That’s unfortunate. I do think it depends on the school and the student. But agree you have to go in with lower expectations than a regular salon. I’ve only have a mani/pedi at a school (a pre-wedding party). It took longer than normal, but was terrific nonetheless. – LD

Great advice!

Unfortunately, my mother – who has accompanied me on at least three different occasions – has received what can patently be called ‘hair cut hatchet jobs’. She generally requests a short layered style (a la Kris Jenner) and while two of the cuts she received were pretty bad but somewhat fixable (at home), the most recent one she got was so clearly cringeworthy that I asked THEM to fix it right there in the salon.

I was quite surprised that the instructor – who reviewed the cut and pointed out some areas that needed to be fixed – failed to double check that the student (who at that point looked like a deer caught in the headlights) actually followed through on those suggestions. Unfortunately, the haircut became infinitely worse, ultimately resulting in my mother wearing a hairband to partially camouflage the mess for several months straight.

Sure, what I’m sharing here may be a somewhat isolated incident, but I feel that it’s important for people to be prepared for the possibility that a student may indeed ‘accidentally lop off your locks’. My recommendation with beauty schools is to tread cautiously – and be sure that your haircutter is truly being directly supervised by a professor (who is physically present!) – unless you are more of a free spirit who is not especially worried about the outcome ;)