Paul Mitchell The School St. Louis

Over the years, I’ve had great services peppered by not-​so-​great experiences. After today, I think I’m done giving them the benefit of doubt. The problem: inconsistency. It all depends on which stylist you get. Some are genuinely talented and willing to work with you. Some should not be trusted to cut off broccoli heads. Even worse, when you give them feedback, they are not very receptive. Their go-​to excuse is that they’re students who are still learning. Fine, but when they don’t know what they’re doing, they really shouldn’t be allowed to see real clients. At the very least, the customer should not be charged for wasted time. The girl I got today didn’t even know how to shampoo properly – she weakly spread shampoo all over my hair and rinsed it off in 5 seconds. Nope, I’d rather pay for consistency and the lack of suspense. I’m done trying to be cheap because frankly, it’s not worth the bargain.

I get it that these are students, but this was excessively slow. I had a blowout done and it took an hour and a half start to finish. I could have done better on my own and faster even with having to go home, shower, blow dry, and come back to work.

It’s a little difficult to find the Paul Mitchell School — it’s in the CWE right by the Chase, on the second floor. I’ve gone here a couple of times in the last few months. The rate is a little higher than the other schools, but it’s still about the price of a Great Clips haircut. It’s better than a GC job because the students really take their time with the work and they are checked by their supervisors.
My student sent me home with a list of the products used on me. There wasn’t much pressure to buy anything, and the list gave me the ability to find the products elsewhere. Nice!

UPDATE: Their customer service rep called me back and gave me a refund for my second visit.

I am warning you now, do not go here. This place ruined my hair which was in good health when I went in. They did nothing close to what I asked for and did not seem to care about my experience in the slightest. I’ve never had such a bad hair experience and been treated so flippantly. I understand this is a school and mistakes are to be expected, but that does not excuse the complete disregard for the client. I strongly advise anyone considering going here to spend the extra money and go to a salon where they actually care about you and aren’t just trying to log hours on the floor.
There is an astounding lack of communication between the stylist/​leader and client. I brought a picture and told them in specific detail what I wanted. How they got so far off that mark while managing to fry my hair as well is beyond me. I would’ve been okay with even a general resemblance to what I showed them. I have no cosmetology training whatsoever and have done better dye jobs on myself.
The stylists don’t «hear» you. The leaders don’t either. They do their own thing and tell you how great your hair looks no matter what they’ve done. Other stylists walk by and say the same. They are obviously trained to do this. If you disagree, they will either politely try to sway you (like it’s up for debate at all) or get condescending and even blame you for the outcome. I experienced both. It is clear the priority of this place is getting you in and out rather than how you feel about your hair. I honestly can’t even believe they let me walk out of the salon. My hair was a fried, frizzy wreck. It had been so pretty and natural when I walked in.
If you go back for corrections expect the same treatment. You still have to pay. I was actually blamed for what happened by my second stylist, saying my picture had a filter on it, I shouldn’t have used a Phase 1 stylist, etc. Her leader then told me my dye was demi-​permanent so the whole thing except the blonde would wash out in six wees, even having the audacity to say that should make me feel better. Interesting to find that out on my second trip back! Either my first stylist didn’t feel it necessary to mention, or this woman was lying. I can’t even believe what this place does and gets away with.
How are these stylists learning anything without ever considering client feedback? (Answer? They’re not. Look up reviews from former students who feel like they wasted their time and money at Paul Mitchell. There are a LOT.) At the end of the day what bothered me most is the way I was treated. I could’ve been much more forgiving about my hair had one person acted like they cared for TWO SECONDS. That is what really made this experience awful, and that is the reason I will never go back.

I’ve only been able to get my hair cut here three in the last 4.5−5 years that I’ve lived in Central West End. One time I got a deep condition treatment, which was really nice. I would recommend getting that, if they offer to do it. My hair held a style for a few days after I got that done. Plus, it smells really nice. The other two times that I’ve been there was to get my hair cut, it’s about what I expect from a beauty school. Nice people, teachers checking every step of the way. I never left upset with how my hair looked at the end of it all. They do offer a student discount on Mondays for local college kids, which is a nice bonus.
The problems that I have with this place is the fact that they are a ‘beauty school’ that doesn’t offer waxings and the lack of availability. I hate tweezers with a passion and most salons that I know of have waxings offered. So that’s a bit of a killer for me. Instead of getting it all done at once, I have to go to a second place for the waxings that I need done. Then there is the lack of availability. They don’t take walk-​ins after a certain time, which can be understandable, but frustrating. Especially since I don’t get my hair cut that often. Also, they are closed one Monday of every month for training or whatever. This can be annoying too because I don’t have the time to walk there find out and walk back to my place only to repeat the process later.
I feel like I could go almost anywhere to get my hair done as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never had a bad experience with hair stylists. However, the negatives are too much of a problem to make it worth my while to come in.

