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Aveda Institute Columbus-Neil Ave
Categories: Education Specialty Schools Cosmetology Schools Beauty and Spas Hair Salons Cosmetology Schools, Hair Salons [Edit]
1618 Neil AveColumbus, OH 43201
Neighborhood: University District
(614) 291-2421
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 9 pm
Sat 9 am - 7:30 pm
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Kids:
- No
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
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12 reviews for Aveda Institute Columbus-Neil Ave
12 reviews in English
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Review from Sarah S.
3/11/2012
First off: you get what you pay for. If you're in a hurry or want 100% perfection, go somewhere else. If you have time to spare and are cheap and/or easygoing, come here. I stopped by for a manicure (booked appointment in advance) before a big night. For $15, I got to keep the polish and got a great treatment. OPI polish runs about $8-10 a bottle, and I picked a color I don't already own, so I was already satisfied before she even started. She took her time, I was there over an hour between the waiting and the process, but I had anticipated that and wasn't pressed for time. The student was chatty, friendly, and explained every step of the process and made sure I was happy with everything from the shape of my nails to the evenness of the color. The supervisor checked in regularly on us and the others in the room and signed off at the end. I messed up one nail myself getting into my coat on the way out, because they didn't seem to want to give me time to let my nails dry, but it was a Saturday morning and the place was packed with college kids. Anyway, I'll definitely be back. Maybe not for my hair, which I'm super picky about, but for a mani/pedi and "free" polish anytime! Plus they give you water or tea while you wait.
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Review from Charlene A.
Cleveland, OH
6/20/2011
First, I realize these are students. Regardless, this was the worst pedicure I've ever had.
As someone else mentioned, they don't have the usual pedicure massage chair and soaking tub. They fill up a metal bowl with warm water and put rocks in the bottom. Not sure what that is supposed to do for me. My technician, Rita, did not let my feet soak for more than 10 seconds before she started to work on the first foot.
Rather than trim my toenails with a clipper, she proceeded to file each of my nails into an uneven shape. It had been a month since my last pedicure, and I had trimmed two of the nails myself, but they definitely needed to be cut, not filed. She then asked me if each nail was the right shape. They were all pointy and uneven. I just wanted to take a clippers and file and do them myself, but let her keep going.
Maybe because it's an Aveda place, they don't use the softening chemical that most places use. So, when she exfoliated the soles of my feet, nothing really came off. And she didn't rub very hard.
I had chosen a very light shade of polish which I have to admit, makes it a little more difficult to give the toes an even look. However, Rita just kept going over and over the nail, so that there was too much polish on the nail. It looked messy. I could barely keep a straight face at the end, because my toes looked so screwed up.
Two of my friends made appointments for 3:30 and were there during my pedicure that started at 3. Their pedicures were fairly normal and they finished theirs about 2 minutes after mine. So, if you want to get a pedicure at Aveda, just don't get one from Rita.
At the end of your appointment, the "supervisor" comes over and asks how your experience was, and looks at your nails. Except that the person who just did your work is sitting right there. Am I supposed to tell the supervisor that I just had a crap pedicure while the girl is sitting right there? This process should not be done in front of the student, if you actually want accurate responses.
The funniest part is that the other girls doing pedicures said that Rita had already graduated. I guess if you fail enough times they'll just give you a pass.
I had a 20% off coupon so my pedicure cost about 21 dollars. I would have paid 20 dollars to stay at home, do the pedicure myself, and not have wasted my time. -
Review from Kevin G.
Columbus, OH
1/10/2012 1 Check-in Here
Quality definitely is related to the experience of the students, and many don't do men's haircuts often.
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Review from Liz M.
9/30/2010
The worst pedicure I've ever had. The only thing I got out of it was a free bottle of OPI polish. I guess not every student is meant to be in the biz.
First things first, you have to be OK with a student doing your toes, fingers, hair, face, etc. I was. I was also ok with the $25 price tag. I hadn't been to the institute before, but thought it'd be a good idea to go and support students. I had no problem signing the waiver form. The institute did a nice job setting a professional atmosphere as best it could.
I was totally disappointed that they do your pedicure in a large metal bowl. There's really not enough room in there for a good soak and the water is stagnant and gets cool quickly. Not relaxing at all. So, anyway, the girl is reading over my sheet and examining my feet and calls her instructor over to look at my foot to make sure it was ok to work on. It was a scar and the instructor told the girl it was nothing to worry about. I felt embarrassed at that point.
