Cooper Alley
- Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- By Appointment Only: Yes
7 reviews
Corte Madera, CA
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11 Reviews for Cooper Alley
I had my haircut today with Daniel, and he did a wonderful job. The staff is very attentive, courteous, and friendly. The owner is a great guy, and runs a solid shop.
As a hairdresser myself, I look at all the details of an operation within salons, and this one has to be the most put together, and can please even the most discriminating clients.
It was a pleasure to be in there today, and I look forward to returning when in need.
I had my hair cut by a girl with long blk hair, forgot her name but she was wonderfull. My hair is short and she made it look soft and fem. So many times I leave a salon looking buch, not a good look for me. I had a great shampoo and enjoyed a latte. What a nice time to spend my lunch. Cooper alley had a New York vibe.
I started out here hair modeling, originally with Oksana. When she graduated to the floor as a paid stylist, I loved her so much that I was willing to pay full price for her to work her magic. She is by far the most talented stylist I've ever had. She understands what shapes look good with your bone structure, and I have never left unhappy. I had my hair colored by Erin, which was okay but not as good as I had hoped for. At one appointment with Oksana, she was telling me about a talented apprentice named Patricia. She seemed very earnest and wanted me to go see her. So I made an appointment. I do not regret it. Patricia is so amazing and talented, she truly has a gift for hair color. She took my long blonde hair, which has a tendency to go yellow-y, and turned it into flaxen, beige-y blonde silk. I highly recommend both Oksana and Patricia. I only wish that they were still apprentices. Sigh.
I went here for the first time last week and had a reservation with the owner Rick. Admittedly this place has a good atmosphere and decor but...Not only is this place EXPENSIVE, but apparently the owner is too busy to take his time on hair coloring! My hair ended up way lighter than I wanted and while he was quite the talker, he did little to make my hair look better. This brings me to my second point...the entire experience was AWK because of his constant flirting and excessive hands on. Plus on my way out he asked me if he could take me out sometime to show off my new do, but did I mention he looks about 20 years older than me! Needless to say I won't be frequenting Rick's again
cooper alley is spendy, i agree, but i was not able to find any other place in the bay area where i get a hair cut that i want and am happy about ( in this case i am not just happy, i am extremely pleased, and i keep checking myself in the mirror again and again (which does not happen very often, warn you..., and i even giggle and make faces to the reflection in the mirror ))).
i get my hair done by Oksana Kosmynina. She speaks Russian which is a language that i happen to grow up speaking too so i get to chat with her and this makes a hair event very personal too. :)
i also think that Oksana is a perfectionist and she will do everything to excel and feel proud for what she creates too.
I have been going here and never had a bad cut or color. Oksana is great at cutting hair and Erin is a fantastic colorist. For those with a bad experience, you should have talked to the Rick, one of the owners. He would have done his best to make you happy. I have know him since he worked at another salon I will not mention (did not like them) and he has always been fair.
First off, I'm a college student. This means I have no money...none. Then why on earth am I reviewing Cooper Alley? Two words: hair model. *gasp* Isn't that risky?! mmm...probably, but I have never had a bad haircut from being a model...more importantly, I can afford it. I have been a hair model here about three times and each time it went something like this: (cue twinkling flashback sound)
Walk in, very nice girl at the desk has me sign a paper saying I will walk out happy and in a hold-no-one responsible kind of mood.
Walk into main-part of salon, (after slipping into a robe in one of their changing rooms) which, because it is model day (I'm assuming) is very calm and zen-like, few people, no nail-on-chalkboard-high-maintainance people in the other chairs, just me and one or two other willing guinea pigs sipping the lovely tea that was brought to us.
Meet apprentice and stylist overseeing their work. Proceed to get fantastic cut and color for incredible price (I think mine was 20 or 30 dollars) The best cut I had there (and possibly ever) was from Courtney, not sure if she's still there, but I highly recommend her.
Leave very happy in a I just got a two-hundred dollar haircut for 20 dollars walking on air kind of feeling.
Bottom line: If you have the money to actually get your hair cut here by one of their stylists, don't. Be a model, and use the money you would have spent to give clean water to an entire village in Africa, you will even have some money left over; and I'm not kidding.
While I would give this salon a five star rating for it's location, decor, and product lines, it really irks me whenever a business has front desk help with super snooty attitudes.
Nina, one of the girls was SUPER helpful and sweet on the phone.
But after spending A LOT of $$$ on Kerastase hair products, I wasn't pleased with the unexpected attitude that I recieved with my purchase. While ringing me up, the other front desk girl preceeded to answer the phone, and acted l was nonexistent. Next time I'll probably consider buying my hair products elsewhere. There are several other salons in Marin that carry the Kerastase line.
I have very strong feelings for my hair and only let special people touch it. I've had bad haircuts before and really worry about having them again. Cooper Alley has put all of those fears aside.
I started going to Rick Cooper for my cut and color in Sept 2005. Rick always gave me great cuts but as the owner, he has very expensive prices. In March (2007) I switched to Oksana for my haircut. She was originally one of Rick's apprentices when I first started going there and has had her own chair for quite some time now. Her prices are less than half of Rick's.
As for color, I still go to Rick. He does an excellent job. He knows what is the right color for your skin tone, the season, your personality, your hair type, etc. He's talked me out of some bad ideas (thank goodness) and encouraged me with some good ones (yay).
To me, Cooper Alley is worth very penny.
Beautiful salon in a little strip mall over in Larkspur Landing. Very nice service and decor, but my results were mixed. I had a few very nice haircuts, but the color was all over the map. I tried three different colorists and no one seemed to know what they were doing. In any case, I never came out with the same color twice.
Bad luck maybe? Not sure... I know people that go here and rave about the place, but my experience was very uneven.
If you are looking for an upscale salon (with upscale prices to match), this might be worth a try. Keep in mind you are going to be tipping multiple people in the shop (everyone has an assistant working with them), which really adds up. I would stick with one of the senior stylists and go just for a haircut.
I love frequenting Larkspur Landing for their restaurants so I thought I'dd try the local salon - big mistake !!! I usually book w/ the owner of salons because they're supposed to be the best - but Rick Cooper is definately NOT that guy !!! I could hardly stand the tension of his comings-on throughout the appointment nor the constant sales pressures for his over-priced products. His work is mediocre at best. He spent barely 20 minutes on the cut then proceded to slap color on afterwards without even blowing the cut out first. He then had his assistant wash/ apply a treatment (that they charged me $40 for) and blow me out while he boasted about his so-called fabulous work. He sent me out the door with a spine-tingling smooch on the cheek and a pile of about 8 products which I turned down @ reception due to my utterly disappointing and overpriced experience. Don't waste your time at this place !!! I had to have my cut and color redone 3 weeks later because I couldn't stand all my friends saying "What happened to your hair ?!?!"
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