Terrible. I spent $ 100 for my hair to be highlighted and I looked like a striped tiger with orange strips. They pulled my hair really bad, how could the teacher let me walk out of there looking like that? My cut was supposed to be all the way around and was uneven. It took 4 hours for what should have taken 2. There were 3 girls working on my hair and talking about their boy drama which was super unprofessional. Just don’t do it if you have an actual look your going for.

I went to Paul Mitchell on Saturday for a bridal party. There were about seven of us scheduled to get our hair and makeup done that day.
When we arrived the girls at the desk greeted us and had us fill out paperwork since we were new clients. We also each received a goody-​bag! Once we were all checked in we were taken back one by one to our station. My guy came out to get me and introduced himself. His name was Max. We walked over to the station where I would be getting glamorized and I had a seat. Max started asking me what kind of look I wanted for my hair and then we started talking about different hairstyles. He provided a few options that he was familiar with and I decided to go with the curls in a pony-​tail. Sounds silly, but the final product looked great (see pictures). Throughout the time I was there Max and I were chatting and he made me feel very comfortable. I’d rather have a chatty stylist than someone who doesn’t talk at all; that can be awkward. We chatted about the wedding that we were all getting ready for as well as his plans for his future career. He mentioned his graduation plans and then we connected because he plans to travel to Tampa and as you all know, I am from that area so I was happy to give some advice on what to do and where to eat!
Max started with my hair and one by one he made curls and tucked them in so they stayed in place; of course there was a lot of hairspray used, but that was fine by me. I needed my hair to stay in place for the entire day and night. He made sure to ask if I was tender-​headed so that he knew not to pull too hard and I appreciated that because I do have a tender head. He also made sure to bring one small piece of hair and curl it so that it outlined my face and I think it looked perfect by the time it was all done.
As soon as we were finished with my hair he started getting supplies to work on my make-​up. Max had a ton of products that I already use at home (mainly from Sephora) so it was pretty simple to put on my face. He started by telling me what he was going to do and asked me if I needed blush or not. As he applied the make-​up he was giving me a tutorial of how he was doing it which I thought was cool because I never knew some of the stuff he was mentioning. For instance, he does the eye makeup first so that if any of the eye shadow spreads beneath the eyes he can then apply the foundation and cover it up. He talked about how he was contouring my face and what colors he was using. All very educational. Oh, and I forgot to mention how he did a before and after picture for his Bridal portfolio so that he could have it for his final project.
Overall, it was a good experience for me and I really will go back. It’s a shame Max won’t be there since he will be graduating this week… but I know plenty of the other students will do a good job too. It seemed like they all had such great support from their teachers since the teachers were walking around and checking in on all the students pretty often. Thanks Paul Mitchell School for a good bridal experience.
One thing to note is that you can’t add tip on a credit card, so be sure you bring cash if you plan on tipping (which you should)!

I felt like I needed a cut while visiting St Louis in business and found the school on Unilocal.Pretty good cut for a decent price. my student Mimi who has been with the school about 6 months was pretty thorough and very kind. It was a pleasant surprise to get a welcome bag as a first time customer. It’s a large facility on the second floor of the building. If I ever find myself in St Louis again, I’ll definitely swing by for another visit.

Great blow out by Precious. Such a young talented hair stylist with a desire to give the client her very best.

I went here about twice a year for two years, and it’s what you expect from a beauty school. Very affordable, like $ 13 for a women’s haircut, really can’t beat that price. Downside: it takes about 2 hours for just a shampoo, cut, and blowdry, and for the record I do not have difficult hair, I just got long layers in my perfectly straight hair every time. The nice thing is that a professional stylist, the teacher, will finish you off so you end up with a very nice cut. I’d also recommend always going for Level 2 stylist, they are not much faster but in my experience have been much better at the initial consultation and translating that into the style I wanted.
If you’re looking for a very cheap haircut that will likely look better than a similarly priced Great Clips ‘do, Paul Mitchell is the place for you. If you’re more pressed for time than for money and not willing to risk getting a cut that’s not exactly what you wanted, go somewhere else.

My sister hired the Paul Mitchell School to do her and all of her bridesmaids’ hair for her wedding. They were fantastic and very friendly! The stylists even came to the hotel we were staying at, which was very convenient. Everyone was very happy with the experience and end results.
Would definitely recommend using the Paul Mitchell School for a wedding or other event.

