Manetamed Hairrari - Williamsburg — Attraction in New York

Tried to make the most of it and really reflected on it, but it’s been two days and it’s very clear, this is top 2 worst haircuts of my life. I don’t usually write reviews but if I can save others, I must. It will probably take about 6 months for my hair to fully regrow and recover from what happened here.

I did my due diligence- researched my stylist beforehand, looked at her other cuts and expected to be in good hands. And I feel bad writing this, because she clearly has some type of skill with others, and she was nice enough (albeit neutral and distant, certainly not warm). I showed many pictures and clearly stated multiple times I wanted only the slightest trim, that I’m trying to grow my hair out. But my stylist was not attentive to this, began to dive in before I felt comfortable. I detected fairly quickly she did not even know what to make of my hair type (which was surprising, having seen her other, much better cuts online) but given the price point and cancellation policy I felt I was not in a position to change my mind and back out once she started and I realized she didn’t know what to do.

At one point she asked if I used sea salt spray- I said NO, my hair responds really BADLY to it, it dries my hair out excessively— she immediately proceeded to absolutely DOUSE my hair with sea salt spray. (This happened mid-cut, by the way)

There were multiple instances of her not fully hearing me, she seemed rushed, scattered, distracted. And lo and behold, it yielded one of the worst results I’ve ever had— certain parts of my head have chunks of one-inch hair now sticking out of areas of four-to-five-inch length.

Not to mention, the rest of my experience was also problematic and downright STRANGE. When I arrived I couldn’t get the door open, some guy sitting inside leaning back with his feet up on his phone in the empty salon just kept staring at me through the glass and finally beckoned me towards which door worked— once I was inside he was downright unpleasant and unfriendly. I was then made to wait for about 15 minutes despite being the only customer.

On my way out, they had trouble with the card reader, and did nothing to put my mind at ease when I immediately got a fraudulent charge notification from my bank after my payment went through (“if you get charged twice take it up with your bank, that’s not us”) (I have never had this happen anywhere else, period, full stop). I still tipped, because I was trying to have a good attitude and felt like maybe it was my hair’s fault, not the stylist or the salon. But a few days later, all things considered, this was just all around really bad.

Anyway, that’s that-...

I've been to every Hairrari location, and they're all awesome! Writing here because the Williamsburg one is closest to me off the G and I've gone there the most!

Okay, first of all, Hairrari is super queer and queer-friendly. Not only do half the barbers rock the queer mullets and undercuts many of us only dream of, but they're really cognizant regarding language and pronouns! It's definitely very safe and welcoming to folks in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Second, the locations are all so nice. They all have water and other refreshments. I've never waited for my appointment for more than five minutes. The stations are clean, and the products are really great. I haven't been there yet during times of COVID, but my friends have, and I know they're taking a ton of precautions to keep customers (AND their barbers) feeling and being safe.

Thirdly, I cannot recommend seeing Stormy enough! She's an incredible barber, and a kind human being. I went into Hairrari for the first time with long hair, wanting a short haircut — I told Stormy about short cuts I've had in the past that didn't work for me, and she took her time to understand what I was looking for and what would make me feel comfortable. She ended up totally transforming my hair into something even better than I was expecting, so much so that I actually cried tears of queer joy after leaving the shop and taking a ton of selfies ✨I've been seeing Stormy consistently ever since, and I always...

I'll start out on a good note. The place was clean, had friendly staff, took your temperature before entering, and disinfected all equipment prior to use, so at least they take healthcare guidelines seriously. Yet I couldn't feel more robbed of my $60. I'm sure some people have their off days, but I've gotten $35 haircuts that were better. This was a $20 haircut, but set in a million dollar neighborhood, so I guess they can get away with that $60 price tag? I do regret tipping, but I'm too awkward of a person not to. Plus I did feel bad since I could tell Arthur was genuinely a really nice guy, and we did bond over some similar discussion topics. I just wish he would've given my hair more attention instead of me. I hope management won't be too harsh with him based on just one bad review, but if I had one tip it'd be to give your client a full hour haircut with hyper attention to detail for $60 - especially since the entire shop was empty. I now travel the extra distance just to go upstate for my cuts since $60 is actually worth $60 there. Unfortunately $60 just doesn't get you as much in the city anymore.

I like expensive cuts but this definitely wasn't one of them.

Tldr; A 32 minute, $15 looking haircut, with no washing, styling, or attention to detail, for the inflated price of $60.

PS Sorry if I seem like a jerk, my hair just means a lot to me, but I hope I was somewhat constructive...