AM Salon — Local services in Philadelphia

After reading all the reviews, I was excited to try this place because I’ve had pretty bad experiences at other Chinatown barbers because they never wanted to cut women’s hair “too short” because of stupid gender expectations, but this one was by far the worst. This is a note for any women out there who want to get their hair cut short, but unless it’s a bob, one of the barbers will be unwilling to cut it any shorter than a bob without acting like you’re doing a horrible thing, and being overall unwilling to cut your hair any shorter than the typical bob length.

I had a picture reference of what I wanted, and right off the bat, my barber and the hair washer lady immediately responded like I showed them a picture of a buzzed rat drawn onto somebody’s hair. I understand Cantonese and some Mandarin, and the lady kept telling me that it was ugly, I shouldn’t cut it, and how bad it was going to look, all while looking like I was making the worst decision of my life. The barber kept shaking his head and was essentially trying to dissuade me too, but I, trying to be polite, just said it was what I wanted, and after more insults towards what I wanted (persistently calling it ugly), he finally started cutting.

For the record, I usually don’t care about service and attitudes when it comes to Chinese establishments. I’m used to the Chinese bluntness, but for the first time, it bothered me greatly. I’m sure they both don’t consider it insults, and that they’re simply just stating their opinions, but it was frankly extremely rude behavior, no matter the intention. My barber kept looking sour, checking his phone, and despite what my picture was, he kept giving me a bob. Every time I told him to cut shorter (after he asked whether it was okay), he shook his head, and said that it would be uglier if he did that. In the background, that lady was talking about how ugly my hairstyle was to god knows who, and I had to pretend like I didn’t understand to prevent myself from getting visibly annoyed. He essentially gave me a bob, and when he seemed to be finished cutting (after he grabbed the the blow dryer), I told him to cut my hair shorter and got the same “it’s going to be ugly” response again. To hammer it in, he translated out that my hairstyle was two different hairstyles and was going to be ugly no matter what, and when I said I didn’t care, he shook his head, upset, and said that he was going to style it like how it was in the picture (he didn’t). He finally gave in to cutting my hair just the teeniest bit shorter after I asked again (and him saying that it was getting to get uglier), and at that point, I was just ready to go home and get my friend to cut my hair, cause clearly he didn’t want to cut it. Another barber came over eventually, and thank god, told him that he needed to cut. My. Hair. Lo and behold, the end result was much better than the bob my barber kept insisting on, but it was definitely not what I wanted. At that point, I had been at the salon for over an hour, and just wanted to leave. I didn’t think my hair was going to get any better either (nor was he going to be willing to cut any more), so my hair now is what it is.

I’m sure that this shop is great at cutting hair. Watching them take care of another customer in the beginning gave me high hopes, but I seriously advise against coming here if you’re a woman trying to cut your hair shorter than the typical “feminine” style. The other barber, the black haired, short haired older man, seemed to be better equipped to deal with these hairstyles, so if you’re going to come here to cut your hair short anyway, try to go to him. Again, I mean no disrespect to the shop because clearly people have had good experiences here, but I didn’t, and I think that that if you don’t want to do a haircut, you should just be upfront about it, and not make it such a...

Dont set your expectations high. SO MANY THINGS WENT HORRIBLY WRONG

All of the positive reviews made me think that I was going to get exactly what I wanted and their customer service seemed very responsive on google. But it seems true now that they’re actually trying to scare people from writing bad reviews.

I know perms can take about 2 hours so I booked a time with them in advance and I was told I will be working with Anson. When I came in at the appointment time, Anson was still cutting someone else’s hair and they told me I have to wait another 15-20 minutes, which is fine by me. I know how Chinese businesses work and I don’t expect quality customer service. However, if you are a female trying a shorter haircut they will hold back and try to “save” length. I asked for a wolf cut/soft korean mullet and they gave me a bob, which I didn’t question at the time because I still needed to be permed

The worse part was the perm. They told me in advance that the perm will take about an hour or two, but in the middle of perming Anson took on another client who didn’t even have an appointment. The perm started drying up and I was feeling extremely warm from the perming lamp. Anson asked the hair washing lady to finish up my perm. She ended up dripping perm solution ALL OVER MY FACE AND DOWN MY NECK!! She tried to stop it from getting on my shirt with a towel but ended up blocking my carotid arteries (the arteries that supply blood to your brain) because the drip tray was already on my neck and she shoved a towel in between. I ended feeling lightheaded and nauseous like I was going to pass out for the rest of the service. They overset my perm because it was in there for MORE THAN 2 HOURS, and Im sure they knew because they washed it out right after when you’re supposed to let the solution sit in your hair for 48 hours without washing. One of the rods on the lowest point ended up falling out midway through, but they insisted it was fine.

The entire time Anson kept giving me “discounts” on the haircut and perm, telling me its for me only, but I have already brought exactly how much I intended to pay plus 15 dollars tip, and the discounts feel like a lowball for a sorry excuse of a service. I paid exactly how I intended and ended going home to fix my hair. Mind you my appointment was at 2:30PM. I didn’t leave until 6:30PM. FOUR HOURS FOR CUT AND PERM??? Unacceptable

My hair ended up looking permanently cowlicked on one side as it sticks upwards, and the backside uneven. They tried to fix it by suggesting a bang! I never asked for that and I hate bangs. Im still dealing with dryness and breakage even though they told me their products were going to be gentle. They told me that it was supposed to last for 3-6 months but it went back to almost straight in a couple of weeks. This place has traumatized me to the point I learned to cut my own hair and has been...

This is currently my favorite salon in Philadelphia. When entering the salon, people greeted me and were very down-to-earth. The place is very clean and proper. There are compartments to place your belongings and hangers to hang your coats. I waited for only a couple minutes until being called over for a hair wash. From when I went there for my first time last Thursday, there was only one lady who washes hair. She washed it with shampoo and it felt like a head massage. After washing my hair, I was able to start my haircut. I sat in one of the seats waiting a few minutes until the barber was done with their client. There is many barbers but I believe they were already occupied. So, after I showed a reference photo, he started to cut my hair. Whenever there were pauses, I made some notices and details that I specifically was looking for in the haircut. I told this to the main barber who spoke english, in which they told the one who was cutting my hair. They followed and understood my asks clearly and executed it amazingly. One thing about barbers is when you ask them to not cut it too short, they usually do. But, the people here seem to understand how to cut a more natural haircut, making sure you get your money’s worth while suiting your needs. I am not a barber myself but I see that they understand a lot about layering and in general, how to work in a hair salon. The main barber, who I believe is Anson, suggested and informed me of my hair type and how it could better suit the reference photo by making certain changes. I really liked this as it shows he understands the reference photo compared to my hair and tried to support what I was going for. Anyways, after the haircut, I got my hair washed again. It was relaxing as the first time and we quickly went back in order for the barber to style it. They blow dried it and made it a middle part after I suggested for it. In my opinion, they didn’t style my hair how I preferred but that can easily get fixed by my own styling methods at home. The haircut(that came with 2 washes) costed about about 23$ for me because of a discount but their usual price is believed to be 28$. I appreciate the efforts Anson made to make sure the barber understood my preferences. The 23$ price is very worth it and I plan to come back many times in the future. If you are an asian male like me, who likes more medium-long haircut/hairstyles, I think that this salon can really help you get what you like. They understand key fundamentals and how to create the looks of hair that you describe and show in your reference photos. Even though they may not style it to how you like, you definitely got the haircut you asked for and can very much style it into your reference photo with a little trial-and-error or...