Roll the dice with chemical or hot irons and you might get burned — I did and I had to get 4 inches of «frazzle» cut off
Stick to the «wild ginger» deep conditioner or the OPI gel manicure. The specials below can make it almost free. You will most likely be here double the normal time.
***FUNday Monday:
*All students or teachers with a college I.D. get ½ off their service ticket on Mondays.
***Summer Spa Event:
*Receive the Awapuhi Wild Ginger KeraTriplex Treatment and a Sugar Scrub manicure, and a blow-​out for $ 30! (Every day but Saturday.)
***Mad About Gel
*Receive a gel nail service on Wednesdays for $ 15.

They have Unilocal take down the bad reviews FYI. Messed up. Don’t come here. You’ll spend more money fixing your hair than you save coming here. Message me for photographic proof — Unilocal took down the after shots of my hair.

I went here a few days ago to get a hair cut and have my hair dyed. I think I can honestly say this was the worst salon experience I’ve ever had. The students do not have any idea what they are doing, even the more experienced «phase II,» and constantly ask the teaching instructor for help. This would have all been ok if it turned out well. I had a picture of exactly what I wanted and didn’t think it would be hard to mess up. I asked for dark brown/​caramel highlights and instead left with random blond streaks in my hair. As for my trim, I still have split ends everywhere. They rushed when it was close to closing time, using random «state rules» as an excuse for their impatience and laziness.
Two of my friends who came with me had similar experiences and one even ended up dying her own hair the next day. When I went back earlier today to explain that I was unsatisfied, they demanded I pay for a new color job. I don’t think I have been spoken to so unprofessionally in any salon. Waste of time and energy attempting to talk to these staff members.
While the prices are cheaper than most salons out there, don’t expect the quality to be anywhere near that. I would never recommend this salon to any friends in the future. In my opinion better to spend the extra $ 20-​$ 30 have a better quality experience, regards to my hair as well as the professionalism shown by the teachers.
I only gave this place one star because of the cleanliness of the salon and the coffee/​lemon water they offer to all the customers.

I came here with very specific idea of what I wanted. I had a picture and I explained it very clearly. The stylist moved at a snail’s pace, which I expected since she was a student and all the school advises you to expect about two hours. But it wasn’t just her cutting technique that was slow. She did everything slowly and didn’t seem to know what the hell to do half the time, even though she is almost about to graduate.
I don’t agree with the way they teach their students to do hair because they put a ton of product in my hair and dried it completely and styled it before even finishing the cutting. How the hell do you cut properly on dry styled hair? Of course it’s not going to look right!
The stylist did a decent job, but she didn’t listen at all and I left with an okay haircut but it was not at all what I asked for. It didn’t look like the picture and she didn’t do what I asked.
At least it wasn’t too expensive, but it was Supercuts quality, and slightly more expensive than Supercuts and took 3 times as long.
I would never go back. It’s not worth it to wait that long and have someone not know what they’re doing. It wasn’t a hack job, the cut itself is decent, but they need to teach their students to LISTEN and to finish a cut before drying and styling.

