Bargain Big Apple salon: Carsten Institute and Salon

Have you ever needed your hair styled but discovered big city salons don't seem to cater for modest budgets?  Well, I have and it's a sad hair salon reality.

I found myself in the NYC area last December in desperate need of a touch up on my once-blonde highlighted locks - at a cheap price (unemployment makes keeping up beauty treatments difficult on the good old bank account - being jobless is a no-splurge situation!)

After some investigating, I found a gift from the hairstyling Gods: Carsten Institute of Cosmetology and Carsten Salon.  The company is part typical salon - although still has reasonable rates, especially for NYC - and part cosmetology institute which offers even further reduced rates for services performed by students undergoing styling training.

Talented stylists hard at work at Carsten Institute

All services (either performed by a student stylist or a salon professional) are located in the same building found in the Union Square area of Manhattan.  It's convenient and simple to find once you exit the subway at Union Square - just beware that the building exterior doesn't look like a typical salon, so make sure to look for the building number and chalkboard sign with hair styling prices/information on it.

Following a quick look at their service charge list online and seeing a very reasonable $40.00 cost for partial highlights (for newbies to the hair scene, this means a highlight from the top of the ears and above which includes a blending of highlights in the back, sides and front hair sections - done through foiling), I was on the phone instantly hoping to make an appointment.

The front desk staff were definitely friendly, helpful and able to book an appointment for me with a student stylist just three weeks ahead of the date I called them - I'm assuming that most high price-tag salons wouldn't be this accommodating for appointment scheduling.

Upon arrival at Carsten, I was swiftly taken to the official salon area - it turned out they had a junior stylist available to work with me instead of a student - and I was offered a variety of drink choices while I waited for my hair technician to finish working with his current client.

Omar, my hairdresser and a recent graduate of the Carsten Institute, was amazing.  He provided excellent service, including taking the time to do the Balayage technique on my hair - painting the bleach on the hair in certain spots to give hair a more multi-dimension and unique look - in addition to the traditional foil highlighting.

My blowout was also spectacular as Omar took the time to really boost my usually-limp roots to give my fine hair a more va-va-va-voom completed look.  Hailing from Las Vegas and having lived a unique life, he certainly kept me entertained during my visit with incredible stories of his life in Las Vegas, adventure tales from his stint in Japan (while working for Disney) and finally regaling me his experiences from moving to Manhattan.

It would be impossible for me to say enough positive things about my experience at Carsten.  The entire process was extremely impressive and I couldn't be happier with the results - my regrowth is gone and I'm blonde, blonde, blonde again, just the way I like my hair!

I would highly recommend this salon (either the typical salon or the school salon) to anyone looking for a great hair styling day out where they'll get incredible service from tremendously talented people for a pretty perfect price.

For more information about booking and costs for Carsten Institute services, please contact: 212 675 7735

If you visit the salon, please leave me a comment below telling me how you felt about your Carsten Institute/salon experience!