Mojo Barbershop — Local services in Honolulu

I’ve lived on island for two years between 2020 and 2021, and me and my fiancé decided to come back for our engagement shoot.

I’ve never been to any barbers on island, so after some recon this was the place I chose.

I really appreciated the customer experience - it was on point, very social, conversational, concierge. I also appreciated the attention to detail, speaking with my barber (Kyle) was easy, he speaks hair language.

However, why this is a 3-star review is that the quality of the cut did not match the price, I paid $70 for a haircut + beard trim with Kyle - it also took a full 90 minutes. This is the most expensive haircut I’ve ever gotten (both in terms of time and money), so my expectations were aligned with that.

In the end, what I received was a $40 job at best based on the market on-island and the many haircuts I’ve received.

The front of my hair line is crooked, there’s a small patch of hair that was never cut, the right side of my box-line was cut pretty far in, and my beard shape is uneven. Worst part is, I have my engagement shoot in the morning and I’m probably going to need to touch up some details myself.

Even after Kyle told me he was finished initially, I went to the bathroom and noticed a few seemingly obvious mistakes or incompletions. Which he kindly attempted to fix and in the end, I decided to take it for what it was and call it a day.

In getting to know my barber, he’s been cutting hair for 1 year and has been at the shop for 2 months. To me, it’s clear that the prices should match the experience level - instead his prices seem on par with his more experienced peers.

I would’ve honestly given a 2-star simply for the principle of what I paid and what I received, what gives the extra star is that there are hands down some very talented barbers in Mojo from me looking around. Van particularly was working on some clean cuts.

This is a hard review to write because Kyle is a kind human who is clearly into the craft of cutting and Mojo seems like a great place - but I’m being honest about my experience and hopefully this will be appreciated by others moving forward.

For reference, I’m black, so my hair is pretty specific and requires a certain understanding...

"I feel like they took the craft seriously, but not the business" -my man.

I wanted to gift my bf a nice haircut and the social media pages of Mojo, coupled up with the fact that we have passed by for years, had me sold.

I attempted to make a reservation online and couldn't. I called, and after speaking with the receptionist, whose attitude wasn't all that pleasant, I was able to book the appt for him. I asked if I could complete payment with her over the phone as I wanted to pay for him; she said "they rather you pay at the time of the haircut " which baffles me cause the website has an option to prepay (granted, the website doesn't seem to work).

Maybe this is too old-fashioned, but I remember my elders going to a barbershop and being a whole experience. I subconsciously wanted this for my bf, and didn't consider how times have changed. The haircut he got by Jose looks AMAZING ! My bf couldn't stop complementing how serious Jose took his job and how precise he was. He also noticed how unkempt and dusty the barbershop was; from counters to decorative liquor bottles, there was dust everywhere.

Perhaps a little more tlc inside would have encouraged my bf to get a beard trim or inquire more about products etc. This is definitely a huge step up from super cuts and it...

I was early for an appointment in this part of town and was in need of a haircut. I saw Mojo Barbershop and decided to check it out. I don't usually go to a barbershop on a whim without doing any research but it was right next to my appointment. William Ly took me right away and gave me the best haircut of my life. I'm 27 years old and have been getting my haircut about twice a week since the age of 17. So let's see, that's about 260 haircuts in the past 10 years... and this one was by far the best. William, although young, is the Mozart of cutting hair. He quickly studied my hair as if he was solving a complex math problem and then started his work. He cut my hair with such care and detail as if he had been cutting my hair his whole life. He takes his craft seriously and asked all the right questions. In my eyes, he is the BOAT (Barber Of All Time). So if you are reading this ask yourself - would you pay $40 for the best haircut...