Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Atlanta — Attraction in Atlanta

This was my first time getting services done at this institute and it was my last. Me and my mother had came in to get our makeup done for an event and our students really didn't seem to have any idea what they were doing or how to even begin. We were patient and understanding with them because they really weren't to blame. Its sad that students pay thousands to come here to LEARN how to do things and the instructors clearly aren't providing a quality learning experience for them nor does the Institute provide proper tools to be successful.

The student had sat me down at the makeup station, asked me how I wanted my make up done and after we chatted for a bit she didn't seem to know what materials to use and where to get them from. She was kind of looking through a bunch of different drawers (which were a bit dirty btw) and trying to gather anything she could use.

She finally started doing my eye makeup and didn't prime my eyes prior to doing so, and was applying my eyeshadow with a q tip... My eyeshadow didn't really look like I had eyeshadow on and it didn't look smooth and crisp. One eye was also darker then the other and my eyes were pretty inconsistent overall. I'm not a makeup expert but I know that quality makeup cannot be done without proper brushes or product.

I have acne scars on my face and asked if she would do foundation, and the student looked at me unconfidently and whispered "to be honest, the product here is not of quality." I was in shock but asked her to put some on my face anyway because at that point it was better then nothing and the event was starting soon. The foundation shades were limited and I only recall seeing about 5 different shades . She applied the foundation inconsistently on my face with my forehead not being covered at all and the lower half of my face was kind of covered. You could still see the majority of my scars as well. The foundation color also did not match my neck color.

She then proceeded to do my eyebrows and was WAY to heavy and inexperienced with the pencil. I looked in the mirror and looked like a straight up man and my mom started laughing. I immediately asked her to take it off. (But if I hadn't she would have let me walked out looking like that.) She also applied lipstick on my face from the original tube it came out of and I didnt see any of the makeup being sanitized before or even after the makeup application.

Throughout the entire experience, an instructor was not present with the students as advertised and didn't even come to evaluate my final look.

Meanwhile, my mom got a "smoky eye" done and told the girl that it looked like she got punched in the face. The girl had also told my mom she really had no experience with make up prior to starting her application which was obvious as I watched her put setting powder on my mother's face before putting the foundation on. She also kept asking the student that was doing my face if what she was doing was correct and the only reason my mom ended up looking kind of decent was because the girl that was doing my face had to stop what she was doing to fix what the other student had done to my mothers face.

I get that they are students, but this experience was beyond disappointing and its not their fault that they lack direction. Shame on the "instructors". Thank god the lighting at the event we were going to was poor..

Also, the makeup booth was stationed by the register.. And as we were getting serviced I could hear the cashier cursing. Super...

Oh, where to begin. Brought my daughter in for an updo (low bun with a few curly strands and incorporated braid) and makeup from a 'Master Student.' I should have gathered her and left when our 'Master Student' called someone over to do the small braid (no, not even a french braid, just a small accent braid). Once it was done, it was ok. Not awful, not impressive. My daughter seemed happy, and that was all that mattered. So why the 1 star? Oh, it gets worse. The bun fell out during makeup. Makeup that she had to stand up for, because there was only 1 seat. Stylist fixed it, told her to be very careful, and continued the makeup. The makeup took less time than you would spend to apply it if you were running out for groceries. She asked for contouring, like the girl in the 1 seat they had for makeup. Hers was beautiful. The end result for us was no attempt at contouring, blush that looked like it was applied with a paint brush, no blending, eyeshadow all over the place, and I'm not sure mascara was even used. Her lipstick would have been spot on if she were a hooker in the Wild West...Hoco, not so much. We paid, since there seemed to be no one around supervising, and saved ourselves the argument. I wasn't trying to conpletely ruin my child's day. Her hair fell again in the car (where she said she liked it ok, but figured she could fix the side at home), and again while she was redoing her makeup. Completely. All in all, we paid for hair that I had to go for supplies to redo, and makeup that we had to scrub off and redo. Almost 2 hours there wasted, another 2 hours of store and remake time. This was not the deal I thought it would be. I understand that these are students. I understand that it takes longer and may not be perfect. Maybe this 'Master Student' is really good at color. But, if you're saying 'Master' anything, I'm assuming that there is at least a proficiency level that can handle a bun and a braid that may stay together with light movement. I doubt very seriously that anyone gets their hair done to go home and sit with absolutely no movement. I would also assume that they would be able to apply makeup that looks marginally better than a toddler who has found their mother's makeup bag. I get this is a school, but if you're graduating in accounting and are 'Master' level, I can expect that you are able to do some addition, yes? Same for hair and makeup.

I won't even go into the rude, red headed student that I encountered outside of the building, who became very silent when I asked for her name after she was ballsy enough to make some very snipey comments.

Needless to say, we won't be back. You should save yourself the time and money and go elsewhere. Trust me, you'll spend the same amount fixing whatever goes wrong, but be out extra time and irritation.

Update : Left a message with a manager for director before posting this. Still have yet to receive a call back. I can't imagine that this contact info would be of...

I’ve been growing my hair out for a year and thought I would treat myself to a clean up cut and get some fringe from Aveda. We’re new to the ATL area, but I’ve always had great experiences at the Minneapolis branch. The first surprise came when I was rushed past all of the salon chairs and bustling students to a nearly empty back room with blaring music and a strong chemical smell. Most students back here were sitting along the floor and on the counter on their phones. My stylist spent most of the cut talking about how cutting hair was something she was not passionate about and only doing until her real career of choice panned out. During my haircut, the stylist accidentally cut into my hair with a razor at the incorrect angle, while her instructor was telling her, “[Student Name] no! Cutting it at that angle is how you accidentally chop a bunch of hair off!” And sure enough, that side of my hair is drastically asymmetrical from the second side she cut (much more carefully). I tried to make eye contact with the instructor throughout the cut, as I was panicking but didn’t want my stylist to lose confidence. The instructor was on her phone, singing along to blasting music, and playing with other students’ hair while my stylist nervously continued to cut. I have 3A/B curly hair, and the stylist raked through my hair with one hand while blow drying with the other until my hair was completely frizzed out, dry, and warped. Rather than asking for help, she continued to layer curly products on my DRY hair, weighing it down further and taking most of the curl out. When she told me she was done, I asked her to re-wet it a bit so that I could scrunch it and finger coil to try and get some life back. She removed my cape and spritzed the top layer of my hair and soaked the collar of my dress. After I’d done my best, she said “don’t you love it!?”. I tried to politely find something I liked about the cut, then was whisked back to checkout. I was embarrassed to even walk through the salon looking the way I did, and I had to cancel my afternoon plans to go home and try and assess the damage. I called the salon after to share my experience and see if there was a way my hair could be fixed (or I could get a refund to get my hair fixed elsewhere). I was told a ticket would be opened and I would receive a follow-up email and call. I received neither. I just called a second time (a week since my first call) and was told they couldn’t find record of my first call. They then put me on hold only to tell me they’ll call back later and hung up again. I’ve learned from this experience that Aveda salons can be DRASTICALLY different depending on which...