer, so as you can imagine the whole experience was a nightmare. In the end the teacher had to redo my the highlights. Anyway, this place is a hit or a miss experience, but definitely inexpensive compared to salon prices.

Fantastic, great hair cut and color, my dear friend is a student at Carsten institute in Madison ave. I went as a model and she just demonstrate great knowledge my new look is amazing, I’m sure she is going to leave the institute with a profession in her hands and I will have her no only as a friend but as my hairdresser
How lucky I’m ! :)

Great service. I got a super nice hair cut with fantastic blow-​dry there every 2 months. I liked their previous Union Square location better but the new one is still convenient near Grand Central.

This is the new location of the Carsten Institute (original location was in Union Square), which I like because Grand Central is more convenient to get to for me. It’s also a lovely and large space.
First time I came to this place, it worked out so well, it was like a dream. I loved the instructor — he was so knowledgeable and suggested I get high lights then add the copper red color I wanted. The student was really nice and did a great job. My only complaint was that it took a bit longer than I expected — over 5 hours but that’s understandable because the student is a student after all, and still learning… What took the longest were the high lights. Overall, I was very happy with the color and the price was great too– $ 60 because I got the model rate of $ 15 per bowl.
Last weekend, I returned for a second time and there were definitely a few hiccups along the way. The instructor was a different one from last time and I definitely don’t think he was as good as the other one. He said that I could either get high lights (but the top would still be dark) or they would have to bleach my hair to get it to the lighter color I wanted. Now, I never wanted to bleach my hair but they convinced me to do it. The student spent a long time on adding the bleach/​lightener to my hair and used 3 bowls total for it which I think was kind of wasteful.
Also, the way they explained the pricing was really confusing so when I brought that up, the instructor said he could give me the model rate of $ 15 per bowl and I really appreciated that.
Anyway, after the bleach, the student washed it out of my hair, blow dried it a little then started applying the copper color. That process was really quick so that was good. And I really liked the towel the student used to wipe the color off my face– It smelled of beautiful lavender.
When it came time for the color to be washed out, the student told me that I would need toner to be added but I actually really liked the light reddish orange brown as is and I felt like the toner would make my hair color darker. She then called over the instructor to see if he could explain it to me better. He said it was fine if I don’t want the toner applied. The caveat was that I couldn’t complain to them about my hair color later. I agreed to that and am so glad I left it as as, because now it’s this gorgeous bright copper color and has the effect of high lights in them.
The student did a great job blow drying and curling my hair afterwards.
Something to keep in mind: The instructor mentioned the whole process would take approximately 4 hours, but it was actually more like 5.5 hours so expect to be in the salon for awhile especially if it’s for color.
In the end, 5 bowls were used so I paid $ 75 + tax and tip (you tip the student directly.)
Overall, I was very happy with the results and the student worked hard to make sure I got the color I wanted.