Moving on. The girl gets started. She's nice and funny. However, she tells me right off the bat she doesn't like giving pedicures and proceeds to be mediocre. Then the instructor makes her do the polish over. I was there for two hours. When leaving they tried to sell me a bunch of products I wasn't interested in. I paid my $25 and left.
I really just regretted my whole experience here even though everyone was nice and friendly. My pedi only lasted about 5 days.Listed in: Doctors, Dentists, Salons, and…
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Review from Cheryl H.
Updated - 8/30/2010 2 Check-ins Here
When my hair regrowth got so bad that you could almost see more brown than red, I called Aveda. At 4pm on a Friday they were able to schedule me for 8:30am the following Saturday. Thank jeebus.
Things I got from this that I didn't expect:
- A hand and arm massage while my color processed
- A LAY DOWN SINK! Getting my hair washed at the salon is one of the most painful things - that is not an angle that the human neck is meant to be in. But you can LAY DOWN on a bed here while they wash your hair! Mmmm comfy naptime.
- A mini facial while the conditioner processed
- My hair properly thinned out, and the charge for a haircut removed because "we didn't do enough cutting to charge you for a haircut."
Things I didn't get that I expect:
- My hair properly flat-ironed. I have thick, unruly hair, but my favorite part of any salon visit is that I have shiny, sleek, straight hair for 3-4 days. Ah well, the girl who did it apologized, citing that she herself had short, poker-straight hair.
- To be out of this place in less than 4 hours. Thus is the sacrifice of going to a cosmetology school.
Total cost: $50. But I had a Groupon. $25. FTW.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/29/2010
I was preparing myself to pluck my eyebrows last night - you know, chugged a beer real quick to help… Read more »
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Review from Sara F.
Columbus, OH
7/10/2008
When going to the Aveda Institute, you have to keep in mind that everything is going to take a lot longer and may not be as perfect as you expected. I've been there numerous times for various services, and the students are always incredibly nice and friendly, perhaps a little bit talkative. Keep in mind that the quality of your service can vary drastically depending on who you get.
The Aveda Institute uses two buildings, one on High Street and one on Neil Avenue separated by about 4 blocks along 10th Avenue. Both locations have street parking, and the Neil Avenue location has a small private lot and the High Street location a parking garage across the street. When scheduling your appointment, make sure to check which location you should go to for your services.
Hair cut: When my hair was short, I had to get my hair cut rather often. The best place to go for a cheap yet stylish haircut is the Aveda Institute. Oftentimes, it would take about two hours, but I would always receive compliments from my friends. However, after getting my hair cut at the Institute and later getting my hair cut at another salon, my hairdresser asked where I had my hair cut previously because, according to her, they did a terrible job. In all honesty, I'm not a professional so I don't know how my hair ought to look, but occasionally you hear a horror story or two of an excessively talkative student or a small bald patch. Even if such a terrible thing were to occur, usually they do their best to remedy the situation.
Waxing: Without a doubt, the Institute is a great place to get eyebrow waxing done. It's cheap, fast, and I have never lost an eyebrow. Other areas can vary. I've had bikini waxing done by two different girls. I would like to preface this by saying that I have had waxing done at other places including a full fledge Aveda Spa so I knew what to expect.
The first time, I had a relatively new student being shadowed by another student. They asked if it were okay for the shadow to observe the bikini wax, and I was fine with it. The job was slightly sloppy but decent. Perhaps working together was distracting for them.
The second time was completely different. Only one student did the job, and she had been there for two months. The job was fast, easy, and very good with a bonus of being relatively painless.
Nails: I had my nails done at the Aveda Institute for the first time last night. As with waxing, I have had mani/pedi's before ranging from the corner nail shop to the luxurious nail spas. The room for nails is tucked in the back corner, and it feels more like a slumber party with the friendly students. Some even sit on the floor to do toes which might be unorthodox but reinforces the slumber party vibe. I will admit that the chairs were a little uncomfortable but survivable. The nail services also use Aveda products as expected, and their hand and feet lotions are fantastic.
The girl who did my nails spent a lot of time removing paint that had drifted outside the lines. I'm certain that I could have done a better job painting my nails, but everything else was okay including the mild hand and feet massages. In the end, my manicure lasted about a day before being chipped, but my toes are still going strong. I'll admit that I was surprised about how short the polish lasted on my nails considering that they use OPI products, but so it goes.
Overall, services at the Aveda Institute can vary from mediocre to fantastic. If you're willing to take a risk to save some change, go to the Aveda institute, but set aside a lot of time. -
Review from Lisa S.