Nope, I’m done. This school/​salon finally has lost me as a customer, which is sad since this has been my exclusive salon since 2008.
I’ve endured bad dye jobs, lopsided cuts, neglected roots and last-​minute stylist switcharoos over my years at Paul Mitchell, but I’ve always accepted and excused them because this is a learning center, plus I’m generally ok once they rectify things. No more. This may be a learning center, but the student stylists certainly are not learning anything about customer service from the leaders.
** At 8:15 a.m., I received a text from the Paul Mitchell school confirming my 10:15 a.m. appointment. I left my warm home, braved the snowy, slushy roads and drove to the Central West End. At the salon, I found a number of women crowded in the Paul Mitchell building. Someone finally figured out that the salon was closed because of the snow, but they didn’t find out from the salon contacting anyone. No, the salon had posted the closure on its Facebook page, which is targeted toward its current and future students, NOT to clients. Even worse, there was a Facebook post from earlier in the morning stating that the school was open. **
I understand weather closures. They’re inconvenient, but they’re part of life, and I would have been annoyed but ultimately understanding had I been alerted to the closure before I left for my appointment. What’s unacceptable is not contacting your clients about such a closure. When you run an appointment-​based business — in which keeping that appointment is essential to both the business and the customer — you have an obligation to cancel appointments directly with the customer. A phone call or text from Paul Mitchell was necessary to prevent customers from traveling the same snowy roads that they didn’t want their employees or students to travel.
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in The Cup, a cupcake shop in the same string of buildings as the Paul Mitchell school. From the window, I’ve seen a number of women exiting the garage across the street, walking past The Cup toward the Paul Mitchell school and then walking back toward the garage a few minutes later. My guess is that they’re Paul Mitchell clients with later appointments who also weren’t alerted to the closure. Sad.
TLDR: Paul Mitchell school didn’t let clients with appointments know that they were not opening today, despite sending texts this morning confirming the appointments. Clients braved the snow for no reason. They’re losing this customer of five years
*** UPDATE 7:29 P.M., DAY OF REVIEW ***
The Paul Mitchell school now is practicing revisionist history and terrible social media activity. They have deleted a comment where I responded step by step to the incident, which people still are blaming simply on anger over the closure. DELETED. They’ve also deleted the original Facebook post about the school being open. DELETED. Folks, this is bad. I’ve been in the communications field for more than 15 years, and you just don’t do that! SO MANY THINGS WRONG!
For posterity, here is my comment that was deleted:
I’ll be the crabapple here; I don’t mind.
1) Not everything was closed. Businesses on the same block as the school were open.
2) Weather isn’t why people (not just me) were worked up. It was the lack of communication that the school was closed and our appointments were cancelled.
3) This Facebook page is targeted to current and former students, not clients. Thus, it made no sense for clients to check here; those of us with the first appointments of the day deserved direct communication.
4) Even those who may have checked Facebook this morning might have only seen the first posting (though, again, directed to stylists) saying that the school was open.
5) Many of us who showed up this morning did so because of an 8 a.m. confirmation text. Many of us arranged babysitting, errands and work around this confirmation, not to mention that many drove quite a distance to make this appointment.
6) I’m glad that PM is looking into a different communication system, but this shouldn’t have been the first time for staff to consider this problem. The school needs crisis communication training.
Takeaway: It could have been 80 degrees and sunny, and we clients who showed up at 10:15 a.m.for our appointments still would have been disappointed at the lack of communication or effort to reach clients.

Over the weekend, I was looking for a place to get a shellac manicure. The one nearest me wasn’t open, so I mapped out places in the area. Paul Mitchell came up as one nearby with reasonable prices. To be honest, I didn’t even realize they did nails there, but 25 bucks for gel polish is hard to beat, so I booked an appointment. Big mistake.
Upon arriving, I was taken back after a brief wait and seated at the mani table. My student told me she was graduating soon, so I felt reassured that she knew what she was doing. Back story: when I’m home, I do my own shellac. It doesn’t take a cosmetology class to learn how to do it, just patience and attention to detail.
Well, let’s just say I hope this student sticks to hair when she finishes school. My manicure took over TWO hours for what should’ve been a 45 minute job, max. She messed up three of my nails so badly that I asked her to redo them because the polish was onto my skin and would’ve peeled off shortly after. When she agreed to redo them, she peeled off the polish instead of soaking it off, taking a layer or two of my nails with it. There were three or four others that she filed down the excess polish instead of redoing the entire nail. Overall, it was a hot mess of a manicure. Even better, it chipped later that day when I got home! The only plus is that I got to take a bottle of polish home with me for free, which is good because I’ll need to redo this one probably within a week.
I will never go to a beauty school for my nails again. I could have done a better job myself while intoxicated.

You will NOT pay a lot for a hair cut
You WILL get a good hair cut
You WILL wait forever to get said haircut
(If you have time to kill, this place is wonderful. Not so much if you’re busy)

I came here recently to have my hair dyed, and I was very happy with the result. I had very specific requests (brown to blonde ombré and full highlights) and honestly I was a little nervous about leaving my hair in the hands of students. But they exceeded my expectations!
This place is a little hard to find. It’s on the second floor of a huge building. I would recommend parking at the lot on York and Maryland (211 York Ave) rather than at a meter, because it’s hard to predict how long you will be in the salon and you don’t want to worry about having to refill the meter every two hours. This lot charges $ 1/​hr with a $ 5 max.
If you are on a budget, this place is fantastic. They give you a quote for the price at the very beginning of the session before they do anything to your hair. I had to pay a little bit more for my color because I have long, thick hair. But I was happy that they let me know that ahead of time, so I was not surprised when I was checking out.
The ambiance there is fantastic. They offer lemon water and coffee to all of the guests, and they go above and beyond to make sure all of the guests feel comfortable and appreciated. I was thanked for contributing to the education of the «future professionals» several times. It made me feel good about myself. Anyway, what I really liked about the environment was the fact that the students were very eager to learn and ask for guidance. They were not rushing at all, and they wanted to make sure that they were doing every step correctly before moving on. This ensured that my color was fantastic, but I was there from 10am-4:30pm as a result.
I would HIGHLY recommend Sierra (she graduates in January 2014) and Zoe (she graduates in August 2013). They both take great pride in their work, and they do an excellent job!
Tip: Make sure to bring some cash with you. They will not let you tip with your credit/​debit card.