2/12/2008
Before walking into any Aveda Institute, you must be aware that anyone cutting or styling your hair is indeed a student. That being said, please clear your afternoon as a normal haircut will now take two to three times as long than at a normal salon.
I personally have never had any problems getting my hair done at Aveda. My hair has never been butchered, though I know if I paid more to go to a professional salon I would be getting a better hair cut.
Students will often be asking their instructors how they are doing, and if they are really screwing up the instructors will take over. Once I was a hair model for someone's exam, which meant I got a free hair cut, and they dyed my hair for just the cost of the dye. While a makeover like that at a normal salon would have cost me close to $100, I got mine for around $38.
The best part of Aveda is the "Complimentary Sensory Rituals". In english this means yummy tea, a mini massage and facial, and at the end some lip gloss or eye make-up applied in the store.
I love the Aveda product line, which is all natural and sometimes organic plants and herbs. They smell fantastic and you can really feel the difference on your hair.
If you still don't know if you would want to go to a beauty school to get your hair styled, ask yourself this. Do you have a specific cut and style in mind, or would you just like something general and non-specific done to your hair. If you want the latter of the two, then you are safe at Aveda. -
Review from Matthew B.
Columbus, OH
8/25/2008
Is it because I'm a guy that I don't get offered the massages that everyone seems to get here? Is it my beard? From what I understand Aveda is the place to go for the massages alone, but I've never been offered one. I just get the mediocre haircuts.
I really want to like Aveda because it helps out students and your "tip" goes to charity and everything smells so great and isn't it all natural, too?, and well all that. But I just can't seem to get the haircut I want at Aveda.
The students are friendly enough, and one was polite enough to keep cutting my hair when I fell asleep in her chair. Hell, considering how horrible I am at barbershop conversation, maybe she was better off
But I wasn't, really. My hair wasn't ruined; I had something like a good haircut, just not the haircut I had asked for. Maybe I've gotten better at describing what I want to hairdressers since my last time at Aveda, but somehow I doubt it. Maybe I'm just a mid-term.
Still, if I knew I was getting a massage, I'd get a haircut a week. -
Review from Michael T.
Manhattan, NY
2/5/2009
The best haircuts I've ever gotten have been at the Aveda Institute of Columbus. They always understand what I want and the results are great.
The experience of this Aveda Institute is way better than the one in Cincinnati. I feel like I'm in a professional salon here, unlike the cluttered, unorganized school environment of the Cincinnati Aveda.
I've also had a different experience from Matthew B's. I always get offered massages and facials, even though I'm a guy with a beard. I do always turn them down, since putting anything on my face always seems to cause more harm than good, but I haven't experience any discrimination because I'm a guy. -
Review from Megan S.
Marysville, OH
Move over Penzone's, forget you Kenneth's, I've been bitten by the Aveda Institute bug and I'm not going back. Thanks to my heck of a deal Groupon offer I took advantage of ($50 worth of services for $25) I tried the Aveda school today for the first time and I was not disappointed. So let me break down the good, the bad and the ugly:
The Good
I got the 90 minute facial and it was hands down THE best facial I have ever had. Why??? Well it's all due to my fabulous esthetician Faith Walker. Seriously this girl ROCKS!!! I have never had a person pay so much attention to and take their time as Faith did. She explained everything as she went along, was super gentle and again most importantly to me, she took her time. I did not feel rushed like I do typically at the big time Columbus salon's I mentioned above. The facial itself starts with a foot soak where you receive a foot scrub and wash. This was a really nice touch. Then througout the facial I received a phenomenal arm and hand massage 2 times during the facial. I could have opted to do a foot massage, but chose the hand and arm again. I was so relaxed and it was such a great stress reliever. The rooms in the spa area are sectioned off with curtains. Almost reminds me of the booth the wizard sits behind in the Wizard of Oz, or a voting booth. I really didn't care for this and prefer being in a room because you can hear people walking past outside of the curtain and their talking/conversations, etc. Once your skin gets evaluated by the esthetician she/he then will bring in their instructor so they can examine and make sure the esthetician is recommending the proper mask/cleanser for your skin type. This was the only time anyone else came in to check the facial, which was nice.
The Bad was that parking around here stinks. The lot in the back is gravel and super tiny and packed so you nine times out of ten will have to park on the street.
The Ugly part about this visit was that I got a flippin ticket for an expired meter. No lie that meter was not empty for more than 7 minutes and I had a ticket, so they pay close attention and must watch the meters like a hawk.
Bottom line is that this place is great if you're budget concious and want to treat yourself to a nice relaxing service. I HIGHLY recommend asking for Faith, cause this girl is the bomb. So much so that I asked for her card, because once she graduates I definitely want to follow her to wherever she ends up working, it was THAT good. -
Review from Joanna M.
Columbus, OH
7/9/2011
The Neil ave. location is where students first touch real human hair attached to living heads... and it shows. I went here with hair... let's say Cameron Diaz color, I asked for something Jennifer Anniston-y and I ended up walking out SOBBING with 2 shades darker than Penelope Cruz. They said there must have been some sort of "mix up" and then he applied the color with my chair pointing away from the mirror so I didn't see it until it was too late and then he kept going "oh, it will get lighter when we dry it" .... it did NOT get any lighter. My hair was so black, it was purple and I still had to pay 75$ (of course) and they offered to have me come back, but only if the same idiot could fix it himself. YEAH RIGHT.
So then, I went to other salons for a while but I live immediately down the street and te temptation is just too much. So, like a fool, I went back again today. I specifically requested a senior stylist and they sent me to the Neil Ave. location... which means the person is definitely NOT a senior stylist.
So I get my hair cut by this girl who 100% for sure does not want to be touching me, my hair, or anything other than her future paychecks (if anyone ever hires her)
She sighed audibly when I said "sure, I'll do the free mini-facial" and didn't talk to me the whole time.
She spent 15 minutes sectioning my hair and tightly twirling it up in banana clips, and then re-did two of them... and then immediately took them out to begin cutting... it was so stupid.
I requested 1 1/2 inches cut off my hair. She cut off somewhere between 5-7 inches. OK, fine, it will grow back... at some point.
So then she starts... um... I guess you'd call it "styling" my hair. I've had roller coaster rides that made my hair look better than whatever this girl was doing. She was pointing the hair dryer UP towards my head, instead of down- meaning that she was not only making my hair irretrievably frizzed and nasty- but was burning half the skin off my head as well.
she was meticulously working on the back of my head doing...well.. I don't know... but i guess she must have been doing something because she did it for like 20 minutes.
Meanwhile the front of my hair was almost completely dry and looked like I put my finger in a light socket. by the time she got around to doing anything with that, it was all curly and she took this nasty cheap old industrial looking straightener to my hair and clamped down like her life depended on it. I am not tenderheaded in the least, but it felt like she was running something coated in rubber over my hair. I was cringing while I felt hairs being broken and torn out.
She straightened only the top like 40 hairs, and she flattened that until half of it was broken off and the piece of hair was sizzling and frayed, but didn't even touch the hair under it.
Eventually, I stopped her and said "you know.. I'm just going home so why don't you just let me tuck this behind my ear and I'll just fix it later" and she goes "oh... well I'm pretty much done". It was all I could do not to burst out laughing.
I decided I looked exactly like the drummer from "Poison" circa 1986. The "director" came over to inspect my hair. I sat there staring at her, She looked at it and goes "do you like it" and I hesitated, knowing that if I said "no" I'd be left at the mercy of that rusty freddy-kruger straightener again. So I said "yes" and got the hell out of there to go fix it myself.
NEVER AGAIN... this place has messed up my hair one too many times. I understand you're learning... but needing a chance to practice techniques and just being a raging idiot are two different things. messing up hair color is one thing, but a female in her mid 20's should know how to brush hair. -
Review from Jessica L.
Wauseon, OH
7/15/2010
I have mixed feelings about Aveda Institute. As a college student, it was a great place to get a haircut for cheap. Since I often had a half-days with my class schedule, I didn't care that it took 2 hours. And I was happy with the cuts for the first 9 or so cuts. It may not have always been what I wanted, but I was always happy with it.
And then there was the final cut. It was just a few days before my sister's graduation, and I decided my haircut could use some cleaning up. So I came in, with a very basic style that I wanted (a-line, some light layers and a trim. Minimum amount of hair cut off). I described it, gave her a picture, she explained to the instructor what she was going to do. And it all sounded good. Then she started cutting. I noticed there was more hair than I was expecting, but I have a LOT of hair, so I didn't think too much of it. And then I saw the cut. It was not what I wanted at ALL. In addition, my hair, that had been shoulder length when I came in, was now almost chin length. I started freaking out, and had to talk myself down from the ledge, telling myself that I couldn't cry in public. The instructor came over and explained what had happened. Basically, she cut my hair backwards. The only way to fix it was to cut more. The instructor cleaned the mess up, but when I walked out my hair was now chin length and I was completely miserable. That was the last time I got my hair cut there.
If you don't mind the possibility of your hair being screwed up, go for it. It's kind of like the lottery. You win some, you lose some.