Do not attend this school. I transferred from a smaller school in NY and was last minute told they would only accept 250 hours of 780 I completed in NY. I decided to still go bc of the convience of the location and promises of a fantastic education. During my paid clock hours we went ice skating for day, listened to the KONY 2012 nuts, blindly fundraised for shotty charities, listened to the owners personal struggles and her religious beliefs, repeated theory classes I had already passed and were taught by unqualified teachers. I quickly learned that I fell for smoke and mirrors and was wasting time and money. Now that I have graduated with 2030 cosmetology hours completed I learned they never sent my transfer hours to the state and now dealing with both states and my career is held up bc of them! This school will make promises and not keep them and if you don’t drink the kool aid you will be miserable!

I decided to focus my career onto the beauty industry, almost 4 years ago, coming from a strong background in marketing, sales and business ownership from all around the country and abroad. I underestimated the milestone that would overshadow any previous in my life. It was because of this school, and more importantly the leaders guiding me, that I was able to combine my previous strengths with new talents onto what has become the most rewarding life and career I could ever want. It’s far more then just a ‘hair school’, it’s a foundation for purpose… both personally and professionally. Anyone can learn how to cut and color hair to some degree… but here you will learn from the BEST to be the BEST, and what a fantastic environment to accomplish yourself. Diversity from every aspect… from your leaders, to your peers and onto all the colors in world of hair.
This is the school for anyone who wants or needs more out of themselves and life. And remember along your journey to be proud that you chose to be here… you chose to be the best. You chose Paul Mitchell The School St. Louis.
A personal thank you to Michelle Clark for what she stands for and the example she sets forth for not only the entire school and the beauty industry, but really anyone who believes in themselves and their purpose to create success around them and others. Thank you for the strength and happiness!

This review is for future students. I tried to avoid this due to the few stand up, awesome learning leaders that do their job well (to you guys, I apologize). Future students and parents, think twice before you pay your money to this school. I’m presenting the other side of the façade that they present to you– I wish I could’ve seen it. The school’s level of education is exceptional and the brand is one of the most reputable; however, this is where the value ends. With the exception of a few awesome instructors/​learning leaders who were professional and encouraging I would have left long time ago. If I could do it all over again, I would go to TSP (Redken) academy or even Regency. Initially I lost respect for the Paul Mitchell brand (and I’m still working on that) because I was so disappointed in the level of professionalism of this school and because of the way they handle things.
First of all, Michele Clark (owner), I want to finally clear this up for myself and other students. To rebut your answer to my question «Can you order an African American manikin with kinky hair»? [Your answer] «why, if it’s the skin color of the doll then alright, otherwise set in on perm rods». It does not make a student racist because they want an African American doll with kinky hair, it’s because they want to become comfortable with that texture, as with any other texture! 2^nd of all, you take the time to put about 75 – 100 perm rods in a doll’s head and perm it. Besides, it won’t be the same.
In the future, you should address racially sensitive comments such as this one in a more diplomatic and conscious way.
Next, I feel the need to inform you of this as you may not be aware of this but your brand is universal and respectable; keep this in mind when you make sly, off the wall comments in front of your student body directed towards selected students or when you and some of your staff «click and gossip with other students». This causes people to resent you/​the brand! It’s understandable to have favorites, we all do, but handle it in a more professional way. We all have invested time and money into your school and want to be treated fairly and want to be able to approach you and other staff. Please keep this in mind in the future as some of the students are merely young adults fresh out of high school, this may intimidate them – myself, I just think you lack tact and class.
The $ 1 check issue? It’s not the issue of your policy, the issue is that you never have been able spell my name properly, even when I told you guys! Adriana does not have an e in it and it only contains one n, also, my name is no longer Barber, it changed 8 months ago (if the state board and my financial aid institution can acknowledge this, so should you) – It’s about respect and decency here. I’ve dealt with your cattiness in school, I really want to be done with it, really. And again please, stop it with the sabotaging! You know you have nothing nice to tell my employer about me so why would you be discussing me!!! If you don’t want a law suit on your hands be careful with this matter. Also, please, in the name of such a great brand as Paul Mitchell, take my advice and take a leadership and human relations course so that you don’t ruin an exceptional brand’s name.